My Tour d'Europe

Starting the journey, I had only a very rough plan about the route. I knew that I mainly wanted to stay in Western Europe, that I would want to start in Italy, and that I definitely would want to go to Scotland. Initially, I planned to go to Spain and Portugal, which didn't happen. That was fine, after all, the goal was not to prove myself but to have a good time exploring parts of Europe by bike.

The bike tour was my first one, at least the first one to spread across several days. I had no clue, whether I would even like it. Or whether I would make it more than a week. The first week was bumpy, but I stuck to it and ended with more than 150 days of biking, with some additional rest days. I had a fantastic time, and while some people comment on the trip as a one-of-a-lifetime experience, I plan more tours.

From the beginning, it was very clear to me, that I wanted to travel on my own. Frankly, I did not even consider asking anybody else. I'm very good at being on my own, I'm quite confident that I would figure things out and I'm very good at talking to myself. Traveling solo gave me the freedom to go at my own pace, decide on the route rather spontaneously, and enjoy nature.

After a good six months, I decided to finish. The last stretch I even took a train, no glorious last stretch where people would wait for me. But that was fine, I was not looking for that anyhow. After all, I had a very glorious six months.

Getting started

I started my journey from Fulda, in the center of Germany. The goal was to get to Brindisi to go biking on the EuroVelo 5. I'm not big on planes, especially with a bike, so I decided to take a train. I bought a train ticket to Bologna and took it from there. The journey took three days in the end, with stops in Bologna and Bari. While it was certainly not a short one, it was quite comfortable and unstressful. Especially the train between Munich and Bologna is great! I have taken it already several times and rolling over the Brenner and seeing the landscape change is an experience. I can only recommend it, bike or not.

After a good night's sleep, I started in Brindisi. Naturally, I was a bit unsure how I would do, but as I had endless time on hand, I planned the first days very conservatively. While the route on very rural country roads was great, I had several encounters with dogs, which really threw me into a rabbit hole. In the evening I decided to take some more trains and start for real in Rome. I very certainly could have pushed through, but it's not a lot of fun to see, imaginary, dogs everywhere.

Two nights in Napoli and several pizzas later, I kicked off the tour in Rome.

Italy

The first month I spent cycling in Italy. Rome was the start and it was far more enjoyable than I thought. Once I landed on the banks of the Tiber the route lead me North direction Formello. No dogs, and a pretty easy ride with some encounters of fellow road bikers on the way. In the evening I ended the day with two portions of Cacio e Pepe, I was happy.

The next days were a bit more strenuous. Lazio and Tuscany have quite some hills, but nothing too crazy. Encounters with freely roaming animals, horses, dogs and cows, were mastered and actually enjoyed. Some highlights were the climb up to Radicofani, which was a tad exhausting, but definitely a good first test. Another one was the very unexpected appearance of Bagno Vigno. A small town with a natural pool in the center and a hot spring. Absolutely beautiful! Siena and Lucca were two larger cities on the way, two cities that I would absolutely consider moving to. Not too big, very few cars in the city centers and pretty relaxed atmosphere.

Passo della Cisa was my first pass, and it certainly tested my endurance. But some sweets and rests later I reached the top and felt like I saw a Fata Morgana. Really unexpectedly the Alps appeared. Chatting with a very fit, but rather old road cyclist, he confirmed that it was indeed the Alps.

After my first flat tire, I reached Pavia. There I left the EV5 and joined the EuroVelo 8, going West. The Po Valley was definitely not my favorite. Not very cycle-friendly. Turin was different, great cycle paths and definitely a great city to spend a rest day.

After some more cycling and a short train ride from Cuneo to Imperia, I landed in Sanremo. I was so excited to get into France. Not speaking Italian and total off-season made communication with the locals a bit hard. I was happy to be able, at least a little bit, with people. The ride to France was absolutely gorgeous, and a highlight was certainly the bike tunnel from Sanremo.

France

The Côte d'Azur was like paradise! Beautiful winding roads and the best thing: public toilets where you could even roll in with your bike! After a short stop in Monte Carlo, I continued to Nice. In the evening I met coincidentally an American woman, and it was so great to be able to really easily communicate and chatter about this and that. But the French were super friendly as well. Once I took a small rest along the way and an elderly, very chic, lady approached me. After a short chat, she told me that I was very welcome in France. Very sweet.

After biking through the mountains near the coast I eventually landed in the Camargue. I've never been there and I decided to stay two days in Saint Gilles to do a small day tour of the Camargue, without luggage. Really good decision, and one that showed me that I actually got quite fit along the road. From there I biked then to Béziers, where I left the EV8 and went westwards along the Canal des Deux Mers. And while canals might be a paradise for most cyclists, they are not for me. I don't hate them, but I definitely prefer smaller country roads through hills. More exciting. I was quite happy to leave the canal and go North, just before Bordeaux. Here I was met with beautiful nature and quite remote areas. But as also a lot of rain. Nothing that a rest day in an AirBnB could fix though. Eventually I landed in Nantes to get going on the Vélodysée, again a canal. But feeling a little bit more wild and remote.

