GENERAL
AARON ANDERSON'S ON-LINE MAPS (www.aaolc.com). Widest selection of maps on the Web with swift shipment of any in the Michelin map series, the ideal maps for cycle-touring. Type in the URL on your browser to access this website.
AIRLINE TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBERS : call and check which airlines carry bikes free.
AIRLINE WEBSITES for most world airlines.
AIRPORT SYMBOL : gives the 3-letter code symbol for airports worldwide.
AMAZON BOOKS (www.amazon.com) On-line bookstore with huge list of bike-touring titles and travel guides. Type in the URL on your browser to access this website.
FOLDING BIKES: Ready-made folding bikes suitable for touring and that fit into a suitcase for airline travel are manufactured by Montague Bikes and Bike Friday.
Click on www.montaguebikes.com for an On-Line review of their line of folding mountain bikes with aluminum tubing and full-sized 26-inch wheels. Prices are affordable and all models fit into a special suitcase. More info at 1-800-736-5348.
Click on www.bikefriday.com for a complete On-Line review of this firm's popular folding single bikes and tandems. Bike Fridays use 20-inch sized wheels and fit into a special suitcase which can double as a trailer. Touring accessories include racks, trailers and mudguards. Phone 1-877-313-4134 for a catalog or queries.
FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE : for all world currencies
KEN KIFER'S BIKE PAGES. Reports on bike touring in U.S. and Canada plus links to dozens of bike touring pages and other bike touring information sources. The Bicycle Touring Links Page features travelogues of bike tours (mostly camping) throughout the world.
LONELY PLANET (www.lonelyplanet.com) The world's largest publisher of guidebooks for budget travelers is now adding a series of excellent cycle-touring guidebooks. They are Cycling New Zealand, Cycling France, Cycling Britain , Cycling Cuba, Cycling Vietnam, Cycling Italy , Cycling Vietnam, Cycling Ireland , Cycling the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and Cycling Australia. All can be ordered from LP's website plus their incredible series of budget-travel guidebooks to almost every place and country on earth.
BIKE NASHBAR (www.nashbar.com) huge on-line catalog of clothing and equipment for the touring cyclist at economical prices. Type in the URL on your browser to access this website.
BICYCLE ADVENTURE CLUB : Highly-recommended nonprofit hotel-motel tours in U.S. and overseas for adults; volunteer leaders, sag supported, top hotels, unbeatable value at one-half or less the cost of most bike tours.
MR. PUMPY'S BIKE PAGES. Recent reports by Mr. Pumpy and his friend Felix on their adventure bicycling tours through Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.
NATIONAL TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICES of other countries in USA.
S & S BILENKY COUPLINGS (www.bilenky.com) One way to beat the surcharge for taking your bike by air is to instal couplings that transform it into a folding bike that fits into a standard suitcase.
TRAVEL TO THE HORIZON. A Netherlands-based website with leads, links and tour reports on every aspect of bicycle touring from finding trip companions to sources for maps, guidebooks and bike touring equipment plus organized tours. Worldwide coverage.
TEA TREE TOURERS. A South Australian website with recent tour reports on Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Switzerland, New Zealand and Vietnam (some camping); also will help you plan a tour in South Australia; plus many helpful links.
www.biketrip.org This Long Distance Bike Tourists Forum lists hundreds of helpful books, maps, links and detailed trip reports on cycle-touring just about every country and continent including current round the world trips and others still in progress.
EUROPE
TRENTO BIKE PAGES : Maintained by Andreas Caranti, Department of Mathematics, University of Trento, Italy, this outstanding website carries detailed reports on recent tours in just about all European and Mediterranean countries--both on and off road. Also scores of useful links to bike touring websites throughout the world.
CYCLING TOP LINKS. www.cycling-toplinks.com/ Good links to Bike Touring in Europe also to other countries and USA. When home page appears, click on Travel, then on Travelogues, then on Europe.
VIRTUAL ALPS U.K. cyclo-photographers Francis and Sheila present wonderful photos of almost every pass and gorge in all Alpine countries and Corsica together with practical cycling tips, plus links to other alpine and mountain riding websites.
EUROCYCLE.COM . This splendid series of one hour videos give detailed guidance on touring Europe so that you can ride with confidence and enjoy Europe at your own pace via your own itinerary. Rick and Sandy Sullivan's videos show step-by-step how to make your own two week bike tour through Provence, Tuscany, Western Ireland, Denmark, Holland, the Cotswolds or Bavaria. Eurocycle.com, PO Box 25816, Seattle WA 98125.
BERGSTRASSE BIKE BOOKS : Fact-packed website about bike-touring in German-speaking Europe--Germany, Austria, Switzerland--by Judith and Neil Forsyth, British cyclists who live in Germany and have authored several English-language bike-touring guidebooks to German-speaking countries.
