Europe (all)

A two days ride among great mountains. Green meadows and scattered masi (wooden small houses for the storage of hay) is the characteristic landscape of Comelico valley; the road continues along the Piave river (mild climb) up to Salafossa mines (closed) and a tunnel puts us on the climb to Sappada. This reach of road is excavated on the rocky side of the valley which here is a very narrow gorge and there is the impressive sight of the Orrido Acquatona in which the river Piave flows on the bottom of the gorge (here very deep and narrow).

Has a section for on road and off-road tours in Sardinia (Sardegna)

Includes Rome-Venice, Amalfi Coast (including a video clip), Genoa-Pisa-Florence, Aosta Valley.

Everything you have ever heard about bicycling in Italy is true. The weather, terrain, roads, and cities are all perfectly suited for bike touring.

After two successive summers spent cycling around the Alps and then the Pyrénées. I wanted to try somewhere different. I'd wanted to visit Norway for some time [...] As usual maps were studied, this process was more in-depth than normal since I had never been to Norway and didn't know where were the best places to visit. After much research and assessing the feasibility of several options, I decided to concentrate on the southern half of the country. This provided the opportunity to cycle over the high mountain plateau of the Hardangervidda, Norway's highest peaks in the Jotunheim and to navigate my way around Norway's most famous features - its coastal fjords.

Erst mitten durch die Walachei und dann ab in die Karpaten... Eine Radreise durch Transsilvanien und die Walachei (Rumänien).

Die Walachei liegt rund um Rumäniens Hauptstadt Bukarest und erstreckt sich bis zum südlichen Karpatenbogen.. Hinter diesem Karpatenbogen findet man dann eine große hügelige Hochebene nämlich Transsylvanien (zu deutsch: Siebenbürgen). Während die Walachei mit ihrer Hauptstadt Bukarest (früher war es Targoviste) eines der ältesten rumänischen Fürstentümer war, gehörte Transsylvanien lange zu Ungarn (auf Ungarisch : Erdely) und weist deshalb noch heute einen relativ hohen Anteil an ungarischer Bevölkerung auf.

We wanted to visit the classical destinations of the Russian Republic of Karelia... But not in the usual way with a river-cruise on a vessel... We did it by bike!

A nice report, with plenty of pictures, and extensive practical information.

Pour renouer avec le voyage itinérant à vélo, nous avions choisi une destination qui nous offrirait les meilleurs ingrédients selon nous : du relief et du dépaysement, et de la chaleur. Pour les premiers points, nous ne fûmes pas déçus, nous n'imaginions pas par contre devoir lutter contre le froid?et même la neige !

Les îles Canaries, au nombre de sept, forment un archipel au large des côtes marocaines. Nous visiterons les trois îles situées le plus à l'ouest : La Palma, la Gomera et Tenerife, la plus étendue, et sans conteste la plus connue et fréquentée (un peu trop d'ailleurs sur la côte?).

Ces îles sont d'origine volcanique, et offrent parmi les paysages les plus spectaculaires au monde.

A Fantastic Journey is the only real description of this ride, because that is exactly what it was. A journey into territory far away from the normal tourist routes. Where the only indication of the 21st century was the motor car. And where English is rarely been heard, let alone spoken.

Following our long cycle rides of the previous two years and because bad weather caused us to call a halt last year near Bayonne, we decided to continue our ride to Gibraltar. However we decided to change the route to take in more of the real Spain. It may not appear to some to be the best route. It certainly was not the quickest. It did however encompass many places we wanted to see. Some were Towns and Cities, some were geographic places such as Parque Naturals and Mountain Ranges. Our route took us through the following major cities and towns: San Sebastian; Vitoria; Burgos; Palencia; Toro; Salamanca; Bejar; Trujillo; Merida; Constantina; Seville; Arcos de la Frontera; Tarifa; Gibraltar.

An information site in various languages run by the Xunta de Galicia. Annoying Flash animations all over the place.

The suggested itinerary follows the spanish part of the ``Camino de Santiago'' from the Ibaneta Pass (Roncesvalles) on the frontier between France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. It's 850 kilometres wich cross the whole northern side of Spain, from Pyrenees as far as the Atlantic region. 8 stages will be provided. The itinerary goes over an ancient pilgrinage route connected with the Catholic tradition of the veneration to the apostle St. James (Santiago), evangelizer of Spain, whose grave would have been discovered by a hermit in 813 d.c. in a place showed by a star rain (campus stellae).

The travelogue of a cycling trip in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

This has been a difficult trip, this touring in Ireland. Every day I've gone out on my bike, regardless of the weather. I've struggled against headwinds, winched up slopes that went on for miles. I've gotten wet a great deal, and gotten chilled quite a few times, only getting warm again by adding more layers and pedalling harder. I was really looking forward to this ferry ride back: a chance to relax and stay warm.

