bummel

We're in the early stages of planning a trip from London to Murcia for a year or two's time. We'll be on road bikes, finding accommodation as we go but with bivvy bags / tarps for use if required.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the EuroVelo cycle routes, in particular Route 3 between Paris and Tours or Nantes, Route 1 from Nantes to the Spanish border and also Route 8 in Spain.

Also, the Canal du Midi and Canal du Garronne.

Any comments on the route, places to stay, things to see etc and where to cross the Pyrenees would be greatly appreciated

wicki

Hi Cant help on your route but going from saint malo or Roscoff you can pick up the Nantes Brest canal,its a great route on towpath for about 300k (depending on where you join it). This gives you e really gentle start with good Inns and camping along the way, then from Nantes I believe you can pick up a EuroVelo route along the coast to Spain I did this as far a La Rochelle this year it was easy and fun.

I used this as a rough guide but did my own thing along the way...it may be of interest. https://www.molesoup.com/cyclewestfrance.html

bummel

Many thanks, Wicki

Doug64

I believe Route 8 in Spain is still only a pretty rough concept. My wife and I reached the Mediterranean at Velencia while coming through southern Spain from Lisbon, and did not have any trouble with routes heading north along the coast. From Velencia north there are no real details about Route 8. At least, we could not find any. There are many secondary roads, but it also involves riding on some pretty busy roads until reaching the border with France. The taxing/tolls for trucks on Spain's main national/ international highways result in most of the trucks using the secondary roads until they reach France. The truck drivers are courteous and safe, but it is noisy. In France the truck trafic on the seconary road decreases dramaticlly. You will notice this as you leave France and enter Spain.

Crossing the Pyrenees was not very difficult along the coast. I probably don't have the road numbers, but I can look at my wife's journals and give you a list of towns we went through on that part of proposed Route 8. You could figure out the roads relatively easy from there. Once in France we left The Route 8 area at Nimes and headed for Lyon and Dijon. Regional Michelin maps are really helpful for route planning, and staying found. We rolled our own for 3 months, and when we weighed all the maps we had plus the ones we mailed home; we had 11 pounds of maps! I would also recommend using a GPS unit that is compatible with Garmin Europe Maps. Between the Michilin maps and the GPS unit we could locate campgrounds, hotels and feel confident riding on some of the "white roads". The GPS also saved countless hours navigating through larger cities.

IMO- European campgrounds offer little privacy in comparison to Noth American campgrounds, even with a tent. Also, there are times when trees or other structures are not availale to hang a clothes line or tarp. Depending on the time of the year it can be very hot, and sleeping on top the bivy bag will be more comfortable. A light weight 2-person tent and ultra light sleeping bag will not weigh much more than the bivy-tarp setup, and provides much more comfort. However, this may not be an issue if camping is not your primary sleeping accommodation.

Good luck on your venture!

Pedaleur

I've ridden from Paris to Tours, though not on the Euro Route. I'm not sure that it's actually marked on the roads. Nevertheless, it's central France and extremely easy to navigate and find lodging at the tourist offices though I made reservations in advance, with slightly comical results:

https://www.mip.sdu.dk/~glewin/loire_.../Page1241.html