Hook of Holland to Hamburg

[SimonH]

Hello
I've just started to plan cycling from Hook of Holland to Hamburg.
Would be cycling with wife and 4 year old in trailer.
We would mix camping with staying with some friends and A few night in hotels.
Be getting a ferry from UK. We live in Manchester.
Any tips advice much appreciated
Thanks
Simon

[Cyril Haearn]

Search "bahntrassenradeln" for cycleways on old railways

[Armorel]

Pedal Nation do it as as organised tour - see https://www.pedal-nation.co.uk/cycle-th ... to-hamburg You might find it interesting to look at their route and compare it with your plans.

[m-gineering]

Hello
I've just started to plan cycling from Hook of Holland to Hamburg.
Would be cycling with wife and 4 year old in trailer.
We would mix camping with staying with some friends and A few night in hotels.
Be getting a ferry from UK. We live in Manchester.
Any tips advice much appreciated
Thanks
Simon

Amersfoort (give Flevoland a miss) Zwolle - Emmen (or a bit higher up)- Oldenburg should avoid most of the the hilly bits

[Cyril Haearn]

There are several threads about cycling in Nederland here
The railway museum in Utrecht and the cycle museum in Nijmegen are great if you like that sort of thing

[yutkoxpo]

Hi Simon,
Not a lot of info to work off. For example if you're planning on staying with friends, then you obviously have places that you want to visit.

The first thing that hits me is a 4 year old in a trailer. Is that one of those bike trailers, where the young one is "cycling" along or are they just sitting in a buggy type trailer? I'd imagine the type of trailer will influence how long the youngster is willing to sit in / on it?

I'm assuming too, that the young one will influence most of the decisions in terms of distance, ability to deal with adverse weather and accommodation choices.

In other words, this is very far from my own personal experience of touring!

I'd be looking at a coastal route pretty much all the way on the basis that it will be flatter, easier to navigate and with better tourist facilities along the whole way. Not the most direct route, but perhaps easier and less stressful. EV 12 would be your basis for that route. Of course, you need to take the wind direction into account!

A lot of Dutch & German trains will allow you to bring bikes on board without too much issue, but a buggy type trailer will make that more difficult. If you want to use trains to play catchup with a schedule or to skip parts, then that is something you should check out in advance.

Best of luck!

[Thehairs1970]

Stena Lines to the Hook is a great route. We have done it a couple of times. Use Justpark.com to find somewhere to leave your car in Harwich. It's much cheaper than you'd expect.

This is a good site for planning your Dutch part of the trip. http://www.hollandcyclingroutes.com/onl ... te-planner

Martyn

[m-gineering]

I'd be looking at a coastal route pretty much all the way on the basis that it will be flatter, easier to navigate and with better tourist facilities along the whole way. Not the most direct route, but perhaps easier and less stressful.

Open country, a lot of wind, no facilities to speak of along the northern Dutch coast. But it is hard to get lost on the Afsluitdijk Straight through the country is flat too, but that's where you find the tourist facilties, trees, playgrounds and other stuff to keep the kid occupied

And the Fietsersbond (cyclist union) routeplanner has a lot more interesting options than the dumbed down derrivative of the tourist organisations

[willem jongman]

+1

[SimonH]

Thanks for all your help and advice.
Lots to think about.