A trip from the Netherlands to the USA - over Asia and Australia. The European part goes through Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Leaving home for a trip like this is not something one does from one day to the other. Along the way I joked often, saying: ``Yeah, one night I went out, got pissed and I am still trying to find my way home.'' In truth I had no foreign experience; well, none on my own. I had never been to an embassy before, I knew nothing about what's out there. Still I wanted to go, and with some hard work I managed to get my trip sponsored too! Getting ready to leave is always something special. Packing for a holiday, going out for a long weekend... Packing for a trip is even more emotional. Because I wasn't only packing my bags, I was packing all my belongings. Most of them went to storage, some of them into my bags. And with what I packed in my bags that 31st of may 1998, I lived for almost 3 years. What an adventure I was heading forward to... What a story you are about to read!

The winter of 1963 brought the longest cold spell to central Europe in a many years, freezing the landscape deeper than it had in 100 years. Realizing that such weather probably would not occur again in my lifetime, if ever, I decided to do more than read about frozen lakes and deep frost [...] The ice was glassy smooth here [in Zürich], the sun and warmth from the city having melted the surface during the warmest part of the day. I walked down onto the lake and mounted my bicycle carefully. From having ridden on snow packed streets, I was aware that the best gear was the highest (50-13) to prevent undesired wheelspin that could dump me onto the ice. Traction would have been even poorer had it not been -20 Celsius.

Jobst's 1960 tour started and ended in Tuscany. The Net was not in place yet, so the report had to wait...

Well, there's a first time for everybody, and Jobst too had to discover the Alps once. If you are looking for the inspiration to do it yourself, just go ahead and read this glorious report.

I had asked Mr Cinelli what the greatest road in the Alps was, to which he replied without hesitation, the Stelvio, but that I might not like it because it was unpaved. That especially caught my interest so here I was heading up the Valtellina at Tirano where the road to the foot of this great pass starts its climb.

I arrived in Bormio at 3:30 and decided to go to the top in beautiful afternoon sunshine. After a snack at the store I headed up the road that ran out of pavement at the city limit and became a coarse gravel and grey powdery road that, with a little rain, was pretty solid. I discovered that standing up easily caused wheel spin, so I pulled my straps tight and worked on a smooth stroke to keep traction.

Farther up the Braulio canyon the road went through several tunnels for avalanche and rockfall protection. These stone arch tunnels wind along the wall with ventilation holes near the floor that give a little light, and because they are not straight, I could only see where I was going from reflections from the wet floor. Everything was dripping and water rushed in drains under the walls. The amazing part is that these are one lane tunnels in which uphill traffic has the right of way, as is common here. Therefore, downhill drivers had to assess when to enter by watching what went in from below, something that is possible from the lay of the land.

I was discovering why Pirelli named their top racing car tire the Stelvio. This has a special meaning to people who know this road. At the end of the Braulio canyon the road goes up a wall in a series of traverses with tight hairpins to reach the upper Braulio Valley at Bocca di Braulio, that ends at a ridge over which the Umbrail pass from Switzerland joins the Stelvio, about three kilometers below the summit.

Round trip to Andalucia. A 2600 km path through no paved roads, including the crossing of 35 km beach at Doñana National park.

Cycling in Northern Italy? Visit this new website offering both accommodation in, and information about, the stunning region hosting the 2008 Road Cycling World Championships. Resources include detailed itineraries for spectacularly scenic mountainbike routes, photos, links to local weather forecasts, train timetables and much, much more.

IBAS - Island Bike Adventure Sprengisandur. L'IBAS è un percorso in mountain bike attraverso l'Islanda, dal Nord-Est al Sud dell'Isola, lungo la mitica pista dello Sprengisandur. Questa pista, la più lunga e impegnativa dell'Isola, è stata affrontata per la prima volta a bordo di un veicolo negli anni Trenta da dei pionieri islandesi. Oggi per un fuoristradista che desidera viaggiare in Islanda con un 4x4 lo Sprengisandur è l'itinerario più ambito. Solo pochissimi appassionati, in genere islandesi, hanno la preparazione, la capacità di affrontare lunghi giorni in solitudine nel deserto più grande d'Europa e portare a termine il percorso in bicicletta.

Terreni ricoperti da lava, rocce vulcaniche, basalti, un deserto di 35 km di sabbia nera con piccole dune, fiumi glaciali da guadare, distese di erba verde dagli effetti fluorescenti, ghiacciai, montagne dalle cromie indescrivibili, distese di pietra pomice, canyon profondi, vulcani e cascate sono le visioni di questo incredibile ambiente primordiale.

L'IBAS è nata per permettere agli appassionati della natura e dei viaggi in bicicletta di percorrere nella massima sicurezza e con la migliore assistenza gli 800 km dell'itinerario stabilito.

Alpencross-Bericht einer Mountainbike-Extremtour von Oberstdorf zum Gardasee, 7 Tage (davon 4 Regentage)/440km/14000 Höhenmeter.

Alpencross Bericht einer Mountainbike-Extremtour von Oberstdorf zum Gardasee, 7 Tage (davon 4 Regentage)/440km/14000 Höhenmeter.

