Cycling UK Forum

Slowroad wrote: ↑14 Apr 2024, 8:47pm I'm a bit confused reading this - do you or do you not have to show that you have pre-booked accommodation? I'm sure cycling friends who have been to France twice in recent years just turned up at campsites.

2 different things.

1. Will you be asked- probably not.
2. If asked what should you have and some countries require accommodation prebooked, others require a monetary amount you can draw on. I think France is maybe supposed to be accommodation. - worth checking before travelling or wing it and you probably won’t be asked.

I just checked and if you have reserved accommodation for the whole trip you need to demonstrate financial resources of 65€ per day. If not prebooked financial resources of €120 per day (presumably that includes evidence capacity on a credit card or bank statement ). You also need evidence of insurance.

Pidders and Vos.

Another bout of oops, a bit too early, celebrating!

Thank you both for your thoughts and suggestions.

I have plenty of time to plan as I’m hoping to do this the first half of May next year so I will continue to reflect on your ideas. I’ll be checking the giro route when it is released to see if there is any overlap! Both so I can see it and also so I don’t have accommodation problems.

Do you think there will be mosquitoes in early may? It seems a bit early.
I recognise it will likely be built up/busy for about a third of the trip between say Rimini and Termoli- is that assumption about right?. I have already been reflecting in that. I think I’m ready to make the “sacrifice” to see the towns in the area (including side trips to Urbino and Asciolo P).

I’m definitely a fan of Italian cities and towns and I’m willing to compromise a bit in the countryside- I do love good scenery too but I get that sometimes it’s tough to get everything on one trip. I did the Po route a couple of years ago and the scenery there was a bit dull but the cities were spectacular and that worked for me. I was hoping that one acceptable compromise of the relatively busy area with tourists would be lots of cycle paths - does this look realistic? I’ve limited busy roads to just over 20km and that’s mostly to get over bridges etc.

It’s also partly around flight logistics- I’m only going to be able to travel for about 2 weeks so I think I’ll have to fly and Venice and Brindisi have a fairly reliable flight schedule to the UK.

I’m hoping that once I’ve dipped my toe into Puglia I’ll come back and visit Puglia and Basilicata more extensively.That is definitely in the plans! So is Sicily and I’ll be keeping my eyes open for other ideas- maybe some of the national parks and Apennine areas.

Ps inquiring minds want to know why the gelato is better in Puglia? Because that is tempting me!….

From the foreign office. You should check for whichever country you are entering as they seem to have slightly different requirements eg for what constitutes enough money. More brexit wins. Reminds me I need to book my insurance.

Passport stamping
At French border control, you may need to:

show proof of where you intend to stay, for example, a hotel booking or proof of address if visiting your own property
show proof of insurance for your trip – check FCDO’s travel insurance guidance
show a return or onward ticket
prove that you have enough money for your whole stay

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advic ... d%20ticket

birkhead wrote: ↑12 Apr 2024, 11:38am Plans for mid Aug are maturing, in my head at least. Trying to relive a past that has changed?
Objective: 2-3 weeks of easy cycling through French countryside and old villages, staying in small hotels etc
The constraints are no flying [for past 15 years], no long sea voyages, depart Dundee.
I have touring bike, partner has [heavy] ebike + 2 panniers each. 50-60km p.d.
Possible outward option:
DEE0634 ch/Embra KGX1248 Scotrail/LNER, LKX1504 Brux1805 Eurostar, Brux Namur c.1hr
The cycling target is La Meuse, heading S for sun. Some older posts suggest that there is too much pave, OK for MVDP but not for us.
The S part near Langres may be hilly but lovely?
Onward my eye was enticed by the Allier.

I’m doing the Allier this year -leaving in about 6 weeks. If it helps there is a train between eg Langeac and Langogne on the Cevenol line (actually there are train lines pretty much throughout). You can also get a build up to it along the Loire. Happy to share my route if you are interested, want to look at elevation profiles etc.

I’ve also looked into trains back and there are a few options. Is train plus ferry ok as an alternative to Eurostar?

I haven’t done the Meuse yet- I’ve looked at it but I don’t love cycling in the NL on tour (although I really like it for general getting around cycling).

Agreed that the Loire is super gentle. The Rhone is similar.

More delights from SNCF to confuse travellers and really annoy local residents.

puffin wrote: ↑7 Apr 2024, 11:46am

Paulatic wrote: ↑5 Apr 2024, 1:11pm Seals! When I visited Skelbo Castle , Dornoch Firth , it was full of seals.
Yet I’ve visited Chanonry Point a few times and still not seen a Dolphin.

Seal are the Labradors of the sea, they swim around with big smiles bringing waves of optimism with them. Until the Killer Whales get them, that is, but until then, they are happy and optimistic.

We have lots here and I see them as big sunbathers taking over the pontoons and being quite grumpy!

There is one people have mentioned before- maybe Welsh. I’ll let others come back to you on it.

I and various others here can give some suggestions on routes get you from wherever in france you are starting via Paris to Calais if you want to give us an outline- are you thinking of somewhere like Hendaye? The travel agents could be a good shout on prices though. How many of you are travelling?

I certainly have been following on both for the RvV and Paros Roubaix. Amstel gold this weekend and LBL next weekend if I remember it correctly. Plus the tour of Abruzzo this week and tour of the alps starting next week- lots going on - according to Discovery plus there are twenty televised races in the next week although some of that is mountain bike. I follow various podcasts like the lanterne rouge to get my cycling chitchat and to decompress from work a bit on my commute. They’ve had some interesting comments on the lack of mechanicals for MvdP mentioned further up the thread.

