EuroVelo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
EuroVelo, the European cycle route network, is a project of the European Cyclists' Federation to develop 12 long-distance cycle routes crossing the whole continent of Europe. The total length of these routes is over 60,000 km, of which more than 20,000 km is in place.
The EuroVelo routes are similar, both in length and conception, to the various Greenway projects such as the East Coast Greenway in the United States and the Trans-Canada Trail.
The EuroVelo routes are intended for bicycle touring across the continent, though they are also used locally. The routes are made up of both existing bike paths and roads together with proposed and planned cycle routes necessary to connect them all together. All the routes are unfinished but some are much more complete than others.
Though not currently funded by the European Union, EuroVelo hopes to get EU support in the future.
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[edit] EuroVelo routes in brief
[edit] North - South Routes
- EV 1 - Atlantic Coast Route: North Cape - Sagres 8,186 km
- EV 3 - Pilgrims Route: Trondheim - Santiago de Compostela 5,122 km
- EV 5 - Via Romea Francigena: London - Rome and Brindisi 3,900 km
- EV 7 - Middle Europe Route: North Cape - Malta 6,000 km
- EV 9 - Baltic Sea to Adriatic Sea (Amber Route): Gdańsk - Pula 1,930 km
- EV 11 - East Europe Route: North Cape - Athens 5,964 km
[edit] West - East Routes
- EV 2 - Capitals Route: Galway - Moscow 5,500 km
- EV 4 - Roscoff - Kiev 4,000 km
- EV 6 - Atlantic Ocean to Black Sea (Rivers Route): Nantes - Constanţa 3,653 km - [1]
- EV 8 - Mediterranean Route: Cádiz - Athens 5,388 km
[edit] Circuits
- EV 10 - Baltic Sea Cycle Route (Hansa circuit): 7,930 km
- EV 12 - North Sea Cycle Route: 5,932 km
Total network: 63,505 km
[edit] EuroVelo's aims and administration
The aim of EuroVelo is to encourage people to try cycling instead of driving for more of their journeys. Although some people will have the wonderful experience of cycling right across the continent, most journeys on EuroVelo will be local — to school, work, shops or for leisure. But every journey on a EuroVelo route will be slightly more exciting and enchanting, because the user will know that he or she could keep on cycling to Moscow, Athens or Santiago de Compostela.
Development of the EuroVelo routes is carried out by national, regional and local governments and NGOs in all the European countries. The international status of routes selected to form part of EuroVelo helps in the preparation of funds and political support for construction. Only routes approved by the EuroVelo route coordinator have the right to call themselves EuroVelo; this is an important badge of quality for both the cyclist and the route promoter.
[edit] Main points on the EuroVelo routes
| Route number | Route name | passes through these Cities | through these Countries | Length (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV1 | Atlantic Coast Route | North Cape (EV7, EV11) - Norwegian Coast - Trondheim (EV3) - Bergen (EV12) - Aberdeen (EV12) - Inverness (EV12 ) - Glasgow - Stranraer - Belfast - Galway (EV2) - Cork - Rosslare - Fishguard - Bristol (EV2) - Plymouth - Roscoff (EV4) - Nantes (EV6) - La Rochelle - Burgos (EV3) - Salamanca - Sagres | Norway, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal | 8186 |
| EV2 | Capitals Route | Galway (EV1) - Dublin - Holyhead - Bristol (EV1) - London (EV5) - Harwich - Rotterdam - The Hague - Münster (EV3) - Berlin (EV7) - Poznań (EV9) - Warsaw (EV11) - Minsk - Moscow | United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia | 5500 |
| EV3 | Pilgrim's Route | Santiago de Compostela - León - Burgos (EV1) - Bordeaux - Tours (EV6) - Orleans (EV6) - Paris - Namur (EV5) - Aachen (EV4) - Münster (EV2) - Hamburg (EV12) - Odense (EV10) - Viburg - Frederikshavn (EV12) - Gothenburg (EV12) - Oslo - Roros - Trondheim (EV1) | Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway | 5122 |
| EV4 | Roscoff-Kiev | Roscoff (EV1) - the French Atlantic coast - Le Havre - Calais (EV5) - Middelburg - Aachen (EV3) - Bonn - Frankfurt - Prague (EV7) - Brno (EV9) - Kraków (EV11) - L'viv - Kiev | France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine | 4000 |
| EV5 | Via Romea Francigena | London (EV2) - Canterbury - Calais (EV4) - Brussels - Namur (EV3) - Luxembourg - Strasbourg - Basel (EV6) - Lucerne - Milan - Piacenza (EV8) - Parma - Florence (EV7) - Siena - Rome (EV7) - Brindisi | United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy | 3900 |
| EV6 | Atlantic Ocean to Black Sea (Rivers Route) | Nantes (EV1) - Tours (EV3) - Orleans (EV3) - Nevers - Chalon-sur-Saône - Basel (EV5) - Passau - Ybbs (EV7) - Linz - Vienna (EV9) - Bratislava - Budapest - Belgrade (EV11) - Bucharest - Constanţa | France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania | 3653 |
