We are off to Europe for 4 1/2 months - have only ever remote toured in Australia, where we carry map and compass. I am finding that looking at Cycle routes in France/Germany/Netherlands etc are very daunting. How do cyclests get around? I just cant sort out one route from home, do we pick up maps on arrival, do cyclists travel with a file on their GPS? Any advice would be more than welcome. Thanks
How do we navigate Europe?
日, 2017-01-29 21:08
#1
WS Member
How do we navigate Europe?
Hello,
I usualy use google maps offline. Fast accurate and convenient. I load maps at Macdonalds, hotel or supermarkets.
I carry a large scale map as back up (one per country).
Christophe.
if you carry a smartphone, tablet or laptop:
https://www.komoot.de/discover
has tons of maps and routes, many of them added by bike-travellers. The routes contain altitude profiles, so you can choose the right route for your fitnes-level.
The whole maps package costs EUR 29 (= AU$ 36).
If you are coming through southwestern Germany, come visit me in Freiburg (if I am home...)
Also: You can always contact me if you need assistance.
Happy riding!
Thomas_U
Hi Kathy,
I personally use my Garmin eTrex30 gps device, where I upload maps from here (http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/).
Nothing else needed. If you are gonna follow one of the Eurovelo bike routes (http://www.eurovelo.org/) you might be fine just with road signs.
I just wonder, what is so daunting about it?
happy pedalling
K.
When in the Netherlands or in Flanders (Northern Belgium), don't forget the numbered cycling network. You can just follow the numbers and the map can be found here: http://fietsnet.be/routeplanner/default.aspx
Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1TsHc4ZgI
Yes, this is a first world problem of too much choice, too many roads. Travelling in third world countries is easy when there is only one road, there's no choice. Much of Europe has a very intricate, varied & complex road network, Germany especially so. Use your favourite mapping App (Maps.me, OSMAnd, Locus, Google as a last resort), download Open Street Maps or Open Cycle Maps, choose a good router and off you go. They say navigation is an art, not a science, and one one way to approach the problem is to select a route but use it only as a general guideline; if you see an interesting diversion then take it. Get your maps from http://www.openfietsmap.nl/ . Whichever road you take will be the best.
http://www.biroto.eu/en/
for long distance routes
there is a lot of choice
I think you must read before and chose what you want to see
ie in france : mountains ( alps pyrénées ) loire ou rhone valley , cost ( velmodysée) canal ( bordeaux narbonne) vineyard (bourgogne) ...
for france you have this https://en.francevelotourisme.com/base-1/itineraires with a map
This is a bit late, but https://cycling.waymarkedtrails.org/ is useful for a general overview of dedicated bike routes in Europe.