Eurovelo 7 South to North?

[Ignoramus]

Can anyone give any information about the southern part of the route? We're thinking of setting off next year and doing the route in stages. So it'd be really good if anyone can help out on:
- cycling in Malta. It looks to be a bit of a nightmare, is this right?
- maps for the southern section as far as Rome
- whether going south to north is the best way of going about it.

Many thanks

[Tigerbiten]

I'd check on "Crazy Guy on a Bike" -> https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ if anyone has written a blog on that route.

Luck ...........

[Ignoramus]

Thank you, but I failed to find anything on crazyguyonabike. If there's anything I've missed, I'd be grateful for the link.

[Tigerbiten]

If not CGOAB then Google is your friend.
Also try looking up "Ciclopista Del Sole" which is the Italian part of EV-7
Have you seen -> http://italy-cycling-guide.info/cyclewa ... urovelo-7/

[RJS]

I have a cycling friend who's parents live in Malta, Mrs RJS and I had a holiday there, he warned us don't take your bike, its definitely not a very cycle friendly country, roads other than the newest are awful, think uneven patches with pot holes for the worst. The people, when they aren't in their cars, are wonderful and friendly, most speak English. If you enjoy history and architecture, there is just so much to see. What with the small independent Bakery's, butchers, the fish market, and nice warm weather, (Easter), we had a wonderful time, but glad we didn't take the bike.
Cheers, Rob.

[slogfester]

We cycled from Florence north on EV7 last year. Didn't see a road sign until we hit northern lakes of Italy, so I suspect its not marked in the South of Italy? Have a look at:

http://www.biroto.eu/en/cycle-route/ita ... rt00000590
http://www.fiab-onlus.it/cps.htm
http://cyclingeurope.org/the-other-euro ... urovelo-7/
http://box349.bluehost.com/suspended.pa ... -tours.net
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... &msa=0&z=3
http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos/eurovelo-7

[Ignoramus]

Many thanks for the replies. We'll certainly follow up all the links and it's good to know that the "Ciclopista Del Sole" does cover part of the route south of Rome - we'd thought it started in Rome.

Malta sounds as bad as we feared but we'd want to do it for the sake of completeness. I wonder if Rob or anyone else could tell us whether it would be feasible to cycle from south to north super early in the morning before the traffic gets going and stand a reasonable chance of surviving unscathed?

[RJS]

Hi Ignoramus, OK maybe I over did the bad news, we were looking at a nice holiday tooteling around, it's not Mallorca if you keep your wits about you should be ok, yes the back roads are awful, worse than those here in Devon Their driving leaves a bit to be desired, but once they are out of their cars they are really friendly people, they like the British, and most speak English. We stayed in Birzebbuga the container port, which does some tourism as well, it suited us fine, especially the two little bakeries we found I guess you are just passing through, we had a car for a few days, and used the excellent bus service to do more exploring. There are some bike shops there if you need one. If you tell me where you enter and leave Mata I could aske my friend for some more suggestions. If you have the time there is loads to see from ancient to modern history etc.
Cheers, Rob

[Ignoramus]

Thanks again, Rob.

Whew! We were imagining something like the cycling conditions in Serbia (cycling into Belgrade along EV6 was the worst cycling experience e we've had by some little way).

Yes, we'd definitely leave ourselves time for sight-seeing and soaking up the atmosphere. As far as the cycling is concerned, we'd want to cycle from the southernmost point to the north and then get a bike carrying ferry to Sicily.