Some of the most beautiful places in Europe are even better if explored on two wheels, giving us the freedom to choose our rhythm and get away from the tourist trails.
Here are some ideas for spending your cycling holidays this Summer.
Siena, Italy
Siena is famous for the Strade Bianche: an early season race that takes place on the gravel and white roads of the surrounding region before reaching the finish in Piazza del Campo. Traveling on those same roads lined with cypresses among vineyards and olive groves is a unique emotion.
Yorkshire, England
Artists of the caliber of Bradley Wiggins, Lizzie Deignan and Chris Froome have inspired hundreds of thousands of Brits to devote themselves to cycling in the past decade. The UK is not yet well known as a cycling destination, but the quiet country lanes in places like Yorkshire are as fun to travel as the most famous roads in Europe.
Stavanger, Norway
Cycling in the wind-swept rocky mountains, waterfalls, forests and cavernous fjords of Norway will leave you spellbound by the vastness and power of nature. Maybe that’s why the Norwegians are so friendly. Stavanger, a prosperous medium-sized city located on the southwest coast, is the ideal place to start a cycling adventure in Norway: the surrounding countryside is magnificent and from the harbor, lined with colorful wooden buildings, you can take a ferry to the the bottom of Lysebotn, a marvelous sheer drop that rises for 9 km from the sea on a rough plateau.
Girona, Spain
The colorful Catalan city looks like a cycling destination thanks to the high-level bicycle shops, the tour and coffee companies that specifically target cyclists in the city, not to mention the great cyclists who ride the climbs of Els Angels and Rocacorba. After cycling, take a walk around the old city walls, visit the cathedral or one of the museums or take a bath in the Roman baths, before going out for a good meal and a night in the city.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
In Amsterdam you will be amazed by the number of bicycles on the streets: bankers in suits and ties clink on the Dam square on rusty cutouts, students carrying crates of beer on the handlebars and friends on the rear luggage racks, grandmothers who do shopping on electric bikes, whole families traveling together on cargo bikes. I recommend a day around the canals and Vondelpark, perhaps visiting a couple of excellent art museums in the city, and then pedaling to the restaurant … paying attention to the intense traffic on two wheels!
Have a nice holiday!