Ecotopia Biketour is a self-organized environmental and social activist bicycle tour that has been cycling through different parts of Europe each summer since 1990. On our way we visit social and environmental projects and groups, to learn about their struggles and visions, to exchange knowledge, to create connections and to support them by participating in actions or doing some physical work. Read more about what the Ecotopia Biketour is.

Ecotopia Biketour 2017 will go through Germany, France and may be to Switzerland and eastern Spain. A more specific route will be announced on the website as soon as it is decided. If you have some recommendations for projects, groups and events for us to visit on the way or would like to help preparing the tour, write to 2017@ecotopiabiketour.net. Read more about Ecotopia Biketour 2017.

Biketour concepts

Participation guidelines

Because we all have different visions of life and diverse personalities, Ecotopia Biketour has developed a set of basic values, which helps all of us to create similar expectations from this project.

Self-Organisation

As we oppose any leadership or hierachical structures, the Biketour is organised in an open way where everyone can be a part of.
>how it's prepared
>consensus
>circles

Online Tools

We try to use free and open-source software as much as possible in the preparation process. The same goes for sharing photos and videos in the group.

On the road

Everyone should be able to cycle with the Biketour. Therefore we keep distances low and have scouts going ahead who mark the route. Everyone can follow the signs on their own level of speed. Any tasks like scouting, cooking or pulling a trailer are shared.

=>tasks & rota

=>trailers

=>wildcamping

Food

All communal food on Biketour is vegan and cooked with wood on our mobile rocket stove. Whenever it's possible we go dumpster-diving and buy food from local farmers and small shops.
> veganism
> rocket stove
> dumpster-diving

Activities

We plan and make many activities on the tour: skill-sharing, helping at projects, joining actions and protests, bike-fixing and other events.
> skill-sharing

Latest blog posts

Biketour in Minsk (part 1)

CharlieCharlie juli 23, 2016 July 19, 2016

Onze verontschuldigingen, dit bericht is alleen beschikbaar in English. Voor het gemak van de kijker, is de inhoud hieronder weergegeven in de alternatieve taal. Je kunt klikken op de link om naar de actieve taal over te schakelen. After Shanti-Dom, we cycled 70km to Minsk. Getting into the city was not so easy however, and somehow we had to cross the big ring road that circles the city. Consulting the GPS, we found that the easiest way was to follow a small footpath for 300m – but we soon found out that the footpath was up a hill, just through…

Shanti Dom

Candid juli 21, 2016 August 29, 2016

Onze verontschuldigingen, dit bericht is alleen beschikbaar in English. Voor het gemak van de kijker, is de inhoud hieronder weergegeven in de alternatieve taal. Je kunt klikken op de link om naar de actieve taal over te schakelen. Due to our short visa, we had to take a train to skip most of the 400 km of cycling from Brest to Shanti Dom, a yoga farm with an international volunteering programme about 70 km west of Minsk. Lucky as we are, it started raining cats and dogs just after we got out of the train to cycle 40 km, but…

Biketour in Brest

Candid juli 19, 2016 July 19, 2016

Onze verontschuldigingen, dit bericht is alleen beschikbaar in English. Voor het gemak van de kijker, is de inhoud hieronder weergegeven in de alternatieve taal. Je kunt klikken op de link om naar de actieve taal over te schakelen. After so many fails, we couldn’t believe it when the bus started going and actually took us into Belarus. At the bus stop we were already awaited by Valentin from Radeja Bike Club, with whom we had been in a lot of contact with to prepare the documents for the visa application. Valentin was over-excited to lead us through the city, and…

belarus border chaos

CharlieCharlie juli 18, 2016 September 8, 2016

Onze verontschuldigingen, dit bericht is alleen beschikbaar in English. Voor het gemak van de kijker, is de inhoud hieronder weergegeven in de alternatieve taal. Je kunt klikken op de link om naar de actieve taal over te schakelen. When the 2016 biketour collective first discussed going to Belarus, we expected that the visa would require some work, but after doing considerable research into the process, decided it was a manageable task. We did some preparation, but then expected that everything would fall into place when we met together at the starting point in Warsaw and would proceed as planned. It…