Stockholm –> Gibraltar Route Advice (3-4 month)

Hi all,

In the planning stages of a large European tour. Will be my first one but I have done similar long distance hikes so am relatively accustomed to the process. I want to go across Europe and would like to see some beautiful scenery and eat some good food. Plan is for a mix of camping and hotels/hostels. Will have a bike capable of moderate gravel riding if required. In fairly good shape and will have a relatively lightweight setup, maybe 20-25 lbs including racks/panniers but no food. Plan to stop for meals a reasonable amount. Not on a strict budget. Am open to cutting out sections (danish coast, valencia -> gibraltar) if there are better places to spend my time. Timeline is flexible, leaving end of June returning mid October, so am thinking north -> south for weather.

I reviewed the Eurovelo routes and am thinking of following them in pieces but deviating at parts to find something a bit more interesting. Below is my current route, I've broken it into 7 stages on cycle.travel.

Overall Route + Stages

Stage 1 – Stockholm to Copenhagen – the main decision seems to be whether to hug the coast on the EV10 or move inland on another route

Stage 2 – Copenhagen to Berlin – current plan is to follow the EV10 around the Danish coast and then take the EV7 down to Berlin (or follow a similar route generated by [cycle.travel]). There is the option to remove all the extra distance around the Danish coast and simply take a ferry from Gedser to Rostock which cuts off 700km

Stage 3 – Berlin to Vienna – I haven't really looked at this too carefully, can either follow EV routes and make a big right angle or shorten the distance and follow something else. I would like to stop in Prague.

Stage 4 – Vienna to Verona – Current thinking is to briefly head east and hit Bratislava, then head south and go through Slovenia and up into Austria and Northern Italy into the Dolomites. There are more direct ways to get through this but I really would like to ride through Slovenia and would like to get into the mountains for a bit if possible. The other presumably easier option would be to head through the center of Slovenia and then towards Venice on the EV8 and take this across Italy. Open to any feedback here. Thoughts on whether going to Budapest is worth the extra mileage?

Stage 5 – Verona to Nice – Taking the EV8 across Italy is an option but it seems like staying up further north towards the mountains might be nicer. I found the Pedemontana which looks pretty ideal and would take me from the Verona area/Lake Garda to Torino. At this point I was envisioning in heading west to the Route Des Grande Alpes, linking up for basically the southern half. Another alternate option is more of a bikepacking route, following the Torino Nice Rally route, which is more gravel riding. Finally, an easier backup option would be to continue heading south to the coast and follow the coast west to Nice, rather than biking in the Alps.

Stage 6 – Nice to Valencia – Haven't really looked at this part of the trip much yet, open to feedback (default option – follow EV8)

Stage 7 – Valencia to Gibraltar – Haven't really looked at this part of the trip much yet, open to feedback (default option – follow EV8). Can cut this out if I'm running behind my anticipated schedule