Once I reached Morlaix, the canal times were over. The Eurovelo 4 and the Coast of Britanny were waiting, and wow! A dream! Absolutely stunning landscape, and the roads felt like made for me. Quite hilly, winding, and absolutely fun to ride. And while the food in France was already great, all these Tartes au Citron Meringuée I had, the food in the Bretagne was even more to my taste. Cidre, crêpes, Kouign-Annan, oysters and above all: the Far Breton! I really enjoyed myself! Until I had a little accident. Another cyclist shaved off parts of my hand just some meters before Mont Saint Michel. This set me a bit back and I had my first dip in motivation. But after some days without biking and some family, and tons of sea fruit, I was ready to go again. And enjoyed the beautiful clouds and coasts of the Normandy. Above all, I was very excited to get to the UK. By then I had spent several weeks in France and was ready to experience a different country. And again language. My French is alright, but my English allows me to chat with basically everybody about everything, effortlessly.

I took the ferry to Dover, visited some friends in Folkestone and London, and was ready to kick off the Land's End to John o'Groats.

England

While I had rough plans for Italy and France, I hadn't planned my tour through the UK at all. I only knew that I wanted to bike to the very northern part. I thought about the East Coast, but got a sense, that it wouldn't be such a great ride. That's when I stumbled upon the concept of the Land's End to John o'Groats. Not a fixed route, but rather the goal to bike from the most south-western point to the north eastern point of Great Britain. That sounded like a great challenge, so I went for it.

Initially I was a bit worried about cycling on the other side of the road. I was very glad to see a red line guarding me out of the harbour in Dover, that helped a lot. And just some miles down, I felt very comfortable to be on the left side. I might even say, that I prefer that to the right side. I was warned how rude the British drivers were, but here as well no problems. They were even more friendly than the french and always greeted me on the small roads.

When I arrived in Land's End, by train, my excitement was almost endless. This was such a beautiful piece of land, almost unreal. Beautiful coastline, some short, but steep, hills and bunnies everywhere! And great campsites! France had plenty of them, but they were rather functional, not nestled within nature. The British once were quite different. Often just minimal facilities, but beautiful locations!

I truly enjoyed the next weeks. Cornwall, Devon, Yorkshire Dales, and everything in between. At least when I could ride on small country roads. Even though I decided to wear my pink security vest. The roads were often curvy and the hedges made it quite often so, that I would see the cars just some meters before. I wanted to give them at least a chance to see me. Especially as my outfit and bike were mainly black, white and olive. I was fading into the hedges. Worked well.

The only thing that I disliked about England were the bike paths. Crazy. Badly maintained and when I was going along a canal, I really missed the very well kept paths in France. The worst thing were the gates. No gate was the same and almost all of them were very hard to pass with a fully loaded bike. But luckily there were only very few bike paths, and mainly between Chester and Preston.

Once I passed this stretch, nature was waiting again. Biking along the Yorkshire Dales was an absolute pleasure. Wide landscapes, sheep en masse, it slowly started to feel like Scotland.

Scotland

I tried to wash some clothes in Carlisle, but really, no laundry in that town! So, I arrived in Scotland with a bag of damp clothes that I had washed in my hotel room. But nevertheless, I was excited to arrive in Scotland! Just at the welcome sign, I met a lady who travelled with very minimal luggage and was doing the LEJOG in 7 or 8 days. Far more ambitious than I was, but she had time for a chat and is basically insisted to take a picture of me. While I'm not a big fan of having my picture taken, I'm quite glad that I have this one!

The first day in Scotland was less idyllic than I expected. While the landscape was beautiful I biked along a busy road on something that could hardly stand the test of being a bikelane. Big trucks, loaded with logs, passed me and it was certainly a tad scary. But I made quite good progress and was rewarded with an absolute stunning view from my tent in the evening.

I was about to meet a friend in Inverness, but only in a week. So, I decided to do a little bit of a detour along the eastern coast of Scotland. Fife, Angus and then along the coast direction Inverness. All very beautiful, but it did not prepare me for what was to come, the NC500 and it's absolutely breathtaking nature. Once I arrived in Inverness I got my brakes fixed and bought a new tent. I was ready to take on the North Coast 500. Together with my friend I travelled westwards. After two days we were met with quite a challenge, the Bealach Na Ba. A very steep pass, often listed as one of the best climbs in Britain. And it was a lot of work to get up, but it was fun! And the view over the Isle of Skye was definitely worth the work!

