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Practical info
The pleasure starts at the planning stage, deciding on and organising a trip that will satisfy each person’s tastes and desires. On the road, cycle journeys bring people closer together as they share the views, the experiences, the encounters and the effort.
Move with confidence
EuroVelo 6 goes through several European countries with different entry and exit requirements. For European countries within the Schengen area (France, Austria and Germany), all that is needed is a valid passport. European Union citizens can enter Switzerland with an up-to-date passport. Some Swiss border crossings are not open 24 hours a day; therefore, it is best to check opening hours in advance (www.admin.ch).
For stays of less than 30 days in the “new” European Union countries (such as Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania) and in Croatia, European Union citizens only need an identity card. For stays longer than 30 days, a valid passport is needed. European Union citizens wishing to visit Serbia (for up to 90 days) require a valid passport but a visa is not needed. However, passports must be stamped every time you enter the country. Border crossings are shown on road maps.
For French citizens, the Foreign Affairs Ministry website provides information about the administrative requirements for entry into all countries here.
Visitors from outside the European Union must check the entry requirements for the former Eastern European countries and for Switzerland. For entry into the European Union, a Schengen visa issued by one European country is valid for all the other member states for a period of three months.
Intermodal transport : an asset on the trail
The partners of EuroVelo 6 have set themselves two main objectives with respect to transport: be able to arrive at and leave one’s starting point with one’s bicycle, and have access to transport (train, boat or coach) along the route so certain sections can be skipped by using public transport. The situation varies greatly from one country to another, and even from one part of a country to another.
The map of international railway lines can be used to identify the most practical direct services for getting to EuroVelo 6 (link the pdf map and the individual country maps).
Once again, the countries with the best intermodality systems (train, boat and bicycle) are Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as they have the most experience in this field and have adapted their public transport offers to meet the needs of cycle tourists. Nevertheless, the situation is deteriorating for Germany’s high-speed trains. In France, great improvements have been made with respect to the transport of bicycles on long-distance trains. Many Corail, TGV and TER trains now accept bicycles as hand luggage and the whole TGV network will accept bicycles within the next few years. Bicycle space must be booked and paid for on TGV, Téoz-Corail and Lunéa night trains. On other trains, it is still necessary to pack bicycles in bike bags or boxes. Thalys and Eurostar trains do not always accept bicycles, making it difficult to access the route by train from the Netherlands and Great Britain.
For more information on intermodalities go to the train + bicycle page (“Passengers with bicycles”) of the European rail networks website: http://railpassenger.uic.asso.fr/.
This site has links to the bicycle pages of the individual rail operators.
In Hungary and Slovakia, bicycles can be transported on certain regional rail services but very few international services in the east accept bicycles.
Bikeline guidebooks also provide full information about transporting bicycles by boat and by train.
Whichever country you are travelling in, the best website for planning train journeys is the German railways site, www.bahn.de. It is available in German, English, French, Spanish and Italian.
But you can also look at the other railways sites:
Where to stay ?
One of the objectives of EuroVelo 6 is to raise awareness amongst accommodation providers along the route of the need for high quality “bicycle services” and to encourage the opening of accommodation in areas where there is none. Some regions are exemplary in terms of the quality and variety of their accommodation offer, for example, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Croatia and Serbia have also set up a network of welcoming accommodation for cyclists. However, a lot of work remains to be done in countries such as France, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.
campings :
Camping is the most commonly used and least costly type of accommodation, and there is a wide choice, ranging from 5-star sites with swimming pools and entertainment to small municipal campsites. Campsites with the “Accueil Vélo” label offer a covered area for storing bicycles, a laundry area and a workshop for minor repairs.
hotels :
Hotels that provide these cycling services can also obtain the “Accueil Vélo” label.
Accommodation in private homes :
Accommodation in private homes varies from one country to another. In France, cycle tourists prefer bed and breakfasts and “gîtes d’étapes”. In Switzerland, farmers belonging to the “Aventure sur la paille” network provide accommodation in converted barns (separate bedrooms are also available but they are more expensive). Germany and Austria’s Gasthöfe provide very welcoming bed and breakfast accommodation. In Serbia and Croatia, owners of private bed and breakfast establishments are always extremely friendly.
Prices vary from one country to another, with Switzerland being the most expensive and Romania the cheapest.
Maps and guidebooks
>> See all the maps and guidebooks for eurovélo 6 stages