Hey guys,
Hello!
Good to hear that someone goes cycling on this forum finally! You may end up cycling all the way to singapore at the end...
A Europe atlas/road map will probably do the work for you, so you don't necessarily have to buy maps for each individual country. You can rip it apart and use always just the actual page you need. To avoid main roads, you will just have to follow secondary/tertiary roads.
Europe has loads of maps/atlases, so buying one is very easy. You can get one in any bookshop or petrol station on the road. There are many good publishers, but in general the most prestigious ones are (especially if you travel outside of Europe): Nelles, Freytag & Brandt, Michelin, International Travel Maps and Gizi.
When you are buying a map/atlas: examine it for a while and make sure that distances are detailed and easily reconcilable! Compare a few before you buy it!
What these maps lack is topographical info. That's is something that you can get from google maps while on the road.
Most countries publish a tourist or even a map for cyclists. Of course, it would be a little expensive to buy it for each country, but if you send me a personal message I can give you the address of the largest online map shop in the world.
Getting in and out of big cities will be the biggest challenge. Probably best is to get a gps (can be in a phone too) with a europe map. Of course such device and map can be costly, but buying a second hand gps-equipped handset and using your IT friends creativity to find something for free will bring this cost down a lot.
However, gps is not good for having a proper overview of a region/country, so having physical maps is still important.
Finally, something that works anywhere in the world: ask locals!
If you have any question on technical stuff, just let me know!
Most comprehensive website for cyclists is "crazyguyonabike". You can find a lot of info on each country in the "journal by locale" section.
Have a safe and crazy journey!!!!!
One more thing: in my experience any map with a scale of 1:1.2million or below should be detailed enough...
There is one website which I really really like:
www.fietsrouteplanner.eu
Use it and it will show you potential routes as well as inform you of suitable maps.
I can also recommend the cycling guides from the German publisher Esterbauer:
http://www.esterbauer.com/db_rtb_allg_int.php?land_id=XE&reihe_id=RB
There are more cycling guides from that publisher, unfortunately only in German and Dutch. But if you can get your hands on them they should work for you anyway because all you need is the maps.
Another good site is radweit.de. It is based upon the ADFC maps for Germany and shows the most efficient routes between several big German cities.
And www.viamichelin.com has good options for planning routes by bicycle.
[ 08-Apr-2011, at 23:38 ]
Maybe consider using a GPS. They have come down a lot in price these days. I have a Garmin SCX 60 which is a rugged hand held, that's water resistant, and has a bracket so you can mount it on your handlebars. With free maps from OpenstreetMap.org you'll have up to date very detailed maps of anywhere in the world
I don't know if you plan to cycle parts of some of the long distance cycle paths, but these paths generally have either relatively good maps, or are quite well marked.
If you plan to cycle a part of the Donau Radweg (Danube cycling route)/ EuroVelo 6, I could recommend the map by Huber Verlag, which shows the route from Budapest to the Black Sea (Constanta) in 8 rather detailed maps (scale 1:100.000). Some weblogs of cyclists may also prove quite detailed and helpful, also concerning info on accomodation etc.
Have fun with your trip!
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