About

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. Participants are asked to give a voluntary contribution of 3–5 € per day to cover food costs, but if you cannot afford this you are welcome to join for free! 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, contact us.

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.
> participation guidelines
> awareness

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.
> online-tools
> photo-sharing

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.
> on the road
> 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

Beyond our Backyards international meeting

taborda September 23, 2012 September 24, 2012

While the Ecotopia Biketour and the 3rd International Conference on Degrowth are over, the chance to put degrowth into practice continues at the next International meeting of BoB – Beyond our Backyards. BoB is an open network aimed at developing structures and processes for exchanging experiences, learning and advancing knowledge through action research. The second meeting of this network will be held in Can Decreix, where the biketour stayed for some days in July, from 29th September to 4th October 2012 Volunteers are also needed to make it happen and are welcome anytime from now. Enjoy a nice place to…

Another week full of warm hospitality while cycling in italy…

taborda September 20, 2012 September 20, 2012

monday 3 september, we planned to leave early and got up on time, but the rain (that had been falling already for 3 days) was strong. We decided to delay our departure and got invited to join the lunch with the Valli Unite family :D. After lunch, with a grey, but dry, sky, everyone on the farm warmly waved us goodbye and we had a fresh afternoon cycling to Castel San Giovanni where we camped on a field with a small shed that ended up being our kitchen and dinner room when the rain started again. tuesday 4 september, after…

Ecotopia Biketour saved the bycicles

david September 20, 2012 September 20, 2012

Mass grave found in Barcelona with 234.576 corpses “Ecotopia biketour saved the bycicles” Venezia 17 Septembre 2012 Remains were found in the Collserola mountains surrounding Barcelona but do not belong to victims of the Spanish Civil War. Radiocarbon dating by Palaeontologists at the Sorbonne led to the surprising conclusion they are much older. In fact, they hark back 250.000 years B. P., a time conventionally accepted as marking Homo Sapiens’ appearance on earth. Even more surprising is the fact these remains are not human but, wait for it… bicycles. Between the Pliocene and Pleistocene there was a populous civilisation of…

Looking Back: From Catalunya to France

phillipevans September 19, 2012 September 19, 2012

I had an amazing time on the bike tour, cycling and living with so many lovely people in this community on wheels was a great experience, and the projects I saw have inspired me. Visiting permaculture projects in Catalunya and France, our hosts gave us tours and talks about their farming techniques, as well as getting a chance to try the organic produce. These imags show the beautiful organic vineyard at Can Torres, the impressive permaculture project in Sigean, where food is grown for local families, and the Cravirola Le Maquis in Minerve, where they make delicious bread in their…