FRANCE: Take the Euroveloroute

The project of opening a cycle itinerary from France to Hungary sparked in 1994 from the idea of the European Cyclists Foundation. With the help of the European Interreg IIIB NWE Initiative, local and regional authorities – especially thanks to the involvement of Centre and Pays de la Loire Regions -, are now in the process to deliver in the coming years 2 400 kilometers from the Atlantic sea to the Black one. In France, 300 Km allow already cyclists to discover the « Val de Loire », official UNESCO site and to make a sustainable trip. The Euroveloroute which will stretch along the banks of the Loire, the Rhine and the Danube, links many partners in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Its strength lies in its potential to develop new forms of tourism and to address the needs for other patterns of travel. Moreover, this slow road across diverse landscapes and cultures seems to respond to the challenge of creating a living European Union attractive to all. www.loire-a-velo.fr