In, cough, 1991, my wife and I did a bike tour in Europe for our honeymoon. We spent a total of 4 weeks in Holland, England, and Germany. We took trains and of course ferries to cover larger differences. We did less than 50 miles in a typical day, iirc.
The thing is, back then, no GPS, no Internet, just maps and asking people for help. The trip was not particularly challenging and was very rewarding. It seems like such a trip would be even more easy and fun today with all of the extra context and information that you have with a smart phone.
I agree! What I love about a bicycle trip is how little preparation it actually requires during the fair weather season. You don't need fancy equipment and a phone gives you all the information you need. The OsmAnd app is quite good.
The thing is, back then, no GPS, no Internet, just maps and asking people for help. The trip was not particularly challenging and was very rewarding. It seems like such a trip would be even more easy and fun today with all of the extra context and information that you have with a smart phone.