Ecotopia Biketour is a self-organized, international community that has been organizing a yearly bicycle tour in different regions of Europe since 1990. During the tour we visit environmental and social projects and practice forms of activism and sustainable living. We cook communal vegan food, practice consensus decision making, and share skills by doing workshops. One of our core values is to create a non-discriminatory environment. Ecotopia Biketour is for anyone interested in travelling by bike, community life, DIY, an ecological lifestyle, and/or learning by experience. If this sounds good to you, feel welcome to join us!
We try to make the tour as inclusive as possible for any level of fitness or experience with bike touring. We cycle a maximum of 30–70 km per day (depending on the hills), and on average half of the days we stay in a place without cycling. Our experience is that almost everyone can manage this, but there is the possibility to shorten the distances if we discover that it is too much. People cycle in small groups or alone, at whatever speed suits them, and many people like to take it slow and take lots of breaks. A detailed route plan for the day is shared in the morning, arrows are drawn with chalk on the road at every turn, and if you get lost you can always call the Biketour phone. If you have a shitty bike, you will not be the only one, and we enjoy supporting each other if something breaks. We make sure that the last people to leave carry a toolbox, a phone and a first-aid kit in order to assist if anything goes wrong on the road.
Read more about what the Ecotopia Biketour is. If you would like to get an insight into the organisation or just ask a question, write us via the contact form.
Ecotopia Biketour 2021
Preparations for Ecotopia Biketour 2021 have started. At the end of March we had our Winter Meeting in Switzerland, where we made the initial decisions how and where the Biketour could happen this summer. We will soon publish more information here on our website.
Biketour concepts
Participation Guidelines
> participation guidelines
Self-Organisation
> how it’s prepared
> consensus
> circles
Online Tools
> online-tools
> photo-sharing
On the road
> on the road
> tasks & rota
> trailers
> wildcamping
Food
Whenever it’s possible we go dumpster-diving and buy food from local farmers and small shops.
> veganism
> rocket stove
> dumpster-diving
Activities
> skill-sharing
Latest blog posts
Quest For Rocket Stoves
With the skies above our camping place threatening rain and thunder and with two days left before we were to leave Edinburgh, the heart of the bike tour was missing. The heart of the bike tour is an ugly-mangled thing. We crouch beside it at night, offering up endless twigs and sticks, blowing on it our hopes for hot food. The heart of the bike tour is a rocket stove. It is made from a large oil drum, piping and insulation. We had two vegetable oil drums, found at the back of a restraunt. We still needed to find some…
Quand la route devient chez toi
vélo couchée avec remorque Le temps que je passe en Ecotopia Biketour restent comme un tat des aventures tres denses dans ma tete. J’ai du mal a en sortir des expierences specifiques, quest qui vaut la peine de raconter et quoi non? quelle des milles histroires choisir? soir de deluge ptet celle-ci: on arrive apres une journee de decentes et montees le long des falaises asturiennes sur une pre pas loin de la mer. Une reunion est prevue, finallement, quand les gens se sont rassemblees, on fait un tour de paroles, quelqu’un dit: „je vois pas comment on va faire…
Squatted villa, rescued food and public art performance – Biketour in Vigo
Our sleeping place in Vigo was the amazing Quinta de Carminha squat, a big mansion so luxurious that it has stone lions greeting you at the entrance. But not just luxurious from the outside, it also greeted us with a hot shower, a big kitchen, big communal spaces, an internet room, and some beds to sleep inside. Our main activity on the second day was an evening action in the city centre. We dumpster-dived lots of food, picked a public square, and presented the food there to give away for free. The signs say: “This food, which is in perfect…
From Saumede to Vigo
After a bit of up and a lot of down, we met the valley of our beloved river Miño again. On the way down we passed through a really rural village with really steep and narrow roads and lots of brambles, and while we were eating them the village church was ringing like crazy. It sounded a bit as if there was a button to make the bell ring, and a cat was constantly hitting the button with their paw. Every now and again, the ringing would stop for a moment, and another church close by would respond in the…