Use the maps and information on this site to explore long distance bicycle routes in Europe and in Asia, and find the tour route that is right for you. We take about 3 weeks to do the routes listed here but you can choose to take a longer or shorter amount of time.

Our most recent ride was from Helsinki to Copenhagen with stops along the way to visit relatives. My great-grandfather was from Sweden and emigrated to the U.S. in 1898 and settled in South Dakota near the Minnesota border. He had seven children and changed with name from Gustofson to Philen, making very difficult to trace the family tree in Sweden but a distant cousin was able to put the pieces together from the two hundred pages of letters to his family that she was able find. This is our second trip to Sweden which allowed us to complete the Sydostleden and Sydkustleden paths which cover most of southern Sweden.

We have now ridden from Växjö at the start (or end) of the trail system to Göteborg, Sweden’s second largest city. This route also includes the Kattegattleden Altogether the routes total 960 kilometers, enough km to keep pedaling for a long time. Summer is the best time to do this route as the Swedish weather can be cool. Prevailing winds are from the west to the east.

This trip was combined with a ride from Helsinki to Turku and a Viking cruise to Stockholm. There are quick non-stop flights to Helsinki from the west coast of the U.S.

Mid-Summer festival in Southern Sweden.

WorldCycleWays is about bicycle routes, trails, and paths around the world that the authors have actually ridden or soon will be riding.

Each of the routes are:

• Intended for long distance, self supported riders traveling for a week or more.
• Can be traveled with hybrid bikes, a hybrid meaning a road type bicycle with moderately wide tires (32mm) and straight handle bars.
• Not particularly strenuous, mostly paved, and have services and accommodations along the way.

Our bikes and luggage. This is the amount of stuff we actually ride with for a multi-week trip.

Half the reason for doing these bicycle tours is for cultural experiences such as museums, markets, restaurants, historical sites, festivals and small towns. You will find plenty of experiences on each of these rides. The other reason for following these cycleways is because they are fun and not too difficult.

There are many historical sites on each cycleway such as Matera in Italy where portions of the James Bond film "No Time To Die" were shot.

All of the routes listed are multi-week routes but you can choose your distance and just ride parts of the distance. The route may be on paved roads, unpaved forest roads or agricultural roads, or dedicated cycle paths. Paths may be paved or not but in any case a mountain bike is not needed for these rides. The routes are generally not designed for person using a road bike with narrow tires and drop handlebars.

The information here is for unsupported riders, no sag wagon. Each of the routes has services and accommodations along the way so you can always find a place to stay each night and a bite to eat.

The site contains maps, links to resources and information that riders will find helpful when planning their own rides. All of the routes can be completed by the average bicyclist. There are many possible variations on the routes. Use the links and map information on this site to plan your own ride. In the interest of full disclosure, we have not ridden every kilometer of every route listed here but we have ridden almost all of every route listed.

We almost always take our bikes with us from the U.S. There are many places throughout the world to rent bikes so you don't have to take your own. If you take your own bike, you will be certain of the fit and the type of bike you will be riding.

If you take your bikes with you
We have taken our bikes with us for many years but in the past two to three years our bikes have only arrived with us at our destination airport about 50 percent of the time. This is not just our experience, we have talked with many other travelers who have had the same problem and not just with bicycles. To compensate for delayed bicycles we have been staying near the airport and have allowed extra time for the bicycles to arrive. From our experience we have learned that airlines do a very poor job of tracking the location of baggage. Baggage handling is contracted to the businesses providing baggage handling at the departure and arrival airports. Do not leave the airport without a lost baggage report if your bikes are delayed

If your bikes are delayed, check back often with the airport baggage handling service to see if the bikes have arrived. An in person visit is best, or at least telephone and email the baggage service. Do not rely on WorldTracerWeb, the online baggage tracing system used by many airlines. Our experience is that the system is not up to date. Yes, you may see your claim there, but the system will not tell you if your baggage has arrived at the airport. The same is true for any airline baggage tracing system. The best way to find you bikes is to keep checking for the bikes at the airport. Try to anticipate which flight they might be on.

From the The Points Guy here are is some information and recommendations about airline baggage:
7 steps to take when an airline loses your luggage
Last one standing at the carousel:
And also from Travel Addicts: The Truth About Airline Lost Luggage And What To Do About It.

Travelers United is an organization that represents all travelers with the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Congress, other travel regulators, and travel stakeholders. They have some good advice on the issue of delayed or lost luggage.

Countries on this site are France, Germany, Spain, Italy Czech Republic, Austria, Korea, Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland, and Slovenia.