This September I'm going to travel from Northumberland to Spain and have around 11 weeks to do this. I've only a small amount of touring experience so far and I'm deliberately trying not to plan the visit too thoroughly to avoid disappointing myself if/ when things go wrong (I'm certain they will, but that's all part of the fun!). I'm a bit vague but I've a couple of ideas or rough routes. The first would take me through the west of Britain then by ferry to Brittany and the Northwest of France. From there I would cycle down the west coast to Aquitaine and then Spain. This would be quicker and would get me to warmer regions sooner though may not be as interesting.
The second would rough route would take me through the East of France and the Alps; perhaps Germany and Switzerland before travelling to the West at the Mediterranean. I could always travel through Holland and Belgium to start with. It would be more interesting travelling through the Alps but be slower and perhaps not ideal in the cold of October. Or perhaps I should look at an other option.
Are there any classic cycle routes that anyone would recommend for me to get to Spain at that time of year? Also, perhaps for the return, so I can get back to work in December, though that seems less of a priority...
Northumberland to Spain
Re: Northumberland to Spain
The west route you mention is a bit of a classic for those of us living in the south west as it is part of a natural loop from Plymouth to Roscoff and back from Santander (that section would probably take you 2-3 weeks depending in route and speed etc- we usually aim for 80km per day on average). Not sure whether you are aiming though for Roscoff or St Malo in the first instance. I've done both as routes working down through France and they're fine.
The west route you are outlining sort of follows eurovelo 1 although if I was aiming to cover a decent distance each day as the crow flies I wouldn't necessarily stick to EV1. Anyway the west coast of France is mostly cycle friendly with plenty of bikes tracks and quiet roads. I loved cycling through Aquitaine and les landes although some people find it dull with either dunes or pine forests.
You'll need to pick a route over the Pyrenees to fit with where you'll come back from. When we did the west coast we used the Roncevalles pass from St Jean Pied de Port. This is also a camino de Santiago route. Spain is tougher cycling than France and the standing family joke here is that I didn't realise that Sierras means mountains when I started planning routes through Spain! Where in Spain are you planning to ride? Top to bottom?
I haven't done much in the east outside of the Netherlands so can't help there although I do have London to Brindisi on my to do list.
The west route you are outlining sort of follows eurovelo 1 although if I was aiming to cover a decent distance each day as the crow flies I wouldn't necessarily stick to EV1. Anyway the west coast of France is mostly cycle friendly with plenty of bikes tracks and quiet roads. I loved cycling through Aquitaine and les landes although some people find it dull with either dunes or pine forests.
You'll need to pick a route over the Pyrenees to fit with where you'll come back from. When we did the west coast we used the Roncevalles pass from St Jean Pied de Port. This is also a camino de Santiago route. Spain is tougher cycling than France and the standing family joke here is that I didn't realise that Sierras means mountains when I started planning routes through Spain! Where in Spain are you planning to ride? Top to bottom?
I haven't done much in the east outside of the Netherlands so can't help there although I do have London to Brindisi on my to do list.
Re: Northumberland to Spain
As a classic route, there is the Way of St James, which becomes the Camino de Santiago in Spain. It has a number of different routes through Europe including one branch which starts, istr, in Canterbury.
Anne Mustoe wrote a book which describes her travels along this route (whith two other journeys) in "Amber, fur and cockleshells".
Anne Mustoe wrote a book which describes her travels along this route (whith two other journeys) in "Amber, fur and cockleshells".