American cycle tourist here. I spent about a month this summer travelling through small slices of many countries in Western Europe. I flew into Milan and flew back from London.
25 days, 2 zero days, 23 riding days, 15 nights camping, ~1200 miles/1900 kilometer
The elevation gains from my stravas don’t seem super reliable, but I did ride St Gotthard Pass in the Alps and crossed the Belgian Ardennes. The rest of the ride either followed rivers or occasionally hilly forestlands.
# Why
My new resolution is to use my PTO, and bicycle touring is one of my passions. I suppose that’s why I am posting here. I want to see the world.
# Gear
I am riding a Fuji Touring 2023 edition. It has hydraulic disc brakes (I’d prefer mechanical for fixability), stock gearing, stock rear rack, added front fork pack from Ortlieb, and various accessories for the cockpit for navigation/lighting/etc. Most of it is stock. I carried two rear panniers and two front fork pack bags.
I did have a GoPro with me, but preferred my iPhone for quick snaps and photos. This trip makes me wish I had brought a more legit camera setup, so maybe I’ve accidentally found another expensive hobby.
# Route
The route was a bit adhoc, but aided by very well marked routes in most of Western Europe (especially Switzerland which is so well marked you don’t even need GPS.).
## Leg 1 (Milan to Kostanz)
I set off from Milan north towards Lake Como/EV5, and followed this up through Ticino toward St Gotthard Pass. The cobblestones were lovely, the views gorgeous, and the vibes immaculate. I wonder if I should have crossed a few passes back and forth.
On the other side of the pass, I went through Andermatt then hooked northeast towards the river Rhine and Liechtenstein. I figured there’s little chance I’ll easily be able to get back to this small mountainous country, so why not now? Following the river northbound, I spent a short stint in western Austria (eastern Austria deserves its own tour), then reentered Switzerland near Lake Kostanz. Make sure if you reach Austria to try out the Almdudler soda.
The river Rhine will be my friend for about another week after this.
## Leg 2 (Kostanz to Saarland) – EV6/15
I followed the river westbound, passing the Rheinfell near Schauffhausen and then Basel, where I leave beautiful Switzerland behind. The bicycle signage will be missed! Turning northwards, the cuisine may change a bit and I planned to hit a boulangerie every morning for several pastries. The benefit of Schengen, is I can hop between the French and German side of the river to my heart (and belly)’s content.
Northwards is the Alsace region, which has historically been traded between French and Germans. The flammekuche is a flatbread pizza-like dish that you can’t miss. Plenty of good beer too, if you choose to partake. I’m partial to NA beers, and they had plenty of those kicking around.
Of particular note, Strasbourg was a lovely town where I spent a rest day and walked around the cute old town. Later, I spent a day getting a tour of the castle ruins in Heidelberg. Finally, I left the river Rhine to head westbound through the hilly forests of the Rhineland Palatinate province. I had a few extremely rainy days to contend with on my route to Saarland, but managed to still enjoy some time in smaller cities as Saarbrucken and enjoyed some of the relative quiet/lack of other cyclists. The rhine routes were quite a bit of other pedalling traffic.
Finally, I reached Saarlouis for a final wet night of camping.
## Leg 3 (Saarland to Brussels) – lots of local cycling routes
This leg of the trip included crossing through Luxembourg. I spent the first day heading directly westbound to Luxembourg and camped just 5km outside the city. The next morning I checked out this metropolis in such a small country, before continuing northwest towards the Ardennes. Another mountainous crossing behind, I finally reached Wallonia, the French speaking side of Belgium. The hills over here are no joke – they’re not very high but they are certainly steep.
My time in Wallonia was dotted with delicious waffles. These by far have been the best supermarket snack of the trip. I got a chance to check out some of the caves/mines in the region, which I highly recommend as a pit stop if you go through here.
After passing through Namur, the capital of Wallonia, I got through another couple of wet days to Brussels. Believe it or not but since leaving Milan (and actively avoiding Zurich), the biggest city I’ve been in has been Strasbourg, just over 250k population. Brussels at over 1M is a bit closer to what I’m used to in NYC.