Photos and reports of transalp mountain bike tours from Bavaria to Italy. Alpine traverses between Oberstdorf and Lake Como and Tegernsee and Lake Garda.

A photo collection of a tour of the Durmitor nature park, designated by Unesco.

Trailsource has started a collection, among others, of European Mountain Bike Trail Descriptions. Mountain Biking TrailSource is your online adventure guide to the best mountain bike trails around the globe! You'll find over 4,000 singletracks in 100 countries.

[It's a] beautiful one day ride from Bjelasnica Olympics ski center to exotic village Lukomir. There is highest village in this part of Europe (about 1500m up sea level). Those village is located on edge of second deepest (more of 1200m) canyon in Europe- river Rakitnica canyon. Perfect place for real adventure biking, fishing, hiking, rafting...

I took a long holiday to explore bits of Britain by bike. Since I like off-road cycling at least as much as on-road, I used my old Trek hardtail. I put skinny slicks on it to cover ground quickly by road, and put knobblies on it for off-road use. [...] My first destination was Wales. I left from home on July 9th, heading towards Cardiff, stopping by the Forest of Dean on the way. I stayed at the Neuadd Arms Hotel for a week, and I participated in the Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling Championships. From there I headed north on the Lon Las Cymru (Welsh National Cycle Route and Sustrans Route 8).

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

Includes trail descriptions in Switzerland, Italy and France.

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

We flew from Stockholm to Geneva. Then we biked along the southern shore of Lac Leman, crossed Pass des Morgines, headed up the Rhone valley, and made a side trip to Zermatt. Then, we continued to Brigg, Davos, St Moritz, Livigno, Canazei, and Cortina. From Cortina we headed south to Lago di Garda. Reaching the Plains of Po approaching Milan we spontaneously decided to take a train to San Reno, and continue from there to Monaco, Nice and up through the mountains to Chamonix, ultimately heading back to Geneva for our return flight to Sweden. There are plenty of excellent reports on cycling along these roads [...] and we feel we have little to contribute. Instead these pages are focused on the possibilities of single track riding.

From Carsten's Cycling Web, the Web site of Carsten Gregersen.
We are four friends spending our summer holidays going mountain biking in the Pyrenees. It is cycling territory at it's best with peaceful small roads and pleasant villages. The climbs are long and steep, but the fabulous mountain scenery makes it worth the effort. A few times we stay at the campsites for a couple of days and go off-road in the mountains. One day we also have a participant in a mountain bike race at Superbagnères.

``Si e' pesanti sotto il sole 5 giorni con Bagni e Sole (Sempre) - 515Km''. The site has reports of several mountain bike tours, in Italy, Slovenia, Corse and Turkey, by him and others. In (a very idiomatic) Italian, and text-only, but very worth looking at.

I live in the middle of the largest flat area of Italy [...] every time I want to do a nice ride I have to go by car at least as far as the nearest Prealps mountains. So, having planned a mountain bike trip for a Sunday of late autumn, I left from my flat city that day, even if the weather was not so good. [...] I arrived at my planned bike starting point (Rotzo village, on Altopiano di Asiago, Veneto region) while the sky was releasing a nice amount of rain. [...] I took a downhill road, the speed increased along with the humidity of my clothes; soon my hands (protected by not so good cycling winter gloves) became colder and colder and so my feet. [...] The downhill road is very long and I went down fast enough to lose the sensitiveness of my hands and feet. Even my limbs, after a while, became hard to move! [In the end] my fleece sweater was quite wet and so my polypropylene jersey but my body was still warm! Of course it took a bit of time to recover the complete functionality of my legs and arms, hands and feet but I was helped by a good fireplace and a big hot wine glass!

La Val Casies una stupenda valle laterale dell'Alta Pusteria, lontana dal turismo di massa anche nei periodi di punta [...] agli amanti della bicicletta, ed in particolare della MTB, [...] offre opportunità veramente uniche di stupendi itinerari tra il verde delle malghe ed il silenzio dei boschi. Tra questi itinerari abbiamo scelto un classico, la ``Via Romana'', che si presta, per le due varianti che descriveremo in seguito, sia a biker mediamente allenati, che ad esperti amanti del single-track tra radici di abete ``spaccapolsi''.

A report and pictures from [a] MTB trip in [the] not very often visited interior area of Iceland. There are some remarks to Faroe Islands there, too.

I'm pretty sure that no matter where you live, there is one trail among your home ones that is generally considered as the trail, a classic of the genre.

For Trento, the place where I live, the choice of most local bikers would fall on the Santa Colomba trail. Easily doable starting from the town, not really difficult but with some challenging sections, it offers a small selection of the standard ingredients of an off-road ride. Mind you, it is not a spectacular trail, such as the ones you can find higher up in the Dolomites. But it's an excellent choice for a half-day ride, which means that on Sunday afternoons you have to line up to ride it!

This is a tour over the spectacular Passo San Giacomo, between Italy and Switzerland.