Eurovelo 6 info

mike29cole

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of organising my cycling holiday from Nantes, France to Constanta, Bulgaria along the eurovelo 6 bike route. I've decided to do this trip alone as I'm the only one of my friends who can take that amount of time off work, so I am a bit nervous but far more excited about it. I would love to hear from anyone who has already done this or part of it to get an idea of general costs and time etc.

kerry4sam

mike29cole wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of organising my cycling holiday from Nantes, France to Constanta, Bulgaria along the eurovelo 6 bike route. I've decided to do this trip alone as I'm the only one of my friends who can take that amount of time off work, so I am a bit nervous but far more excited about it. I would love to hear from anyone who has already done this or part of it to get an idea of general costs and time etc.

Thread moved to where it would be better suited.

Thanks,
Safe n Happy Peddling,
kerry4sam

Red Kev

We did the Basel-Atlantic stretch last year in July and August, was going to do the Basel-Black Sea this year over 6 weeks but I'll leave it till 2016.

Excellent route, most of it was either greenway (ca. 40%) or local-only traffic (40%), the rest was pretty much all on quiet roads. almost completely flat as you'd expect. Very beautiful and I'd recommend it highly.

We camped, sites are every 5-15km, from 1-4 stars. We tended to look for the 2 star ones as the 4 stars have stuff we didn't need, they tend to be geared to families. Paid from €3.50-€14 a night, 2 or 3 star costs about €6-9 for a tent, bike and one person.

Route is very busy, loads of cyclists, most campsites have a cyclists area so plenty of people to chat to.

Food and water could be an issue in the rural areas, especially at weekends, but its to be expected in France.


Almost all of it is well signposted, the Dole-Mulhouse stretch is the most exemplary bit of Greenway I've ever cycled on.

Beware that the odd "recommended for cyclists" routes can take you up insanely steep vineyard hills, in the classic wine areas from Ancenis to Orleans, sometimes its better to stick to the flat road beside the river.

No security issues. The bit we did took almost three weeks, only did 100km on two days, mostly a leisurely 60-90 km from 7.00 till 19.00 with a lot of stops.

The orange Michelin regional maps show all greenways and cycle friendly routes, numbers 517, 518, 519 and 520 will do the French section, they are available in all newsagents over there.


I cycled most of the German and Austrian section in the 90's when I lived over there, I understand the Passau-Vienna stretch has become very popular over the years. There are plenty of maps and guidebooks for this section. I've read up a lot on German forums about the rest of the route:

Seems to be mostly Greenway or quiet service roads and well serviced with campsites, Pensions, cheap hotels etc. until Budapest.

After that you can cycle beside the Danube till the Croat border where it goes through some wetlands. Seems to be fine until Belgrade and even till the Danube gorge, campsites in most towns, and food etc as you would expect but not necessarily geared up for tourists yet.

After the gorges the Bulgarian side is busier, better shaded and has more amenities but traffic can be an issue. Romanian side is quieter but less inhabited which can be an issue if it gets seriously hot.

Route ends in Constanta, Romania; but from what I can see the Danube Delta looks excellent, it's also car free apart from tractors and the odd farm pick up. Seems to be worth a visit if you have the time either way.


EDIT: Route starts in St Brevin les Pins on the Atlantic, west of Nantes, might be worth cycling here from Nantes to get to the official ocean start, the campsites in town are better than the one near the start point. You can also cycle ove the bridge that links it to St Nazaire, its an exhilarating experience. Take the most westerly ferry crossing of the two that are west of Nantes on the river, the first one goes all over the shop.

Also, the route east of Basel along the Rhine towards Schaffhausen is very pretty, from Basel north along the Rhine is flat, open and a bit boring. Before Schaffhausen you can go cross country to meet the Danube.

mike29cole

That's some great info to work with and it's reassuring to hear about the quality of the routes and prices of camp sites. Thanks a million!

JMcL

I'm only familiar with the French stretch between St Brevin and the general area of Blois. I've covered most of this area at varying times over the years and though all of it wouldn't be on the actual Eurovelo 6, it's a great area for cycling in general - fairly flat, quiet roads for the most part, and nice scenery. What I have noticed though is that it can often be easy to miss the waymarks resulting in backtracking - I'd recommend a GPS with the route on it

mike29cole

Ok so I have my Flight, Bike + panniers and sleeping kit all sorted. One thought I'm having as I'm beginning to think about my route and if I'll be using the maps or a GPS system or even my phone is whether or not I'll be able to charge any of my electronics regularly enough to rely on them for directions. Is this a problem anyone here has encountered or is it easy to find safe charging areas in most campsites?

kerry4sam

mike29cole wrote: »

Ok so I have my Flight, Bike + panniers and sleeping kit all sorted. One thought I'm having as I'm beginning to think about my route and if I'll be using the maps or a GPS system or even my phone is whether or not I'll be able to charge any of my electronics regularly enough to rely on them for directions. Is this a problem anyone here has encountered or is it easy to find safe charging areas in most campsites?

Only speaking of local cycles in Ireland in unfamiliar areas for me:
~ I would bring maps &;
~ have routes wrote down in short-hand for myself somewhere on me &;
~ bring & save the routes on a device. You can buy in any travel store a portable charger for your mobile so you can charge your phone as you cycle, but I keep the battery-life for call/messages/e-mails etc.

Hope you have a blast!
Safe & Happy Peddling,
kerry4sam