Great Destinations On A European Bicycle Tour

A European bicycle tour is a thrilling way to see the sights of Europe. A cycling holiday has many advantages over the traditional European vacation, which typically involves plans, trains, rented cars, hotel reservations, and laundry lists of cities to visit.

First of all, biking through Europe is good for your health. You’ll burn a lot of calories covering 50-80 miles a day on your bike; this exercise, in turn, will give you plenty of opportunities to fill up on delicious local fare. Second, one of the last remaining ways to see Europe cheaply is by bike. Tour Europe in any other way, and (if you’re from America) you’ll be shocked at the exchange rate between the Euro and the dollar. Third, traveling by bike affords you flexibility during your Europe trip, especially if you’re carrying your tent on your back.

Although a bicycle tour of Europe ultimately requires less planning than a traditional European vacation, the planning that you do undertake will carry far greater consequences. The route you chose can make or break your bicycle tour. Europe has some fantastic, scenic, not crowded bicycle-friendly roads. However, some European roads are ill-suited for long-distance biking. Before you plan your racing or mountain biking tour of the continent, keep in mind these top ten European biking spots.

Provence, Southern France – Hot Spot Bicycle Tour

Provence, in southern France, is perhaps the best-loved region of Europe among biking enthusiasts. The roads that traverse the countryside of Provence are largely free of traffic. The land is mostly flat, for easy biking. During early autumn, you will feel as though you can bike forever through the same golden fields of corn that inspired Van Gogh, and that now line both sides of the road. In the summer, Provence is full of wildflowers. If you want to add challenge to your rides, veer eastward. You’ll be rewarded with an opportunity to visit out-of-the-way hilltop villages.

The Italian Dolomites are one of the best places in Europe for arduous mountain biking. Every year, the professional cyclists ride through these intimidating peaks during the course of the Giro d’Italia, the most important bike race in Europe after the Tour de France.

The French Alps are a European bicycle tour hot spot for a similar reason: the difficult terrain of the Alps forms the arena for the yearly Tour de France competition.

If you’re not yet ready to tackle endless mountainous ascents, the lesser, but still quite challenging hills of Umbria and Tuscany can be a good place to begin your bike tour. Italy gets very picturesque here. You’ll be biking among sunny hills, vineyards, villas, and gothic churches full of Renaissance paintings and frescoes. During the course of your journey through the countryside, you’ll pass through a few local villages. These are great places to purchase cheap, good wine.

If you prefer Spain to Italy, consider the option of a downhill mountain bike through the Picos de Europa. Of course, when you’re riding in the mountains, you’re going to be riding up as well as down. The Picos de Europa, located in northern Spain, are a challenge to bike, but the natural scenery (and absence of cars or even other cyclists) is certainly worth it.

Until recently, Eastern Europe has been overlooked as a cycling destination. One of the best and most challenging Eastern European bike routes is what’s known as the “amber trail” between Budapest, Hungary and Krakow, Poland. Bikers along this route follow the path taken by medieval and early-modern amber traders. The route takes bikers through farms and through villages and along the banks of Danube river. Eventually, the route takes the bikers into the Low and High Tatras mountain ranges, which makes for a grueling trip in either direction.

A good historical bike route follows the Way of St. James of Compostela through France and Spain. The Way of St. James is a historic pilgrimage route along which medieval pilgrims–in a sense, the first tourists–traveled by the thousands.

The Dordogne Valley and the Loire Valley are two more French biking hot spots. The Dordogne Valley features prehistoric cave paintings, while the Loire Valley boasts many views of French chateaux (castles). Finally, for easy, flat cycling among some of the most beautiful and melancholy scenery you’ll ever see in your life, try starting your European bicycle in the Netherlands (specifically, in Holland).