A reference for cycling trips, the Bikeline topo-guides have made their debut in France

2024-01-12 21:38:12

Well known to cycle tourists who travel the European cycle routes, the Bikeline collection published by the German company Esterbauer now offers cycling topo-guides in French. Three have already been published in 2023, ViaRhôna, the Danube by bike, and the Loire by bike. Others will follow this year.

A reference for cycling trips, the Bikeline topo-guides have made their debut in France 1 — The first Bikeline cycling guidebooks in French have arrived.

Full length (227 mins x 120 mins), spiral bound, obligatory, These topo-guides are in handlebar bag format and can therefore be viewed while pedaling. Practical. These documents contain everything you need to fully enjoy your journey: precise description of the route, GPS tracks, elevation and distance profiles, maps of towns and villages, list of accommodation, tourist and cultural attractions, etc.

In handlebar bag format, spiral-bound and rain-resistant

In the age of smartphones and geolocation, these topo-guides, laminated and rain-resistant, always delight purists who also like to archive their routes and routes in a beautiful library. Depending on the destination, the scale of the maps varies, being able to offer 1: 50,000 or 1: 75,000.

Last year, Bikeline therefore released two topo-guides in French for the first time: the ViaRhôna, the Rhône by bike, from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean, or 720 km; and the Danube by bike, the Austrian Danube, from Passau to Vienna, a cycle path of approximately 326 km.

The ViaRhôna, from Geneva to Sète or the opposite, unfolds very varied landscapes all the way to the Mediterranean. This is the case on the banks of Lake Geneva as at Napoléon beach and its 10 km of fine sand in the Camargue. There are also stretches of river in the heart of natural parks and grandiose vestiges of the Gallo-Roman era. Cities like Lyon, Orange, Arles and Avignon are on the route. So many exhilarating and enriching breaks.

As to Danube by bike which winds between Passau and Vienna, it is undoubtedly, the editorial team tells us, “one of the best-known, most popular and most frequented cycle routes in Europe”. And for good reason, “tranquil valleys, fertile plains, and steeply terraced vineyards follow one another alongside traditional farms and impressive monasteries”. It makes you want to get started, right!

New guides coming soon

A third topo-guide was released last year inFrench language, it concerns the famous Loire by bike which runs 635 km from Nevers to the Atlantic on the EuroVélo 6. A must-have, some would say.

Esterbauer Editions, which have more than 450 titles in the 2023 catalog, do not intend to stop there sincenext spring the Vélodyssée will be released (the Atlantic from Roscoff to Hendaye on EuroVélo 1), and the Meuse by Bike (from the Langres plateau to Rotterdam on EuroVélo 19). For those who travel the European cycle routes, the publisher announces the release of other guides by the end of the year. With always the same credo, “guides by cyclists, for cyclists”. All that’s left to do is test.