The Maps

Here are the country maps, courtesy of the European Cyclists’ Federation. First up are the Eurovelo 3 maps…
SpainFranceBelgiumGermanyDenmarkSwedenNorway - EV3
…and the bit of Eurovelo 1 for the final leg:Norway - EV1

Here are details of the printed maps that I will need to purchase either prior to setting off or en route:

SPAIN

Andalusiaย Marco Polo, 1:200,000

Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha, Madridย Michelin, 1:400,000*

Castilla y Leon, Madrid Michelin, 1:400:000*

FRANCE

Aquitaine Michelin, 1:200,000

Poitou-Charentes Michelin, 1:200,000

Centre Michelin, 1:200,000

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Michelin, 1:200,000

(There is a separate 1:200,000 Michelin map for Ile de France / Paris but I suspect this area is entirely covered by the Centre and Nord-Pas-de-Calais maps)

BELGIUM

Belgium South Michelin, 1:200,000

GERMANY

Germany Midwest Michelin, 1:350,000 (ouch!)**

Germany Northwest Michelin, 1:350,000**

DENMARK

South Jutland and the Islands Marco Polo, 1:200,000***

SWEDEN

Sweden South: Malmรถ โ€“ Helsingsborg โ€“ Kalmarย Freytag-Berndt, 1:250,000

(Similar to the Paris situation, I think that this map area โ€“ย Sweden South-West: Gothenburg โ€“ Vรคnersee โ€“ Karlstadย Freytag-Berndt, 1:250,000 โ€“ will be covered by the two maps either side, above and below)

NORWAY

Southern Norway: Oslo โ€“ Bergen โ€“ Stavanger Freytag-Berndt, 1:250,000

Central Norway: Trondheim โ€“ Lillehammer โ€“ ร…lesundย Freytag-Berndt, 1:250,000

Northern Norway: Narvikย Freytag-Berndt, 1:400,000****

Norway North Cape: Hammerfestย Freytag-Berndt, 1:400,000****

So there you have it, the Eurovelo 1/3 in maps. 16 of them adding up to around ยฃ100. Does anyone want to be my official map sponsor?

* Having just said I didnโ€™t like using 1:400,000 scale maps in Spain, here I am putting them in the list. Is there a better alternative though that doesnโ€™t mean buying an excessive number of maps?

** Almost the same problem as * but Germany is, I imagine, an easy country through which to cycle when it comes to direction finding. Will 1:350,000 suffice?

*** This map is available from Stanfords but is not listed on Marco Poloโ€™s own website. If I wait until I am travelling to buy the maps that I need and canโ€™t find it I will use theย Denmarkย Marco Polo, 1:300,000 map instead.

**** These are also relatively large scale but bearing in mind the lack of things that are available to put on a map in northern Norway, I think they will suffice!

 

6 replies »

  1. Hey Andrew. I`m planning trip in july/august in Norway on the same route that you are, but from north to south. I find the 1:400 000 maps to be not enough accurate for cycling. I look something with more details and smaller roads to cycle to avoid highways. The best source so far is the web page http://www.visitnorway.com/en/vn/map/?aid=13405&articlex=null& articley=null&source=arti where you can choose adequate scale and print out good quality coloured maps. Course you need a coloured printer for that but it may be a lot cheaper to do.

  2. Don’t get me wrong. I do not say that the idea of having an official long distance route through Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway is a bad thing… I am just saying that not having realised this route as of now is embarrassing.

    Read up on the process of the EV-routes and realise that it is a money-wasting association. It’s not like the bicycle paths have to build from scratch; they are mostly there. They just haven’t realised it yet because they do not bother to get up the official European bicycle signposts. I have cycled across the EV6 “non-realised” route and it was fully developed.

    I also do not try to downplay the whole effort that needs to be put into realizing a route for tourists and European cyclists… Just saying that they are pissing away the money of European citizens.

    “The Trans-European Transport Network is a European Union transport policy that aims to connect the continent, close gaps and remove bottlenecks in order to promote and strengthen transport chains for passengers and goods by train, road and boat.

    It has a budget of โ‚ฌ26 billion for the seven years leading up to 2020 and aims to integrate all transport modes into a common transport policy.”

    Twenty six BILLION. You can make a bridge between NL and UK with that kind of money.

    • Already posted before I could edit the budget statement: a small portion of the 26 billion is being allocated to the EuroVelo project, yet we are talking about big sums of money.

      The 26b is for transport policies in general and it is not that easy to find out the actual amount being spent on ECF. I will find this out though and will share my findings.

      • Thanks, I’m sure you will.
        As far as I can see, the ECF does a good job, as does the EU more generally. I see nothing wrong with having aspirational long-distance cycling routes that grab the attention of potential tourists, get them on their bicycles and allow them to discover just how wonderful it can be to discover the continent by bike. Yes, if you were to try to follow the routes from start to finish slavishly you’d quite easily get lost due to the lack of realised sections. But does that matter? The key thing is not the signage but the cycling itself.
        More generally, the more we travel, the more we meet people and the more we integrate our societies with those of our European neighbours, the less likely we are to turn the clock back 75 or 100 years and start fighting each other again. 26 billion euros (for all forms of transport) in that context is money well spent. I find such spending far less worrying than the insular, xenophobic attitudes of those who support the simpletons in UKIP or indeed other blatantly racist organisations such as the EDL or the BNP. Call me a wishy-washy liberal but I’d rather get on with my neighbours at home in my own street wherever they come from and I apply that same sense of fraternity to my European neighbours as well. 26 billion on transport initiatives will make it easier for others to do the same.

  3. You can hardly call this a route. No offence but this is a slap in the face for tourists as well as Europeans. The bureacrats and associations responsible for this should be ashamed.

What do you think?