Cycle around the Med

5900km Mediterranean route opens with EU support

Sparkling emerald seas, kilometres of golden sand, mysterious islands, wonderful food, ancient cities…it’s not hard to find convincing reasons to travel along the Mediterranean! And what better way to do it then by bike along the roughly 5,900 km long Mediterranean Route? http://www.eurovelo8.com/

EuroVelo 8 connects many destinations that are popular tourist attractions in their own right: Barcelona, Monaco, Venice, the Croatian Coast, Cyprus – the list goes on.  It is little surprise therefore that the Mediterranean Route receives more interest than any other EuroVelo route.  And whilst many of it’s destinations are already internationally famous, there are still lots of undiscovered gems to be found along the way, not least in Albania and Montenegro. The Mediterranean cycle route, which is considered potentially to be one of the largest cycling tourism routes, will run through 11 countries, including Croatia.

The EU-funded cycling route, valued at 2.58 million euros will go from Cadiz in Spain, through France, Italy and Croatia to Greece and Cyprus.

The route runs east-west across Europe mainly along or close to the Mediterranean coast, passing successively through 11 countries: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, and Cyprus.

The Mediterranean cycle route will go through all seven Croatian coastal counties and go down the entire length of the Croatian coast. The route in Croatia had been examined but was yet to be confirmed exactly where it will go.

All important destinations near the route would be included in planning and alternative routes to attractive tourism sites would be offered.

"We will design brochures and a website giving a clear description of all turn-offs from the route, and we will also include transport companies and ferry services. We want to provide a wide range of interesting information so that cyclists can decide for themselves what they want to see," Lidija Miscin from the Croatian Tourist Board said.

The purpose of the project is to encourage through cycling the development of sustainable coastal and maritime transport on the Mediterranean and last week in Dubrovnik a workshop was held.

An EU Parliament study shows that annual revenue from cycling tourism in the European Union is 44 billion euros. By comparison, revenue from cruise tourism is 39 billion euros.

"Croatia has a fantastic climate for year-round tourism. Cycling tourism would help reduce the seasonality of tourism and would attract tourists to other destinations," Ranko Milic of the CEDRA company, another Croatian partner in the project, said.

The project was launched in February 2017 and lasts until February 2020. After workshops with key local stakeholders, a Mediterranean Cycle Route development strategy will be prepared and the route marked.

Valere Tjolle

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