Biking Europe

>>1202377
In Nordic countries you're allowed to set up tent anywhere. In other countries the law varies.

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>>1202382
yeah, that's the thing. I'm from Sweden so it didn't occur to me at first, even though I'm aware of it. That's why it'd be useful to get an actual travelers perspective. For example, in Japan you can easily set up your tent even in parks, even though it's illegal. Find a secluded spot and hope that you're lucky. If the police do find you they also won't do anything but wake you up and politely asking you to move.

>>1202384
my friends use this regularly
https://www.warmshowers.org

basically couchsurfing for cyclists

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>>1202389
cool! I've heard of them before but had forgotten. I'd still much prefer tenting but this might be a good option

Pitch your tent at night, leave the place before dawn. Don't get caught and you'll be good

Got any route in mind? Might give you country-specific advice on wild camping then.

>>1202390
Yes, best to bookmark it, even if you want to use the tent. Some people just provide space for your tent in their bsckyard.

>>1202394
I'll plan as I go along but i'm thinking of heading down through denmark, taking my time in the German countryside making my way west past netherlands-belgium headed for Paris where I know some people. Then south-east towards schweiz and northern italy.

From then on it's all up to remaining time and weather

>>1202396
Denmark: Wild camping illegal but there are a lot of exceptions. See https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Primitive_camping_in_Denmark
Germany: Generally illegal but mostly tolerated and rarely enforced. In the federal states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein you may legally pitch your tent for one night in forest areas provided you're unmotorized and fuck off the next morning.
Netherlands and Belgium: Strictly illegal but the countries are dotted with so-called paalkamperen, primitive camping spots where you may legally "wild"camp. See https://sites.google.com/site/paalkampeerders/kaart for a map.
France: Kind of a gray area. Officially it's only allowed if you get permission from a landowner but it's generally tolerated. Frenchies outside of Paris are noice people though, so you will rarely get refused if you ask a farmer or something if you can sleep on his property.
Switzerland: Not generally illegal. Rules vary by canton and municipality. Generally allowed in the alpine areas of the country.
Italy: Only allowed if you get permission from the landowner. Dangerous in touristic areas like the Italian riviera where the rule is actually enforced.

>>1202399
Of course, avoid camping in national parks in any of these countries.

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>>1202399
Wow, awesome! Thanks a lot for the information!

>>1202400
Of course

>>1202377
Hey man!

I've been doing a lot of long distance cycling. I'm from Poland, and I've been to Croatia (Dubrovnik), Ukraine (Crimea, before war) and through Baltic countries to St. Petersburg. I've don a lot of cycling in Poland too, alongside coast trip, South to North.

I wish to go to Northcap this year, mostly through Sweden.

As far as wild camping is concerned. If tou are smart and decent you won't find trouble. No police is going to randomly search forests for you, I don't think locals mind that as well. Keep finding places that cannot be spotted from the road or peoples houses, it doen't have to be far away, if you are going to avoid main roads (which you should), there will be plenty of spots I'm sure. Keep your place clean, even if you by any chance get confronted by someone (I was once), you will be in a better position.

Going into cities with a fully loaded bicycle is pain in the ass. Constant stops, traffic lights, speed bumps, you are not so manuverable as you are without your bags. Near cities go with camping sites, hostels or communities: TrustRoots (small but superior community), WarmShowers (cyclist targeted, really popular in Germany), CouchSurfing (lots of people, but a lot of cocksurfers), BeWelcomed (a lot of inactive people). If you are in the city, avoid sleeping in city parks, behind buildings etc untill you get some experience. Cities have more active night life, so even if nicely camouflaged in city park, there always is a chance for some drunk hobo to find you.

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>>1202903
Great Info! Thanks!

Nordkap is great, and I'd definitely recommend going through Sweden for most of the journey, father than Norway. Not o my because of nationalism (both countries are beautiful) but rather the fact that Sweden is much less expensive, and the roads are generally better.

What you said about cities was good. I still haven't gotten my gear so we'll see how it turns out but if possible I'll try to get bags that are easily carriable by themselves so that I can leave the bike outside of major cities and bring the luggage with me for longer stays.

