In September 2020 we cycled 3,079km (with 20,754m elevation gain) from Barcelona to London. It was a truly pleasurable trip compared to Norway Cycle Tour 2018. We treated ourselves to coffee and pastries almost daily, a hotel weekly, and gorged ourselves on the bountiful, cheap, and high quality foods of Europe. We passed through Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. We were then ahead of schedule so made a few 100km detour to Amsterdam before returning to Calais to catch the ferry across the English Channel. Coronavirus restrictions made this more difficult than otherwise, but we successfully navigated all the regional restrictions. See our daily posts below or see all our photos as we go on Flickr in our Flickr Album
On this cycle tour we will used bikepacking bags, unlike Norway Cycle Tour 2018, where we used traditional panniers. We drove straight into it, without much practice, so learned quickly about the quirks of all the velcro and bags. Subscribe by email to follow along on our future trips!
Our original rough itinerary was to join two Eurovelo routes – Eurovelo 5 and Eurovelo 8. We took Eurovelo 5, the “Mediterranean Route” from Barcelona to near Pavia (Italy) and then connected on to Eurovelo 8, the “Via Romea” from near Pavia to London. Some of the route has still not been developed (the least developed being Spain and Italy), so we had some routefinding challenges along the way, which were often solved by Strava heatmaps based routing!
Day 1 – Arrival in Barcelona September 6, 2020 - 22.9km Distance 87m Elevation We flew Vancouver to London, stayed overnight in a hotel in London for only £27.50 (at...
Day 2 – Barcelona to S’Agaro September 7, 2020 - 106.0km Distance 971m Elevation On the road by 8:44am. We followed the pretty seafront leaving Barcelona. Soon we made it...
Day 3 – Hasta La Vista Spain September 8, 2020 - 100.0km Distance 829m Elevation Went to decathlon again. Can’t remember if we found gas. More delicious sandwiches with baguette, manchego,...
Day 4 – First Day in France September 9, 2020 - 101.6km Distance 558m Elevation We slept lightly last night. Around midnight the rain started and the wind made the tent...
Day 5 – Canals and Vineyards September 10, 2020 - 114.4km Distance 363m Elevation Our alarm went off at the standard 7am after a good night sleep, with no interruptions,...
Day 6 – Montpellier to Beaucaire September 11, 2020 - 100.1km Distance 564m Elevation We awoke after a somewhat restless night, with Viki in a grump. She’d had it with...
Day 7 – In the Provence of Provence September 12, 2020 - 103.0km Distance 717m Elevation This morning we again woke up at 7am, had fully packed by 8am, then went a...
Day 8 – Lavender Fields and the Verdon Gorge September 13, 2020 - 102.0km Distance 1701m Elevation Today was a great day! We awoke to seeing sunrise from the tent with a couple...
Day 9 – Started hilly, ended Nice September 14, 2020 - 114.0km Distance 1060m Elevation At 4:30am I was jolted awake by Viki exclaiming, while we were sleeping in the tent,...
Day 10 – Breakfast in France, Dinner in Italy September 15, 2020 - 98.7km Distance 835m Elevation It was so hard to wake up this morning, after sleeping on a nice and comfortable...
Day 11 – The Colle di Nava September 16, 2020 - 103.3km Distance 1446m Elevation It was a nice and safe place where we slept last night, but we didn’t sleep...
Day 12 – The Race to Turin September 17, 2020 - 136.2km Distance 539m Elevation We grudgingly awoke, after a fitful night sleep, as Viki has been struggling with pain from...
Day 13 – Re-route Direct to Switzerland September 19, 2020 - 111.6km Distance 294m Elevation We had a lie in until 8am today after the hard day yesterday and enjoyed the...
Day 14 – Arrivederci Italia! September 19, 2020 - 79.2km Distance 408m Elevation 3am came and I was startled awake by loud footsteps walking slow through the dry leaves...
Day 15 – Hello Switzerland September 20, 2020 - 109.6km Distance 892m Elevation We awoke to a tent coated in slugs. It was an easy morning actually, because most...
Day 16 – The Gotthard Pass September 21, 2020 - 98.4km Distance 1886m Elevation Today was a tough one! We had about 750m climbing to Airolo, then 1000m climbing up...
Day 17 – Weary Legs September 22, 2020 - 102.7km Distance 540m Elevation Phew – it didn’t rain on us last night (we were avoiding the “no camping” restriction...
Day 18 – Goodbye Switzerland, Gutentag Germany September 23, 2020 - 110.2km Distance 791m Elevation We had a terrific night’s sleep last night. We were asleep from around 10pm to 7am,...
Day 19 – Flying Along the Rhine September 24, 2020 - 129.0km Distance 192m Elevation I forgot to mention the best quote of yesterday morning. During the morning rain and hills...
Day 20 – All Weather in One Day September 25, 2020 - 106.1km Distance 518m Elevation Last night we had a crazy thunderstorm. Where we last left off, the sky had turned...
Day 21 – Which Country Are We in Anyway? September 26, 2020 - 104.8km Distance 510m Elevation We’ve pretty much accepted that we’re going to be wearing all of our warm clothes and...
Day 22 – Luxembourg September 27, 2020 - 88.7km Distance 1039m Elevation What a hard wake up today! It was cold and rainy out and we were cozy...
Day 23 – Cold, Wet, and Rolling Hills September 28, 2020 - 109.7km Distance 1227m Elevation Last night was one of the coldest we’ve had – it got down to around 6...
Day 24 – To Brussels September 29, 2020 - 103.8km Distance 703m Elevation Finally, a sleep that wasn’t frigid! It rained and there was a continual drip near the...
Day 25 – Rest Day in Brussels September 30, 2020 - 0km Distance 0m Elevation A rest day – at last! Today was glorious. We had a great night’s sleep and...
Day 26 – Big Day to Rotterdam October 1, 2020 - 153.5km Distance 313m Elevation It was another lovely night’s sleep in a real bed, curtailed at 6:30am as we did...
Day 27 – Amsterdam October 2, 2020 - 72.0km Distance 328m Elevation Phew – we had no issues with getting caught last night sleeping in pretty central Rotterdam....
Day 28 – The Dutch Coastal Route October 3, 2020 - 142.9km Distance 232m Elevation What another nice morning, waking up in a dry and cozy bed. We set off by...
Day 29 – Dutch Headwind October 4, 2020 - 96.8km Distance 298m Elevation Today was a rough day. We woke up and Viki decided she wanted to fly home...
Day 30 – Across the Channel October 5, 2020 - 51.0km Distance 72m Elevation Country number ten! We hit our final country after taking the ferry today from Dunkirk to...
Day 31 – Terrible English Roads October 6, 2020 - 81.9km Distance 841m Elevation Left Dover. Viki was working in the afternoons using her mobile phone which made these last...
Day 32 – Arrived in London October 7, 2020 - 24.7km Distance 228m Elevation Today marked the end of our cycle tour! We woke up and treated ourselves to an...