The Trans Euro Trail® is designed to be navigated by a GPS enabled device – either a purpose built GPS receiver such as a Garmin or a GPS enabled device such as an Android, Windows or iOS device.
NAVIGATION DEVICES
The main choice is between using a dedicated GPS Receiver or using a mobile phone with GPS capabilities. The pros and cons of each and the intricacies of their use are covered in our active TET Forum and on sites such as ADVrider.
If you choose a phone for your navigation, you’ll need a navigation app.
We’ve canvassed the opinions of TET Riders as to which devices and apps they use and these are the results in order of popularity:
1: Osmand
2: Viewranger
3: Locus Map Pro
4: Maps Me
5: Orux Maps
iPhone apps:
1: Viewranger
2: Motion X
3: Maps Me
4: Galileo
5: Osmand
Whatever device you do use, get to know it and love it but don’t depend on it 100%. It’s a gadget and gadgets break. We suggest you carry a back up and/or good ol’ paper maps and compass. If you’re sitting by or (worst case) lying under your bike in the middle of a Finnish forest or Greek mountainscape, having an idea of where you are and how to get back to civilization and your next beer is pretty critical – not to mention giving that search team an idea of where to find you.
THE TET TRACKS
The TET is provided in the form of GPX tracks. These have been “snipped” into sections of 10,000 track points or less (suiting those of us who use Garmins (or at least the more modern ones!)) but downloadable as single country packs from the relevant country web page.
Getting the tracks onto your device is up to you. If you’re not au fait with the process then pop over to the Forum for advice and videos.
Once you’re out on the Trans Euro Trail®, don’t treat the GPX as gospel. If it looks like the TET goes through someone’s garden but there’s a road round the edge, use the road! As you’ll know GPXs don’t detail every tiny twist and turn, use your common sense - follow the trail you see on the ground in front of your wheels.
If there’s a sign or barrier in front of you banning entry then don’t insist on the GPX being right but respect the sign/gate. Log it to send to us later - after you’ve found an alternative route.
It’s critical that the TET tracks that you use are the most up to date ones. As suggestions and comments come in from TET Riders already on the Trail, new versions are created and uploaded. These updates are communicated to all Trans Euro Trail® Forum members by e-mail and via posts on the Trans Euro Trail® Facebook group. If in doubt, download the GPX file just before you travel.
If you have the GPX track, you don’t actually need a map but we wouldn’t advise this. All a GPX track is is a georeferenced wiggly line and tells you nothing about where you are in relation to the rest of the world. A base map on your unit over which the GPX track of the TET will be shown is a must. If you want/have to detour around a section of the TET or just want to find the nearest campsite, fuel, shop or hotel, then this map will allow you to find a POI and take you there (although it can’t guarantee the cleanliness of the sheets or whether the fuel station is open!)
Maps for Garmin devices:
There are commercial base maps available from Garmin or national mapping agencies such as Ordnance Survey but these can cost tens if not hundreds of Euros to purchase. The alternative, and one the TET Linesmen all rate, is Open Street Mapping. This is a community based open source project that we love. There are many different presentations of the basic data available to download and can be found at:
Maps for Mobile Phone apps:
If you’re using a navigation app on a mobile phone, it will offer you both free and paid-for base mapping. If you don’t choose to use the ones that are offered then the choice of alternative free maps is perhaps wider for Android devices than iOS and a good source is:
Paper Mapping:
We all love to lay a big paper map out on the kitchen table to plan our adventures or unfold one on the trail to orientate ourselves or people we meet with what we’re up to. Somehow it’s a more human action and one our brains can comprehend more easily than a little screen. Many of the Linesman have given advice on the best paper maps for their countries. One can either use these or access a specialist map retailer or online e-tailer such as Amazon.
We can only touch on Navigation here. Head on over to the TET Forum for more info and discussion.
Before downloading this file, please read the following.
By continuing to the download and in using the Trans Euro Trail® files, you are accepting and
agree to everything below.
1. The GPX is issued by the Trans Euro Trail® Community Interest Company, Company No.
11371199, Address: Unit 3, Cragg Road, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7
5HR, United Kingdom
2. The GPX is issued free of charge and is provided "as is," with all faults, defects and errors,
and without warranty of any kind
3. The accuracy of the trail is not guaranteed, nor are the GPS co-ordinates.
4. The Trans Euro Trail® is a suggestion not a direction.
5. The Trans Euro Trail® Community Interest Company does not represent or warrant that
materials in the site or the services are accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free.
6. The Trans Euro Trail® Community Interest Company cannot represent or warrant that the
site or its servers are free of viruses or other harmful components.