| EV7 | Middle Europe Route | North Cape (EV1, EV11) - Haparanda (EV10) - Sundsvall (EV10) - central Sweden - Copenhagen (EV10) - Gedser - Rostock (EV10) - Berlin (EV2) - Prague (EV4) - Ybbs (EV6) - Salzburg - Mantua (EV8) - Bologna - Florence (EV5) - Rome (EV5) - Naples - Syracuse - Malta | Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Malta | 6000 |
| EV8 | Mediterranean Route | Cadiz - Málaga - Almeria - Valencia - Barcelona - Monaco - Piacenza (EV5) - Mantua (EV7) - Ferrara - Venice - Trieste (EV9) - Rijeka - Split - Dubrovnik - Tirana - Patras - Athens (EV11) | Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece | 5388 |
| EV9 | Baltic Sea to Adriatic Sea (Amber Route) | Gdańsk (EV10) - Poznań (EV2) - Olomouc - Brno (EV4) - Reinthal - Vienna (EV6) - Maribor - Ljubljana - Trieste (EV8) - Pula | Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia | 1930 |
| EV10 | Baltic Sea Cycle Route (Hansa circuit) | St Petersburg - Helsinki (EV11) - Vaasa - Oulu - Haparanda (EV7) - Sundsvall (EV7) - Stockholm - Ystad - Malmö - Copenhagen (EV7) - Odense (EV3) - Rostock (EV7) - Gdańsk (EV9) - Kaliningrad - Klaipėda - Riga - Tallinn (EV11) - St Petersburg | Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia | 7930 |
| EV11 | East European Route | North Cape (EV1, EV7) - the Finnish Lakes - Helsinki (EV10) - Tallinn (EV10) - Tartu - Vilnius - Warsaw (EV2) - Kraków (EV4) - Košice - Belgrade (EV6) - Skopje - Thessaloniki - Athens (EV8) | Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece | 5964 |
| EV12 | North Sea Cycle Route | Bergen (EV1) - Stavanger - Kristiansand - Gothenburg (EV3) - Varberg - Grenaa - Frederikshaven (EV3) - Hirtshals - Esbjerg - Hamburg (EV3) - The Hague (EV2) - Rotterdam - Harwich (EV2) - Kingston upon Hull - Newcastle - Edinburgh - Aberdeen (EV1) - Inverness (EV1) - Thurso - the Orkneys - the Shetlands - Bergen (EV1) | Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom | 5932 |
[edit] Route commentaries, further information and links
[edit] EuroVelo 1
[edit] EuroVelo 2
Between The Hague and the German-Polish border EV 2 follows the path of the "Euro-Route R1", an international cycle path connecting Boulogne-Sur-Mer with St. Petersburg.
[edit] EuroVelo 3
EuroVelo 3 is called The Pilgrim's Route. It goes from Trondheim in Norway to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The route follows traces of old roads which were used for major pilgrimages in the Middle Ages. The route passes through seven countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain. Most of these countries have a developed net of bicycle routes which are used as part of EV3.
[edit] EuroVelo 4
[edit] EuroVelo 5
This route is also a Pilgrim route although not used as much as the Santiago route. It is called the Via Francigena and was first recorded by Archbishop Sigeric in the 10thC AD. It has recently been awarded EU funds to reinstate hostelry organisation and for route improvement. There is an active supporters group in several countries and route maps, and Santiago style passports for stamping at abbeys and cathedrals on the way, may be bought from the national organisers. The route goes from London to Brindisi through Rome and via the St. Bernard's pass in Switzerland.
[edit] EuroVelo 6
EuroVelo 6 is not called the Rivers Route for nothing. It runs from Nantes on the mouth of the Loire, along the river eastward through France. It continues on to Lake Constance in Switzerland and then all the way down the Danube through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania to the UNESCO Heritage site of the Danube Delta, and ends in Constanţa, on the Black Sea. The EV6 includes the popular Donauradweg, the bicycle path along the River Danube; this stretches from Passau in Germany through Austria to Vienna and continues on to Bratislava in Slovakia. To know more, visit www.eurovelo6.org []
[edit] EuroVelo 7
[edit] EuroVelo 8
[edit] EuroVelo 9
EuroVelo 9, the Amber Route, runs from Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea in Poland through the Czech Republic to Austria and on to Slovenia and finally finishes at Pula on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. The Austrian part of the EV9 will be completed by summer or autumn 2004.
[edit] EuroVelo 10
[edit] EuroVelo 11
[edit] EuroVelo 12
EuroVelo 12, the North Sea Cycle Route, was the first great European route to open. Opened in June 2001, the 6,000 km route runs through England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and (more recently) Belgium. It features in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest unbroken signposted cycling route. The second phase of European Union funding through the Interreg initiative came to a close in December 2006. A final conference was held in Newcastle upon Tyne in early November 2006.
