Three routes and lots of cycling tourism: EuroVelo x Velo-city 2025

But let’s start with some trivia. It is rare to find a Velo-city host city located on three EuroVelo routes. In fact, it was the first time in 45 years of Velo-city history – if one excludes Basel, Switzerland, which hosted Velo-city in 1995, a time when EuroVelo was more a dream than a reality.

Energizing Solidarity

This was the theme of Velo-city 2025, the world cycling summit taking place in the beautiful Hanseatic city of Gdansk, in the north of Poland. Gdansk is where the Solidarity movement was born in 1980 and there is no better place to talk about the bicycle as a simple but effective tool for more social justice, to combat transport poverty, build communities and boost equality.

This year’s Velo-city explored these themes in a dense programme of 80+ sessions and more than 400 speakers. Under the sub-theme ‘Cycling for joy and health’, there were interesting sessions, especially related to rural cycling and sustainability.

In parallel session 2.2, ‘What can we learn from counting data to improve cycling policies?’ the EuroVelo Usage Barometer, published by ECF in cooperation with Eco-Counter, was brought as a case study of aggregated automatic counters data helping to map urban and rural cycle route usage.

Moderated by EuroVelo team member Florence Grégoire, the panel discussion ‘Developing accessible cycle routes for disabled cyclists and other diverse user groups’ explored the multiple dimensions of accessibility in cycle tourism, stressing that inclusivity must extend beyond the cycle path itself. Examples from Belgium, Poland and UK ECF member Wheels for Wellbeing reminded participants that disabilities can often be invisible and that planners must consider the full range of disabled users’ needs.

In the session titled ‘Cycling tourism contribution to Sustainable Development Goals’, panelists shared varied experiences – from research on sustainability of cycle route surface, to educational cycling camps and data about cycling tourism. The session also promoted the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference, taking place in Balatonfüred, Hungary, from 24 to 26 September, where sustainability is at the centre of the discussion.

The leisure aspect of cycling, which includes cycle routes and EuroVelo experience, was present in the plenary ‘Cycling for joy and health’, a thought-provoking session on the power of cycling to improve wellbeing, build community, and support sustainable mobility.

On Friday morning, just before the closing plenary, a session moderated by Magda Leszczyna-Rzucidło (Pomorskie Tourist Board and EUSBSR Policy Area Tourism), dealt with connecting recreational and everyday cycling. Three speakers presented initiatives that have encouraged leisure cyclists to use their bikes on weekdays too, making the case for investing in cycling infrastructure for both uses.

EuroVelo everywhere

EuroVelo was mentioned by many during Velo-city. By no chance is Gdansk at the crossroads of three EuroVelo routes: EuroVelo 10 – Baltic Sea Cycle Route and EuroVelo 13 – Iron Curtain Trail visit Gdansk before going back to the seaside, while EuroVelo 9 – Baltic-Adriatic starts in Gdansk and ends in Pula, Croatia.

There were many EuroVelo signs all across the city, and especially in one of the most frequented cobbled streets of the city centre, lined with pastel-coloured houses. The quality infrastructure, as we followed EuroVelo 10 and 13 towards the seaside, made cycling in Gdansk and the region a lovely experience.

The region of Gdansk, Pomerania, is very active in cycling tourism, with EuroVelo 10 and 13 as one of their main products, attracting several visitors from near and far and reaching high levels of development. The Polish cycling tourism destinations were well represented in the Velo-city exhibition with lots of brochures and promotional materials about the local EuroVelo routes. EuroVelo was there, too, in a large and well-attended ECF booth.

Poland made the most of having the cycling world’s attention and delivered the application to establish a National EuroVelo Coordination Centre, led by the Polish Tourism Organisation, to ECF CEO Jill Warren and EuroVelo and Cycling Tourism Director Agathe Daudibon.

Most notably, two of the Velo-city technical visits were EuroVelo-themed: one technical visit took participants to the Sobieszewo Island and the estuary of the Vistula River, which form part of EuroVelo 9 – Baltic-Adriatic. Another group cycled on EuroVelo 13 – Iron Curtain Trail all the way to the Russian border, which is currently closed. Some delegates described this technical visit as great, but a bit alienating when reaching the border and having to turn back – quite a reality check compared to the EuroVelo spirit of connecting people and places in Europe.

Next year, Velo-city will be in Rimini, Italy, a city famous for being a tourist destination, which has considerably invested in cycling for daily mobility and leisure. Although Rimini is not crossed by any EuroVelo routes, there will still be many opportunities to explore other cycle routes in and beyond Emilia-Romagna. But first, the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference (Balatonfüred, Hungary, 24 to 26 September) is the best place to gather again and talk cycling tourism with a close eye on sustainability.

Author: Jessica Casagrande