I of course spent another day touristing and eating delicious food. Stoemp at Le Fin de Siecle… go have it and then thank me later.
## Leg 4 (Brussels to London) – local cycling routes, then EV12/UK NCN1
The final leg of the trip. I was actually a couple days ahead of schedule at this point. I had made sure to have a lot of buffer too, in case anything went wrong, so was expecting to spend several days in London.
But before that, I got to spend some time in beautiful Flanders. The home of Eddy Merckx and many other famous cyclists. Also, flat as a pancake compared to Wallonia. This is good because the first day out of Brussels my chain exploded. Given it’s a weekend, no stores were open today nor for several days. Not wanting to be stranded, I got down to the dirty business of adding in a quick link. I’m really really glad I brought these tools (including chain removal tool, not just quick link opening tool) rather than just a standard flat kit.
Belgium has government sanctioned locations for bivuoacking (“wild” camping), so I gave that a shot for the first time too. Mostly I had been staying in established campgrounds with showers and drinking water, so this was a bit different.
I passed through Ghent, Bruges (spent the morning quoting the movie), and Ostende) where I finally reached the coast. Beautiful. Then headed southwards, back into France, until I reached the windy port city Calais. From there I caught the ferry to Dover and make a eastbound arc through Deal, Sandwich, and Canterbury before finally heading to London.
Food was great in Europe, but as a South Asian, my first three meals in London were all Indian/Pakistani food.
halfwheeled on
The Gotthard Pass is a stunner in the dry but I once had a horrible descent in torrential rain. The cobbles section was awful…..
lovely photos…. Happy pedalling!
__Powell on
Awesome trip and report. I cycled past that campsite outside Andermatt and I remember thinking it was an awesome place to stay, there was low cloud when I did so your picture confirms it was!
mattfeet on
How is sleeping in a bivy like that? Is it at all comfortable? I’m kicking the tires on getting a bikepacking tent but these are an attractive option as well – I just have no direct experience with them.
belchhuggins on
It looks like I slept at exactly the same spot as you 5 years ago, in picture 8 🙂
5 Comments
# Background
American cycle tourist here. I spent about a month this summer travelling through small slices of many countries in Western Europe. I flew into Milan and flew back from London.
You can read my previous report [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/comments/197mj83/nyc_montreal_and_some_extra_bits_september_2023/)
# Stats
25 days, 2 zero days, 23 riding days, 15 nights camping, ~1200 miles/1900 kilometer
The elevation gains from my stravas don’t seem super reliable, but I did ride St Gotthard Pass in the Alps and crossed the Belgian Ardennes. The rest of the ride either followed rivers or occasionally hilly forestlands.
# Why
My new resolution is to use my PTO, and bicycle touring is one of my passions. I suppose that’s why I am posting here. I want to see the world.
# Gear
I am riding a Fuji Touring 2023 edition. It has hydraulic disc brakes (I’d prefer mechanical for fixability), stock gearing, stock rear rack, added front fork pack from Ortlieb, and various accessories for the cockpit for navigation/lighting/etc. Most of it is stock. I carried two rear panniers and two front fork pack bags.
I did have a GoPro with me, but preferred my iPhone for quick snaps and photos. This trip makes me wish I had brought a more legit camera setup, so maybe I’ve accidentally found another expensive hobby.
# Route
The route was a bit adhoc, but aided by very well marked routes in most of Western Europe (especially Switzerland which is so well marked you don’t even need GPS.).
## Leg 1 (Milan to Kostanz)
I set off from Milan north towards Lake Como/EV5, and followed this up through Ticino toward St Gotthard Pass. The cobblestones were lovely, the views gorgeous, and the vibes immaculate. I wonder if I should have crossed a few passes back and forth.
On the other side of the pass, I went through Andermatt then hooked northeast towards the river Rhine and Liechtenstein. I figured there’s little chance I’ll easily be able to get back to this small mountainous country, so why not now? Following the river northbound, I spent a short stint in western Austria (eastern Austria deserves its own tour), then reentered Switzerland near Lake Kostanz. Make sure if you reach Austria to try out the Almdudler soda.
The river Rhine will be my friend for about another week after this.