I enjoyed watching the women’s race and that finish was good wasn’t it, some great U23 results too. But I also enjoy watching the GOATS- we are in an amazing era. It’s a real shame that’s WvA wasnt at the last two monuments but MvdP has been amazing and I have to give him credit. Looking forward to seeing Poggie at LBL - interesting to see how he and MvdP go head to head.

We are rushing through April and the giro is around the corner. Not entirely sure what the Tour de France is going to look like with the latest pile ups but the latest medical reports suggest everyone is making some progress, even Jay Vine. Geraint Thomas or Luke rowe suggested on their pod that maybe Pogacar should miss the giro so he’s on tiptop form to beat a not fully fit Jonas V at the tour. Seems unlikely to me.

It’s obviously very personal. I’ve only cycled in Europe and the USA so I can’t claim to be an expert.

My love of Europe is basically boulangerie based- getting to a new village every half hour or so does help break the journey. I think Jonathan’s right- that human made landscape is a different cycling experience to a proper wilderness. My husband says my cycling has become less adventurous- I told him that I’d found what I liked and it’s nice routes in Europe with lovely scenic towns and regular pit stops. Having said that I do have some further flung places in my future plans - in particular the far east looks very interesting with a combination of interesting places to visit, good cycling and affordable accommodation.


Photos from Switzerland and France on the Rhone route.

Just to say that everyone seems to be « ok » with ok being a relative term- broken vertebrae for Jay Vine who seems to have come off worst and lots of other collar homes (Jonas, remco- who bunny hopped the drainage ditch), ribs etc broken for people. I’ll be interested to see if there any proposals to manage things better. Edit: the update on Stefff Cras says he also has fractured vertebrae plus the punctured lungs and broken ribs

Horrendous crash to day. I hope everyone recovers but I can’t remember a race where 3 main contenders were all out at he same spot ((Remco, Primoz, Jonas). The Basque Itzulia tour seems to have been particularly crash prone.

Cletus wrote: ↑4 Apr 2024, 2:42pm

Jdsk wrote: ↑4 Apr 2024, 10:34am

Cletus wrote: ↑4 Apr 2024, 10:27am ...
Couple of quick questions about both terminology and access, if you don't mind.

I see bridleways mentioned both on this route and others. Are these generally open to bikes?

You mention footpaths in your post. I'm assuming you're referring to some sort of hiking/walking trail where bikes can't go, rather than the footpaths you'd have at the side of roads and streets.
...

Lots of discussions in the archives on this!

My usage was specifically about England and nothing to do with pavements on "roads". You can cycle on bridleways but not on footpaths. (Runs for cover.)

"Where in England and Wales can I ride off road?":
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/cycli ... e-off-road

Jonathan

Thanks for that. I had a read of it, very interesting. We don't have the same sort of designations here in Ireland, so if there's a public access/right of way, you can cycle down it. The downside is that apart from the road network, and the newly established Greenway network, there's no real right of way or right to roam over here.

Cycle.travel and similar will be your friend in helping differentiate between rideable and best left to horses- Dorset doesn’t get as muddy as some parts of the country due to the geology (I grew up there) however it is relative! Also note that a lot of the areas you may cycle are scarp and dip - you’ll probably want to be going up the shallow sides and once up on a ridge stay there. If you like off-road then maybe use the gravel routing option on cycle.travel. It is a very beautiful part of the world. I miss the landscape.

My dad moved us there when I was small because of his love of Thomas Hardy.

mattheus wrote: ↑4 Apr 2024, 1:03pm

MrsHJ wrote: ↑4 Apr 2024, 12:28pm For those travelling by train in france this summer you may need to reserve a bike space on many regional TER services (I’ll be interested to hear about people winging it as if it’s a bad weather day I might want to use a train without a days notice). The bookings for Brittany have just gone live.

https://www.ter.veloabord.fr/

Aaargh - nothing is ever easy wtih trains!

The Web site you requested is blocked by your organization.
URLhttps://bretagne.ter.veloabord.fr/
ReasonMatched categories:

Newly Registered Websites
Sites whose domain name was registered recently

Thanks Mrs J. I'll actually be crossing Normandy at end of July, but need to check this stuff anyway ...

NP. Just to confuse you further it says Normandy is taking bicycles without reservation and then when you click through it mentions some lines that will need reservations- there is a list and it does seem to be taking reservations. Good luck!

For those travelling by train in france this summer (broadly 1 May to 30 September) you may need to reserve a bike space on many regional TER services (I’ll be interested to hear about people winging it as if it’s a bad weather day I might want to use a train without a days notice). The bookings for Brittany have just gone live.

https://www.ter.veloabord.fr/

This is the link for TER services in Brittany. Interestingly the main SNCF app doesn’t show these services at the moment if you try to book a place for you and the bike- hopefully that will be updated but one to watch out for.

However the local TER website does show them and lets you book the bike space. I’ve booked my spot for Rennes to Saint Malo in May for €1. I’’d better book my train ticket now.

https://bretagne.ter.veloabord.fr/

I still haven’t figured out whether the Cévenol line requires a bike reservation in June. I think not…….pretty sure not, I can book it on the SNCF app with the bike box ticked.