Hi :)

Although not a female, I am a currently a resident in Barcelona have many years of knowledge of living / travelling in both France and Spain.

I also have a few internet links about wild camping.

Send me an email at jb7769@gmail.com and I'll help where I can.

All the best
John

Hi intrepid trip planner,

Hopefully I can shed a little light (and not scare you off the idea too much) on cycle touring as a single female. I'm in the middle of a 3 1/2 month tour of Europe - see my blog at http://luluboo.wordpress.com for some of my experiences so far.

Generally I'm having a fantastic time (despite a few low days when the weather and lack of organising left me staying the night in cheap hotels) meeting great people, enjoying beautiful places and getting to know the history and culture or each country. So far I've cycled through Italy, Greece and Bulgaria and am now staying in Bucharest for a few days before heading back to the UK via Croatia, Hungary... ... Belgium.

A few quick thoughts on solo female cycling:

Dogs - At first I was very scared of the dogs chasing me in Italy (I think these are the worst as they act as guard dogs and are not just strays). Generally they are harmless but find bikes irresistible to chase and are not menacing - just very loud. They will run alongside you for quite some distance but none have tried to bite me and I don't think they're a real threat. I hope that's reassuring to you, the reality is that I've been chased by dogs in each country so far, but have had no real problems with them.

Free camping - I'm trying to do this as much as possible when not staying with hosts. I've had some great nights free camping with a fellow tourer I met on the road, as well as on my own. I look for wooded / secluded areas near to a main road (but not too close, they can be noisy) but away from villages etc so that I don't have to worry about people coming across me during the evening / night time. Normally it is fairly easy to find appropriate places, and I find myself subconsciously eyeing up patches of woodland throughout the day as I'm cycling. If in doubt about an area I wouldn't recommend using it - your safety has to be the number 1 priority and if you spend all night worrying about your safety then you won't get any rest!

Safety - Particularly in the countryside I've found that people take a real (and not always welcome) interest in me, it seems solo female cyclists are a real novelty. You can usually tell if this attention is friendly, cheeky or purvey (excuse my language, but you know what I mean). I've seen everything from people taking me in out of concern for my safety, the omnipresent wolf whistle as I cycle past, even one man 'relieving himself' behind his van as I cycled past. But generally these are harmless experiences, if you feel intimidated you just keep cycling. Learn to trust your personal judgement! I wear a variety of clothes depending on the weather, and that includes cycling shorts covered with a short a-line skirt, which might encourage the wolf whistles! Still I find this very practical for cycling and I try to be modest in what I wear - I always wear a proper t-shirt as the minimum on my top half. My experience has been that other people worry for my safety more than necessary, most people that I meet and actually talk to have been kind, helpful, hospitable and eager to help. If I'm not sure about a person then I just move on.

Ok I realise I've written an essay here, so I'll stop now but do get in touch if you've got any specific questions, I'm always happy to share (internet connection permitting).

Happy cycling,

Laura x

If setting off from northern Spain, it might be handy to get a "Credencial" for the St James Way, Camino de Santiago, this would allow you to use the Albuerges along the Northern Coast of Spain as well as in southwest France, just in case you want to sleep in a bed from time to time, meet people and get your washing done properly. It should not be a problem getting admitted although you are going the other way. You may pick up the pilgrims pass in a mayor church in Santander. Nevertheless, consider that it is Holy Year and more pilgrims will be around, not sure about Camino del Norte though. Hostels are smaller, but more familiar and I had never a problem being admitted as a cyclist.

Info about the location of albergues etc: http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/

You will love Slovenia, don,t miss Vrsic pass and the Soca valley, wild camping should be fine almost everywhere, but according to my experience (cycled slovenia three years ago) in every small village you find private accomodation for 10 euros night/person.

I am sure you will be safe and have good fun, enjoy.

cheers
sascha

Hi,
Thanks, Laura, for sharing your ideas and experience! I'm new to cycle touring - last year I was on my first trip with a younger sister in Sweden. We were riding for 17 days and we really enjoyed that time. We were travelling together, so we weren't so scared. But what's more important, the local people were extremely helpful and kind for us. They always let us sleep in their back gardens - sometimes they offered help on their own and sometimes we asked for it if we couldn't find a place to put a tent. Since we hadn't heard of Warm Showers, we never knew where we would sleep the next day, but we never had any problems. I suspect in southern Europe it's easier to find a host or ask someone for help, but it's harder to find a remote area for wild camping. In Scandinavia it's allowed everywhere, even in the national parks, which is a wonderful thing for a budget travelling:)
This year I'm going for a 6 weeks solo tour through Norway. Of course I'm a little scared, but not as much as my family and friends - well, they actually think I'm a bit crazy;) But aren't we all? :) What's great in the northern Scandinavia (where I start my trip), is the midnight sun! I'll have some time to get used to camping alone in the night as the nights are going to be bright:)
Apart from that, I think it's really great and safe to camp in someone's garden or field - of course after asking these people!! We often asked if someone knew where we could camp and those people asked us to camp in their garden. This way you give them a chance to refuse politely, but still you show them that you need help - and they are usually willing to help. If you're in a town or a village and you're afraid of asking for help an unknown person, look for a house where there lives a family with kids! It's easy to see it as there are usually toys, small bicycles etc. near the entrance. I really liked staying with such families as the kids were often very interested in our bikes, tent and so on:) We also had a lot of sweets with us, so if there were children in a family we could give them some. A simple and little gift, but it was always appreciated:)

Tailwinds to you and good luck, bravehearts! :)