DEUTSCHE BAHN TIMETABLES . Train timetables for most Western European countries showing which trains carry bikes. The URL is <http://www.bahn.de> Scroll down and click on "English" version.
OMNI BIKE MAPS (www.omnimap.com/catalog/int/bicycle.htm) Bike maps and guidebooks to Austria, Belgium, Czech R, Finland, France, Germany, U. K., Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland (and USA) plus other top cycling countries. Also other maps and guidebooks. Located in USA.. Type in the URL on your browser to open this website.
BIKELINE CYCLING MAPS www.bikeline.at/ Excellent bike touring maps for all of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Bodensee-Konigssee map is under Germany, the rest you can probably recognize. To order, click on Bestellungen email address
AUSTRALIA
CYCLING AUSTRALIA is the name of Lonely Planet's guidebook to cycle-touring Down Under. Scroll up this page to Lonely Planet's link.
MELBOURNE BICYCLE TOURING CLUB : This leading Australian bike touring club has an interesting page of cycle-touring links for Australia and elsewhere.
TEA TREE TOURERS. This South Australian touring club will help you plan a tour of South Australia.
AUSTRIA
AUSTRIAN NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE. www.austria-tourism.at/us. When home page appears, click on Cycling in Austria.. Austria is fast becoming a popular bike touring destination and this website tells all about cyclo-touring in Austria plus introducing several of the country's 30 official well-marked bike tour routes with sources for maps and more info. All follow highly scenic back country routes through Austria's Alps, lakes and rivers. Many are multi-day tours of 200-300 kilometers or more and most can be linked end-to-end to form longer tours and can also be linked to some of Switzerland's official bike routes.. You can obtain a free map-brochure showing all the routes by phoning, writing or emailing the Austrian National Tourist Office (PO Box 1142 Times Square, New York NY 10108-1142 , phone 212-944-6880 and requesting the brochure "Where Biking's More Exciting." The office also offers a free travel kit and brochures on some of the bike tour routes. They will also send you hotel guides to Austria's provinces and regions. If you're thinking about continuing into Hungary, click on the HUNGARY NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE website.
CYCLING TOURS IN AUSTRIA also provides basic information on its website to most of Austria's 30 official bike tour routes plus they sell a wide selection of Austrian bike-touring maps online plus they have links to scores of local tourist offices.
AUSTRIAN RAILWAYS TIMETABLES also shows which trains carry bikes. Scroll down, click on "English" and the rest is self-explanatory. Click on "Means of Transport" to locate trains which carry bikes and insert a tick under the bicycle symbol. Then click on "Search Connections."
ANDREA & MIKE'S TRIP TO AUSTRIA & BAVARIA Biking the Danube and Tauern Bike Paths from Vienna to Salzburg and beyond--a great report by Australian cyclists Mike and Andrea Venamore.
PEDALPOWER (www.pedalpower.at) Vienna's major bike rental store, PedalPower, is also an important source of info on routes, maps and guided and self-guided bike tours of Vienna and the Danube Bike Path. Also booking service at bike-friendly Vienna hotels and many useful links for exploring Vienna by bike. Will store bikes by the month.
BRITAIN
CYCLISTS TOURING CLUB : The website of Britain's famous Cyclists Touring Club (where bicycle touring began). Chockful of leads to routes, events, and upcoming group tours plus gigabytes of priceless touring info on the U.K. and other countries, and off-road routes in Britain. If this link does not work, type "Cyclists Touring Club" into your browser's search engine.
CYCLING BRITAIN is the name of Lonely Planet's invaluable guide to cyclo-touring in the U.K. Scroll up this page to Lonely Planet's link.
SUSTRANS : Sustrans is the charity behind development of Britain's National Cycle Network. These routes, which may be partly on graded dirt roads, web Britain and are usually the best way to traverse the U.K. by bike. All have detailed maps which are listed on the website. The recommended way to tour Britain.
WALES--CYCLING SIDEWAYS : absolutely the best source we could find for exploring Wales by bike. Also has numerous links to other British bike-touring websites. Da Iawn!
EXCELLENT BOOKS publishes a series of invaluable cycling guides that take you roaming over hundreds of kilometers of trails, bikeways and low-traffic backroads through the best of the North and West of England, Britain's premier cycling regions. All written by cycling journalist Richard Peace, they cover such famous bike routes as the C2C and the Sustrans cycle network. (www.excellentbooks.co.uk)
CICERONE BOOKS (www.cicerone.co.uk) publishes guides to touring Britain's best cycling regions, and also to Europe.
