EuroVelo 12 (EV12), the North Sea Cycle Route, is a 5,942 km (3,692 mi) long-distance cycling route circuit around the coastlines of the countries that border the North Sea: these countries are (going clockwise from an arbitrary starting point of Harwich in Essex) England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The alternative is the summer-only twice-weekly flights from Sumburgh Airport south of Lerwick to Bergen in Norway, operated by Loganair.)

Travellers from the Continent would typically begin the English section of the North Sea Cycle Route at Harwich International Port in Parkeston.

It basically continues to follow the LF1 from the Netherlands and goes from Knokke in the Zwin region through to Ostend, to Nieuwpoort and to De Panne close to the border with France.

The salty, fresh wind on your back and gaze at the endless green pastures cycling along vanished villages, congested inland seas, hidden, stinzen, mounds and basalt dikes.

Highlights include the former island of Wieringen in North Holland, part of the route, Lauwersmeer National Park.

From Callantsoog, the route follows the LF1 from nearby Den Helder and continues 310 km (190 mi) to Sluis near the Belgian border.

The Swedish section of the North Sea Cycle Route is 380 km (240 mi) and follows the west coast of Sweden through the counties of Halland and Västra Götaland.

[citation needed] Along the route several towns are visited, among them Haugesund, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Arendal, Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg, Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg.