Once we decided that we would like to “bike across Europe,” we still had a lot of decisions to make about which countries to visit, when to go, and which route we would take.

Choosing a Route

A good starting point was the continent-wide network of EuroVelo cycling routes. At first we thought we’d like to cycle along the southern coast of Europe, re-tracing our path from the auto-tour we took 26 years ago. EuroVelo Route 8, which runs from southern Spain to Athens in Greece, seemed like the perfect choice. It was easy to imagine cruising past sandy beaches and cobalt-blue waters, soaking up the laid-back Mediterranean culture.

But as we looked into it, we realized that this route actually spends a lot of time on busy roads, that will be packed with other tourists for much of the year. That doesn’t sound so relaxing. Plus, a big part of doing a ride like this is to have novel adventures, in new and different places. When we talked about it, we quickly discovered that we both had dreams of cycling through the Loire Valley of France, following the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route in Spain, and exploring the historical empires along the Danube River of Eastern Europe.

We reconsidered our options, and came up with a new plan. We could still start in Lisbon, Portugal. But we’d follow EuroVelo 1 along the coast, then across Spain (including part of the Camino de Santiago) meeting up with EuroVelo 6 in France. EuroVelo 6 would then take us the length of the Loire River Valley, along the Rhine River in Germany and Switzerland, and then all the way to the Black Sea following the Danube River through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, and Romania. Awesome. Furthermore, EuroVelo 6 is very well-developed, with long stretches of the trail following traffic-free bike paths. This was looking like a good plan.

There’s Always a Catch…

Then we hit a snag. It turns out that eight of the countries we planned to cycle through are part of what’s known as the “Schengen Visa Zone.” Basically, all of these countries are covered by a single set of visa rules. And those rules state that U.S. citizens can travel visa-free throughout the zone as tourists, but only for 90 days within a 180 day period. If you overstay your 90-day tourist allotment, you can end up being branded as an illegal immigrant with a special stamp on your passport, be fined and potentially be banded from traveling in Europe in the future.

This was a big problem. At the pace that we cycle, there was no way we would make it across all eight countries within 90 days. We scrambled to come up with a new plan.

There are lots of websites with advice on how to work around the 90-day Schengen Visa limit. But in the end, you really only have two choices: 1) jump through many bureaucratic hoops and pay extra fees to become a legal resident of one of the countries, or 2) figure out a plan that takes you in and out of the Schengen Zone on a schedule that doesn’t violate the 90-day rule. We went with option #2.

The Current Plan

Because of the Visa issue, what started as a 5-6 month road trip has become a 10-month, 8,437 mile (13,578 km) odyssey with three distinct stages. Here’s the final plan:

• Stage 1 (blue route on map below): February to April. Follow EuroVelo 1 from Lisbon Portugal to Roscoff France. Ferry to the UK.

• Stage 2 (brown route on map below): April to August. Follow EuroVelo 1, 2, and 12, to make a loop around the UK and Ireland. Ferry back to France.

• Stage 3 (red route on map below): August to early December. Follow EuroVelo 1 to EuroVelo 6, then head East to the Black Sea.

This gives us two stays in the Schengen Zone of 75-80 days each (Stage 1 and Stage 3), so we have some buffer days if we need them. Stage 2, with 90+ days in the UK and Ireland, is outside the zone.

Stage 2 will restart our Schengen visa clock between Stage 1 and Stage 3, for our return to France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. We’ll end our trip outside the Schengen Zone in Serbia, Croatia and Romania.

Puffer is also excited about our plan to now visit the UK, because Atlantic Puffins can be seen along its shores. He’ll feel right at home on the sea cliffs of Scotland.

There are plenty of risks inherent in a trip this long and complicated. But one of the obvious risks is ending the trip so late in the year. Serbia, Croatia and Romania are likely to be pretty cold by then. Our Plan B is to head south on EuroVelo 11 through the Balkans, from Serbia to Greece, if it’s just too cold to continue west. That would have us end in Athens, around the same time of year. Either way we plan to have an amazing ride.

Since we often make route changes as we go, if you have any suggestions about the route or things to see along the way, we would love to hear about them. Please drop a note in the comments below or catch up with us on instagram @pedalsandpuffins.

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