10-30 day tour recommendations for the summer

[johnmotson]

Hi I'm looking for some ideas for 10-30 day cycle tours for this summer.

Would be camping and cycling on a road bike with touring tyres, doing between 70 and 100 miles per day depending on terrain.

Happy to fly or leave from the UK, and would much prefer point to point in a straight-ish line.

Beautiful scenery preferable.

Ideas so far:
- John O'Groats to Lands End
- London to Austria/Budapest
- Euro Velo 6 route

Any suggestions welcome

[gbnz]

Have to admit I've always found the most enjoyable approach is to simply have some idea of an end destination and then ride to it.

You've mentioned Budapest, I'd just get on the bike and set off (Having ensured the bikes and gear is in working order, with cash & time available). I gave my employers their marching orders last week and if things haven't improved on my return next week, I fancy a ride over to the Alps. Plenty of opportunity on route to note sights worth seeing.

[tatanab]

English Channel coast to the Med and back. Go down one way and back another. I did a 1500 mile version of that 2 years ago, camping, down through the Massif Central and back through Causse de Quercy towards the Atlantic coast before turning for home.

[eileithyia]

Explore Ireland?
Do you have other interests / hobbies, link up with those; bird watching, castles, old churches? British Cycle Quest... use it to create routes, explore lesser visited parts of our own island and tick a few locations off.

[pal]

How about some combination of EV12 and EV1, to take you from the Netherlands up to Norway? (West coast of Norway can't be beaten if Beautiful Scenery's what you're after, imo...).

[Ant...]

30 days! Blimy. The world is your lobster. Grab a flight and follow your nose.

[Vorpal]

With 30 days, I'd be tempted to just pack up and start pedalling, and see where my fancy took me.

If helps any, scenery in Norway, is amazing and camping is free. Camping is also free in Sweden, and while the scenery is (mostly) not quite as impressive, it has it own charm.

Norway is not cheap for food, and especially pubs and restaurants, but it can't be beat for scenery. When I can take the time to do it, I intend to put together a tour of Norwegian stave churches.

Other tours I can recommend: the Danube cycle route, southern Germany / northern Austria, and the Rhine cycle route (I haven't done all of it, but the parts I have done were really nice).

Denmark is one the nicest places to cycle tour that I've been, but the scenery isn't as impressive as some other places I've been. The most scenic parts of Denmark are the Islands https://wikitravel.org/en/Sydfynske_%C3%98hav and on the other side http://eng.nationalparkvadehavet.dk/ is adjacent to the Nordfriesisches Wattenmeer on the German/Danish border.

[johnmotson]

Thanks all for the ideas!

Netherlands to Norway seems like a great shout - I cycled part of Norway a few years back in August and it was beautiful (if not very cold that time of year!). Would love to go back.

Re getting on the bike and following my nose - seems ideal and very romantic but how do you work out a route as you go? I’d imagine you go from interesting place to the next place over a few days then plan where to go next?

I’ve done a few tours with 1-3 friends in the past and always had a blast. This would be my first time riding solo, would love to hear your experiences from first solo-tours

Thanks

[Vorpal]

Re getting on the bike and following my nose - seems ideal and very romantic but how do you work out a route as you go? I’d imagine you go from interesting place to the next place over a few days then plan where to go next?

I aks locals about interesting things to do or places to go.

Or, I call a day or so ahead to likely places to stay, then plan out a route.

Sometimes, I just see a road that looks interesting and go down it.

[Paulatic]

My First solo Tour experience....
Took far too much stuff! My how those panniers can weigh you down
Places of interest can crop up every hour or so not just days away.
Don’t set your mileage to next overnight stay too high bashing on to get there can hurt.

[tatanab]

Re getting on the bike and following my nose - seems ideal and very romantic but how do you work out a route as you go?

On recent tours I've met people doing just that. Over by the Swiss border (I was just following my nose too in a loop across France to Switzerland and back) I met a couple of lads going to a music festival in Croatia. Their only plan was to get there in time. Two years ago, central France, (I was heading home from a ride looping channel to the Med and back) I met a young chap going to an event in Spain. He had a compass and a map of France and Spain on a single sheet. The map was to give him an idea of where the major cities are when he saw signposts, but he said that he was riding on the compass and as long as he was going south he was happy.

[johnmotson]

Thanks, I hadn’t considered taking such a free spirited approach but totally makes sense and seems much more appealing.

I thought I would follow one of the euro velo routes but nothing is jumping out... after looking at Google Maps I like the look of getting a ferry to Amsterdam and cycling through Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and onto Venice. Then depending on time head back up to Vienna or Prague.

Or I could even fly to Oslo and head south through Sweden and Denmark then pick up the trail to Venice.

Thanks all for the inspiration

[Vorpal]

Or I could even fly to Oslo and head south through Sweden and Denmark then pick up the trail to Venice.

I think you'd miss some of the best of Norway, if you did that.

Other alternatives...

Fly to Bergen, head north along the coast, then south (from Molde, Kristiansund, or Trondheim?) through the middle of Norway to Lillehammar, then Oslo. Depending on route and how many miles per day, that could be anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks. Or you could take the train part of the way.

Or fly to Bergen, ferry to Flåm or train to Voss or Myrdal, and take Rallervegen over the mountains. Then you can either head to Oslo, or down Hallingdal to Horten or Sandefjord to get the ferry across Oslo fjord. Depending on route, transport choices, and daily distance that is between 2 and 5 days. For example, Bergen to Myrdal on the train is perhaps an hour and a half, then cycling to Horton is roughly 180 miles. The first 50 is off-road, and occasionally rough, but doable on a touring bike (conditions vary alot from year to year & it's possible that you would need to walk a couple of the roughest sections). There is also a lot of climbing at the start (3 or 400 meters?) and then it is mostly downhill.

If you do decide to fly to Oslo and head for Sweden, you can see a bit of scenic Norway first by going from Gardemoen to Hønefoss, down either side of Tyrifjorden, and to the ferry at Horten or Sandefjord. If you take the shorter route, you can camp near Kongensutsikt (King's view) which is a hell of a climb, but well worth it for the view over Tyrifjorden. The Oslo side of Tyrifjorden is busier than the other side. The E16 is to be avoided as much as possible (any 'E' road in Norway and Sweden is, except in the north, where it is usually impossible, and not so busy, anyway.

[gregoryoftours]

What about up to Nordkapp? Albania is great too, very genuine friendly and loads of variety, great scenery and food, stick to smaller roads

[gregoryoftours]

Around the coast of Ireland, as far as you get in the time. Co Donegal is great, don't miss out Malin head, an absolutely amazing place to wild camp if you get the weather