Berlin back to UK - any experiences and route suggestions

[javatime]

I am planning to ride back home to the UK from Berlin in mid September

I did this last year generally via Hamburg, Bremen, Osnabruck, Bruges and Dunkirk/Dover that picked up a few German long distance routes on the way, and used the excellent cycle.travel for mapping.

This year I am thinking of following R1 and its EV equivalent all the way through from east to west but I am very open to alternative suggestions or improvements as I think this will use some routes that I previously rode in Holland/Belgium

I will have my German rail pass Deutschland ticket so could take the bike to an alternative start point. I have also considered taking one of the Baltic ferries to Scandinavian and having a look around there, but the "riding back home" mode always appeals.

Many thanks in advance

[Jdsk]

We've just done this, and have written it up in the relevant threads: London Liverpool Street station, Harwich ferry, trains in Europe, EV2/R1, and Boost assistance.

Please let us know if you can't find those.

Jonathan

[Galactic]

I've looked at the map many a time, wondering on which route I'd like to take from Berlin to the Channel (or vice versa), but never actually got round to planning it in detail, never mind actually cycling it.

On the whole, I generally think that a good route would similar to the one you took last year (Berlin-Elbe-Hamburg-Bremen-Groningen etc). The R1 route is also an obvious choice, and nice enough, but not very exciting. I think the highlight would be Münster.

Given a bit more time and willingness to take in some mid-level hills, I'd be tempted to take a route further south. Something like head southwest from Berlin until you hit the D4 and follow that through Thuringia and Hessen and through the Eifel to Aachen. Skirt the northern reaches of the Ardennes and then northwest to Calais. That route doesn't add much more distance, but does double the height climbed over the whole route and compensates with vastly nicer towns and scenery along the way (in my opinion).

[MrsHJ]

Definitely a tricky decision. I know nothing about this area and would probably follow galactic’s advice. One thing you can test to throw up some alternatives is to sling a start and finish point into cycle.travel and then ask it to find a route and then click the find alternatives button. This produces for Berlin to Hook the choices in the screenshot below to explore.

I think though I tackle my routes in a different way- where do I want to cycle rather than “I’m starting from here” and of course Berlin has great transport to loads of places. Then I’d probably start to move to decisions like “I fancy the Baltic or the alps” and move on from there. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere I’m doing a rough version of Eurovelo 9 this year from the Baltic to the Adriatic as that’s a theme that caught my attention. Looking at the etserbause bikeline book catalogue could also suggest some ideas- and at the cycle. Travel routes page (I like the map although it isn’t exhaustive). https://cycle.travel/browse

[plancashire]

The Deutschland Ticket does not include a bike. You can buy a national bike ticket (Fahrrad Ticket) from Deutsche Bahn (24h I think) or very slightly cheaper ones from local transport companies (valid only in their local area). It can get complicated. Some places have free bike carriage, Hessen for example.

The rules for taking your bike on a local train vary wildly from place to place, as does the available space and where it is located in the train. Avoid the rush hour and you will likely be fine. Ask other people waiting on the platform with bikes.

The Deutschland Ticket is not valid on EC or ICE trains, only local or regional ones such as S, RE, RB, RRX, etc (designations vary). You can select journeys which use only the Deutschland Ticket when you use the app DB Navigator to find your trains (recommended).

[javatime]

The Deutschland Ticket does not include a bike. You can buy a national bike ticket (Fahrrad Ticket) from Deutsche Bahn (24h I think) or very slightly cheaper ones from local transport companies (valid only in their local area). It can get complicated. Some places have free bike carriage, Hessen for example.

The rules for taking your bike on a local train vary wildly from place to place, as does the available space and where it is located in the train. Avoid the rush hour and you will likely be fine. Ask other people waiting on the platform with bikes.

The Deutschland Ticket is not valid on EC or ICE trains, only local or regional ones such as S, RE, RB, RRX, etc (designations vary). You can select journeys which use only the Deutschland Ticket when you use the app DB Navigator to find your trains (recommended).

