From an iconic Scottish landmark to its inspiration – Edinburgh to Athens.

From Scotland’s capital to Athens, 2440 miles over 2 months and 108,000ft of ascent.
Things that surprised or delighted me:
The size of thorns in Northumberland
The sheer quantity of 2 wheeled traffic in the Netherlands
The cold and damp of the Vennbahn in late summer
How easily cheese can turn to liquid and quickly contaminate everything in your pannier
How aggressive and impatient Swiss drivers can be on a mountain pass on a weekend.
The expense of Switzerland and alpine Italy. 153 euros for 3 people for 2 nights in small tents, really? I knew it would be pricey of course, but still …
How quiet, stunning and perfect for cycling a carefully chosen inland route through Croatia can be.
How fragile the tunnelled section of the Ciro trail is – it’s a landslide away from being impassable forever
How relatively easy it is to ascend the serpentine road out of Kotor.
The beautiful and quiet routes of Montenegro, especially along lake shkoder.
The price of campsites throughout Europe. They’re priced, of course, to accommodate camper vans. In southern Europe off season there’s little difference between a campsite and an apartment.
It was expected but northern Albania was an unpleasant experience and where the only abusive encounter of the trip was, in Kamez near Tirana. The roads are in poor shape, sometimes with car tyres stuffed into huge holes. The rubbish piled at roadsides and floating along in rivers was depressing and smoke from agricultural burning hung in the air.
The rugged beauty of Southern Albania and the Llogara pass.
The dogs – surprisingly easy to placate with stopping, walking, squirting with water or simply brandishing a stick.
EV8 through Greece – beautiful and quiet until nearer Athens