An Average Day Cycle Touring in Europe

As with anything, it takes a while to get into a good routine when starting out cycle touring. But once you get into a good rhythm the regular tasks of setting up and packing up camp begin to feel easy and automatic.

Each morning, we would wake up early and make ourselves a coffee to have in bed using our jet boil. It was a gift from friends and I would highly recommend one to anyone with a camping and caffeine addiction like me! They seriously save you a lot of time (which means more time for multiple morning coffees). After having coffee in bed we would emerge from the tent to pack up camp. Normally we would wait for the tent to dry first, but this isn't always possible depending on the weather. Cycling in the rain, wind and in scorching hot weather sucks, so it's important to plan your trip around average temperatures and rainfall.

After packing up, we load up the day's route on the nav system and set off riding for about 20km before making our first important stop - breakfast.

Now this leads to my favourite thing about cycle touring - the food! Sure, seeing new countries, towns and historical sights is nice, but for me nothing beats being able to eat whatever you want, and however much you want, every day.

If you are cycling through Austria and Germany on a tight budget, Aldi or Lidl are great supermarkets to stop at for a cheap (and delicious) breakfast. They both have a great bakery section where you can find savoury and sweet pastries for just 1-2 euros each. We would normally stop here in the morning for a pastry or some yoghurt and nuts (or both!).

After a light breakfast we would continue on cycling for most of the day. Sometimes we would stop for a small salad or a coffee, but never anything too heavy or we would have no energy left for the afternoon ride. Often people would see you at a cafe or restaurant with the bikes and want to talk to you. From our experience, people are always very intrigued about where we are from and what inspired us to embark on such a large cycle trip. We love speaking to people and sharing stories, it's another great thing about cycle touring!

Finally, after a full day of cycling we would set up camp and make up a huge meal for dinner or visit a local restaurant. Either way, dinner is always our time to eat back all those calories we burnt during the day.

However, we've definitely learnt that planning can make or break a cycle tour. Click here to read my article "Bicycle Touring Packing List" for tips on planning and what to pack for your own cycling holiday.