CANADA
You'll find good bike touring in the Canadian Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) and a good guide to bike touring there is "Nova Scotia and the Maritimes By Bike" by Walter Sienko, The Mountaineers, 1995, ISBN 0-89886-442-9 1, --21 Tours Geared for Discovery including 15 loops. Includes the famous Cabot Trail, Peggy's Cove, Bluenose Country etc. Sure, it was published in 1995 but routes and roads don't change much and the scenery is great.
For another wonderful source of Cycling Canadiana, click on http://xcanada. roosmachine.com in which Canadian cyclo-tourist Andrew Ross lists just about every source of On-Line information for exploring every Province by bike and for cycling across Canada from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island.
CUBA
Published in 2002, Lonely Planet's most recent bike touring guidebook steers you on lightly-travelled roads along 42 of Cuba's top cycling routes, all adding up to a total 75 days of top Caribbean cycling. For details, go to Lonely Planet's website www.lonelyplanet.com and type in "Cycling Cuba."
FINLAND
For a safe, pleasant, uncrowded and pro-bike country for your next tour, consider Finland. We haven't cycled there ourselves yet but reports we've read describe Finland as a wonderfully bike-friendly country with a nationwide network of bike paths and plenty of hotels, guest houses, hostels and campgrounds. Hills are few and the bike paths traverse a scenic medley of woods and lakes. You can cycle north of the Arctic Circle without roughing it. Most trains and buses carry bikes. However, the season is short: June through September. More info is available from: Finland Tourist Board, www.visitfinland.com, ask for their Finland Tourist Guide and click on their Great Outdoors link to bike touring sources; Genimap , www.genimap.fi . offers a general cycling tourist map with six detailed regional maps. Finland seems worth including in our BIKELANDIA group of countries. Tell us how you found it (blodwen@ktc.com).
FRANCE
MIKE BEDARD'S TOURS OF FRANCE : Insightful day-by-day reports of 13 extensive tours of France by a retired Canadian educator and his wife. The well-written descriptions make it easy to follow their exciting itineraries through France's most popular bike touring regions. Packed with up-to-date info and advice. Includes great new report with superb photos of Mike and Carol's fantastic 2003 tour of Corsica.
SHELDON BROWN'S FRENCH CYCLING WEBSITE : slightly dated but filled with useful French cycling lore including a priceless English-French dictionary of bicycle terms.
CORSICA'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE : in English and with helpful information and a worthwhile guide to the island's hotels.
123france. Two and three star hotels in most parts of France. Click on map for province you need.
HOTELS, TRAVEL IN FRANCE : hotel listings for most towns in France plus other helpful info. Lists only selected higher-priced hotels.
GAF-FRANCE : good info on travel in France with list of hotels and rates in almost every community plus on-line reservation service. Click on English version when home page appears.
PROVENCE-FRANCE : hotel listings for most towns and villages in Provence and loads of other helpful tour-planning info.
GRENOBLE CYCLING PAGES . Surrounded by rugged mountains, the city of Grenoble offers a huge variety of exciting bike rides: through the rolling Chartreuse Mountains. . .over dramatic roads hacked out of sheer cliffs in the Vercors country. . .and up huge, imposing Tour de France climbs in the Alps--all superbly described by English cyclist Russell Standring with maps, photos and recommended routes.
CORSICA CAR FERRIES : complete info on daily car ferry services between Marseille, Nice, Toulon and Corsica, all carry bikes.
SNCF--FRENCH NATIONAL RAILWAYS : complete timetables for all French National rail services showing which trains carry bikes.
BRETON BIKES lets you tour Northwest France by bike the Do-it-Yourself way--either tent-camping or hotel-ing--without having to plan your own trip or make reservations. Whether or not you use their services, this site is packed with useful info about touring Brittany and Northern France by bicycle on your own.
LOGIS DE FRANCE www.logis-de-france.fr/uk On-Line booking at hundreds of Logis de France hotels, These are often smaller, typically French, less expensive and in smaller towns throughout France and ideal for cyclists..
Don't overlook Lonely Planet's helpful guidebook Cycling France, listed under the GENERAL heading above.
GERMANY
With its network of bike trails--many following rivers like the Danube, Rhine and Mosel--plus a nationwide system of bike-carrying trains, Germany offers some of Europe's best bicycle-touring. You can overnight at historic hotels and gasthof in gabled, medieval villages or ride through scenic mountains in Bavaria.
For recent first-hand reports on bike touring in Germany, look up "Germany-Austria: Romantische Strasse, Altmuhltal, Danube Bike Paths, 2002" ; "Austria, Czech Rep, Germany (Bavaria-Bodensee), Switzerland, 2003" and "Cycling Germany's Rivers: Neckar, Rhein, Mosel, 2004" on the home page menu.