7. You undertake not to share this GPX on any electronic file sharing device or server.
8. You will download the most recent GPX for your country of travel just before you require it
and download updates, if relevant, while travelling.
9. If you stray onto private land, apologise and get back onto the road or trail.
10. These trails can be temporarily or permanently closed at short notice under local law.
11. Do not ride trails beyond your capability. If unsure, get off your bike and walk the trail first.
Be prepared to turn round and find an alternative route.
12. Trail riding alone, especially on trails you do not know, is really unwise.
13. Many country trails are rarely maintained. You will find ruts, holes, floods, treacherous
surfaces and the occasional booby trap hazard deliberately placed by people who do not like
motorcycles using trails.
14. When you use the trails and roads, you are on your own. You exercise your judgement in
your own skills and your own navigation. All the Trans Euro Trail® Community Interest
Company can do is show you where some of the trails are, but their legality and viability are
not confirmed and can change at a moment's notice.
15. You undertake to respect and adhere to road signs, barriers and local laws. The decision to
use a road or trail is entirely yours and you accept that you bear full responsibility for your
action or any infringements of the law.
16. The Trans Euro Trail® Community Interest Company shall not have any liability for use of the
GPX, directly or indirectly arising out of its use or in any way involving any Claim which is
brought in any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom, Isle of Man or Channel Islands.
17. Motorcycling carries risks. Adventure motorcycling adds to these:
a. Mobile phone coverage may be patchy or non-existent so summoning help may be
limited. If help is summoned it may struggle to reach you and you may incur high
costs. Unpaved tracks vary from gravel to broken tar to sand to stone to boulder to
grass. Each carries its own challenges of grip, stability and unpredictability all of
which vary immensely with weather conditions which can change quickly especially
in mountain areas.
b. The physical demands of riding a motorcycle, laden or otherwise, off road are not to
be underestimated. If you drop it, picking it up can be hard work and recovering it
from a hillside, river or mud hole where it has slipped can be exhausting. Add into
the mix the variable climate in Europe - subzero to high 30s and above - and heat,
cold and dehydration can impair performance and make a dangerous cocktail when
mixed with the complex task of off pavement riding.
c. Navigation can be challenging, especially without practicing using GPS or maps on
the move, on the “wrong" side of the road or with signposts in an unfamiliar script.
d. Mechanical issues easily sorted out in one's own garage or home city can become
much more of a challenge away from home in an area with poor infrastructure or
dealer knowledge.
e. Local adults and children (and animals!) may be unfamiliar with motorcycles or their
capabilities and misjudge situations. Driving standards and discipline vary hugely and
often the perception is “might is right” with scant regard being paid to the little guy
on a motorbike.
f. Local wildlife both domestic and wild can pose risks. Bears and wolves are present in
some areas, snakes in others, wild roaming reindeer in the far north and cattle and
dogs are all over.
g. Laws and regulations are always changing across the continent, so a trail that
contributors thought was legal, may not now be so. This may lead to conflict with
the authorities, communities, landowners or other users - anything from a glance, a
shout or a waved fist to arrest, prosecution, litigation, bike confiscation, fine or loss
of licence or liberty.
h. Concepts and practice of sanitation and hygiene vary immensely and medical
facilities can be scarce, suboptimal or distant.
i. The seedier side of humanity can also impact on you through theft, assault or fraud.
j. Be aware that some areas of eastern Europe also have heightened awareness of
mobile populations following the influx of refugees so you may come across
desperately poor people or wary authorities.
k. In Bosnia, Croatia and other locations the detritus of war still exists in the form of
uncleared mine-fields. Snow, water and soil creep all shift these so that straying
from established well used trails can be dangerous and, needless to say, stupid.
18. All trails and roads require you and your motorcycle to be fully insured, licensed and road-
worthy
19. You should ensure that your paperwork is in order whether it be bike, breakdown or
medical/repatriation insurance, licences or passports
20. You should get some practice in to build confidence and competence (and respect for your
own limits and those of your bike)
21. You should ensure you are properly equipped with the right tyres, spares, protection, first
aid kit, communications devices (and batteries!), luggage and camping gear
22. Ride with an awareness of the terrain, surface and in anticipation of unexpected hazards
23. Moderate your speed
24. Get bike fit. If you’ve got a medical condition then think carefully and take some medical
advice
25. Start the trip with a travel ready bike. Get familiar with your bike, what daily checks to make
and how to fix issues with it.
26. Take security precautions with your possessions and self
27. You agree to adhere to the Trans Euro Trail® Code of Conduct and be an ambassador of
responsible motorcycling.
28. Accept that you are master or mistress of your own destiny, safety, health and security. You
take responsibility for whatever happens.
