Euro Velo 6

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
peterdpusey
Posts: 19
Joined: 3 Mar 2018, 5:20pm

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by peterdpusey »

I cycled Euro Velo 6 last year as far as Budapest surface was really good though I was on a touring bike but carrying camping gear. In parts people were using it for roller blading and on days when the wind was blowing behind me even fully laden I was peddling along in top gear.

I had thought of going as far as the Black Sea however as you get further East the infrastructure deteriorates and by that time I was tired so flew back from Budapest.

Following the rivers it’s pretty flat most of the way in fact the hardest bit of my journey was on the way home cycling up the mount in Guildford I almost had to get off and push! That was after 2000 miles of cycling.
yutkoxpo
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Joined: 20 Feb 2017, 5:12pm

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by yutkoxpo »

Just looking again at EV6. The section after Vidin is labelled as in the planning stage. Looking in more detail, after Vidin the route seems to be further away from the Danube than previously, ie no more river cycling. I'd imagine that means a big contrast between cycling facilities in the early stages and later stages.

For Ian who wants to cycle the whole way, you could put together a circular route following EV6 and taking one of the intersections with EV 13 to head back, branching off to follow either EV4 or EV2 to bring you back towards the UK.

Interactive EV maps here: http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos
Downloadable EV GPS and KML files here: http://www.worldbiking.info/wordpress/2 ... ps-tracks/
RobinS
Posts: 214
Joined: 9 Apr 2015, 10:01am

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by RobinS »

Our planning for this season is EV6 as far as Bratislava, then head north into Czechia to pick up the River Elbe cycleroute all the way back to the North Sea, then the N.Sea cycleroute to Hook of Holland. This seems to give us reasonable numbers of campsites and other facilities all along our route. Issue we have had with "self designed" routes is that we have often had to divert 20 or 30km off-route to find campsites and food shops.
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by Psamathe »

RobinS wrote:Our planning for this season is EV6 as far as Bratislava, then head north into Czechia to pick up the River Elbe cycleroute all the way back to the North Sea, then the N.Sea cycleroute to Hook of Holland. This seems to give us reasonable numbers of campsites and other facilities all along our route. Issue we have had with "self designed" routes is that we have often had to divert 20 or 30km off-route to find campsites and food shops.

I've been having a look a Archies Camping sites and was hoping they don't have much info on Romania yet. Seems the closer you get to the Black Sea, the fewer camp sites there are (except for the stretch close the Black Sea coast heading south). Also checked Booking.com and not a vast amount on there either (of hotels, not camp sites). Of course this might just mean they don't have many places in their databases or maybe that it's more wild camping ...

Ian
bobzeller
Posts: 114
Joined: 20 Aug 2013, 8:37pm

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by bobzeller »

Again, many thanks to all. I'll get back after I get back in May.

Cheers

Bob
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Tigerbiten
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Joined: 29 Jun 2009, 6:49am

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by Tigerbiten »

In eastern europe, I basically wild camped for roughly 4 nights then a cheap hotel of a night or two, this worked out at roughly the same price as 5-6 nights at campsites.
There was so much space, it was easy to find a site away from/ out of sight of the road.
I also found the pace of life was so slow that anybody how found me was bothered.
As for route finding, I just tried to string small roads together in the direction I was going.
I found that unless you're on a main through route, the roads tended to be empty.

YMMV ........... :D
Antbrewer
Posts: 179
Joined: 1 Jul 2016, 9:14am

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by Antbrewer »

May I ask is it better to ride the EV6 East to West or West to East?
Looking at the profile it would appear that there is a slight downhill towards the Atlantic but do the prevailing winds come from the west?? Then a possible headwind????
I can start at Nantes via St Malo or fly to Basel and start via Mulhouse area.

Any thoughts
Anthony
simonhill
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Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by simonhill »

Antbrewer wrote:May I ask is it better to ride the EV6 East to West or West to East?
Looking at the profile it would appear that there is a slight downhill towards the Atlantic but do the prevailing winds come from the west?? Then a possible headwind????
I can start at Nantes via St Malo or fly to Basel and start via Mulhouse area.

Any thoughts
Anthony


Mulhouse/Basel is about 260 m above sea level, so you will have this drop to the coast. However that is a long way and will make little difference. If I was worried about hills, I would look at individual climbs, etc ie some may be short and steep, others long and gentle.

The prevailing wind is westerly which makes the E>W (edited) less favourable, but this is very variable. Last summer (end June/early July) I cycled from Basle to Nieuport (Dunkirk) and had a NE headwind all the way.

Personally, I would be more interested in the transport logistics. Flying in to Basle is easy with bike packed at home and box dumped at airport. As you say, easy to get from Nantes to Channel port.
Last edited by simonhill on 16 May 2019, 8:03am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sweep
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Location: London

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by Sweep »

simonhill wrote:
The prevailing wind is westerly which makes the W>E less favourable, but this is very variable. Last summer (end June/early July) I cycled from Basle to Nieuport (Dunkirk) and had a NE headwind all the way.

rt.


Sorry, may have misunderstood. Doesn't a westerly wind blow from the west TOWARDS the east?
Sweep
simonhill
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Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Euro Velo 6

Post by simonhill »

Yes thanks Sweep, edited. Duuuh!

My overall conclusion was (meant to be) that going E>W would be OK if not better as wind and hills not major considerations compared to ease of start and finish logistics.

As I said, I flew to Basle last year and this year am flying to Bordeaux. Flights need to be booked in advance for decent price and also boxing, etc easier done at home.. Ferries and trains to from port can be bought on the day. This give fixed date for outbound with flexibility for return.
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