The North Coast 500 is definitely a recommendation! If you're completely untrained, I would not do it, but if you're halfway fit, it is a great challenge. After a week I was traveling alone again and made my way to John o'Groats. The LEJOG was completed! I decided to visit the Orkney and Shetland Islands, as I was already so high up north. Unfortunately the weather really turned and I was met with tons of rain and wind. Additionally I found it hard to cycle on the islands. They're small, and many roads had to be travelled twice, back and forth. That was not something that I was used to and it didn't satisfy me too much, specially with the weather. Do not get me wrong, both island groups are beautiful, but possibly more something for a dedicated visit.

Another point was that I was in a bit of a dilemma. The last months, I had a clear story to tell, I'm cycling to Scotland. Everybody was impressed, but now I lost my narrative and hadn't made clear plans on what's next. I thought about the Outer Hebrides, which I skipped, as I feared a similar experience as on the Shetland Islands. Then I thought about going to Ireland, but the weather forecast was really bad. I meandered around, spent some beautiful days in the Scottish Highlands and later cycled through the Lake District. All in all, I had lost a bit of direction.

Eventually I decided to go back to the European Mainland and to visit my brother in Cologne, my nephews were starting school. But I had some weeks to gap and I made the plan to cycle through France, quickly tourch ground in Basel and then bike up to Cologne.

Back in France

When I arrived I was greeted with a lot of sunshine and high temperatures! It was mid July and summer had started. That was a welcomed change, the last two weeks had been quite rainy, and now the wheat fields were ready for harvest. Biking for such a long time, it's great to see changes in nature. I remember that I saw several times baby swans, now they became almost teenagers.

The whole stretch to Basel really felt like fast tracking, I gained strength and endurance and this part of France was not that hilly and the majority of days I biked well over 100km.

Paris was interesting to see. When you visit it as a tourist it's hard to see what a huge city it actually is. I biked almost two days in the suburbs. Coming from the north was pretty hard, I got lost in a forest, and then really had a battle to find my way to my campsite. Getting into Paris was an endless stretch along a canal. Paris itself, chaos. I'm a big fan of Paris and I really admire what they're doing to make it a more livable city, I wish Berlin would even do a fracture of that. But while the bike paths were plenty and they were wide, there were so many vehicles at different speed that it was a bit scary with such a loaded bike. People on normal bikes, going slow. Tuned e-scooters, e-bikes. Nobody sticking to any rules. But I believe these are growing pains.

From Paris onwards I cycled along the EuroVelo 3 and after that on local french bike routes. It was definitely beautiful, but Scotland had me so spoiled that the more subtle beauty of that landscape didn't leave big impressions. But it was enjoyable and partially seemingly popular with other bike tourists. Plenty of people on the roads!

Eventually I reached Mulhouse and biked then along the Rhine to Basel where I was welcomed by relatives. Just upon arrival, thunder came up and I was very glad that I had a roof over my head. From Basel I planned to go up to Cologne, along the EuroVelo 15. Pretty quickly I change the route though, no longer sticking to the Rhine, but rather going a bit more inwards, closer to the Black Forest. I just prefer mountains. Some kilometers before Baden-Baden, I checked the weather report. And there were warnings, plenty of them. That the next days would hold tremendous amounts of rain. I was a bit in a pickle. My brother was still on vacation. If heavy rain would set in, I could not just take a train to get to him. The doors would be closed. So I decided to bike to Karlsruhe and then take a train to Fulda, where my parents live. It was long day, more than 155km and a night spent at the train station, but it was a good decision. The next days were horrendous, so much rain!

Germany

I felt like I've cheated a bit though, and therefore decided to bike from Fulda to Cologne. I had planned three days for that. The first day was quite fun, I had hardly biked around my hometown and it was great to see the region from the perspective of a cyclist. I made good progress and therefore decided that I could actually bike the rest in one day. I believe close to 200km. Just when I left the campsite though it started pouring. I had fun though and the mountains in the Sauerland were a good challenge! But several times I was misguided by the sides and did quite some detours. And the rain got heavier, I was quite drenched. It was clear that I wouldn't make it. I decided to bike to Siegen and then take the train to Cologne. I was a bit sad about that, but happy to meet my brother and his family. I spent quite some days on the couch, before I started again.

The first day let me to Aachen, or almost. I didn't bother to get into the city. I lived there for more than five years, and absolutely hated it. I was glad when I reached Kelmis.

Belgium and East France

The next few days were painful. Not moving for some days was not a good idea. I had terrible back pain and couldn't make too much progress. Belgium was quite beautiful, but I was in pain and I was totally confused about what language to speak. When I spoke Dutch, they answered in French, and when I spoke French, they answered in German.