And for a great on-line directory to most hotels, gasthof and pensions in every community in Germany, with rates, location and number of rooms, click on REISEN MIT PREISEN (www.reisen-mit-preisen.de) . Click on "Hotels" and select region and type in town name. However, the rates they quote are 10% higher than if you book direct with the hotel On-Line or just walked in. This is because RmitP is a hotel booking service and the extra 10% covers their costs for making your reservation. In many cases, it could be worthwhile because if the hotel you request is booked full, they will try to book you into another comparable hotel. Unlike most booking agencies, which steer you towards higher-priced hotels, R-mit-P can also book you into a variety of lower-cost hotels, gasthof and pensions popular with cyclists.
The Deutsche Bahn German rail On-Line timetable (see link below) also offers commission-free non-binding room reservation service at hotels near the main rail station in most towns and cities in Germany and neighboring countries. It quotes only hotels with vacancies on the date you will arrive and gives distance from the bahnhof or center in meters. Example: you wish to book a hotel in Frankfurt for September 16, 2004. Fill out the timetable request form for train times from any city in Germany (or neighboring country) to Frankfurt for the date on which you wish to arrive at the hotel. Quote the date as 16.09.04 and use 24-hour time in which 18.00 hours is six p.m. Click on hotel icon at foot of timetable and follow instructions (in English) for list of hotels with distance from bahnhof in meters. Simply follow instructions to reserve a room.
To access the Tourist Office website and hotel-gasthof-pension listing for most German towns, simply type in this URL <www.frankfurt.de> using name of town you want in place of Frankfurt used as an example here. Use lower case; spell entire town name as one word even if it is two; and for vowels like o or u with two dots above, spell as oe or ue. Website may be in German but will often give each hotel's website URL and email address as well as street address and phone number. Pensions often have the lowest priced rooms.
Bike maps that show bike trails for each region of Germany can be found in kiosks and bookshops in Germany. But they are difficult to obtain outside Germany. Some trails are not well maintained and may be difficult to follow but others like the Danube and Romantische Strasse attract thousands of cyclists each year and are generally well marked.
The Romantische Strasse Bike Route begins at Lohr (a short train ride from Frankfurt) and takes you on to Bad Mergentheim, Rothenberg, Dinkelsbuhl, Nordlingen, Donauworth, Landsberg and Fussen (with its tall-spired castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau). From here, you could cycle on to Garmisch and on south to Innsbruck in Austria (where you could continue by a choice of several Austrian bike routes). Though it's slightly dated, a helpful guidebook is "Germany By Bike" by Nadine Slavinsky, published in 1994 and available from Amazon.com. Another great on-line bike-touring asset is the German Rail Timetable which shows how to travel in Germany and adjacent countries by trains which carry bikes. Click on it here: www.bahn.de and scroll down and click on "English" version.
BICYCLE GERMANY is an invaluable website that covers everything you need to explore Germany by bicycle on your own. Topics range from Trains to Hotels, a German biking vocabulary, renting versus bringing your own bike, and half a dozen detailed itineraries that take you roaming Germany's finest bike routes the self-guided way.
NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE BIKE-SITE (http://.germany-tourism.de/biking) Discovering Germany By Bike reviews Germany's bike touring routes, river routes, maps and sources, budget touring, bike-friendly B&B accommodation and much more.
LEARNING GERMAN . Try these helpful On-line sites.
German For Beginners, free 20-lesson On-Line course. < http://german.about.com/library/anfang/blanfang_inhalt.htm>
German For Travellers. <www.germanfortravellers.com>
Leo's German-English Dictionary. <http://dict.leo.org>
The following German words may also be helpful:
Anfrage = Inquiry Angebot = Offer (noun) Ausser = Outside
Aussflug =Bike excursion route Bestaetigung = Confirmation
Innenstat = city centre Lage = Location Fahradstellplatz = bike space
Ferienwohnung = vacation apartment ruhig = quiet Sparkasse = Savings Bank
Tisch = Table Ubernachten = spend the night Unterkuenfte = Accommodation
Waschbecken = Washbasin Zimmer = Bedroom
IRELAND
IRISH RAILWAYS : complete timetables for all trains in Ireland; almost all trains in Ireland have a spacious baggage car for bikes.
IRISH TOURIST BOARD : Ireland's official tourist website with rail and ferry schedules and a guide to selected (but not all) accommodations with on-line booking.
IRON DONKEY TOURS. <www.irondonkey.com>. This Irish bike touring company offers both guided and self-guided bike tours of Ireland and England's Cotswolds. Outstanding is their The Long Distance Irish Bicycle Trail that takes you for 2,400 kilometers through Ireland's best scenery. Also rents decent bikes.
