Where to go?
Are you deciding where to go? First, I suggest you think carefully about what you want from your trip. Be honest about your fitness, and remember that having more than one day on your bike with loaded-up panniers is very different from a day trip carrying money, a phone, a bottle, and a snack. A multi-day tour, a weekend away, a stay and tour, an organised cycling holiday? Decide on what you would like to do first.
Weekend away
Where to go? First, you might consider a two-day trip with panniers, with a couple of hills in there, to see how you get on and whether you enjoy it. Second, decide the distance you think you can take each day. Then, pick a tour with a well-signposted route plan, and you can plan where to stay. There are numerous accommodation choices, or if you’re more adventurous than I am, consider taking a tent.
Stay and Tour
Another option is to pick a central point and then make day trips. We have done this in the past in Tuscany, Croatia, Austria and Slovenia; we booked an apartment and could relax in the evenings, preparing our own food if we wanted to. After a long, hot day in the saddle, you might not want to get dressed and go to a restaurant.
In Tuscany, we heard that Val d’Orcia was a good cycling destination, so we spent a week there and went out on day tours such as this https://ebike-europe.com/routes/val-dorcia-tuscany/
Multi-day tour
Think about whether you would prefer it to be pretty flat. Our first tour was from Salzburg to Passau along the Salzach and Inn rivers. It was a two-night, three-day experience that gave us a taste of how a tour would work and what we would need the next time. Then, we went from Passau to Vienna along the Danube, which was longer and gave us a bit more experience.
Try a known trail, such as the Enns tour in Austria, to be more adventurous with hills or mountain passes. Alternatively, try Lake Constance (Bodensee), which borders three countries: Germany, Switzerland & Austria. These tours have a few hills, but they are not too extreme. Another multi-day tour is the River Mur https://ebike-europe.com/routes/mur-bike-path-austria-european-bike-paths/, which takes you from the mountains, to the city and onto the wine area.
Where to go? – What about you?
A longer tour helped us understand how we felt day after day in the saddle. Sore shoulders, neck, wrists and bum are all normal on a multi-day tour. The 3rd day is always tricky – sore bum, tired legs and perhaps a bit of chafing.
My top tip is to carry ‘Sudocream’ (a multi-purpose antiseptic cream) with you every time you go out on your e-bike. It helps with most ailments; it’s a nappy cream that soothes chafing, bites, blisters, and sunburn. If you have any pain or tiredness on the 3rd & 4th day, it can cause grumpiness with your fellow cyclists. I suggest you take a break and go for a swim, visit an interesting site or just read a book and think about what you have achieved.
If you are not used to cycling regularly, especially if you only hit the ebike on weekends, think carefully about how your body will stand up for seven days on an ebike.
Maps
I am a big fan of Bikeline books; https://www.esterbauer.com/bikeline-produkte/bikeline-radtourenbuecher/. You can buy them from Amazon or a local bookshop. They are handy for determining how much ascent there is, what types of road surfaces or whether it is a bike path or the main road. They highlight worthy points of interest, including where the bike shops are located if you need a mechanic, as well as where accommodations are available. Other great maps are Mayr and Kompass, which we use for local area trips; the great thing about both of these companies’ maps is that they are waterproof, which is a must for a bike map.
DIY or Organised Tour?
I love planning trips, booking accommodation, looking at maps and deciding what to take with us. For many years, I did this for a living for others; however, I rarely did it for myself. I find this part the least stressful. However, I understand this is not for everyone. This is why there are so many alternatives for you to get a bike tour together.
You can plan your route directly from the internet, with information on areas, routes, and bike paths. Many companies offer guided and non-guided bike tours, along with luggage service, among other amenities. This means all levels and wishes for an e-bike tour can be catered to; take a look. https://www.eurobike.at/en is an Austrian company offering a large number of European bike tours. We have met many of their customers along our travels, and the feedback has always been positive.
Komoot is a useful planning app that I use, which I find easy to use. It provides the tour profile, allowing you to see your height gain, which is very useful when planning a day and determining how far you want to cycle.
You can see a number of the tours that I have completed on my Komoot account:
https://www.komoot.com/user/1120590063119/tours
Take photos and smell the coffee!
Wherever you decide to go, take lots of photos and smell the coffee. Taste the cake and breathe in those views. Don’t rush; it’s not a race – it’s the most fantastic experience you’ll remember for a long time after returning home. When times are tough, or it’s cold and raining, or, like me, you suffer from stress, looking back at photos helps you gain a bit of perspective. Ebiking is an adventure.
