Tour d'Afrique Ltd. | Global Bicycle Expeditions, Races and Tours

  • Icon_social_newsletter_on
    Newsletter
  • Icon_social_rss_on
    RSS Feed
  • Icon_social_twitter_on
    Twitter
  • Icon_social_facebook_on
    Facebook
  • Icon_social_youtube_on
    YouTube

Blog | Italy Icon_16x16_light_rss RSS

Trans-Europa by Bike: An Adventure Unlike Any Other




Every year thousands of people dream of traveling across Europe. The options for how to do so are numerous. Short of flying, you could for example:

Walk across it, which took Gary Hause, the “Walking Man”, 147 days. The most famous walks are pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain, the routes for which start as far away as Scandinavia.


                         Source: Wikipedia

Barge across it: European Waterways offers a 6 week 1000 mile cruise along Western Europe’s finest inland waterways between Avignon and Amsterdam for a mere (?) $700/day.

Sail around it. TransEurope Marinas includes 47 members, from the Scottish highlands, to the Mediterranean. All you need is to become an annual berth holder …

Rail across it. From 1957 to 1987 you could take a TEE (Trans Europ Express) network train between 130 different cities, from as far as Copenhagen to the toe of the Italian boot. Today you can climb aboard a TGV (Trains à Grande Vitesse) which will whisk you from Paris to Moscow in 24 hours 15 minutes for under $600. But you’ll miss most of the sights en route…

Bus through it. Busabout offers a hop-on hop-off three loop route that covers 9 countries and 33 destinations including Amsterdam, Vienna, Rome and Madrid for $1450 that can be done in as little as 6 weeks. But who wants to sit on a bus for that long?

Or you can bike across it, as we like to do. Drawing from our Orient Express and Amber Route tours, we’ve designed what we believe is the longest organized cycling tour across Europe. Covering a distance of 6250 km from St Petersburg, Russia to Lisbon, Portugal over 2 ½ months and 14 countries, the epic Trans-Europa offers participants an adventure of a lifetime. Not only does it provide the opportunity to immerse oneself in many of Europe’s rich cultures and histories, but you will also get in terrific shape doing so. And at a cost of less than $200/day including meals, lots of hotels, and a sag wagon, it truly is a great deal!



The Trans-Europa is also inspired by EuroVelo, which is a project of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) to develop a network of high-quality cycling routes that connect the whole continent.  Currently comprising 14 routes, it is envisaged that this 70,000 km network will be substantially complete by 2020.


                    Source: Eurovelo.com

3 of the EuroVelo routes will be traversed during the Trans-Europa, including:

- The Iron Curtain Trail along the coastlines of Estonia and Latvia
- The Amber Route across Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia to Venice
- The Mediterranean Route across the Italian, French and Spanish Rivieras

If you don’t have the ability to take 2 ½ months off, why not become part of our tour for one or more of its several sections, each of which lasts between 1 ½ and 2 ½ weeks? For example, you could “Bike the Baltics” from St Petersburg to Vilnius in mid-July, cycle across the foothills of the Alps and next to the Adriatic Sea for 10 days in August, or spin your way across the Iberian peninsula eating tapas from Barcelona to Lisbon in September.

We hope you will consider joining us this summer! For lots more information on the Trans-Europa cycling expedition please visit:

http://www.tourdafrique.com/tours/amberroute/overview

Posted March 28, 2012 by Brian Hoeniger
Italy 		Btn_share_twitter Btn_share_facebook


Amber Route 2012 - Registration now open!




The warm weather is finally here in Canada but we are already thinking about next summer. July 2012 will see the return of the Amber Route Bicycle Expedition. This awesome cycling experience through some of Central Europe's most fascinating cities and some of the most undiscovered routes will be another challenging trans-continental journey for those who choose to take it on.

For inspiration, read through some of the posts from last year's tour, and start dreaming about St. Petersburg, Venice, Krakow, and Bratislava, and start learning about some lesser known gems like Tallinn, Birzai, Banska Stiavnica, and Ljubljana. More details on route, pricing and dates can be found here.

Registration is now open!

Posted June 24, 2011 by Tour d'Afrique Ltd.
Italy 		Btn_share_twitter Btn_share_facebook


Five Things I will Remember About the Amber Route




Finishing a long distance tour, as you can imagine, comes with mixed emotions.  While you may be more than ready to be finished with sleeping in a tent surrounded by snoring, burping, farting riders and you may have grown tired of having to stick to someone else's intinerary there are always things you'll miss.  Here's a list of 5 things I will miss about the 2010 Amber Route.  