Any info/tips regarding gear? I'm looking at getting a OK priced touring bike (currently in love with the fuji tourer) and some side-bags. I'm not new to backpacking/hiking/low-budget lone travel but I am to bike touring so especially thoughts about bikes and related gear are greatly appreciated.
Also, how did you deal with safety? (as in: bike or stuff getting stolen, not personal)

Thanks again!

>>1202974
I wanted to go last year, but I think starting 1st September was too late, I would be more or less month later up there. I didn't want to pack up with tons of warm clothes. What would be the best time to reach Nordkap? Season peak in July?

I thought that Sweden would be just more flat and more foresty, I like those two things.

With bicycles, I would recommend you to take it easy. Don't buy top tier bicycle (unless you swimming in money and don't care). Not now. Maybe right now I'm talking through my Polish low income perspective (pretty poor). But, this is a bicycle http://velo.pl/sites/default/files/rowery/COMPACT_B.jpg Author Compact, that I bought in 2006 for around 750 PLN, which is not even 200 EUR back then. This bike is the cheapest in whole Author series (pretty popular here in Central Europe), I did 25k km on this bike before I bought a better one. I went to those countries listed in my previous post, I've been using it almost everyday on the way to school or just on random trips.

The one I have right now is Surly Long Haul Tracker, and to be honest. I don't really feel the difference. In this bike just a frame costed me 400 EUR. And now wherever I go, I feel more scared of this bike being stolen that I was ever before scared of anything.

Sure if I were to go, say, from Poland to China through steppes and what not, Surly would surely be a better choice, frame is a steel one, but is so durable and well made, that it will be able to handle the most rough road and plenty of luggage.

If you are going to trip around Europe, don't really need very durable bike. The Fuji Tourer you mentioned is very good one, comparable to what I have right now, you definitely won't need anything more. I don't know what brands are available in Sweden.

>>1203053

CD.

Bags/Panniers I have right now are from Crosso company, they are not the best, but for Europe they are more than good. Unless you will get some model, with special something, that will allow you to wear your bags like bag packs, don't really buy plastic mounting system http://crosso.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ktory-hak.jpg like here, I've metal ones, and I made myself special 'harness' that I put on those metal hooks to use it as backpack (not ideal, but good enough).

There is so much I could talk about it, but to be honest. Travelling through Europe, even this 'worse part with shitty roads' like Poland, Ukraine, Romania and where else, you don't need anything too good. When I was 15 I went couple of times on a bike like this http://klasykizg.pl/sites/default/files/2015-02-16%2015.00.31.jpg (better condition, but no gears) for two to four day trips (300 km total), and it was okay enough, you need just positive attitude :)

I think one of the best part of travelling with bicycle, is dealing with unexpected things on the road, nowhere in Europe you won't be more than 50 km from any human settlement, so it is not like you can die, don't overly worry about your gear, have just spare patches, one tube, some tools, and you will be fine.

As far as safety goes, I've never experienced anything bad, nothing was stolen, but I left my bicycle with bags with questionable places couple of time unsupervised. When sleeping in the forest, I leave my bike near my tent or have it locked around the tree (U-Lock won't do, unless tree is very thin), when I'm using camp sites I use padlock to lock it to something (gate, fence), going to hostels I try to get them to hostel locker somewhere.

I keep pepper gas in my front bag, I've never used it, might be good for animals and people.
I have a knife as well, pretty good one, but that's for last effort before I die.

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>>1203053
Nice input on the bike! I'm the type who does have the money, but value functionality and ease-of-use the highest, and in that sense, I'd much prefer a worse-looking, functional, cheap one that I don't have to be so careful of. And like you said, I'll be touring central europe, if something breaks down it'll never be an issue of anything but money.

I've read a lot about he SLHT frames, and they're definitely on the list.
Touring bikes are almost impossible to find in Sweden unless you ask a specialist store to import one for you, so unfortunately testing isn't possible.. I'm probably gonna buy it in Denmark or Germany instead.

Regarding norkap: best time would probably be around and before midsummer's eve since there won't be a lot of tourists there yet, and the weather should be alright. Early september is probably when you should arrive at the latest. Summer is obviously a good time (because of nice weather) but it'll probably be quite crowded.
Finally, nordkap is quite expensive, just so that you're aware. Alternatively, you could aim for treriksröset, or lofoten.