## Leg 2 (Kostanz to Saarland) – EV6/15
I followed the river westbound, passing the Rheinfell near Schauffhausen and then Basel, where I leave beautiful Switzerland behind. The bicycle signage will be missed! Turning northwards, the cuisine may change a bit and I planned to hit a boulangerie every morning for several pastries. The benefit of Schengen, is I can hop between the French and German side of the river to my heart (and belly)’s content.
Northwards is the Alsace region, which has historically been traded between French and Germans. The flammekuche is a flatbread pizza-like dish that you can’t miss. Plenty of good beer too, if you choose to partake. I’m partial to NA beers, and they had plenty of those kicking around.
Of particular note, Strasbourg was a lovely town where I spent a rest day and walked around the cute old town. Later, I spent a day getting a tour of the castle ruins in Heidelberg. Finally, I left the river Rhine to head westbound through the hilly forests of the Rhineland Palatinate province. I had a few extremely rainy days to contend with on my route to Saarland, but managed to still enjoy some time in smaller cities as Saarbrucken and enjoyed some of the relative quiet/lack of other cyclists. The rhine routes were quite a bit of other pedalling traffic.
Finally, I reached Saarlouis for a final wet night of camping.
## Leg 3 (Saarland to Brussels) – lots of local cycling routes
This leg of the trip included crossing through Luxembourg. I spent the first day heading directly westbound to Luxembourg and camped just 5km outside the city. The next morning I checked out this metropolis in such a small country, before continuing northwest towards the Ardennes. Another mountainous crossing behind, I finally reached Wallonia, the French speaking side of Belgium. The hills over here are no joke – they’re not very high but they are certainly steep.
My time in Wallonia was dotted with delicious waffles. These by far have been the best supermarket snack of the trip. I got a chance to check out some of the caves/mines in the region, which I highly recommend as a pit stop if you go through here.
After passing through Namur, the capital of Wallonia, I got through another couple of wet days to Brussels. Believe it or not but since leaving Milan (and actively avoiding Zurich), the biggest city I’ve been in has been Strasbourg, just over 250k population. Brussels at over 1M is a bit closer to what I’m used to in NYC.
I of course spent another day touristing and eating delicious food. Stoemp at Le Fin de Siecle… go have it and then thank me later.
## Leg 4 (Brussels to London) – local cycling routes, then EV12/UK NCN1
The final leg of the trip. I was actually a couple days ahead of schedule at this point. I had made sure to have a lot of buffer too, in case anything went wrong, so was expecting to spend several days in London.
But before that, I got to spend some time in beautiful Flanders. The home of Eddy Merckx and many other famous cyclists. Also, flat as a pancake compared to Wallonia. This is good because the first day out of Brussels my chain exploded. Given it’s a weekend, no stores were open today nor for several days. Not wanting to be stranded, I got down to the dirty business of adding in a quick link. I’m really really glad I brought these tools (including chain removal tool, not just quick link opening tool) rather than just a standard flat kit.
Belgium has government sanctioned locations for bivuoacking (“wild” camping), so I gave that a shot for the first time too. Mostly I had been staying in established campgrounds with showers and drinking water, so this was a bit different.
I passed through Ghent, Bruges (spent the morning quoting the movie), and Ostende) where I finally reached the coast. Beautiful. Then headed southwards, back into France, until I reached the windy port city Calais. From there I caught the ferry to Dover and make a eastbound arc through Deal, Sandwich, and Canterbury before finally heading to London.
Food was great in Europe, but as a South Asian, my first three meals in London were all Indian/Pakistani food.
The Gotthard Pass is a stunner in the dry but I once had a horrible descent in torrential rain. The cobbles section was awful…..
lovely photos…. Happy pedalling!
Awesome trip and report. I cycled past that campsite outside Andermatt and I remember thinking it was an awesome place to stay, there was low cloud when I did so your picture confirms it was!
How is sleeping in a bivy like that? Is it at all comfortable? I’m kicking the tires on getting a bikepacking tent but these are an attractive option as well – I just have no direct experience with them.
It looks like I slept at exactly the same spot as you 5 years ago, in picture 8 🙂
Lovely report and photos!