Cykelvägar

Routes

A week-long bicycle tour on Mallorca ignited my desire for longer European trips: captivating countryside, other cultures, and pleasant people.
I like to ride north with the sun on my back, while experiencing springtime. The landscape is lovelier in the spring light, and your eyes don’t tire as easily. Plus traffic is less problematic because drivers behind you aren’t blinded by the light.

In 1996, I started in Nice and cycled across snowy Liguria Mountains and the Po River Valley. Then I visited Venice, checked out a wintry Tyrol, headed south to see northern Italy’s five lakes, received a lift through the St. Gotthard tunnel, which brought me into Switzerland’s soul, southern Germany’s Black Forest, the Rhine Valley, Westerwald Mountains, Lüneburg Heath (German: Lüneburger Heide), Lübeck, and home – almost 3500 kilometres.
Then the stages idea arose: realise a childhood dream to bike home from Africa.

In 1997 I started in Alicante, took the southern coast around Spain to Lisbon, caught the train back to Alicante, and followed the coast north to the Rhone Valley, headed for Charmonix, the Swiss Alps, and southern Germany. I bought the cheapest train ticket through Germany into Sweden and then home again via a sleeping compartment on the train to Stockholm. About 3500 km.

In 1998, I started near the Austrian border and biked toward Frankfurt, through Pfalz to Luxembourg, alongside the Mosel. Then I went into Belgium and at bit into the Netherlands, where heart problems forced me to head toward Germany again and take the train to Stockholm. About 1000 km.

In 1999: no biking.

In 2000, I visited Catholic shrines and followed pilgrimages from the Algarve coast via Fatima in Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain’s northwest corner. Then I took the coastal route (due to snow in the mountains) to Lourdes in a very chilly France. I hopped a train to Cohem and biked into summer warmth in the Mosel Valley and finally stopped after about 2000 km and took the warmth home with me.

In 2001, I started in Passau, Germany and biked along the Danube to the Serbian border via Croatia and Slovenia to Trieste and then to Venice, Italy. I took the train to Stockholm and biked to a Midsummer festival in Värmland. About 2000 km.

In 2002, I started in Linz, Austria and warmed-up along the Danube heading toward Hungary before I turned north toward the Morava Mountains in the Czech Republic and then the Tatras (a mountain range that forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland). I also visited a few sites of cultural interest in Poland. I caught the Gdansk-Karlskrona ferry and picked up a biking trail along Sweden’s east coast – heading up to Stockholm. About 2000 km.

In 2003: no biking.

In 2004, I took the ferry to Gdansk, Poland and biked west to Stade – beyond Hamburg – before I turned to the north toward Skagen, Denmark’s north-most point. I caught the Fredrikshavn-Göteborg ferry and biked through Sweden’s Västergötland province to Värmland. 2000 km.

It’s good to be able to show where Sweden is located and to keep a diary when biking long stretches.

Impressions

Most biking friendly      Switzerland, Germany’s countryside, and the Netherlands.
Least biking friendly     Malaga coast, Portugal’s cobblestone streets, Poland’s roadways,
                          narrow roads without shoulders in Sweden.
Most difficult biking     Sierra Nevada, southeast Spain.
Most beautiful stretches  1996: Gotthard-Luzern, mighty Alps
                          1997: Tossa-San Felio, meandering mountain paths beside the sea
                          1998: Mosel Valley, mighty vineyards
                          2000: Meira-Luarca, pass-valley trail-coast
                          2001: Passau-Krems, valley trail with many buildings of cultural value
                          2002: Zakopane-Krakow, mountains, rolling hills
                          2004: Szczecinek-Zaplinek, deciduous forest, inland lakes.
Most beautiful playa      Algarve (red sand and Atlantic waves).
Widest playa              Figuira da Foz (but cold water).
Best spa site             Benidorm(4 km brilliant hotel/restaurants + 4 km entertainment).
Best tourist sites        Venice(city +Lido), Granada (Alhambra), Lisbon (Sintra), Trier.
Most charming towns       Jerez (sherry/wine, bodegas, flamenco, horses),
                          Stade, Hameln, Dexter, or Rothenburg (tiny German towns).
Biggest surprises         Empuriabrava (Spain): modern Venice,
                          Isola Bella: palace in Maggiore, Italy,
                          the twin ship lift in Scharnebeck (10 km north of Lüneburg, Germany),
                          caves in Postojna (southern Slovenia),
                          and Stade (old Swedish town in Germany, 40 km west of Hamburg).
Biggest disappointments	  The Ebron delta. Few flamingos, just agriculture.
                          The Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Deepest impressions	      The procession the weekend before Easter in Lagos.
                          An art exhibit and piano concert in Darmstadt.
                          The happy innkeeper in wet, snowy Liguria.
                          The spa culture in Hungary.
Friendliest               Southeastern Spain, southern Germany, Portuguese countryside,
                          southern Poland.
Snobbiest                 France and Belgium.

Interesting sites
1996:	Nice, Cannes, Monaco, Riviera, Cremona, Trento, Merano, Garda, Venice,
        Bergamo, Bürglen (W. Tell), Luzern, Freiburg, Baden-Baden, Karlsruhe,
        Speyer, Heidelberg, Worms, Mainz, Eberbach abbey, Rüdesheim(totally German),
        Limburg, Hameln(rat hunting), Lüneburg, and Lübeck.
1997:	Alhambra (Granada), Ronda, Jerez, Seville, Nieble, Quarteria, Albufeira,
        Lagos, Lisbon, Sintra, (Madrid), Benidorm, Cullera, Tarragona, Valencia,
        (Barcelona), Tossa, Ampuriabrava, Collioure, Agde, Montpellier, Avignon,
        Orange, Lyon, Geneva, Basel, and Freiburg.
1998:	Rothenburg, Darmstadt, Diedesheim(wine barrel), Trier, Bernkastel-Kues,
        Cochem, Nürnburger Ring, Monschau(mill), and Maastricht.
2000: 	Fatima, Santiago de Compostela, and Lourdes.
2001:	Passau, Melk, Dürnstein, Wien, Budapest, Osijek, Lubljana, and Postojna.
2002:	Blansko(caves), Olomouc, Zakopane, Krakow, Czestochowa, Torun, and Gdansk.
2004:	Malbork, Miedzyzdroje(spa), Schwerin, Stade, Ålborg, and Gothenburg(Liseberg).

Captivating
1996:	Riviera(St Rafael-Cannes,Monaco-Savona), Garda Lake (Malcesine),
        Como Lake (Balago peninsula), Maggiore, Gotthard-Luzern, Black Forest,
        Wienstrasse, Rüdesheim-Ems.
1997:	Sierra Nevada, S. Pedro-Ronda-Algeciras-Tariffa, Sitges, Tossa,
        Llanca-Collioure, Agde-Sete, Vienne, Annecy, Chamonix, and Freiburg.
1998: 	Mosel Valley (from Luxembourg and heading north).
2000:	Porto, northern Spanish coast (Gijon - Llanes) and San Sebastian.
2001:	Passau-Dürnstein, the Danube Bend, Varazdin-Dobovec,
        Hungarian steppe (straight road on totally flat land, with endless horizon,
        e.g., northeast of Baja).
2002:	Morava Mountains, Frydek Zakopane, Tatra Mountains, Ojcow Valley,
        and Västervik-Lofta.
2004: 	Deciduous forests in Poland, Germany’s North Sea coast (Elbe-Sylt),
        Danish hills (Vejle-Sandeborg), sand dunes at Skagen,
        and the Skara Heath (Axvall-Timmerdala).