The Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism is preparing a cycling plan for Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism is preparing a cycling plan for Bulgaria. It is a partner in a project of the European mechanism Interreg for the creation of Danube cycling plans and the promotion of cycling in more than 20 member states.

A working group with representatives of various ministries and cycling organizations is currently starting work, gathering initial information on legislation and practices in the country and starting a discussion on creating a network of national cycling routes, Radost Marinova from the Veloevolyutsiya Association told 3eNews.

These cycling routes will be the backbone of the cycling network to cross the country in the main bicycle directions (east-west / north-south, overcoming the mountains, Danube and Black Sea cycling routes, etc.) and will connect with international cycling routes and our neighboring countries. .

The cycling plan itself will define the measures for the development of cycling transport and tourism at the national level - what to change in the legislation, how and by whom to implement cycling policies, how to support municipalities to develop infrastructure and promote cycling and others. In general, this is a strategic document for which we commit all practically affected countries, she added. It will be useful for us to be able to present it to interested specialists engaged in planning and design at the local level, architects, urban planners, designers, as well as environmentalists and decision makers in the field of tourism and local development, said Marinova.

In Bulgaria so far, Plovdiv stands out as a city with connected bike lanes, which will take you to most of the main districts of the city, according to "Veloevolyutsiya". In Bulgaria, cycling tourism is not yet developed, although there are many prerequisites for this. Recently, Paris has been famous for its bicycle boom, where many new bike lanes are attracting more and more people on bicycles. Similar efforts are being made by some other colorful capitals such as Lisbon and even nearby Ljubljana. However, many people choose to cycle long distances, giving them the opportunity to see more cities and their attractions. Many countries already have bicycle routes in place, such as those covered by the Euro Velo network - for example, the Danube bicycle route Euro Velo 6 in its part in Germany, Austria, Hungary or Euro Velo 15 along the Rhine Valley in Germany.