Customer Reviews

Europe by Bike: 18 Tours Geared for Discovery

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found the book to be quite informative, however there is one problem that I found. The reader/rider can only do the tour in the direction in which the tours take place in the book due to the fact that the directions are given one way. I just finished a tour using this book and thought that I may be able to maneuver from the end of a tour and go toward the beginning with the help of some good maps. If I had a one Euro cent for every time I got lost I would have been Trump by the end of the trip. I did a tour in the U.S. with maps and directions that went both directions... north AS WELL AS south and east AS WELL AS west. The directions are impossible to follow unless you are going in the Whitehill's prescribed direction. Aside from that, information regarding campgrounds and distances is extremely on target and helpful.

I used the 1991 book to plan my 2002 solo biking trip from Salzburg, Austria to Budapest, Hungary. 11 years later I found their directions were still quite accurate. That trip was an absolute delight.

I am now planning another solo bike trip in September 2006 that will follow the Whitehill's route from Brussels Belgium to Versailles, France to Angers, France and back to Versailles.

I used their first edition for my first bike trip in 1991, and can't recommend it enough. I really didn't have any other bike book then, and this one got me across Italy, through part of France, and across Germany. I used the same edition a couple years later, and it was still helpful.

The advice was all clear, particular the directions--what to look for, where to turn. Maps were good. I've had time over the years to compare it to a couple other bike touring books, and this was clearly the best. Roads change, of course, and I hope to see new editions.

I used this book for a 2 month sabbatical cycling 2,000 miles thru 12 countries in '96. I had never toured before and I give it credit for making the trip a hugh success.

Now I am planning a second trip thru Scandinavia and I only wish it included more of Eastern Europe (I can't seem to find an alternate source).

My guess is that the entire series is worthwhile.

The copy I was looking at had been reprinted in 2005, so I assumed it would be pretty up to date. I was a bit taken aback when they suggested that I could make cassette mix tapes of songs to give to friends I met along the way. Even moreso when they were telling how you could arrange in advance with friends to have mail sent to you at certain post offices you would pass by along the way, and how nice it was to be able to keep in touch that way. Also they gave addresses you could write to asking for maps and tourist information to be mailed to you before your trip. And then there was mention of cycling through Czechoslovakia. On closer inspection it was a second edition that had five reprints between 1993 and 2005, but they've still managed to leave it completely un-updated.

I'm sure a lot of the basic directions would still be fine, but keep in mind it hasn't been updated in nearly two decades, and so a lot of the information isn't to be trusted. You may as well get an old copy second hand rather than a new book.

I used an earlier edition of this book for a trip from Genoa to Barcelona in September 1989, and for a trip from Lisbon to Tangiers in May 1990. I was 23/24 at the time, and had never toured on my own prior to those trips. The book was perfect: good advice for purchasing/maintaining a tour bike, good description of routes and side trips, good advice on special little things to see and do along the way (I think I used it in conjunction with the relevant 'Lets Go' guides). I had two fantastic adventures. Somewhere along the way I lost my book so, nearly 20 years later, I am buying a new copy to share with my husband and daughter.

I just got this book in the mail today. I confess I have only skimmed it, but it has exactly the information I was looking for. This book was first published in the late 1980s and a second edition was published in 1992 or 93. It is now out of print and only available used. I paid 40 cents plus $3.99 shipping to Goodwill Books. It took a week or so to arrive, but the book is in nearly new condition.

The layout of the book reminds me of the older Rick Steves books. That's a good thing. It is very readable.

Each route gets its own chapter, and the start of each route has a description of that trip. For example, the Vienna to Budapest ride is 240 miles with seven days suggested. It is described as "A Riverside Glide." It would have been helpful if the difficulty were noted in the table of contents, but it's not that hard to flip through the chapters.

I went on a bike trip as a teen in the 1970s and have been thinking it would be fun to take the kids on a week-long trip. It will probably never happen, but it's fun to read about. And maybe....

This book is good to allow you to pick two or three routes that interest you. The Internet didn't exist when this book was written (it suggests writing for information!), so now you can decide where you want to go with this book and then flesh out the details using the Internet. Given that the book is almost 25 years old, that's important.

The trip I went on as a teen started in Luxembourg and then went to Trier, up the Mosel to the Rhine, and then down the Rhine to Cologne and into Holland. We then returned by a more arduous route through Belgium. Portions of that trip are included in two different tours featured in this book, one easy, the other harder. I was surprised a true Rhine trip wasn't included, as I understand it is popular to start in Switzerland and go all the way to Holland. Obviously this is something I can learn about on my own, but it would be nice to have it included (a small portion of the Rhine is included in the Trier to Bingen trip).

Given the low price as a used book I highly recommend this book, whether you have a trip planned or are just dreaming of one.