Cycling UK Forum

Hi. I'm planning a cycle trip from Johannesburg, South Africa to London. I plan to cycle up the west coast and return down the east coast. Does anyone know of all the visa requirements? Also when is the best time to cycle through Europe, weather related. I would appreciate any feedback.

You will need to state your nationality and what passport you hold before anyone can answer this.

Also as visa requirements change frequently, relying on old info can be a problem.

And regarding European weather, it can be summed up as temperate and changeable. There are no wet or dry periods, it can rain at any time of year and prolonged dry periods can also happen at any time. The Mediterranean is normally dry during the summer months, but this year proved even that wrong, as they had prolonged rain in the early summer. Probably the one reliable factor is the predominance of south-westerly winds blowing off the Atlantic in western Europe for much of the year, though during our spring winds are often from the N.E.

In short, the weather in Europe is probably one of the less important factors to help you decide on when to go.

Passports and visas
https://www.passportindex.org/compareby ... &fl=&s=yes
That will get you a rough idea.

Climate.
The problem is picking the wet on the west coast.

Finding others who have travelled there. And lots of info.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ Very few bicyclists, mostly motorcyclists but they do accept bicycles etc.

simonhill wrote:You will need to state your nationality and what passport you hold before anyone can answer this.

Also as visa requirements change frequently, relying on old info can be a problem.

Hi Simonhill

I am in possession of an Argentinian passport as well as South African. Which passport do you think would be more easier to travel with?

This is worth a read -
http://helenstakeon.com/take-on-africa/

I've no idea about those 2 passports, my point was that no one could advise without such info. I doubt anyone on this primarily UK based forum can. Nonetheless, I just had a quick look on that passport index link mentioned above and at first glance both passports seemed about the same. Also, virtually every country I looked at required a visa.

To be honest, this sort of research is fundamental to your trip and you should be doing it yourself. My knowledge of visas is mainly Asia and every one seems to have its own quirks. Some at border, some only in preceding capital, some on web, some only from home country, etc, etc

I would suggest that you start detailed planning of your route and investigate the visa requirements on a country by country basis.

Re the weather, there are some good sites that give historical data - I often use AccuWeather. Maybe your first look should be at some general climate info for Africa, is when are wet and dry seasons, etc. You can then tie this in with your route planning.

For Europe, it's basically the opposite of SA, our summers are June to August.

Heating wrote:

simonhill wrote:I am in possession of an Argentinian passport as well as South African. Which passport do you think would be more easier to travel with?

Take both!

At sometime you will be after more than one visa.
Put one passport to one embassy for visa one.
Put the other passport for visa tow with the other embassy.
This reduces your waiting time.

Sometimes you will find one passport is more acceptable (less fees or waiting) than the other. Use the link I gave above to compare the passports to the places you want to go.

For travelling you may find it better to personally identify yourself as Argentinian, there are still some who associate Apartheid and South Africans.

I associate South Africa with Nelson Mandela, +1

I suggest you read this book. That way you will avoid a lot of problems…

https://wordery.com/around-africa-on-my ... ZHEALw_wcB

Al

Not that I have done it, but I think you have to be a bit careful flip flopping passports. It's common for countries to check exit stamps from the previous country. This is difficult if it is in a different passport. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Again, you need to heck on a country by country basis.

Can't give specific but if I was doing it I would look at arriving Southern Spain in April / early May in order to (hopefully) enjoy the warmer months of a European summer.

Can't offer any help on visa issues etc., other than a note of caution (and I know it is not Africa). A few years ago a friend was travelling across Europe to Pakistan, they got their visas for Pakistan in Turkey and were waiting over there for the time required for it arrive. On arrival in Pakistan it was found they had a business visa and not a tourist visa... so take care. They were sent back to their port of origin. There is an upside to the story, they would have been in the earthquake zone had all gone to plan just as the earthquake hit...

simonhill wrote:Not that I have done it, but I think you have to be a bit careful flip flopping passports. It's common for countries to check exit stamps from the previous country. This is difficult if it is in a different passport. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Again, you need to heck on a country by country basis.

Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I will follow this advice.

simonhill wrote:I've no idea about those 2 passports, my point was that no one could advise without such info. I doubt anyone on this primarily UK based forum can. Nonetheless, I just had a quick look on that passport index link mentioned above and at first glance both passports seemed about the same. Also, virtually every country I looked at required a visa.

To be honest, this sort of research is fundamental to your trip and you should be doing it yourself. My knowledge of visas is mainly Asia and every one seems to have its own quirks. Some at border, some only in preceding capital, some on web, some only from home country, etc, etc

I would suggest that you start detailed planning of your route and investigate the visa requirements on a country by country basis.

Re the weather, there are some good sites that give historical data - I often use AccuWeather. Maybe your first look should be at some general climate info for Africa, is when are wet and dry seasons, etc. You can then tie this in with your route planning.

For Europe, it's basically the opposite of SA, our summers are June to August.

Thank you for the input. The only reason I posted here was to get some experienced thoughts and shares.

Heating wrote:

simonhill wrote:Not that I have done it, but I think you have to be a bit careful flip flopping passports. It's common for countries to check exit stamps from the previous country. This is difficult if it is in a different passport. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Again, you need to heck on a country by country basis.

Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. I will follow this advice.

Maybe you should always show both passports, is there any guidance? Dual nationality is common enough, is it possible to have three or more passports?