Thanks, I did the booking a couple of days ahead thing with hostels on the Camino de Santiago, but that route does rather spoon feed the traveller. Easter being early, some places seem to be open from the end of March but may close for a week or 2 in May. If places are shut now, then trying to book now won't work. I do want to avoid the caravan-only sites.Jdsk wrote: ↑7 Mar 2024, 4:10pm We like to find the site during the evening of the day before so it's a bit different, but as a starter:
Homework
Check dates of school holidays, big events etc.
Research using guides books and the web, including this forum. Google Maps is good at finding campsites that you can then investigate further. For April check opening dates.
On the road
Are you happy using a web browser and apps on a smart 'phone?
Ask at each campsite for recommendations for others.
Many campsites are predominantly used by people with motor caravans. They will usually admit cyclists and walkers and you have to decide how you feel about staying in them.
Jonathan
Search found 23 matches
- 7 Mar 2024, 7:12pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: West coast France tour April 2024 camping
- Replies: 12
- Views: 512
Re: West coast France tour April 2024 camping
- 7 Mar 2024, 7:09pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: West coast France tour April 2024 camping
- Replies: 12
- Views: 512
Re: West coast France tour April 2024 camping
Thanks, I found that thread first. But I am trying to scoop up data wherever I can.slowster wrote: ↑7 Mar 2024, 4:32pm Use the forum search function: there are a lot of threads with very useful information which you might not get in the replies to this thread which you have started. For example, this thread - viewtopic.php?t=159731, contains some particularly useful information, including a warning regarding campsites not being open at that time of the season.
- 7 Mar 2024, 3:57pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: West coast France tour April 2024 camping
- Replies: 12
- Views: 512
West coast France tour April 2024 camping
I have not bike packed for years but my buddy wants to and the west coast of France (Vannes to La Rochelle) is more or less flat. I am at a loss as to how to find the right sort of campsite, preferably in advance so you know how far you must cycle each day. My preference is for nice quiet rural sites with proper toilets and no disco. Previous french tours have used small pensions, airbnb, occasional Ibis in a town. But not campsites. Please share your experiences with me.
This route (approx)
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1458853388/ ... leabR#tips
This route (approx)
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1458853388/ ... leabR#tips
- 13 Feb 2024, 11:44am
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Eurostar and SNCF - packing bikes
- Replies: 19
- Views: 1185
Re: Eurostar and SNCF - packing bikes
Word of mouth on the platform at Gare du Nord just now was that big Paris stations have removed luggage trolleys because too many of them were being taken away by homeless people to transport their few belongings. This seems unkind to nearly everyone, but not unbelievable.
- 26 Jan 2023, 6:26pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?
- Replies: 198
- Views: 26652
Re: When will Eurostar recommence carrying bikes?
Eurostar apparently taking bikes again but one has to email rather than booking direct, and no mention of prices. I have emailed to enquire. https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-i ... gage/bikes
- 19 Jan 2023, 7:58am
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
This is all very useful, thanks folks
- 18 Jan 2023, 3:00pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Hi again folks
This is me again on posting kit home from abroad without encountering customs charges.
Do people have experience of mailing home their cold weather gear halfway through a long tour that crosses seasonal divides as one heads south?
I was thinking a fleece and some overtrousers so quite a small parcel but worth £100+ for good gear.
This is for France in this year's plan.
x
Hedgepig
This is me again on posting kit home from abroad without encountering customs charges.
Do people have experience of mailing home their cold weather gear halfway through a long tour that crosses seasonal divides as one heads south?
I was thinking a fleece and some overtrousers so quite a small parcel but worth £100+ for good gear.
This is for France in this year's plan.
x
Hedgepig
- 4 Nov 2022, 8:06pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: UK -Spain Ferry
People were unpacking their bikes from a duvet cover when I got on the boat at Santander in the Spring. That was to avoid the £75 fare, but I guess it would count if bikes were banned. It does seem lunatic. Is it that we could take up beds which could be sold to real passengers in cars?
- 4 Nov 2022, 12:28am
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Camino de santiago - camping or hostels?
- Replies: 31
- Views: 3696
Re: Camino de santiago - camping or hostels?
I did the Camino Frances, starting at the beginning of May, interrupted at Leon by covid but resumed and completed it in September. The pandemic probably reduced the number of pilgrims, but carried its own hazards. There is lots and lots and lots of accommodation. I tended to book online ahead a day or 2 because I was wary of communal sleeping arrangements - the one night in a dorm was probably where I caught covid. Part of the fun was not being quite sure where one would sleep. The local pilgrim hostels are strictly turn-up, no booking possible, vv cheap. Some have single rooms for the frail elderly, like me.
The cicerone book is excellent, you need nothing else. They supply the gpx file with the route, and update it. I did it on a gravel bike, avoiding the roughest paths, and that was fine. But the off-road component does slow one down. I stopped trying to get ahead of the recommended stage lengths after a while, so took 20 days. If you did more on road and pushed on into the later afternoon (hot) no doubt you could do it quicker, but there are many curious sights to see and many many sweet little cafes on the route.