Don't overlook Lonely Planet's helpful guidebook Cycling Ireland, listed under the GENERAL heading higher on this page.
ITALY
With its medieval hilltop towns crammed with palaces and cathedrals, and its challenging alpine passes, Italy has all the makings of a cyclo-tourist's dream. In 1996, I spent two weeks touring the Dolomites (North Italy's Alps) and two weeks touring the hill towns of Umbria and Tuscany. There was no denying the attractions. Though fast, motorists were friendly and careful, food and wines were good, and costs were reasonable. But I did not report on my tour on this website.
Perhaps I followed the wrong itinerary. But I found that Italy lacks the network of paved backroads found in France or the bike paths of German-speaking Europe. The result? Traffic was heavier and cycling was less pleasant. There were quiet backroads in Umbria and Tuscany but many were unpaved. So I ended up using heavier tires. Hill towns like Siena, Orvieto and Perugia still brim with medieval splendor yet all too many are surrounded by a perimeter of industrial suburbs filled with trucks.
Local trains in Umbria and Tuscany carried bikes but elsewhere, most bike-carrying trains seemed to depart at either 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. Returning from Siena to Milan by train with a bike required 5 changes of trains and took 48 hours.
Most cyclists use the 4-sectional 1:600,000 maps of the Automobile Club d'Italia but maps with more detail would be better. Perhaps you can find more about touring Italy from links on this website, such as Trento Bike Pages. You will also certainly need a hotel directory. In Tuscany and Umbria, the tourist season runs late in the year and it's reassuring to have an advance reservation. In Siena during late October it's common for all hotels to be completely full by 11 a.m.
Don't overlook Lonely Planet's helpful guidebook Cycling Italy, listed under the GENERAL heading higher on this page.
MEXICO
COPPER CANYON : is a network of deep, incredible canyons in the heart of Mexico's wild Sierra mountains. Some are deeper than Grand Canyon. And several are accessible by mountain bike. A great way to explore them by bike (with hotel accommodation) is with the spring and fall tours operated by Outdoor Wilderness Adventures of Hunt, Texas. They also operate mtn bike adventure trips to Bolivia and elsewhere. Highly recommended! For more on-the-spot info about biking Copper Canyon, click on UMARIKE EXPEDITIONS run by English-speaking Mexican mountain-biker Arturo Gutierrez. (http://www.umarike.com.mx)
NEW ZEALAND
Here's a helpful introduction to New Zealand by Chuck Schroth of Gustavus, Alaska, who bike-toured N.Z. with his wife a few years ago.
For anyone who wants to take a bicycle tour in another country, I can highly recommend New Zealand. The people are very friendly, they speak the same language. There are excellent and plentiful holiday parks for camping; and magnificent and varied landscapes from oceans to rugged, snow-capped mountains. And no visas are required for stays of up to 3 months.
New Zealand is composed of two main islands, each about 500 miles (800 kms) in length. The North Island is primarily urban--it's where most people live. The South Island is agricultural with sheep, deer and dairy farms.
Two Ways To Go
There are two ways to bike New Zealand. One way, as we did, is to take all your camping gear--tent,sleeping bags, foam pad, camp stove and cook gear-- plus a couple of changes of clothes. This allowed us to camp in some of the government campgrounds for $2-$3 U.S., and in private holiday parks located in most towns. The private campgrounds are $4-7 U.S. per night and include hot showers, very clean toilet facilities, and use of kitchens with stoves, refrigerators and sinks. We each had 4 panniers for carrying all our gear. This gave us the option to camp anywhere.
The second option is to take just sleeping bags and some clothes and stay at "backpackers" which are similar to hostels. You won't be bogged down with the extra weight and the backpackers provide you with a bed with a sheet and pillow and cooking gear. This option is limiting because you have to plan your trip via towns that have backpackers and make reservations in advance. If you have limited time and want to give New Zealand a try, this may be a good option. Both options let you meet other bicyclists from all over the world.
(Note from Norm' Ford: at higher cost, you can also stay at a choice of hotels or motels which exist in most towns. Advance reservations are recommended. And whichever option you choose, have really efficient raingear! )
Food supplies can be purchased daily. Only in a few remote areas did we need to carry supplies for 2-3 days. Bring 2-3 changes of light clothes. There are many thrift stores where you can purchase extra clothing items. Most towns have banks that exchange foreign currencies. Compare banks because their rates vary. Traveler's checks may have a better exchange than U.S. dollar bills. Get a youth hostel card. With it, you can get discounts of up to 50%.
