Customer Reviews

Cycling the Mediterranean: Bicycle Tours in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Beyond (The Active Travel Series)

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We purchased this book for our tour from Rome to Barcelona and found it absolutely useless. The route follows major highways while missing quiet backcountry roads. The author completely misses the true beauty of France and Italy in bypassing the Amalfi coast, Umbria, Tuscany and Provence. My advice... save your money for maps and a Lonely Planet guide. When every ounce counts, this is not a book you need to lug up a 1000 meter pass.

After following this book from Malaga to Florence, it seems almost impossible that the author actually rode this route. He says that the trip can be taken by a person of any experience level, but realistically only an experienced rider would enjoy his route. He is consistantly incorrect with respect to elevations, distances, and major road names. After about a month of cycling we began to plan our own routes. We found that we could use a map and guess better routes than he could suggest in his book. Do not waste your time and money. Buy a good set of Michelin maps and pay attention to the topographical marks on the maps and you will be fine. Nothing is more annoying than to rely on incorrect information.

My wife and I used this book to plan our 8 week tour from Barcalona to Athens. We found the book's recomendations on route to be invaluable. The roads recomended provided some of the best riding I have done anywhere in the world. However this book is not a compleat trip guide, it is light on deatail (how to get from one road to the next in a town) and does not have logging or food recomendations. We used other books for campgrounds and tourist information and good maps are a must.

Used the book as a guide for a cycle trip from Barcelona to Rome. Maps from local tourist offices were required for more detailed road and campground information.