9 important lessons I’ve learned about biking in Europe

I love our bicycle adventures in Europe. All DIY, all different.

And we’ve learned from each one.

I want to share some of those lessons. Some come from our latest trip that included the D-Day beaches in Normandy, the Seine a Velo route and the Avenue Verte route from Paris to London. Others are from earlier trips along the Loire and in the Italian Dolomites down to Verona.

1. May through mid-June is a great time to be in Europe. Yes, I am saying this knowing that we missed the heat waves. But I loved how late it stayed light. Nearly 10 pm! That gave us flexibility if it did get crazy hot or it rained. We were in the Loire Valley in late September last year, which also was lovely. In both cases, our destinations weren’t crazy with tourists (Monet’s gardens at Giverny were an exception.)

But the sun goes down much earlier in the fall. And I’m glad I wasn’t on a bike in northern Europe in the second half of October a few years back — that trip had too much cold and and rain.

2.Taking our bikes from the U.S. was surprisingly easy. YouTube videos show you the basics. We then practiced packing them using much of that bubble wrap that I’ve saved over the years knowing it would be good for something; we reassured ourselves by paying a bike mechanic friend to supervise a test. We bought replacement derailleur hangers just in case. Pedals have to come off, so we bought a lightweight pedal wrench.

The handlebars had to be loosened and hung down and zip-tied the side of the frame. A tip from our mechanic friend: Use a metallic silver Sharpie to draw a line on your handlebars to get everything lined up right again.

One bike travelled in a cardboard bike box, the other in a soft-shelled bike case with wheels. United treated each as our first piece of luggage (50-pound limit and no extra charge on top of that because it’s a bike). You do have to click the oversized luggage/bike option when checking in your bag, which we didn’t know. But a nice person at Newark Airport helped us fix that. And then the man at oversized baggage stepped out from behind the counter and just took the boxes. Honestly, I’m not even sure they were even weighed.

Both bikes came out fine on the other end.

Putting them back together was easy, though we had the luxury of doing it in a house rather than at the airport. (Thanks for picking us up, Tim!)

The bikepacking bag that attaches to my seat post was stuffed with clothes and became my carry-on luggage. The handlebar bag went in the case. My “handbag” was a light, reusable grocery bag that held my passport and other essentials. On the road we used it for … groceries.

3.Slow down! If I’m honest, too many of our 60-mile days on the Avenue Verte seemed to be all about the bike. I know, sometimes you have no choice; it’s set by where you can find a place to sleep.

Still, I should take more time for sightseeing along the way (pre-plan those breaks?) and/or work harder at shortening the mileage. Cut 10 miles or 20 km? Looking back, the long day biking through the vineyards in Alsace should have started in Selestat instead of Colmar so that it could have included a nice lunch (or at least another pastry) plus a wine-tasting later on. Or a stop at the bike cafe on the outskirts of Strasbourg. I’m learning I don’t need to get in right before dinner.

4.Along those lines, I need to go back to doing more research on the sights ahead of time instead of just winging it. At least I can ask AI. (Actually, let me do that right now for an upcoming bike trip.) Rouen was a wonderful surprise. What did we miss elsewhere?

5.Equally, I need to think more realistically about geography. I really wanted to go back to Strasbourg, and I got to see friends that way. But it involved a lot of extra train travel, and if you can’t get the bike spots on the TGV, you lose a lot of time. Perhaps we should have focused on Normandy and Brittany and saved Strasbourg for another time?

6.Finding a bike-friendly route is actually the easier part of trip planning. Europe has so many bike routes, starting with Eurovelo and going down to regional loops. In France, I would walk into a small tourist information office and leave with several maps. You can find many French routes using this website.

Use the train if you can’t find a nice route out of a city (Caen back to Bayeux!) or run into bad weather. We’ve found that regional trains are bike-friendly, though they may run out of space in the height of the summer. Rules vary by region and season, so at least read up on them before you leave home. For French TERs, see the map on this page and then click on the region you are interested in.

7.Bring laundry sheets from the dollar store. I found 15 for $1.50. Light, take almost no room in your pannier and get the job done. These might be old news to you, but I use liquid detergent at home. Sure, I can pack super light, think layers and even wash in a sink, but at some point I need a washing machine. And not every apartment rental will include detergent.

So while I like going from A to B (Avenue Verte, Seine a Velo), I also like spending a few nights in one place (Bayeux for the D-Day beaches and, last fall, Tours in the Loire Valley). Especially if it includes a washing machine.

8.You won’t need much cash. Use an online bank like Wise or Revolut that offer accounts in multiple currencies. Link it to your home bank account before you leave so you can replenish on the go. Use the virtual debit card to tap and go. Fees are minimal (I use Wise and spent less than $3 to get 500 euros instantly from my U.S. bank; it’s $10.53 for 2,000 euros), and the exchange rate is superb (essentially what the banks give each other for big amounts, not what banks give us for little amounts). This referral link saves you that fee for the first $600 transfer — a no-risk test.

Not only have I used Wise to pay for something on the spot, but I have used it to reserve a hotel room or apartment. You can see the card number on the virtual card. I’ve even used Wise to transfer euros to someone in Italy; much easier, cheaper and faster than a wire transfer from your bank.

I have read that Wise will let me withdraw $250 (or 250 euros?) a month for free at an ATM, but I have not yet done that. Will the other bank charge a fee for using its ATM, even if I am using a euro debit card? Would I pay that anyway if I was using my U.S. bank’s ATM card — on top of any fees my bank might charge and then get that worse exchange rate?

9.How did we navigate? Our Garmins only have U.S. maps on them. We use both Ride With GPS and Komoot at home. So here’s what we’ve settled on:

We take an old phone and download the routes (in our case from Komoot) using Wifi. Make sure to download/save it to offline! Both Komoot and Ride With GPS have that as an option. The same goes for the local map, at least with Komoot.

Then we attach the old phone to the bike, hook it up to a battery pack to keep it fully charged all day, and follow the route using no data.

Note that Komoot does charge (we got a great lifetime deal in its early days). Ride With GPS also tries to get you to pay.

Looking ahead

I’m not saying we have it all figured out. There are things I am still thinking about.

1.On our latest trip, we booked all our overnights, ferries and TGVs before we left home, though we did have cancellable bookings where possible. It all worked. No stress.

But we are only two people. Should I still book all the accommodations early, or should I be more flexible, especially since we don’t travel in peak tourist season? We did book a couple of places on the fly at the tail end of our ride from the Dolomites to Verona several years ago. What’s the right balance?

2.Then there is cellphone data. Right now I have a T-Mobile plan that includes lots of free data overseas. But what happens if we run out? Yes, we use Wifi as much as possible and download our routes in advance. Should I look into an e-SIM from a European carrier? How do people handle two-factor authentication? Or, realistically, can that wait until I once again have Wifi?

3.Are there other apps and websites we should use? Can anyone share their experience with the cycle.travel app?

What’s the biggest lesson you have learned about traveling by bike?