any cyclists - holidays

[Skatesbythesea]

Should probably post this in travel but thinking traffic.

I'm keen to do a cycling/camping trip this year. A few years back I cycled with a group of friends in the South of France, it was fab.

I know there are organised tours like Saddle Skedaddle but they are hugely expensive, so I'm thinking just self-organised.

Looking for destination ideas that are not too expensive to get to.

Somewhere I can jump on a ferry/train to, good campsites, possibly able to dive in the sea or a lake at some point, stunning scenery (mountains/cliffs/lakes kinda thing). Not super challenging but 25-70 miles a day is okay (depending on the terrain!). I have panniers on my road bike so that works for a light tent and a couple of clothes changes!

Cornwall (is this super hilly?), Isle of Wight, West Scotland (cycle friendly?). Not sure where I can feasibly get to in Europe without flying?

Open to suggestions further afield though depends on cost of flights (Slovenia, Sardinia look amazing).

Hello, we've cycle toured in France a couple of times. Plenty of swimming lakes and fab countryside, plenty of quiet roads etc. Burgundy is great, rolling hills rather than mountainous, beautiful scenery, food and wine. We drove over and left our car at an out of the way campsite which had parking spaces out front. We stayed the first and last few nights there and emailed in advance (in English, our pigeon French was not up to the task!) to ask if would be ok to leave the car. There are loads of swimming lakes in France and are much quieter than the coast, they often have fake beaches, Life guards and so on.
We flew to Barcelona once and cycled towards Girona from there but I found it much more of a faff flying my bike out, finding a locker to store the bike bag and getting all the kit under the budget airline weight restriction. If you fly to a biking Mecca like Mallorca or the Alps you can hire good quality bikes there to cut down on the faff (for a price!).

Netherlands, Denmark, Germany (ferry + train access).

South of France is possible if you don't mind Ryan Air.
Join CyclingUk to get lots more ideas.

The highlands & islands of Scotland. There are so many options, it's difficult to know where to start!

One of the Challenges I'm gearing up for is the 5 ferries. If you toured the other islands first of all, you could slot that in at the end.

If you are into adventure Google Bikepacking...there are loads of adventures
Beginner level The Guardian has some suggestions

Loads of routes on Sustrans

Or use Komoot

finally EU cycle routes EU Velo re all off road signposted routes across the EU..... I quite fancy the Croatian ferry hopping one.

I fully recommend Tenby or Port de Pollenca if you like hills!

Sorry fo late reply, thanks so much for these suggestions. I know so few cyclists so much appreciated.

Burgundy really looks fabulous. I could totally do that. France is such an idyllic place to cycle through vineyards.

Mallorca looks pretty awesome for the beaches. Possibly a bit more of a challenging ride so one to aim for when I am a bit fitter.

What is your budget? We are flying to the Dolomites this year then hiring bikes and cycling to Venice. We are stating in hotels but there might be options to camp instead. Out flights (to Venice) are fairly cheap.

Thanks for all the other tips too.

@YeOldeTrout I'm having flash backs to packing my bike onto a Ryan Air flight. I didn't leave enough time, rookey error, and I think I aged about two years in the process due to panic! The bike arrived spotless though

@EmmaGrundyForPM

As little as possible! Definitely a camping and baguette/pasta affair.

That sounds amazing. How do you even begin planning the route?

We're doing it with a company who transfer our luggage for us but looking at the web there are some very established cycle routes, one of which follows a disused railway line.

Friends of ours went cycling in Denmark last year and said that was amazing. Denmark is
wuite expensive though.

I really hope you find a location and holiday that works for you.

How about the Pyrennees...- Ryanair..Perpigan.. Biarritz...either be hard core tough it out along the north side of the chain, doing all or most of the cols (including the likes of the Tourmalet, Col de Port de Aspet, Col de Pailheres, etc..) or roll along bit further north and just enjoy the scenery..

Ah the EU Velo site is great!

@notimagain we did Carcassone > Pyrenees > Banyules > a few years back.

We were going to cycle on to Barcelona but took a train from Figuires as ran out of time.

Had some great wild camping adventures - I'd do it all again.

Get the train to Newcastle or harwich and get the overnight boat to nederlands

Then cycle and using booking com to get accommodation For however many night

Cycling in Nederlands is fabulous and easy but don’t over estimate mileage each day
Then return on overnight ferry back to uk and train home

Or you could do similar for a long weekend getting the ferry from newhaven and cycle to Paris on cycle route

Oh I forgot there is a route I did 2 years ago, a friend mentioned to me

Paris to Mont st Micheal it is 80% traffic free. It is real France, untouristy and spectacularly beautiful

You can get a ferry home from st Malo