The Peleton (a.k.a. the back nine)

The back nine, as I like to call them, (though often there were 10 or 14 of them), made it their mission to arrive in camp last.  Not because they were slow (though some were) but because they truly enjoyed each others company (most of the time) and relished long cafe stops and roadside antics.  They supported each other on the tough days and had fun together whenever possible.  I loved riding with them and will miss Stewart and Janice's wit, Kendy's determination, Rick's constant smile, Don's aloof comments and the rest of the crew as well.  

Ron and Nini
 Ron Nehring, a supreme court judge from Utah joined us on tour this year only a few months after he suffered his second stroke.  His wife Nini joined him  and as a doctor she was a big help on tour not only for Ron, who she had to constantly care for but also to other members of the tour who would get injured or sick.  Ron was a constant source of inspiration.  Every day was a challenge for him (even physically getting on the bike was tough) but he never complained and never played the victim.  You could tell Ron was used to being in a position of authority because when he spoke it was very clear that you were intended to listen.  My favorite thing about Ron, aside from his determination and good humor, was his witty comments.  My favorite?  One day the route was mostly gravel but occasionally there would be 200 or 300 meters of pavement in front of a group of houses.  These short lengths of pavement would get your hopes up that the gravel was over, only to let you down as you rounded the corner to see more rough road ahead.  Ron hated rough roads.  When he arrived at lunch that day he gently put down his bike and announced loudly "I'm getting real tired of all this 'sucker pavement' today"  I still smile when I remember that moment. 

The Campsites
Camping is a critical component to a successful tour, in my opinion, for two reasons.  First, it keeps the group together.  When you stay in hotels everyone goes to their room and maybe you see them at dinner or walking around but rarely do you hang out as a group.  When you camp the group is all together and it can lead to some really fun and interesting experiences.   Like the talent show Bill and Janice organized (so popular they had to organize a second one) and the impromptu water Olympics hosted in one campsite pool.  

The second reason is that camping is a great equalizer. Rich or not so rich, young or old, great cyclist or novice, when everyone camps they all share a common experience that more often than not, brings the group together.  

Some of the campsites on the Amber Route this year were great.  Maybe not great because of their amenities, but you couldn't beat the location.  Camping in the moat of an old castle in Russia (and being woken up by a drunk Russian shouting "Amerkansky....!"),  was definitely a highlight.  Our camps along the Baltic in Estonia were beautiful and my personal favorite, camping at an old fisherman's camp in Lithuania (not to mention drinking home brewed fisherman's whiskey with the owner). 

The Talent Show, part two
Unfortunately I was not around for Talent Show part one, but part two was awesome.  I was so impressed by the energy and creativity of the group.  It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of a group, even a group of friends, and a lot of credit goes to Bill and Janice for organizing our two talent shows.  Ralph emceed and was surprisingly funny as he introduced each act.  Shanny and Bonnie's puppet like skit was a highlight, as was the peleton's 'Group Winge", something I think should be added to any group's' coping strategy.  Dubious and nervous when Kendy first approached me to do a skit about alligator wrestling, I still agreed and had a blast acting it out with her an Svend on stage.  

Of course, the Riding. 
I hadn't ridden my bike in 5 months when I joined the Amber Route.  Those first few days back on the bike were painful but soon enough my legs came back and I could really enjoy the route.  Cycling along the baltic, thru small villages with twisting narrow streets, up the slopes of the lesser Tatra mountains was a lot of fun.  The distance on the Amber Route were shorter than I was used to from our other tours and first I didn't think I'd like it.  But I soon realized that a short distance meant plenty of opportunity to stop for cakes and coffee!  Hurray!  It also allowed plenty of time for socializing andlaughing with other riders which is best reasons for doing any cycle tour.  

Of course there are a lot of other things I'll remember:  St. Petersburg was beautiful and the salt mine in Krakow was unique. All the old cities and castles and sunsets and hill top views were great.  And of course Venice was a great city to finish in.  I'll always remember attending Sunday mass at the San Marco Basilica.  But like most things in life I guess it's the people that make things truly unique and worthwhile.  

This was my fourth tour working for the Tour d'Afrique and one of my favorites.  I'll remember all the riders fondly and hope to see them again, on the bike or off.  

Paul

Posted August 25, 2010 by Paul McManus
Italy 		Btn_share_twitter Btn_share_facebook