In Denmark we have almost 10 years of experience with Bicycle Tourism related to National Cycle Routes. Signing is one of the most important tools for developing cycle routes. New guidelines for signing have been produced based on practical experiences.

Since 1993, 3500 km of national cycle routes have been the backbone of our promotion of Denmark as the country of holiday cycling. A recent development is that we have changed some of the routes to fit into the European Cycle Route Network, EuroVelo, and introduced a new national route, Limfjordsruten.

Marketing concentrates on 3 Flagship Routes which are all part of international routes:

• North Sea Cycle Route
• Baltic Sea Cycle Route
• Copenhagen - Berlin Route

Signing and Mapping are two essential tools for developing leisure cycling and bicycle tourism. Denmark probably has the best signing system for cyclists. The guidelines were revised in 2000 and many years of experience have been integrated in the new edition of the guidelines.

New guidelines for signposting
The Danish Road Directorate has established regulations for signing cycle routes. The general symbol is a white cycle on a blue background plus a number or a name, which is the distinctive mark of that particular route. The various local and regional paths, forest paths and public roads thus form route networks linked by signs.

You can recognise national routes by the national colours - white numbers on a red background. These basic rules for signing national routes have also been followed in the UK and Slovenia.

Now, however, extensively revised regulations have been published that incorporate the practical experience gained with signing in the 1990s, including the signing of the national 3,500 km route network opened in 1993 and several other long routes.

The new regulations deal not only with signage along the routes but also with signing to and from routes and outside routes. They also include a section on information boards and cycling and hiking maps with a view to ensuring coherence between sign symbols and map symbols.

The signs for cyclists and hikers are intended to be sufficiently clear without cluttering the landscape and to be of the same nature and standard as the signs for motorists. At the same time, however, they must stand out clearly from these so that all road-users know exactly for whom the signs are intended.

Signing of cycle routes
This signage system has enabled local, regional and national cycle routes to be developed. In the road regulations, these three categories of cycle routes are numbered as follows:

• national routes with numbers 1 - 15
• regional routes with numbers 16 - 99
• local routes with numbers 100 - 999

There must now be a border around the route numbers for all three types of route, so that route numbers cannot be confused with indications of distance. The number may be supplemented by a name. For local routes, a name only is permitted, and one can even get a logo approved instead of a name, e.g. a pig for the Pig Path.

The last-mentioned option has arisen from the tourist industry's desire for ways to give a local touch to signs. However, the road regulations ensure that the colours and the "layout" with a white logo on a blue background fit in with the general roads signage system.

The route signing is also intended for use in urban areas, where both national and regional routes pass through town centres, local routes can be called "Pendlerruten" (Commuter Route), "Centrumsruten" (Centre Route), etc., and, for example, link residential areas with town centres.

The most common sign is the route sign, which is usually 40 x 40, 30 x 30, 20 x 20 or right down to l0 x l0 cm in forested areas and similar. This sign is generally used to confirm the route, but is also used for reassurance at minor intersections, where it can be placed a little way down the road one is to take. The sign can be supplemented with an arrow, either on the same sign or on a separate sign below it, and geographical destinations and possibly also distances can be shown on a separate sign below the main sign.

Route identification consists of the cycle symbol and the route number/name/logo. Arrows and similar details must not be placed within this identification panel. The route identification appears on all types of signs, including directional signs, stack signs and map-type signs.

Directional signs are used at intersections and at places where the route changes direction, where it is necessary to indicate several geographical destinations, while stack signs are used just before intersections, where information is needed on, for example, several routes. Map-type signs can be used at very complicated intersections and at roundabouts.

Size and positioning of signs
It is an immense help to cyclists to know that signs in blue are for them. However, it also helps a great deal if the signs are always placed on the same side of the road and at the same height. That enables the size of signs to be minimised and ensures that cyclists see them.

Most cyclist sit slightly bent over and keep their eyes on the path or road ahead of them. It is therefore best to place signs on the nearside at a height of about one metre. The signs must not be placed too low, either, because of the risk of being overgrown in the summertime and covered by snow in the wintertime.

The size of signs depends on the speed of the road user and the amount of information on the signs. Reading distances and the height of lettering have been tested in practice. The road regulations give the rules on the choice and design of signs.

Service signs
Cyclists, hikers and riders also need information on services. The new road regulations describe signposting to attractions, camping sites, beaches, stations, ferries, etc.

In principle all the usual service symbols can be used (M-signs). A new symbol has appeared in connection with the new road regulations: camping sites for cyclists, hikers and riders. This symbol is already being used in several places - for example, on the "Hærvej" route - but now it has also become legal! See Fig. 2.

On ordinary service signs, mirror-image colours are used - blue text on a white background. However, in connection with the new road regulations for cyclists and hikers, the Danish Road Directorate has decided simply to use directional signs with white text on a blue background in order not to make things more confusing than necessary. However, the M-signs' service symbols are in black.

Separate service signs are only used when cyclists must follow different route from motorists. These signs have not been widely used in the past, but with growing interest in cycling tourism, Funen County Council has signed from the county's cycle routes to attractions, where such signs were lacking.

Cycling maps
A cycle map is a great help to cyclists in route planning, finding their way where the signing is deficient or damaged, or when they want to leave the signed route. Such a map also makes a nice memento for tourists. A cycle map can also contain a lot of practical information about services on the route.

All Denmark's county councils have published good cycle maps - most in the scale 1:100,000 - which are brilliant for cyclists in rural areas. The signs and format of the maps have been harmonised, thanks to the Association of County Councils in Denmark, which issued a manual in 1992, "Production of Cycle Route Maps". The manual has largely been followed.

The road regulations propose symbols that match existing signs with respect to colours and design. For example, cycle routes are shown with a blue background on the maps, together with route number boxes corresponding to the marking of national, regional and local routes.

Further information
"Road Regulations for Signing Cycle and Hiking Routes" (In Danish only) with related drawings, The Road Directorate 2000, can be obtained from The Road Directorate, tel. +45 33 93 33 38.