Customer Reviews

Cycling Europe: Budget Biking Touring in the Old World (The Active Travel Series)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

The problem with this book, as well as many others that descirbe biking in Europe, is that is doesn't truly focus on how you could do it. Rather, it tells you how they did it. They provide very basic information on trip planning and focus mainly on where they went. It's good for people searching for a preset tour with maps, but it's not for people who wish to make their own trip. The book breifly talks about accomadations, transport, and problems one may encounter. I would apperciate some specific information on which airline does the best job of transporting bikes and which hostels welcome bikers.

There was a famous competition in the UK once of misleading tips for foreign tourists. Try the echo in the Reading Room of the British Museum, double yellow lines by the side of the road mean double parking allowed etc. This books perpetrates another, which if you followed it would cause intense irritation. The statement that British shops (repeated more than once) are closed all weekend. Simply rubbish. You can food shop anywhere all day Saturday, and on part of Sunday, in all but the smallest villages, and even some of them. Its recommendation on maps is poor. I could go on with other inaccuracies. The book is not all bad, but a guide to cycling Europe? No way. A plea to all guide book writers - get your facts carefully checked by a well-informed native. A native

We have found this book quite helpful in planning our cycling trips in Europe, particularly tours of France and Germany. We cannot disagree with comments from the other reviewers. There are indeed some points of misinformation, and we have found better routes in several instances. Cycling the "route du vin" in Alsace was a special treat, yet never mentioned as an option; another route in Germany easily leads onto the Autobahn if not careful! Nonetheless, this book was indispensible in planning our European tours.

The few available cycling guides should be viewed as helpful references/starting points for planning a cycling tour. It is important to be flexible, and open to the many options available - that is half the fun of self-supported bicycle touring! With the caveats above, we do recommend this book.

I bought this as a surprise replacement copy for my boyfriend, who had used Slavinski's book twice to plan and successfully ride thousand-mile bicycle trips around Europe. Immediately he pored through the book, reminiscing and showing gratitude to the author. His photo albums of the trip include a wall on a country road in Germany graffitied with "I LOVE YOU NADINE." He's convinced another cyclist along Nadine Slavinski's recommended route wrote it with the young author in mind.