Cycling Cities- The run down on some of Europe’s top tourist spots.
Many of the world`s major cities are now much more friendly to cyclists than they have been, as awareness of the environmental and health benefits of cycling become more apparent. However, there is still much work to do.
Although cities like Sydney in Australia and London in the UK have made highly publicised attempts to give cycling more status, the practical experience of cyclists on the road would often seem to indicate that a great many problems remain, especially in cities such as London which allow such a dominance of road traffic. However, there are several cities in the world which do much to positively welcome cyclists onto the road and make their lives as pleasant as possible.
One of these cities is Copenhagen, in Denmark. This city has had safe and efficient bike lanes in place for the best part of three decades and boasts in its official tourist publicity materials that it is the most cycle friendly city in the world. More than one million kilometres are cycled here by the population in a typical day and many of these journeys are simply people travelling from A to B in their normal clothes, usually without a helmet, such is the safety of the city for cyclists.
Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, has also instituted a number of reforms to its traffic system in recent years which have improved the city`s roads for cyclists. As well as a green ring route which runs along the outside of the city centre, there are also hundreds of bike hiring stations along the city`s routes. These allow people to pick up and drop off machines as they need to use them, making cycling much more accessible for everyone.
Another city which has adapted its road system in favour of cyclists is Basel in Switzerland. The road lay-out here even includes special left turning lanes which can only be used by bike riders. This is a massive boost to safety, as it means that the trickiest and most dangerous turns at junctions are now made without the continual worry of being in the way of motor vehicles with little awareness of, or courtesy for, cyclists.
If you are thinking of travelling abroad and plan to use your bike in an urban location, then it is often a good idea to try and speak to someone who has lived there as a cyclist. While this is not always possible in person, using the internet and visiting a site like http://www.bikes.org.uk can often be a source of good advic