Cycle Tour Tips Europe

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

We have designed this video with the beginner cycle tourer in mind. If you would like more information please feel free to ask. We have also put together a blog post of items to take on a cycle tour. nomadlife.kiwi/items-to-take-on-a-cycle-tour/

[@char5477]

Have you cycled in Switzerland? Is there a Eurovelo route to ride?

[@BIKESnSKILLETS]

Looks like you camped near towns..why not get hotels instead of camping?

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Because we love camping! Much nicer than a hotel. Unless it's raining of course.

[@BIKESnSKILLETS]

@@NomadLifeKiwi makes sense 😁

[@lgrobby2144]

Awesome guys. Super informative. I'll definitely be looking at all your material. Husband and I are hoping to do the EV6 next year in May

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

That's great. glad you've found it helpful. EV6 is a fantastic route, you will love it!

[@davidcollier6520]

Thanks for sharing your tips, they are great and you definitely cover all aspects. It is amazing you manage to pack everything into the panniers. I will have to check out the Cicerone cycle guides and I recommend Komoot premium, a Belgian guy recommended upgrading from standard and I though I'd give it a go and it is great for showing all the established cycle routes.

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

I think we did pay for komoot premium. Definitely worth it. We didn’t find out about it until halfway through our ride!

[@julienz6196]

This was absolutely brilliant and so helpful. It answered all the questions I had when I watched your European Cycle tour in 2022 as I was very inspired to give it a go along with my husband - starting with the beginner routes that is!! Many thanks for the effort you put into this.

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Thanks Julie, pleased to hear if was helpful. So awesome you guys are going to give cycle touring a go, you'll love it!

[@BrianHumber]

Hi Guys! Thanks for the video series, my wife and I certainly enjoyed watching them. Just curious about if you had a phone and if so how did you set it up. Do you need a phone or can you just turn it off? Thanks

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Hi Brian, thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the series 🙂. Mike bought a global sim card with unlimited data which covered all of Europe. Then we just used it as a hotspot for our other devices, but most campgrounds had wifi. But it's handy having data on the road for navigation, looking for campgrounds, hotels etc. The plan we got also included phone calls, which was handy if we had to call ahead and book a hotel (or campground in the busy season.) We also used our phones as cameras. If you leave it in flight mode, it doesn't use as much power. Hope this helps.

[@stephenpodmore7263]

I’m learning a lot from you guys and one item I’ll need for my tour next year is the camping plug extension that will allow me to use my 2 pin French leads to charge my gear. Do you have a link to that particular piece of equipment you can share please? Thank you in advance 😊

[@grantwalker660]

I could use that information too!

[@rustywrx]

Love this! I've been playing with the idea of following one of the EV routes in 2025, but saw a couple of "what they don't tell you" videos, which put me off.. You both reignited that enthusiasm, thank you 😁

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Wow, I'd be interested to see what they don't tell you. Probably the biggest problem we came across was during July/August during the holiday times and finding a lot of campgrounds were full. Hope you have a great trip :-)

[@rustywrx]

@@NomadLifeKiwi Outside of weather and the occasional blocked path, I think most of the issues stemmed from trying to wild camp as much as possible. Sprinkle in a dash of doing the trip solo and I can see how it would wear thin quite quickly. Thanks! Here's hoping I can find someone adventurous enough to come with lol Currently binge watching the rest of your trip. Love your dynamic. Keep up the good work 😁

[@expatexpat6531]

This is a trip in DE that I did many years ago - highly recommended. Frankfurt/Main along the River Main to Wertheim, where the River Tauber joins the River Main. Then down the Tauber valley to the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Then one hour cross-country to the River Altmühl. Then all the way down the Altmühl valley, eventually getting to the town of Kelheim (there was also one section on the Main/Donau Canal). Then from Kelheim along the Danube to Passau, Linz, and Vienna. Each of the rivers has its own unique character and historic towns and flows through beautiful countryside. If you get tired, you can catch a ferry in some places and you are never far from a local railway line. There is a cycle path for 99% of the way for all those rivers and there are fewer cyclists on the smaller rivers. Cycle from West to East (the prevailing wind is from the West...).

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

@@expatexpat6531 wow, this sounds amazing. I love the idea of mixing it up with some ferries

[@mp011972]

What a lovely couple, and with great tips, the best I've seen so far. Thank you very much

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Thanks, that’s kind of you to say :-)

[@sandrascott2606]

Hi guys! Can I ask about an item you both have on your bikes. On the handlebars, you have a yellow cover like an oversized showercap, with a heavy duty plastic cover flipped towards you covering electronics I presume. Can you give me a little more info on exactly what this item is please.

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Hi Sandra, it's a handlebar bag that comes with a waterproof cover. This is the model we used here: www.amazon.com/Topeak-TourGuide-Handlebar-Bag-DX/dp/B088W1QMRD

[@sandrascott2606]

Thanks so much for the link. I'm googling right now. Lovely husband and I already own almost every single item you guys do and are seriously considering following in your footsteps May next year. Sidebar....I don't suppose you guys know anyone who lives in Papamoa. The world is an ever shrinking place and I think it's possible we have mutual friends.

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

@@sandrascott2606 We don't know anyone in Papamoa, but I hope your friends are safe. Sounds like the cyclone is hitting hard over on the coast.

[@sandrascott2606]

@@NomadLifeKiwi Hi again Mike and Jo. My husband Tim and I are loving watching all your videos and have found it quite hilarious just how similar we are to you guys, from your gear, to your camping style, to your food options, and cute little mannerisms like clinking your food item to each other "cheers" style. We do that too! You said to ask questions, so ask questions I shall. :D Can you please give me a little info on a couple more things.... 1, How did you go with securing your bikes and tent when you left them to go sightseeing. We have the same panniers as you guys and while waterproof, they aren't person-proof. 2, would you recommend the storage unit you have/had in Poole to keep your bikes and other gear in longterm? We've already done 1 10 week driving camping trip around the UK and took a tent with us from Australia, then bought a fair bit of gear once we were there. We gave it all away at the end, but we want to do it at least a couple more times. We'd likely take a tent from here again and the plan would be to leave a whole lot of camping gear behind in a unit like you guys show in the tips video.

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

@@sandrascott2606 Hi guys, we took.a couple of cable locks, one for the bikes, and the other for our panniers. It we were somewhere where we felt we needed to lock up the panniers, we would put them inside the tent and run a cable through all the handles. It's not going to stop someone getting into your stuff, just makes it a bit more difficult and harder to run off with the lot. Most of the time we didn't bother. I would sometimes take my laptop with me but most the time it seemed pretty safe. We never felt comfortable leaving our bikes fully loaded and unattended while sightseeing, so we usually waited for a rest day to go sightseeing. Our storage unit comes with our property so we are lucky to have it. You'd have to check the costs of storage units to see if it would make it worthwhile to keep your stuff in one, Might make it easier than buying it every time. Thanks again for watching 🙂

[@pkockx]

nice one 🙏

[@NomadLifeKiwi]

Thanks!