I cycled around Europe in '92 on an Orange Clockwork. I chose it because it had all of the braze-ons I needed for racks and mudguards. Anything of that quality (butted steel tubes as opposed to hi-tensile steel) or above would be fine, I'm sure. The only other two bikes I considered at the time were a steel Trek (can't remember the model but it too had all the braze-ons) and a Dawes Galaxy, which I quite fancied but decided against simply because I could buy the Orange frame and build it up for less than the cost of the Dawes. Practically everyone recommends steel over aluminium.
The point Foz makes above about having a pump that works almost made me cry - I only had 2 punctures in 8 months but the second was while I was dashing for the ferry at Cherbourg: that was the point where I realised my pump no longer worked...
I was on roads only, no tracks or bad roads, other than in parts of central Italy. Make sure you know as much about bike maintenance as you can possibly learn. And keep an eye on your tyre sidewalls as well as the treads for wear - I woke up one morning to find I could see the inner tube through the sidewall.
The point Foz makes above about having a pump that works almost made me cry - I only had 2 punctures in 8 months but the second was while I was dashing for the ferry at Cherbourg: that was the point where I realised my pump no longer worked...
I was on roads only, no tracks or bad roads, other than in parts of central Italy. Make sure you know as much about bike maintenance as you can possibly learn. And keep an eye on your tyre sidewalls as well as the treads for wear - I woke up one morning to find I could see the inner tube through the sidewall.