Our Route
My wife and I spent 8 weeks on our tour--December and January which is summer in N.Z. On the South Island we started in Christchurch and biked our way south to Invercargill, then up the West Coast to Westport and finally to Picton to catch the car-ferry to Wellington at the southern end of North Island.
Tip: bike defensively! All roads are narrow with two lanes and the speed limit is 100 k.p.h (60 m.p.h.) We took country roads and stayed off the main roads.
We spent only two weeks on North Island. Biking is harder here due to increased traffic. We got around by using trains and busses between towns and used our bikes around town. Both islands have good train and bus service and are used to transporting bikes. Our time was spent primarily in the volcanic area of Rotorua and in the Bay of Islands in the North.
CYCLING NEW ZEALAND is the title of Lonely Planet's brand new guidebook to the best cycling routes in New Zealand. It's filled with invaluable bike-touring advice. New Zealand's South Island is a premier bike touring area, especially the West Coast. Go to website www.lonelyplanet.com
Independent Cycle Tours of New Zealand. (www.cyclehire.co.nz) Anyone interested in touring New Zealand's spectacular South Island should read this up-to-date and very informative website
PORTUGAL
Here are brief outlines of 3 short but popular tours through the best cycling regions in Portugal. Each numbered stage is one day's ride. Most overnight stops offer a choice of scenic all-day out-and-back rides. Perhaps you can link these tours into a single, longer tour. A good map is Michelin's #940
Northern Portugal : easily accessed from Spain's Santiago de Compostela, this tour traverses rugged coastal scenery through Galicia and the rugged Minho wine country with its windmills and oxcarts. 1. Bom Jesus to Povoa de Lambosa and Caldelas. 2. Caldelas to Ponte de Lima. 3 Ponte de Lima to Cambina and Gondarem. 4. Gondarem along the rugged coast to Baiona (Spain). 5. Baiona to Valenca and Moncao (Portugal). 6. Moncao to Arcos de Valdevez. 7. Arcos de Valdevez to Viano do Castela. 8. Viano do Castelo to Porto.
The Algarve , famous for its beaches, windmills, fishing villages and ancient towns. 1. Azeitao to Sesimbra and back to Azeitao. 2. Azeitao.to Setubal. 3. Setubal to Santiago de Cacem. 4. Santiago de Cacem to Praia da Ilha and Vila Nova de Milfontes. 5. Vila Nova de Milfontes to Aljezur. 6. Aljezur to Lagos.
The Alentejo , a beautiful rural region of walled villages, wildflowers and cork and olive groves. 1. Evora to Monsaraz. 2. Monsaraz to Villa Vicosa. 3. Villa Vicosa to Borba, Estremoz and Flor de Rosa. 4. Flor de Rosa to Portalegre, Marvao and Castelo da Vide.
RUSSIA
Russian Cycle Touring Club : We haven't cycled in Russia yet but the non-profit Russian Cycle Touring Club is anxious to help cyclo-tourists from other countries to explore Russia by bike. They can provide help with routes, accommodations and visas for Do-it-Yourself cyclists and they may have Russian club members willing to go along with you as tour partners. The club also operates an annual 15-day Golden Ring of Russia annual grand tour as well as tours in neighboring countries. Costs are very reasonable and a bike tour through Russia could be an incredible experience. Click on and see their unique photos of bike touring in Russia.
SPAIN
Spain enjoys a reputation for its bike-friendly motorists and is becoming increasingly popular for bike touring. The favorite cycle-touring areas are:-
Northern Spain with its 16-day ride along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route from St-Jean Pied de Port to the pilgrims' destination of Santiago de Compostela on the northwest tip of Spain. Halfway along this route, cyclists can turn off to the north and spend a week touring the excptionally scenic mountain region known as Picos de Europa. After reaching Santiago de Compostela, it's possible to add a weeklong tour of Northern Portugal.
Southern Spain's favorite cycling area is Andalucia, with its Moorish towns and picturesque white villages.
What You Should Know. Most regional trains have cars with luggage and bike racks in which bicycles are carried suspended by the front wheel from overhead hooks. Regional (local area) trains are the only ones allowed to carry bikes but there is at least one regional train per day on most routes. It may also be possible to go longer distances by taking two connecting regional trains. On long distance routes, only overnight sleeper trains carry bicycles (dismantled) and only one to every two passengers. Thus trains are of limited value to cyclists. Most buses will carry a bike or two if partially dismantled. Most small groups rent a van and share the driving. This can be expensive for lone cyclists.
