Pressure of arranging honeymoon - lets have your ideas...

[Isotonicake]

I'm just wishing that whole endeavour comes crashing down, the whole brexit thing gets cancelled and as a nation we collectively treat it as an embarrassing one night stand no-one ever dares mention ever again.

If the [inappropriate word removed] hits the fan then it'll be a sailing holiday on the west coast of Scotland - not that that is a terrible proposition in itself.

[The utility cyclist]

Navrig - that's what I started from, but the train Glasgow to Plymouth is £900 return cattle class, with a further £400 odd for the ferry. At that price, we'd be cheaper driving or getting a first class BA flight somewhere...

Dunno how much Glasgow to London is by train but by train London to Barcelona isn't mega bucks and can be as little as 10 hours, I was just checking it out the other day.

[LollyKat]

Advance purchase tickets are much cheaper, and depending on the day and time of travel you can get some very good bargains. E.g. Saturdays are cheaper than Fridays and Sundays. Alternatively an open return (valid for a month) is often cheaper than two singles.

[nirakaro]

flying to Florence, then going Bologna, Torino, Grenoble, nimes, Carcassonne, Bordeaux, Biarritz then home from Bilbao...

Great area for cycling - especially honeymoon cycling - but be aware of big hills between Florence and Bologna. And, I believe, between Italy and France.

[MrsHJ]

Are you set on Southern Europe? I would find it too hot in July for a cycle tour but ymmv. Id lean towards the mountains (sounds too hilly for you) or Scandinavia or the Baltic’s or actually Ireland (again maybe too hilly). I love doing the Santander route and have cycled in and out of there several times but in May/June or September.

[Isotonicake]

Thanks for all the responses - not set on southern mainland Europe per-se, more chose the regions for food & wine! One of the reasons we love touring so, is we aim to eat out at least once a day. The guilt free pleasure of a large & long lunch with a bottle of chilled white wine is something that just does not get to happen at home / day-to-day life.

Last year when we did Dijon to Monpellier we were getting +40'c most days. We found provided we got up getting up and on the road for 7 it wasn't too bad - provided it was flat so keeping 20kmph was fairly easy. Any sort of climbing / effort and it was hellish. The previous year in the Loire it probably averaged 30'c & was far more pleasant.

[MrsHJ]

Thanks for all the responses - not set on southern mainland Europe per-se, more chose the regions for food & wine! One of the reasons we love touring so, is we aim to eat out at least once a day. The guilt free pleasure of a large & long lunch with a bottle of chilled white wine is something that just does not get to happen at home / day-to-day life.

Last year when we did Dijon to Monpellier we were getting +40'c most days. We found provided we got up getting up and on the road for 7 it wasn't too bad - provided it was flat so keeping 20kmph was fairly easy. Any sort of climbing / effort and it was hellish. The previous year in the Loire it probably averaged 30'c & was far more pleasant.

Totally understood-I am a foodie and live with a wine connoisseur. One of his happiest days was cycling through Rioja whereas I was having a hellish time. I would recommend cycling in Ireland for the food by the way and the pubs (but not for the wine or the weather although at least you won’t be too hot).

As a compromise In July I think I’d lean towards western France -how about doing some of the velodysee (I did it before the route was formalised and it can be done as a flat trip). You could ferry to roscoff or fly to Brittany and then connect via voies vertes to the Nantes Brest canal which avoids the hilly bits of Brittany and then. From Nantes it’s mostly flat until the Pyrenees. You could come back from biarritz or various towns/cities in south west France or go for the mountains and continue on to Santander. Highly recommended for foodies anyway (Breton food is amazing, you have meaty south west France, cognac, fish on the coast in places like La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Rioja etc). Good luck.

[RickH]

Probably no use at all but your request reminded me of a picture shared on Facebook recently

(original here - https://www.facebook.com/circecycles/ph ... ater&ifg=1
I don't know if you need to be signed in to see it)

[Slowroad]

I'm just wishing that whole endeavour comes crashing down, the whole brexit thing gets cancelled and as a nation we collectively treat it as an embarrassing one night stand no-one ever dares mention ever again.

If the [inappropriate word removed] hits the fan then it'll be a sailing holiday on the west coast of Scotland - not that that is a terrible proposition in itself.

Couldn't have said it better myself! Except I'll be cyclng not sailing.
OP - apologies, congratulations, and have a great honeymoon! Lots of inspiring ideas

[Vorpal]

Thanks for all the responses - not set on southern mainland Europe per-se, more chose the regions for food & wine! One of the reasons we love touring so, is we aim to eat out at least once a day. The guilt free pleasure of a large & long lunch with a bottle of chilled white wine is something that just does not get to happen at home / day-to-day life.

The Rhine cycle route goes through several areas where wine grapes are grown, and there are a couple of loops off the route that include wineries &/or tasting tours.

I'm not a wine drinker, but I met other cyclists on the route that were doing cycle touring / wine tasting on the Rhine cycleway. The Rhine Gorge (Mainz to Koblenz) has both wine, and romantic views.

I would start at the Alpine end. You can take the Rhine cycleway as far as you want; there area a couple of different alternatives at the northern end.

The Wauchau valley on the Danube route also has some wine tasting stops, so that might be something to investigate, as well.

Germany.travel has some information about wine & cycling routes... http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-citi ... html#h1307