Cycling across Europe on the cheap.....advice needed!!!

Eddie Jones

Anyone know anything about/have experience of cycling across the Netherlands, Germany, France and Swizerland (more specifically the river Rhine) as cheaply as poss?

we (a small group) will have tents and a stove...... is wild camping a possibility nowadays? What is "camping on the farm"? How widespread is camping on the farm? How much does it tend to cost? Do you have to book places in advance or do you tend to come across them so frequently you can just pedal down the river and your bound to find somwhere before nightfall? Know anything else which could be useful when cycling the river Rhine on a small budget?

Google searching to find answers to these kinds of questions has not got me very far so any relvant advice/weblinks much appreciated!

- Eddie Jones

El Gordo

I've met a few people who've ridden around mainland Europe wild camping all the way so it's do-able, if not entirely legal. If you're a group with several tents and bikes though I think you'd struggle to stay incognito esspecially along the Rhine which tends to be quite populated.

Personally, I'd just go to a campsite but each to their own.

Tedx

Hi Ed

I'm doing almost the same journey soon. I'll start in the Neverlands, Gemany (also following the river Rhine, Switzerland, France then over the Pyrenees mountains to Spain (maybe Barcelona).

I will also be camping wherever I can. Last time I cycled Farance we stayed at campsites and the odd b&b but if we wanted to we could have easily found places to pitch our tent in the wild.

Feel free to PM me mate, maybe we can swap info as we plan and help eachother out.

CJ Bill

I'll be doing something vaguely similar as well... Northern France and onto the Danube Cycle Way to destinations eastwards.

Reason I'll be looking to wild camp as much as possible is campsites are a few Euros a night. OK, doesn't sound like much but I've just been made redundant and I've only a limited amount of cash to get me to India, my final destination. 50 nights at €10 a night is the best part of £500!

robmanic1

Don't you people work????

Not jealous in any way :?

CJ Bill

No jobs at the moment plus redundancy money = life long ambition to cycle to India fulfilled

robmanic1

CJ Bill wrote:

No jobs at the moment plus redundancy money = life long ambition to cycle to India fulfilled

Made a great positive out of a negative there fella, what an experience that will be, best of luck!

Cycling Dave

When life gives you lemons.........em, ride to India. :P

Chapeau!!!!

Cycling Dave

Taking a hammock means you can take advantage of any forest that you come across. Switzerland (rather obviously) is a bit lumpy and there aint too many places to wild camp. but as I said, hammock + forest = cheap night's sleep.

Check out www.ddhammocks.com (I think) for inspiration. The company is defo called DD Hammocks.

mercsport

Having tramped across and around Europe on my bike a time or two I can declare that there is a lot of greenery out there , and that it's a rare thing to be stuck for a place to throw your Thermarest on the ground , or throw up a tent to while away the night .

Campsites , at the height of the season , tend to be expensive - to this unreconstructed bum at least - and tiresome . A night in the woods is ideal , mostly .

I was interested in Cycling Dave's advice re. hammocks . I've never heard of ddhammocks before but they look to be a good bit of kit , and the right price too . I bought my first hammock at the end of last summer , a Hennesey hammock - again , a good bit of kit - and can declare they're extremely comfortable , although I'm not too convinced about the stormy weather repelling qualities as my one trip was a UK 'wet-one' , and I had a couple of tortuous nights attending to guy ropes and the like as the rain was horizontally inclined . Also I found that with a thin , super light down bag without -say- a thermarest underneath it was ruddy cold to the backside !

My conclusion re. hammocks is that they're super comfortable ; easy to rig-up ; not necessarilly as easy to find a 'spot' as with a flyweight tent or bivi-bag ; a lot more of a nuisance to get into and out of when 'bagged up' than with a tent ( ..think : 'the midnight pee ' ! ) ; probably best at the height of a warm summer , or sunnier climes altogether . At least those are my thoughts for the moment based on a few wretched , stormy days in the UK last year .

Captain Fagor

Have a look at the blogs on http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/

Some of the tour descriptions (routes, equipment, acccommodation, etc) are very detailed and include lessons learnt the hard way. If I was ever planning something far out and cosmic on my bike, it'd be my first port of call.

CyclepathToHell

France can very reasonable. When I am there I just look for a 'Camping Municipal' - usually very well kept, not so full of kids, and cheap.

Special K

Robmanic1 wrote:

Don't you people work????

Not jealous in any way :?

+1

I would love to spend weeks of the year pedalling around Europe. Are you all retired, or millionaires or what? What's the best job to have to allow you to enjoy a spot of cycle tourism? Not sure it's teaching as it means you have to go in peak season only. So, if you tour a lot, spill the beans!