The cicerone book is excellent, you need nothing else. They supply the gpx file with the route, and update it. I did it on a gravel bike, avoiding the roughest paths, and that was fine. But the off-road component does slow one down. I stopped trying to get ahead of the recommended stage lengths after a while, so took 20 days. If you did more on road and pushed on into the later afternoon (hot) no doubt you could do it quicker, but there are many curious sights to see and many many sweet little cafes on the route.
- 22 Oct 2022, 4:47pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Thank you I think I have worked the thing out now. What I would have needed was a duplicate list. In an idle moment may phone the HMRC helpline and see if I can get more data.st599_uk wrote: ↑10 Oct 2022, 10:35amThe duplicate list or ATA Carnet is the proof that import duty is not required.
You get them stamped to prove the exported goods were re-imported. With a carnet, no stamp and you can lose the bond paid (which for the EU is 40% of the value of the goods)
- 22 Oct 2022, 4:45pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
This is lovely, thanks a lot.nirakaro wrote: ↑10 Oct 2022, 8:06am It's a few years back, and I don't have it written down, but, from memory:
Day 1 - ride Canosa di Puglia – Foggia
Day 2 - train Foggia-Potenza-Naples
short ride Naples-Varcaturo
Day 3 - ride Varcaturo-Minturno
Day 4 - train Minturno-Rome-Livorno
short ride Livorno-Pisa
Day 5 - train Pisa-Berceto
short ride Berceto-Fiorenzuola
Day 6 - train Fiorenzuola-Piacenza-Torino-Bardonecchia
ride over col de l'Echelle* to near Briancon
Day 7 - ride over col du Lautaret to le Bourg d'Oisans
Day 8 - ride to Grenoble
train Grenoble-Lyon-Migennes
Day 9 - train Migennes-Paris
ride across Paris. Brief pause to admire impressive tower.
train Paris-Rouen
ride Rouen-Dieppe
OK, nine days not eight, but hey, poetic licence.
* The col de l'Echelle is a lovely almost-traffic-free ride, and the easiest way across the Alps from France to Italy – you can 'cheat' by getting a train up to about 1300m on both sides. I've ridden it several times, and each time I've admired the pretty wooded glade at the top, and thought, what a lovely spot for wild camping. I finally managed that last Wednesday, started the climb late afternoon, with just time to get my tent up before sunset. Utterly silent, scent of pine trees, last of the risotto and last of the Chianti for supper, not a soul within miles, one of those super-clear nights when the whole sky is softly glowing with stars … that's a night that stays with you. Chilly though!
- 5 Oct 2022, 11:17am
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Hi I would be interested in your route. The cycle+ slow train option + overnight stays does seem to be the way forward but you also want the bits you choose to cycle to be nice.nirakaro wrote: ↑14 Apr 2022, 5:51pm If you're not in a rush, I've found that a short-to-normal day's cycling each day, plus hopping on a local train whenever possible, works nicely - for example I got from the heel of Italy to the Channel, including a couple of Alpine passes, in a non-strenuous eight day ride.
- 3 Oct 2022, 5:33pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Thanks. I'll know for next time at least.PH wrote: ↑3 Oct 2022, 5:30pmThat's pretty much it.
Despite what some would have us believe, there are no punitive taxes, if you were not liable for the tax you are entitled to it back. That's not to say it wouldn't have been easier with the right paperwork to begin with, or that they'll make it easy for you to reclaim it, but it doesn't matter who's error it was, if it wasn't due you can get it back.
- 3 Oct 2022, 5:32pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Hi
It would have cost me 20 Euros + £75 in bus and ferry fares to get to Santander from Santiago, which was more than the Correos postage, so a no-brainer. So the plan was in place before the extra costs piled up. I was a bit too hot and weary by the time I got to the UPS office to change my plans again. And I wanted to get home. Had I had more time and energy the Plymouth travelodge would have been an option, of course. It's all experience gained.
- 3 Oct 2022, 5:20pm
- Forum: Touring & Expedition
- Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
- Replies: 136
- Views: 14727
Re: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Thanks, I had a look at form C285. It is horrible. I will have another look when I am feeling stronger.PH wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 7:55pmYou have three years to reclaim, so maybe have a look at it and if you find yourself with a couple of hours to spare...marmite wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 2:49pm "You should be able to claim that back from HMRC. Keep the UPS invoice, it'll have a unique number on it.
If you have any problem finding the right paperwork, I'll dig mine out."
I need to know how this is done so I don't make the same mistake again. I probably won't pursue it this time.
The form is C285, this link contains all the relevant information. You may need evidence that it was your property in the UK, but you don't need any formal export documentation. The number you need is the Movement Reference Number, it won't get far without it, it ties the payment and refund together. if it's not on your invoice, ask UPS for it, they'll be used to people asking by now!
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-appl ... rpaid-c285
I am still not entirely sure what circumstances allow one to reclaim duty. Is it simply enough that the goods were already your property? I do now begin to understand why Eurostar continues its bike ban. Unless (lightbulb idea) they find a way of letting the bikes on as accompanied luggage and thus also make it easier to cycle to and from the train.