EuroVelo

EuroVelo
Logo
Logo
System information
Length55,923 mi (89,999 km)
Formed1995
Highway names
EuroVeloEV nn
System links

EuroVelo is a network of 17 long-distance cycling routes criss-crossing Europe, in various stages of completion. When completed, the EuroVelo network's total length will be almost 90,000 km (56,000 mi).[1][2] As of November 2022 more than 56,000 km (35,000 mi) were in place.[3] EuroVelo is a project of the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF).

EuroVelo routes can be used for bicycle touring across the continent, as well as by local people making short journeys. The routes are made of both existing national bike routes — such as the Dutch LF-Routes, the German D-Routes, the French véloroute "SN3V" and the British National Cycle Network — and existing general purpose roads, together with new stretches of cycle routes to connect them.[4]

History[edit]

The idea of creating a network of international cycle routes spanning Europe started in 1990. It was initially coordinated by the ECF, De Frie Fugle (Denmark) and Sustrans (UK) and the original plan was to create 12 long-distance cycling routes.

Since August 2007, the ECF has assumed full responsibility for the project. Despite sometimes tight financial constraints, the EuroVelo project has already begun to fulfil the vision of its founders with sections of the network being implemented in countries as far apart as Finland, Cyprus, Spain and the UK. In addition, the EuroVelo brand has become widely known.

There have been various changes to the network over the years, most notably the addition of two new routes — EuroVelo 13 (the Iron Curtain Trail) and EuroVelo 15 (the Rhine Cycle Route) — in September 2011, which are the longest and shortest of the EuroVelo routes.[5]

Future expansion[edit]

In September 2023, the ECF announced that the Iberian Cycle route connecting Lisbon with Pamplona via Madrid is set to become the future EuroVelo 16 route by 2028 with a length of 1,896 km.[6]

Main points on the EuroVelo routes[edit]

