Places to take a cycling holiday in Europe
It’s over a week now since I arrived back from Sibiu in Romania. It’s a place that I love dearly, for its amazing history, the beautiful mountains nearby, and for its people – some of whom are like family. Riding up the Transfaragarasan Highway was one of my life moments – something that I’ll remember forever.
Described as probably the best road in the world, the Transfargarasan Highway is truly an epic climb. Thankfully you can now ride it as part of a unique closed road event once a year – so we went along 🙂
It’s a special place, my beautiful city of Sibiu. It’s where I grew up, went to university, and I know so many of the really good places, the best cycling routes, the best views in the city and the best views from the hills overlooking the city. Now, it has a world class cycling tour too, and you can ride the roads of the racers.
Our U.K. Gravel Bike Coast to Coast route starts at the beautiful coastal hamlet of Ravenglass, before entering Eskdale and the Lake District. This technical section brings epic views and a mixture of easy gravel riding and more technical terrain, as you ride your gravel bike towards Sedbergh and the Dales.
VTOPO launched the gravel route guide at the end of last year for the Departement de Vaucluse, probably better known for its Provence region, renowned for the fields of lavender and the classic climbs of Mt Ventoux. It’s a paradise for road riding, mtb routes and is one of the first areas of France to have been developed for gravel riding.
Romania and the area of Transylvania have some of the most beautiful forested areas and awesome mountains in Europe – if not the world. This two-day mountain bike trip takes in the mountain area of Brucegi and the Omu Peak, a famous Romanian summit.
A great cycling route from north of Milan, cycling to Lake Como and then cycling in the Italian mountains, before descending back to Como and heading homewards.
From inspiring Eskdale in the west, through to the historic Roman Cam Road in the Dales and Wensleydale and the magnificent beauty of Jervaulx Abbey,onto Rosedale in the North Yorks Moors, this Gravel Bike Coast to Coast route has something for everyone.It’s also the very first U.K. Gravel Bike C2C – and we thing it’ll be the best too 😉
This is the ultimate cycling challenge in Wallonia, in the beautiful Belgian region of Spa. I rode the heroic 215km route in 2018, taking in the famous climbs of Stockeu, Wanneranval and Rosier and I can promise you breathtaking views and great satisfaction when you add this classic to your personal palmarès.
With its narrow roads, dozens of short, steep climbs and constant twisting and turning, the Amstel Gold Race spring classic opens the trilogy of Ardennes classics. I rode the full 240km route in April 2019 and the finish up the Cauberg (12%), past hundreds of cheering spectators was truly breathtaking!
