The Trans Euro Trail is more than 100,000 km of dirt and gravel across Europe, published as free GPX by a team of volunteers. Getting the files is the easy part. Following them for days without signal, on a phone that has to survive the ride, is where most first TET trips go wrong.
The TET is a dirt road route from the edge of Africa to the Arctic Circle that criss-crosses around thirty countries. The TET itself speaks of over 100,000 km. Every country has a volunteer coordinator, the linesman, who collects feedback from riders and sends new versions of the route to TET HQ, which publishes them.
The TET calls the route a suggestion, not a direction. You ride it on your own responsibility, and tracks can be closed at short notice under local law.
In Two Wheels Apart you import the file under Profile, Tracks, Import GPX and pick it from the Files app. The track appears on the map. You choose the direction and where you join it, and a long track can be ridden in sections. Along the way the app gives turn-by-turn directions on screen, exactly along the line, and shows the places marked in the GPX on the stretch ahead. There are no spoken instructions.
The free version keeps five tracks at a time. On a trip through several TET countries, delete a country you have finished before you add the next, or use Pro in the iPhone app, which removes the limit.
Off tarmac you cover far fewer kilometres a day than on the road, and the TET takes detours a direct route never would. Plan short days with the sleeping place in mind, and fill up whenever you pass fuel in remote sections: the next station may be far off the line or closed.
In Two Wheels Apart the expedition planner joins the tracks of several countries and the places you want to stop at into one trip with a start date. If you would like company, show the expedition on your profile, so other riders can see it and ride along.
Sooner or later the GPX leads into a freshly ploughed field, to a gate with a new lock or to a ford that is too deep after rain. Trust the ground, not the line. Turn round, ride around on public roads and rejoin where it makes sense. Then tell the linesman of that country: the TET builds its updates from rider feedback, and that is how the next rider gets a better track.
Apple warns that long exposure to high-amplitude vibration, such as that of high-power motorcycle engines, can degrade the iPhone camera's image stabilisation and autofocus, and does not recommend mounting an iPhone on such motorcycles. Many riders use a vibration damping mount or an old phone as their navigation device.
The TET's own advice is the best advice: do not depend on one device. Carry a backup and a paper map of the region.
On the map in Two Wheels Apart you also see riders nearby, so you can meet others on the same section, and the wild camps, water and workshops riders have shared. Where to sleep along the way: wild camping in the Balkans. How to prepare the phone in detail: navigation without signal.
The TET website names no official app. Its navigation page lists devices and apps riders use, from Garmin and DMD2 to OsmAnd and Locus, without recommending one (as of October 2026).
Yes. You download them per country from transeurotrail.org after accepting the terms, and donations are welcome. They are for personal, non-commercial use and must not be passed on.
More than 100,000 km, mostly dirt road, across around thirty countries, according to the TET (as of October 2026).
Yes, if you download offline maps for the countries and import the GPX before you go. Test it at home with mobile data switched off.
Navigation without signal · Wild camping in the Balkans · Motorcycle trip checklist