Route number Route name Passes through these cities Through these countries Length
km mi
EV1 Atlantic Coast Route North Cape (EV7, EV11) - Tromsø - Vestvågøy - Trondheim (EV3) - Bergen (EV12) - Aberdeen (EV12) - Inverness  (EV12 ) - Glasgow - Stranraer - Belfast - Lisburn - Strabane - Derry - Sligo - Galway (EV2) - Limerick - Waterville - Cork - Rosslare - Fishguard - Newport - Bristol (EV2) - Plymouth - Roscoff (EV4) - Nantes (EV6) - La Rochelle - Arcachon - Bayonne - Hendaye - Irun - Pamplona (EV3) - Burgos - Valladolid - Salamanca - Cáceres - Ayamonte - Faro - Sagres - Lisbon - Porto - Caminha  Norway,  United Kingdom,  Ireland,  France,  Spain,  Portugal 10,650 6,620
EV2 Capitals Route Galway (EV1) - Athlone - Dublin - Holyhead - Bristol (EV1) - Bath - Reading - London (EV12) - Harwich - Hoek van Holland (EV12, EV15, EV19) - The Hague (EV12) - Utrecht - Münster (EV3) - Dessau - Berlin (EV7) - Poznań (EV9) - Warsaw (EV11) - Minsk - Moscow  Ireland,  United Kingdom,  Netherlands,  Germany,  Poland,  Belarus,  Russia 5,050 3,140
EV3 Pilgrims Route Trondheim (EV1) - Lillehammer - Oslo - Halden - Strömstad - Gothenburg (EV12) - Frederikshavn (EV12) - Aalborg - Viborg - Vejen - Padborg - Flensburg - Hamburg (EV12) - Münster (EV2) - Wesel (EV15) - Düsseldorf (EV4) - Cologne - Aachen - Liège (EV19) - Namur (EV5, EV19) - Charleroi - Maubeuge - Paris - Orléans (EV6) - Tours (EV6) - Bordeaux - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - Roncesvalles - Pamplona (EV1) - Logroño - Burgos - Frómista (EV1) - León - Ponferrada - Sarria - Santiago de Compostela  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  Belgium,  France,  Spain 5,650 3,510
EV4 Central Europe Route Roscoff (EV1) - Mont-Saint-Michel - Cherbourg - Le Havre - Calais (EV5, EV12) - Vlissingen (EV12) - Venlo - Düsseldorf (EV3, EV15) - Bonn (EV3, EV15) - Frankfurt - Cheb (EV13) - Karlovy Vary - Prague (EV7) - Brno (EV9) - Kraków (EV11) - Lviv - Kyiv  France,  Belgium,  Netherlands,  Germany,  Czech Republic,  Poland,  Ukraine 5,100 3,200
EV5 Via Romea Francigena Canterbury (EV12) - Dover (EV12) - Calais (EV4, EV12) - Lille - Brussels - Namur (EV3, EV19) - Luxembourg - Saarbrücken - Strasbourg (EV15) - Mulhouse (EV6) - Basel (EV6, EV15) - Andermatt (EV15, EV17) - Lucerne - Milan - Pavia (EV8) - Piacenza (EV8) - Lucca - Siena - Rome (EV7) - Benevento - Brindisi  United Kingdom,  France,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Germany,   Switzerland,  Italy 3,200 2,000
EV6 Atlantic – Black Sea Route Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (EV1) - Nantes (EV1) - Tours (EV3) - Orléans - Besançon - Mulhouse (EV5) - Basel (EV5, EV15) - Radolfzell - Ulm - Regensburg - Passau (EV7) - Linz (EV7) - Vienna (EV9) - Bratislava (EV13) - Budapest - Osijek - Belgrade - Pančevo (EV11) - Bela Crkva (EV13) - Drobeta-Turnu Severin (EV13) - Vidin/Calafat - Ruse/Giurgiu - Silistra - Brăila - Constanța  France,   Switzerland,  Germany,  Austria,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Croatia,  Serbia,  Romania,  Bulgaria 4,450 2,770
EV7 Sun Route North Cape (EV1, EV11) - Haparanda (EV10) - Sundsvall (EV10) - Gothenburg (EV3, EV12) - Helsingborg - Copenhagen (EV10) - Gedser - Rostock (EV10, EV13) - Berlin (EV2) - Dresden - Prague (EV4) - Linz (EV6) - Salzburg - Bolzano - Mantua (EV8) - Bologna - Florence - Rome (EV5) - Naples - Catanzaro - Catania - Valletta  Norway,  Finland,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  Czech Republic,  Austria,  Italy,  Malta 7,700 4,800
EV8 Mediterranean Route Cádiz - Málaga - Almería - Murcia - Alicante - Valencia - Barcelona - Béziers - Sète (EV17) - Cannes - Nice - Turin - Pavia (EV5) - Mantua (EV7) - Venice - Trieste (EV9) - Koper - Pula (EV9) - Zadar - Split - Dubrovnik - Tivat - Kotor - Shkodër - Tirana - Vlorë - Patras - Athens (EV11) - Bergama - İzmir - Selçuk - Nicosia - Larnaca - Limassol - Paphos - Polis - Nicosia  Spain,  France,  Italy,  Slovenia,  Croatia,  Montenegro,  Albania,  Greece,  Turkey,  Cyprus 7,500 4,700
EV9 Baltic - Adriatic Gdańsk (EV10, EV13) - Bydgoszcz - Poznań (EV2) - Wrocław - Olomouc - Brno (EV4) - Břeclav - Vienna (EV6) - Maribor - Ljubljana - Trieste (EV8) - Pula (EV8)  Poland,  Czech Republic,  Austria,  Slovenia,  Italy,  Croatia 2,050 1,270
EV10 Baltic Sea Cycle Route Gdańsk (EV9, EV13) - Rostock (EV7, EV13) - Kiel - Sønderborg - Copenhagen (EV7) - Malmö - Kalmar - Stockholm - Sundsvall (EV7) - Umeå (EV7) - Oulu (EV11) - Vaasa - Turku - Helsinki (EV11) - Virolahti (EV13) - Saint Petersburg (EV13) - Tallinn (EV11, EV13) - Riga (EV13) - Klaipėda (EV13) - Kaliningrad (EV13) - Gdańsk  Poland,  Germany,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Finland,  Russia,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania 9,000 5,600
EV11 East Europe Route North Cape (EV1, EV7) - Inari (EV13) - Rovaniemi - Oulu (EV10) - Kuopio - Helsinki (EV10) - Tallinn (EV10, EV13) - Tartu - Daugavpils - Vilnius - Warsaw (EV2) - Kraków (EV4) - Košice - Szeged (EV13) - Pančevo (EV6) - Skopje - Thessaloniki - Larissa - Athens (EV8)  Norway,  Finland,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Serbia,  North Macedonia,  Greece 6,550 4,070
EV12 North Sea Cycle Route Bergen (EV1) - Stavanger - Kristiansand - Gothenburg (EV3) - Halmstad - Grenaa - Esbjerg - Hamburg (EV3) - Bremerhaven - Den Helder - The Hague (EV2) - Vlissingen (EV4) - Dunkirk - Calais (EV4, EV5) - Dover (EV5) - Canterbury (EV5) - London (EV2) - Norwich - Hull - Newcastle - Edinburgh - Aberdeen (EV1) - Inverness (EV1) - Thurso - Orkney Islands - Shetland Islands - Bergen  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  Netherlands,  Belgium,  France,  United Kingdom 7,050 4,380
EV13 Iron Curtain Trail Grense Jakobselv - Kirkenes - Inari (EV11) - Sodankylä (EV11) - Suomussalmi - Lappeenranta - Saint Petersburg (EV10) - Tallinn (EV10, EV11) - Riga (EV10) - Klaipėda (EV10) - Kaliningrad (EV10) - Gdańsk (EV 9, EV10) - Greifswald (EV10) - Rostock (EV7, EV10) - Lübeck - Eschwege - Cheb (EV4) - Bratislava (EV6) - Donji Miholjac - Szeged (EV11) - Vršac - Drobeta-Turnu Severin (EV6) - Zaječar - Pirot - Kyustendil - Strumica - Petrich - Smolyan - Kyprinos - Edirne - Kırklareli - Malko Tarnovo - Rezovo  Norway,  Finland,  Russia,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Germany,  Czech Republic,  Austria,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Slovenia,  Croatia,  Serbia,  Romania,  Bulgaria,  North Macedonia,  Greece,  Turkey 9,950 6,180
EV14 Waters of Central Europe Zell Am See - Bischofshofen (EV7) - Liezen - Graz - Fehring (EV9) - Gleisdorf - Szentgotthárd (EV13) - Keszthely - Székesfehérvár - Velence  Austria,  Hungary 1,125 699
EV15 Rhine Cycle Route Andermatt (EV5, EV17) - Chur - Grabs - Lustenau - Konstanz - Öhningen - Schaffhausen - Basel (EV5, EV6) - Rosenau/Weil am Rhein - Biesheim/Breisach - Strasbourg - Karlsruhe - Mannheim - Worms/Biebesheim am Rhein - Mainz (EV4) - Bingen (EV4) - Koblenz (EV4) - Bonn (EV3, EV4)) - Cologne (EV3, EV4) - Düsseldorf (EV3) - Duisburg (EV3) - Rheinberg/Wesel - Xanten/Emmerich am Rhein - Arnhem (EV2) - Leerdam - Rotterdam (EV19) - Hoek van Holland (E2, EV12, EV19)   Switzerland,  Germany,  France,  Netherlands 1,500 930
EV17 Rhone Cycle Route Andermatt (EV5, EV15) - Furka Pass - Brig - Sierre - Sitten - Martigny - Saint Gingolph/Vevey - Thonon-les-Bains/Lausanne - Geneva - Lyon - Valence - Avignon - Tarascon
East branch: Tarascon - Arles - Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône
West branch: Tarascon - Saint-Gilles - Palavas-les-Flots - Sète (EV8) 		  Switzerland,  France 1,250 780
EV19 Meuse Cycle Route Langres - Neufchâteau - Commercy - Verdun - Stenay - Charleville-Mézières - Dinant - Namur (EV3, EV5) - Liège - Maastricht - Venlo - Cuijk - Den Bosch - Dordrecht - Hoek van Holland (EV2, EV12, EV15) - Rotterdam (EV15)  France,  Belgium,  Netherlands 1,050 650
  • Routes EV10 and EV12 are a circular tour
  • Connections to other EV routes are in parentheses
  • Odd routes are heading north–south, even routes are heading west–east