By then it was also August, the high season for tourists. The campsites were full, and frankly, not very pleasant. Bad sleep, back pain, not a happy camper. After a rainy day in Luxembourg, I spent another rainy day in Germany and was back in France. My mood only got better when I reached the Alsace. Landscape changed, and it was great to cycle through the vineyards. But in the end I was just hoping to get quickly to Switzerland. Which I eventually did.

Switzerland

Since I returned to mainland Europe, the Alps had been my main goal. I knew that this was the last significant stretch of my tour. And I wanted to prove myself. I had gained a lot of strength and endurance and I wanted to do some big passes. And I was not disappointed, but before the big hills, there was absolute pristine beauty.

Once I reached Lucerne, I felt like in paradise. That city is absolutely gorgeous and the road along the Lake Lucerne was nothing but outstanding. I spent roughly two days on the lake, really enjoying myself. Eventually I reached Sisikon where things got real. From Sisikon I started the Klausen Pass. I decided to split it in two parts, as unfortunately it was clear that the weather was changing. Going up a pass is my favorite. There's the deep respect of the ascend that needs to be mastered and the work that it needs. It's almost like meditation, taking it step by step. And there's as well some sort of camaraderie while going up. From and to all cyclists. At least almost all. I have no problems with e-bikes, not at all. I think it's great that they enable people riding bikes, even when they're maybe already a bit older or less fit. But on a pass, not appreciated. They simply don't understand how much effort it is to ride a fully loaded bike up when they overpass you. Road cyclists are different. They know the pain, and really appreciate your efforts. I had several road bikes accompanying me for some time to encourage me. Was always appreciated!

Once I reached my hotel halfway on the Klausen Pass, thunder came rolling in. I was glad that I decided to take it slow. Being high up in the Alps and a thunderstorm is not what I wanted to experience. Early next morning I continued and had fabulous sunshine!

At least in the morning. Once I descended the weather changed again and a lot of rain was forecasted. I had booked a room in Fanas for two days, but I actually extended the stay. The rain was massive and there was no way that I would bike. But having a pause is always dangerous. You have too much time at hand and start to doubt your decisions. My original plan was to take the Albula Pass and then head East. But the weather forecast made the Bernardino Pass more doable. But then I had to go back to Italy. I thought about it back and fourth. Eventually I decided for the Albula Pass, after another day waiting out the rain in Surava. My host was really worried that I would make it, which made me worried, at least a bit. But the great thing about Switzerland is, that there are many trains you can take, even in remote areas. The worry was not necessary though, I made it to the top. Even though my stomach was turning at times when I looked at the cliffs going down right beside the street. The pass is already quite high up, around 2300m. No more trees, and a stiff wind. But fabulous, it was so much fun. And a long way down, passing little villages and having fantastic views!

Compared to the day on the Albula, the next days were easy-peasy. But not less stunning! Still massive mountains and plenty of great views. And the best thing was that the weather changed again, to sunshine. When I arrived in Scuol, I was flabbergasted. This view on the Inn and the church was crazy. It came absolutely unexpected and I was standing for at least twenty minutes on the bridge and admired the view.

The way up to the Norbertshöhe was my last climb in Switzerland. It was a fun one, but the way down through Volders and direction Italy was amazing. This stretch is on the Via Claudia Augusta and it's going down, on a beautiful bike path. After the expensive and exhausting Switzerland, it felt like vacation has started. I enjoyed a day in Glurns, before I was heading towards the Brenner to get into Austria.

Heading home

Going up the Brenner was fantastic! Bike path, really well maintained. But going down, what a shitshow. First you have this village which is filled with cars and no more bike paths, or even lanes. The way down is steep and the cars are fast. Very much not recommended, but the way up must be worse. But it got even worse, once I reached a bike path. It was a steep, a very steep, gravel road. I thought about turning around and taking the main road again, but frankly, I didn't dare to go down. I feel it would have ended with a disaster. Eventually I came to a road again, but still no blissfully descend, but up and down with partially steep hills. Once I arrived in Innsbruck, I was glad. And celebrated with a good meal.

Then I realized already that I was ready to go home. I spend a day on the Innradweg, before entering Bavaria. I do love Bavaria! Specially the food! Flädlesuppe, Ochsengulasch, Bayrische Creme and large beers! I thought about taking the train from Munich to Fulda, but there were no trains leaving the Munich station that day. I biked to Augsburg and eventually took the train from Donauwörth to Fulda. Not without getting a last and rather impressive scratch on my leg. The last few kilometers to Eichenzell I enjoyed the sunshine and was welcomed with some sparkling wine and food. I was done! :)

Note: I have skipped Ireland and Spain/Portugal. I will do these countries in two tours this year.