Beg, borrow, steal or buy a recent copy of Lonely Planet's Spain guidebook, packed with info and guidance on hotels, trains, buses, roads etc. For North Spain get Michelin Maps 441 and 442, the latter includes northern Portugal. For Andalucia you'll need Michelin map 446 and possibly 445. Michelin's red guide to Spain and Portugal recommends hotels almost everywhere and has street maps to larger towns. For Michelin maps and guides, click on Aaron Anderson's link near the top of this webpage. Available in most Spanish bookshops is "Guia Oficial de Hoteles" which lists all hotels in Spain excpt small pensiones. To use phone booths in Spain buy a tarjeta telefonica (phone card) at a Post Office or estanca,
The website http://www.renfe.es offers a timetable to all Spanish trains but fails to state whether or not they carry bikes--only regional trains normally do. For an English-language directory of all hotels in Spain with phone numbers, click on http://www.hotelsearch.com/completesearch.html . "Guia Oficial Hoteles" is a huge paperback guidebook that lists every hostelry in Spain with complete details but it's too big and heavy to carry on a bike. It is widely available in Spain for the equivalent of about $13 U.S. or can be consulted in most hotel receptions.
Spanish Cycle Paths www.spanishcyclepaths.com/ Good info on touring some of Spain's best bike routes plus links to many other bike-touring info sources in Spain
Camino de Santiago. Since the middle ages, thousands of pilgrims have walked the Camino de Santiago every year and thousands still do. But since Highway 634 runs close to the foot trail, hundreds of pilgrims now cycle to Santiago along with hundreds of non-pilgrim cyclists. My best advice is to click on to the link http://plaza.ufl.edu/antonini which is Gustavo Antonini's superb report on his 2001 bike ride along the Camino, staying at hotels. It's packed with invaluable advice covering everything you need to know. (May not be available any longer.)
Andalucia . I have yet to find a well-planned and pre-tested 3-weeks itinerary covering all of Andalucia for hotel-staying cyclists. Meanwhile, here are 3 shorter itineraries of Andalucia, each of which should prove worth cycling. Perhaps you can link them together to form a longer tour. Each stage is a one-day ride.
Western Andalucia (cycled by Michael Portman, Laredo TX). 1. Seville to Arcos de La Frontera. 2. Arcos de La Frontera over Boyar Pass to Grazelma. 3. Grazelma over Dove Pass to Olvera. 4. Olvera-Setenil-Ardales-El Chorro-El Torcel. 5. El Torcel-Alora-El Burgo-Ronda-Benaojan. 6. Benaojan-Cortes de La Frontera-Gaucia-Algeciras. 7. Algeciras-Tarifa-Zahaira de Los Atunes.
Western Andalucia. 1. Seville to Carmona. 2. Carmona to Palma del Rio. 3. Palma del Rio to Cordoba. 4. Cordoba to Baena and Zuheros. 5. Zaheros through Sierra Subetica Natural Park to Cabra Priego de Cordoba. 6. Cabra Priego de Cordoba to Loja. 7. Loja to Granada.
Eastern Andalucia.. Huescar to Castril. 2.Castril-Tiscar-Quesada-Cazorla. 3. Cazorla to Canada Morales. 4. Canada Morales to Hornos and Rio Madera. 5. Rio Madera-Siles-Riopar-Batan and Bogarra. 6. Bogarra to Potiche, Boche and Yeste. 7. Yeste to La Graya, Nerpio and Moratalla. 8. Moratalla to Aledo (partly by unpaved bike path).
Many of the overnight stops are good bases for all-day out-and-back day rides. Other tour reports on Spain may be found in Trento Bike Pages and similar websites featuring tour reports, all with links on this webpage. The island of Mallorca has become a popular winter cycling destination.
SWITZERLAND.
VELOLAND SCHWEIZ : scroll down and click on "Veloland Homepage" . For best use of this website, go to the Home Page of "Do it Yourself Bicycle Tours and Vacations" and scroll down to the tour report "Through the Alps of France, Switzerland and Austria, 2001." This tour report describes the many cycling features of "Veloland Schweiz." and how to use them in planning your own tour of Switzerland.. This Swiss bike touring website briefly describes 9 pretested touring itineraries totalling over 3,000 kms of cycling. Also info on taking bikes by train, boat etc. Switzerland is a great cycling country where millions bike daily to work or to shop. Each itinerary is available with hotel reservations or you can make your own. .
SWISS RAILWAY TIMETABLES . Click "Travel/Timetable" button. Type names of departure and destination towns and click on "Source" button. When menu appears, click on "Bahnhof" or "Gare" and press "Option" button below. Finally, press "Option" button, place tick beside "Only trains with self-loading of bikes" and press "Capture" button below. Then press "Start Query" button. . However, this site is in English and you'll soon catch on.
