Time for some best/worst lists for the Lille to Rome bike trip. Here is the best and worst thing* about bike touring in each of the countries.

*this reflects our limited exprience, which was very limited in a few cases, and may not be generally true.
Belgium

Best: Friteries and beer make for generally good biking food
Worst: At least on our route, the least scenic country of the trip (exception: Namur was really nice, might revisit)

Notes: Generally good biking, grey weather, must love canals and hills to bike in the south.
Luxembourg

Best: Bike routes were great - separated bike roads, good surfaces, not too hilly, scenic, well-marked.
Worst: Coronavirus outbreak there made us very cautious

Notes: We were only here for 2 days, but it was nice by bike. The city also had interesting things to see.
Germany

Best: German bakeries are the best one-stop food source for bike touring I've ever seen
Worst: you gotta remember to follow the rules, many of which I don't know

Notes: we were only in Germany for 1 day on this trip, so I'm also borrowing from my trip there last year.
France

Best: the system of canals with trails alongside are quite nice and well-developed (and flat!)
Worst: Outside of popular routes, the density can be quite low, making it hard to find food/camping/whatever

Notes: Except for canal trails, expect to be on low-traffic roads.
Switzerland

Best: Infrastructure. Trails when possible, quality roads otherwise, good signage.
Worst: Everything costs 1.5 to 2X of France/Italy.

Notes: The hills are considerable, even with best efforts from engineers. The weather in the North was also quite bad for us.
Italy

Best: Availability of snacks - every little village has a bar/gelateria/bakery/cafe or some combination. Very convenient
Worst: Lack of camping, except in high-tourism areas

Notes: In Italy, you need to be comfortable with the let's-work-together-to-share-the-road driving
You can follow @ElephantEating.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: