best way by bike from London to France
March 25, 2009 2:05 PM Subscribe
Asking for friends: Looking for tips, maps, routes or anything else you've got to help plan a bike trip from London to France
Two friends of mine are planning a bike trip from London to France. They're not sure where in France they'd like to end up so they are also open to ideas on that end.
The problem they're coming across in planning their route is that Google is mainly returning results for charity cycle events rather than sites that are useful for planning trips on your own.
Has anyone here done the trip before who could offer some suggestions? Any ideas about routes, website recommendations or general tips of any kind would be much appreciated!
Two friends of mine are planning a bike trip from London to France. They're not sure where in France they'd like to end up so they are also open to ideas on that end.
The problem they're coming across in planning their route is that Google is mainly returning results for charity cycle events rather than sites that are useful for planning trips on your own.
Has anyone here done the trip before who could offer some suggestions? Any ideas about routes, website recommendations or general tips of any kind would be much appreciated!
One idea is the "avoid highways" section on Google Maps. Here's London to Bordeaux with the "no highways" option.
posted by mdonley at 4:48 PM on March 25, 2009
posted by mdonley at 4:48 PM on March 25, 2009
the touring mail list at phred.org has several members who have extensive experience in this part of the world, also check out crazyguyonabike.com for tons of tour journals and more info, start here, maybe.
posted by headless at 12:16 AM on March 26, 2009
posted by headless at 12:16 AM on March 26, 2009
Alright. Sorry this is a couple days late.
tdreyer and headless mention two excellent sites (specifically, crazyguyonabike.com ... a little awkward to navigate at first... but a wealth of information inside!) ...
some other sites -
Sheldon Brown - Planning a European Bicycle Tour
Ken Kifer's (R.I.P) Bike Pages - Excellent beginner resource on general touring planning
Warmshowers.org - It's an international directory of people who are willing to provide you with a room to stay for a night or two (or place to pitch a tent), maybe a meal, & more while you are on your tour. I've never actually contacted anyone or been contacted by anyone on the list, but it's an excellent excellent idea and resource for your planning.
London Bicycle - Ok, they are a business, but they're very specific to what your planning, so you can probably call and ask them some questions or even start your tour with some of the guy there in London.
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Use key words like "bicycle tour" , "touring", etc on your favorite search engine for more info. You'll be AMAZED at how many people do this kind of thing.
posted by eli_d at 6:48 PM on March 26, 2009
tdreyer and headless mention two excellent sites (specifically, crazyguyonabike.com ... a little awkward to navigate at first... but a wealth of information inside!) ...
some other sites -
Sheldon Brown - Planning a European Bicycle Tour
Ken Kifer's (R.I.P) Bike Pages - Excellent beginner resource on general touring planning
Warmshowers.org - It's an international directory of people who are willing to provide you with a room to stay for a night or two (or place to pitch a tent), maybe a meal, & more while you are on your tour. I've never actually contacted anyone or been contacted by anyone on the list, but it's an excellent excellent idea and resource for your planning.
London Bicycle - Ok, they are a business, but they're very specific to what your planning, so you can probably call and ask them some questions or even start your tour with some of the guy there in London.
----
Use key words like "bicycle tour" , "touring", etc on your favorite search engine for more info. You'll be AMAZED at how many people do this kind of thing.
posted by eli_d at 6:48 PM on March 26, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tdreyer at 2:54 PM on March 25, 2009