Category: Other

Europe is strewn with points where three countries meet, so they’re not that special. (There are no genuine four-country points in the world, by the way.) But, being in Bratislava after finishing our Austrian End to End, we couldn’t resist cycling through the fog today to the junction of Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. A dozen…

After a few days back in England for various reasons – jobs, jabs, appearing at major cycle touring festivals, having teeth out – I resumed my Interrail trip this morning. I took a dawn ferry, this time equipped with touring bike, from Dover. It’s a rather scruffy and down-at-heel place, and wasn’t looking its best…

Brussels was only a stopover before taking Eurostar back home the following morning, but even though we were only walking the centre, we still got some cycling sights. Poechenellekelder, a touristy but well-rated bar lavishly endowed with Belgian beers, was also lavishly endowed with bicycles, adorning its facade to mark the Tour de France’s passage…

One of the most sublime stretches of cycle path in Germany is along the Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz, winding between storied headlands and quaint romantic villages. Instead, we rode the dull bit further downstream between Bonn and Cologne, past chemical factories and through industrial estates. To be fair, we had cycled the good bit…

Germany rivers well. (In German you can verb anything.) I’ve done some of the big-ticket waterway routes – Danube, Mosel, Elbe – so it was nice to explore some of the smaller ones. The Neckar ambles down from the Black Forest hills to join the Rhine at Mannheim, a place I now feel familiar with;…

What was it like to cycle in Ancient Rome? To find out, we cycled the classic intact-Roman-Road stretch of the Appian Way, the Empire’s A1, which ran 365 miles from the capital down to the Brindisi. As the Via Appia Antica, it’s a popular hire-bike jaunt with visitors, going from the Baths of Caracalla in…

Ah, yes. Venice. La Serenissima, whose elegant centre has been car-free since the 1600s. Bike-free too, sadly: having emerged from the train station of Santa Lucia to the abrupt, astounding canalfront facades of the old town, you are informed by signs forbidding all bikes in the historic centre, even pushed. Nigel could have hidden his…

Slovenia’s capital has two wonderful things for cyclists. First, its enormous car-free old town, a joyful sprawl of pavement cafes, bars and restaurants, alive with the gentle hubbub of pedestrians, a few bikes, and no combustion engines. Second, dumplings. After our very scenic train journey from Salzburg, with fine valley and mountain views, we enjoyed…

Salzburg, the city of Mozart, was a handy stopover for us rather than a destination for cycling. Or music. Or confectionery. (Mozartkugeln, ‘Mozart balls’, are the place’s famously kitsch celebration in spherical chocolate of the composer.) I’ve been through the city a few times before, so didn’t feel the need to linger in the old…

Freiburg, down at the bottom left corner of Germany, is often cited as one of its greenest, cyclingest cities. Certainly the central streets and roads are thick with riders, many of whose political colour you can easily guess. But as with Cambridge, another student city, you feel it’s more down to a self-sustaining cycling culture…