So, I’m planning a one-week-long bike trip through Europe. I haven’t even started the planning too seriously, but I already have way too many questions.
First of all, here’s my very first plan:
* Take a train from Vienna to Stuttgart with my bike and start my trip there. From there, I’ll go to France, Luxembourg, and Belgium, and finally arrive in the cycling country: the Netherlands. Here you can find a very rough plan: [Komoot](https://www.komoot.com/tour/1493545437?share_token=aeTkYZiEhDFZdJVVFCpp6L0IDb5ADVqwvKwmdi8JwrQIbjHd2M&ref=wtd)
From The Hague, I’d take a plane back to Vienna. I don’t know how easy it is to pack and travel back with my bike, or the whole logistics involved. Maybe sending it back by post or train would be easier? What’s your take on that?
At first, I was thinking of doing a round-trip, but that would have taken just too many days. I’m not even sure if I can do the trip in one direction, since I have limited time.
**About the setup:**
I’d like to keep my setup as light as possible, so I wouldn’t be doing any camping. I would always stay in a hotel, couchsurf, or use the Warm Showers app. The only problem is that my bike is a Canyon Endurace CF8, which doesn’t offer too many mounting points. Here’s a picture of my latest setup;
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[Basic setup for one night trip](https://preview.redd.it/tcy8sahwjxrc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fba1ff805fa62247b6c577aba5f247b8ded3cf0)
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I could probably put a frame bag on, but in this I’d lose one bottle cage slot, but other than that there aren’t many options left.
Would it make sense to get a less high end, but more gravel compatible bike with more mounting points?
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* Going alone or with someone?
This question keeps coming up in my head, and I’m not sure about it. It’s probably safer to go with someone, and probably less boring too, but finding someone who has the same timeframe as me and rides at a similar pace is not an easy task. What do you think?
by Twi2122