Search found 23 matches

by marmite
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

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
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.
by marmite
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

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.
Thanks, I found that thread first. But I am trying to scoop up data wherever I can.
by marmite
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
by marmite
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.
by marmite
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
by marmite
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
by marmite
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
by marmite
4 Nov 2022, 8:06pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Travelling to southern Europe without flying
Replies: 136
Views: 14727

Re: UK -Spain Ferry

MrsHJ wrote: 3 Nov 2022, 5:56am That’s a pain. The Plymouth sailing does take bikes but doesn’t restart until late March which I presume is too late. Foot passenger and sizeable box/bag?
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?
by marmite
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.
by marmite
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

st599_uk wrote: 10 Oct 2022, 10:35am
PH wrote: 5 Oct 2022, 8:38pm
mjr wrote: 5 Oct 2022, 7:57pm
There are many new punitive taxes but they do not apply to this case. Whoever said they would?
Here's one example of several
st599_uk wrote: 21 Sep 2022, 4:27pm You can claim returned goods relief if you exported using an official Duplicate List - but you'd have needed to stamp that on the way out of the UK.
You don't become liable for import duty because you didn't get the right stamp - that would be punitive, a punishment for something rather than the duty due for importing.
The 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)
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.
by marmite
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

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!
This is lovely, thanks a lot.
by marmite
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

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.
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.
by marmite
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

PH wrote: 3 Oct 2022, 5:30pm
marmite wrote: 3 Oct 2022, 5:20pm I am still not entirely sure what circumstances allow one to reclaim duty. Is it simply enough that the goods were already your property?
That'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.
Thanks. I'll know for next time at least.
by marmite
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

simonhill wrote: 21 Sep 2022, 4:40pm Marmite - £200 to save being stranded in Plymouth ??

Why not book a hotel in Plymouth. I did this for Portsmouth and it cost £44 for a Travelodge in the centre of town. I booked online, from Caen.

Took the train in the morning.
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.
by marmite
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

PH wrote: 21 Sep 2022, 7:55pm
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.
You have three years to reclaim, so maybe have a look at it and if you find yourself with a couple of hours to spare...
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
Thanks, I had a look at form C285. It is horrible. I will have another look when I am feeling stronger.

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.