As above, the Deutschland ticket is a good thing to have and easily pays for itself after a week or so of daily city travel in Berlin ( bus and S/U bahn) without a bike

"The man in seat 61" website had an easy way to buy it one-off without subscription or a German bank account.

Buying the separate bike ticket through the DB Navigator app was initially a bit difficult to find. I don't currently have DB Navigator app installed but remember that the option was "hidden" in another menu, I think in "Regional offers" or similar. Not intuitive as the bike ticket covers the whole country.

[javatime]

Many thanks everyone, especially Galactic, just what I was looking for.

Last year I found that on routes that were specifically designed to link cities, inevitably you spend time traversing the industrial hinterland, retail parks, suburbs (in that order) before reaching the historic centre and cathedral !

Then the order is reversed on the way out. In Germany this was often on good cycle paths but a wet Sunday morning traversing Osnabruck does stay in my mind - all part of the experience.

I use cycle.travel a lot, but never clicked the Alternative button so thank you for that, and I am open to some more hilly terrain.

[Jdsk]

We've just done this, and have written it up in the relevant threads: London Liverpool Street station, Harwich ferry, trains in Europe, EV2/R1, and Boost assistance.
,
Please let us know if you can't find those.

As requested, and in order:

viewtopic.php?p=1954214#p1954214
viewtopic.php?p=1954240#p1954240
viewtopic.php?p=1954210#p1954210
viewtopic.php?p=1954219#p1954219
viewtopic.php?p=1954529#p1954529

Have fun

Jonathan

[plancashire]

...
Buying the separate bike ticket through the DB Navigator app was initially a bit difficult to find. I don't currently have DB Navigator app installed but remember that the option was "hidden" in another menu, I think in "Regional offers" or similar. Not intuitive as the bike ticket covers the whole country.

Well remembered. The bike ticket is here in app DB Navigator (my guess at the English translations):

1. Booking (leftmost item on the bottom menu)
2. Scroll down to Tickets and Offers
3. Swipe to the right to the third panel Regional offers.
4. The (national) local transport bike ticket is the first panel below the filters at the top of the screen. You can also use the second filter to show only bike tickets, including slightly cheaper regional ones.

You could also buy one at a ticket machine found in almost all stations. If you do not want to start using it immediately, be careful that you do not buy a pre-validated one that starts immediately. You validate such tickets by pushing them in a box about 30x15x15cm coloured red at stations (other colours on trams) found at the entrance to platforms (or sometimes inside trams). The box stamps the time and location on the end of the ticket. The German for this action is "entwerten" and the machine is "Entwerter".

[goosegog]

On my travels across Germany I keep passing over the Mittelland canal. This seems to be a series of linked up canals
from the Rhine to the Speyer in Berlin. I have tried researching for cycle routes but have found nothing. It might make an interesting route.

[Jdsk]

D4 Mitteland Route:
https://cycle.travel/route/summary/268755

Jonathan

[plancashire]

Mittelland Route D-route 4

[javatime]

The D4 does look interesting, and I am happy to have some hills. Also a different route into Calais than I rode before.
I can remember the Belgium coast around De Panne being "interesting" in a way that I would probably look for an alternative next time.

Thanks again

[javatime]

Back to "planning" and have decided on the Mitteland Route D4 - Many thanks for the inspiration.

Back to cycle travel and using the "Alternative Route" function for Aachen to Calais I now have the route below

I would welcome any thoughts on this, highlights on the route not to miss or alternatives that wouldn't increase the distance too much

Many thanks again

[MrsHJ]

The Battle of Waterloo site is a little north of where you go through Charleroi and I think someone said Charleroi isn’t particularly nice so I’d probably veer a little north for that part (there’s a mound and an excellent museum to see at the site). You are touching on some of the Ardennes too(or maybe it’s a bit further south towards Luxembourg) but I don’t know the races or area well enough to say which bits you should go through. Then there’s the First World War sites. Again others will know better than me. I’m planning on doing EV5 one day and when going through Lille I will see if I can see the velodrome in Roubaix (not sure if it’s possible).