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>>1203054
Ok! cool, I'll be looking into bags come spring, but I'm sure i'll work out. I'd love to do more custom gear-making myself but I'm unfortunately in a situation where I don't have the means nor the time to, so I'll have to go for pre-made.

About the bike it's just as you say, and I think I just have to slowly accept it (rather than just know it). I usually end up going with the cheapest DIY-option anyway. I tried looking for scrap bikes during last year to get a good frame and then put it together but there's few "finds" to be made here in the small city where I currently live.

>>1203054
>>1203053
Hey, if you're still here: any tips for what to wear?
I reckon I need to get some kind of biking pants?

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>>1204651
(Not the pole). I think you need some sort og travelling trousers but not necessarily the real deal. Merino wool (rly expensive) is the way to go if you dont want to be bothered with a lot of clothes or washing. Check out thebikeramble. Shes been touring for 3 years now.
>sångbok (song book)
Do you just sing whenever or is it for something else?

Personally i would love to travel by bike. probably not in europe thoug, in ~2years. So i'm all ears if you care to share the story later.

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>>1204842
moomin <3

Ok! I'll check out thebikeramble, thanks for the recommendation. I will of course do more research as I'm getting closer to departure but I always value people experiences on forums higher than general advice you find on the internet. I'll see what I can find, it'd be great if I was able to cut down my wardrobe to just bike clothes + pants and t-shirt.

The Sångbok was a half-hearted joke haha. I used to be "sångboksförman" (song book responsible) at my university guild. In short, I like singing and especially the culture of drunk singing that we have at universities here (and in finland as well, no?). So last year when hiking with two classmates I brought it in an attempt to make them memorize more songs! It was actually quite nice, singing in the evenings.

I'll definitely keep /trv/ updated during the trip!

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>>1205182
Mods are asleep, post sångböcker!

been there, done that. As for sleeping, It doesn't matter! You can sleep in the woods, on fields, on the side of the road, on roof tops, on people's balconies, or in the city- just on the street or on a bench. I've slept in all those places. I slept on a dock in Venice in the peak of summer once.

Tbh it's not even 100% necessary to bring a tent. (If it rains you're major fucked tho. It can make for a hella fun evening looking for somewhere to stay though.

You can hit me up if you wanna know anything. [email protected]

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>>1205429
Awesome! You should share some of your stories in a bike touring general here if you haven't already. I'll email you about the one thing I'm still curious about: clothing

>>1202903
>TrustRoots (small but superior community)

Hi, I'm not OP but I appreciate your informative post. I'm curious about this statement. I just started using CS and am curious about what you meant regarding the community. I was planning on using the site in a few weeks in Germany, but I'll use Trustroots instead if there's a reason to.

>>1205261
I only have one :(
Different culture in Lund compared to KTH i guess

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>>1205182
Oh man that sounds just like my thing dude. My uni doesnt really follow it as much as uppsala and others but you learn the basic songs.

I asked a friend of mine who has been on the road for 8 months about trousers specifically. He used Icebreaker's Compass shorts and had something more I suppose. Quite expensive but he seemed to be happy with them.

Also any personal recommendations on hiking in Sweden?

>>1205261
I wish I could contribute to the sångbok-posting but I cant.

One last mumin. (Slovenia, Bohinj)

>>1207770
Oh shit I wasn't ready for the moon crackers. Do they even sell them anymore?

On hiking in Sweden: Sarek is the place to go if you're a bit tougher and want a unique experience. The scenery is amazing, large parts are still almost completely pathless, and whole area has a flora and fauna unique to Sweden. What you have to be ready for is the fact that it's really wet, you'll face several river crossings with water up to your hips, and if you walk further down in the delta you'll literally be walking in swamps and marshes. And due to its
Its size most trails that reach the heart of it are 5-8 day hikes.

Anyway, for nicer though crowded hikes, check out Kungsleden (especially the northernmost part, or the one around Kebnekaise), or jämtlandstriangeln.
I've done both in winter, and they are very famous so like I said, expect to have company (honestly though, even Sarek is starting to get a bit crowded. I'm not one to care that much, but a lot of people do I guess)

Here's pictures from my latest Sarek trip (6 nights)

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