Route information[edit]

EuroVelo 1 – Atlantic Coast Route[edit]

Main article: EV1 The Atlantic Coast Route

Stretching the length of the continent, from North Cape, Norway to Valença, Portugal, the EV1 connects Norway, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales, the West Country of England, France, Spain and Portugal.[7]

EuroVelo 2 – Capitals Route[edit]

Main article: EV2 The Capitals Route

EV2 runs between Galway, Ireland to Moscow, Russia visiting some capital cities along the way, from Eyre Square to Red Square.

Between The Hague in the Netherlands and the German-Polish border, the EV2 follows the bicycle route called European Bicycle Route R1 or Euro-Route R1,[8] an international long-distance cycling route connecting Boulogne-sur-Mer in France with St Petersburg in Russia.

EuroVelo 3 – Pilgrims Route[edit]

Main article: EV3 The Pilgrims Route

EV3 goes from Trondheim in Norway to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The route follows traces of old roads used for pilgrimages in the Middle Ages. The route passes through Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain. Most of these countries have a developed network of bicycle routes used as part of the EV3.

EuroVelo 4 – Central Europe Route[edit]

The EV4 goes from Roscoff, France to Kyiv, Ukraine, going through France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Poland, and Ukraine.

EuroVelo 5 – Via Romea Francigena[edit]

Main article: EV5 Via Romea Francigena

The EV5 route is inspired by the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage route from London to Rome first recorded by Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric in the 10th century AD. However, the route of the true Via Francigena is an almost straight line path from London to Rome, while the EuroVelo 5 route takes a more easterly route that passes through Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg in the Alsace. It then follows the Franco-German border, passes through Switzerland following Swiss National Bike Route no. 3, before crossing the Alps at the Gotthard Pass. It then passes through Italy (more closely following Sigeric's route) to Rome before continuing on to the Adriatic port city of Brindisi.

EuroVelo 6 – River Route[edit]

Main article: EV6 The Rivers Route

Running from Saint-Nazaire on the mouth of the river Loire along that river eastward through France, EV6 passes over the border to Switzerland to Lake Constance and then on to Tuttlingen in Germany, where it begins its way down the Danube following the Donauradweg (Danube Cycle Route). It follows that river, Europe's second longest, through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania to the river's mouth at the Danube Delta. It then continues southwards to end in Constanța, on the Black Sea.[9]

  • Signage for EuroVelo 6 in France, near the tripoint of France, Switzerland and Germany
    Signage for EuroVelo 6 in France, near the tripoint of France, Switzerland and Germany

EuroVelo 7 – Sun Route[edit]

Main article: EV7 The Sun Route