LOCATING SWISS HOTELS. Here are four ways to locate a list of most hotels and/or gasthof in any town or city in Switzerland. You can also access the website of 250 Swiss Budget Hotels at <www.rooms.ch> but don't expect any terrific bargains. Rooms in smaller towns and villages are usually cheaper than in larger towns and popular resorts. Go off-season for lower rates. Older hotels often have a few cheaper rooms equipped only with a washbasin and with toilet and bath nearby in the hall.
1. Click on <www.myswitzerland.com> and go to "Accommodations". Type in name of town and dates you require a reservation and this official website will post a list of hotels/gasthof with a vacancy on the dates you specify.
2. The annual Swiss Hotel Guide (to 2,500 hotels) is the only guide to most of Switzerland's budget hotels (as well as others). It's listed for sale on <www.myswitzerland.com > A free CD offered on the same website, also called the annual Swiss Hotel Guide, turned out to be nothing more than a booking machine for the most expensive hotels. Get the book itself if you're really seeking budget hostelries.
3. Most towns and cities have a website that lists hotels, gasthof and pensions. The website will have a URL similar to these samples: <www.steinamrhein.ch> or <www.romanshorn.ch> or perhaps <www.badragaz-tourismus.ch> The name is the name of the town i.e. Stein am Rhein or Bad Ragaz. Once on the website look for a link to "tourismus" then to a List of Hotels, Gasthof, Pensions (also campgrounds).
4. Go to the Veloland Schweiz website mentioned above. Click on "Eating/Sleeping" on menu on left side of page. A menu appears through which you can print off a listing of all bike-friendly hotels and B&Bs along each of the nine Swiss National Bike Trails. Start by clicking on the number of the trail you are interested in. Then scroll down and add a tick to the boxes for Hotels and B&Bs (or to campgrounds, hostels etc). Back on top click the PRINT box. A black and white printable version of the listing will appear. You can then print out this extensive listing of trailside accommodations The listings are also a useful guide to following the National Bike Trails from one village to the next. Caution: these lodgings, partners in the Veloland Schweiz Bike Trail System, are often pricey.
U.S.A.
ADVENTURE CYCLING ASSOCIATION : the ultimate resource for bike travel in North America, Adventure Cycling has developed and mapped a series of Cycling Route Networks that cross the continent plus the Great Divide off-road route that spans the Rockies from Canada to Mexico. Its Tour Department organizes scores of group rides each year both transcontinental and to explore local regions. Its annual Yellow Pages book lists hundreds of sources with websites across the globe and its Cyclosource branch supplies full equipment for bicycle touring. While their tours and routes emphasize camping, quite a few are adaptable to motel travel.
Adventure Cycling now has maps and guidebooks for three recently-developed bike routes ideal for exploring America off the beaten path. In each case, you can ride all the way or just a section. They are:
The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route , world's longest off-road mapped bike route, traverses the Great Divide of the Rockies from Canada to Mexico.
The Lewis and Clark Trail , a 3,000-mile bike route, follows the route of the original Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803-1806. Following quiet roads through untouristed back country with magnificent scenery, this trail provides an outstanding opportunity to experience America by bicycle far from busy traffic and mass tourism.
The Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, traces
a route used by runaway slaves to reach freedom. Designed to let
you experience history from a bicycle saddle, the route follows a network
of roads, rivers and trails from the South to the Great Lakes.
BICYCLE GUIDE TO THE LEWIS AND CLARK TRAIL For more about the trail and an excellent map-guidebook authored by veteran cyclo-tourist Tod Rodger, click on www.deerfootpublications.com
PAVED BIKE TRAILS ACROSS AMERICA: aims to report on every PAVED bike trail in all 50 U.S. States that is 5 miles or more in length. Offers valuable data for anyone interested in bicycle touring on paved bike trails. Recommended!
RAILS TO TRAILS : converts disused railroad beds to hiking, biking and horseriding trails. Click on their "US Trail Information Center" for a guide to car-free trails in every state. Though most are unpaved, many make good day rides and a few can be used for multi-day tours . For a report on bike-touring the four longest Rails to Trails networks, click on Rails-to-Trails Touring in America's Midwest that covers both Missouri's Katy Trail and Wisconsin's Elroy-Sparta trail system, South Dakota's outstanding Mickelson Trail, and Minnesota's paved Root River Trail. This report is also listed on our Home Page menu.
CYCLOTOUR GUIDEBOOKS . Mile by mile reports with easy-to-follow text and maps for making your own multi-day tour around most of the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal, Finger Lakes and other Northeast biking areas. Also features links to scores of other bike-touring websites and info sources. Cyclotours, PO Box 10585, Rochester NY 14610. 716-244-6157.
STATE TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICES : these information centers, in almost every state, will mail you free road maps and general tourist information that is often helpful in planning bike tours.