Some thoughts on cycle route signage.

Just had a conversation with a tourist about the lack of cycle route signage in Edinburgh, if you don’t know the city, it can be hard to find your way about. Even more crazy is that EuroVelo 12 the North Sea Cycle Route comes through the centre of the city, but without the local knowledge it is difficult to follow. The local cycle campaign group, Spokes, do produce some excellent maps of Edinburgh and the Lothians. There used to be one displayed at Haymarket Station to help arriving tourists, but this has now been removed:

Every time I see these sorts of comments, I am reminded of a cycle route sign I saw in Basel, Switzerland, some years ago. The sign give directions to Basel city centre and the main railway station, as well as the neighbouring cities of Freiburg (D), Saint-Louis (F), Mulhouse (F), and some other places. Note that the other cities are in other countries and there are continuous signed cycle routes to get to them too. In the UK, it is often not possible to have a continuous signed cycle route across a local authority boundary, and yet on the mainland of Europe they can and do have cycle routes across International Borders.

Sign give directions to Basel city centre and the main railway station, as well as the neighbouring cities of Freiburg (D), Saint-Louis (F), Mulhouse (F), and some other places

Cyclists riding under a Sign give directions to Basel city centre and the main railway station, as well as the neighbouring cities of Freiburg (D), Saint-Louis (F), Mulhouse (F), and some other places

Here is another example of signage on a path, this time from Austria on the Bodensee Radweg.

Painted signage on an Austrian cycle path, turn left for Germany, turn right for Switzerland.