Hi Folks,
I'm planing a cycling trip from Amsterdam to Copenhagen in early July. Having never cycled in this part of Europe,
I have yet to chose a route between the two cities. I'm looking for a route that is scenic but not too arduous and lengthly. I've set aside a week to complete the trip between the two cities.
Any suggestions/tips/advice are most welcome. I leave for Amsterdam on the 28th of June.
Please email me @ [email protected].
Thanks.
Cheers,
Joseph
Tips for cycle trip Amsterdam to Copenhagen
Wed, 2012-06-20 08:32
#1
Unregistered
Tips for cycle trip Amsterdam to Copenhagen
There is the North Sea Route, Eurovelo 1. You can use it for most of that trip.Have a look here:
http://eurovelo.com/
and on Wikipedia
Hi Joseph,
I intend to do the same, starting from Breda. I follow a long-distance route in Holland, called the NAP-route and later the north sea cycle route and a local route in denmark. From Amsterdam, the LF1 North sea route is better indeed, and it's a very nice one. You can also use:
fietsrouteplanner europa
http://www.fietsvakantie.eu/
it's in dutch, but if you experiment, you'll find your way. You can also indicate if you want to follow an existing (mapped) route or not, if not, the planner chooses the shortest way for you, looking for quiet roads.
for holland the following is even more detailled:
http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner/
and you'll find lots of links if you google cycle routes with the name of the country. Denmark has a lot of local routes too.
I don't know your daily distances, but a week may be a bit tight. But you can take a train easily if you want to.
Good luck!
Ludwig
Hello,
I'm leaving the 30th of June for a cycling trip along the North Sea Route, from Conflans Sainte Honorine (my hometown in France, near Paris) to Oslo. I am planning to arrive in Oslo between the 23th and the 28th of July, depending on my shape, the weather, etc.
My route : Paris / Dunkerque / Coast of Belgium - Netherlands - Germany / Coast of Denmark / Copenhague / Helsingor / Helsinborg / Goteborg / Oslo.
My route is visible on this link :
http://www.gpsies.com/trackList.do?username=Igol
Maybe we shall meet we on the road, or can be exchanged our impressions !
Cheers,
Hugues
hugues arobase [email protected]
Me and my wife are planning to go from Amsterdam to Copenhague in August 2014. We also would like to visit Berlin but maybe do so on train after arriving to Copenhague. We are looking for an scenic route that would have places to rest (ideally couchsurf or WarmShowers host) and certainly not too rough.
We are also glad to hear from your suggestions.
Salud,
YzT
A nice planner with bikeroutes, primitive camping etc. in Denmark. Pasted from another post I made about it with translations, as its only in Danish atm:
"For visitors to Denmark theres an interactive map where you can see lots of stuff such as free shelters and much more... unfortunately theres not an english or german version yet, so heres a fast translation of the main points in the green drop down menu. In the submenu theres icons that should help a bit.
Nature routes (car, bike, hiking etc.)
Facilities (water, toilets etc.)
Places to spend the night (Campsites for booking (usually free), primitive campsites such as shelters, free areas (state forests and parks I guess) to put up a tent.)
Things to see (nature, history, national parks)
Bathing and fishing (think u need a license to fish tho)
Sailing (harbours, kayak routes, canoe stuff)
Winterstuff
Calendar of events.... you can input desired daterange.
As for the primitive campsites there might be a nominal fee... but some (think 720) are free shelters.
http://www.udinaturen.dk/ "
Theres also one called Cyclistic: http://cyclistic.dk/da/
And finally if you want to go to Berlin I can heartily recommend the Copenhagen-Berlin bikeroute. Done it twice and will follow it again this year. Took 3 1/2 days from Gedser, but we were on fast tourer carbon recumbents. :)
http://www.bike-berlin-copenhagen.com/index.php?id=home&L=6
Sadly I won't be home and able to offer you a place to crash as I'll be touring the next two years if all goes to plan.
Best wishes for a good trip.
Mikael
In the Netherlands it is easy to plan your route. You do not even need a map! Check this out: http://www.planjeroute.nl/.
Make a detailed plan by writing down the order of the numbers you want to go to or just make a rough plan since there are a lot of maps along the road at crossings. There you can verify where you are and decide on the next few numbers you want to go to... All you need to do is follow the number signs and those will bring you to nice places using quite tracks.
Personally I would not follow the LF-routes. From Amsterdam I would go south-east. Stay just north of Amersfoort and then go north-east through one of the best parts of the Netherlands. Cross the river at Zwolle. Head north direction Steenwijk through the lake district. Go north-east staying west of Assen. Then either go to Groningen city or east to the German border.
Alternatively you follow a slightly southern route. From Amsterdam you still go south-east, but now you stay south of Amersfoort. Go east staying just north of Arnhem (another really nice area). Then you continue your way north-east towards the German border. Many many tracks to choose...
Enjoy!
Regards, Martin
Just out of curiosity, why is that part so nice? I'm looking for routes in NL.
Cheers
Hi Rich,
Well, it is always hard to say why one route is better than another one... It is all about personal preferences. If you've never been in the Netherlands before you will certainly enjoy most parts.
Some people do the IJsselmeer Grand Tour: http://www.dutchbiketours.com/ijsselmeer-grand-tour-10-days, either organized or not. If you like to see cities, cities like Amsterdam, Utrecht or Groningen are certainly nice to go to, but also smaller cities like Middelburg, Delft or Gouda and many more are worth visiting. A lot of them are in the western part of the Netherlands. If you like beaches, definitely go to 'Zeeland' in the far south-west, Scheveningen (The Hague) and/or stay close the shore heading north for some other nice beaches. If you like hills you need to go to the far south-east to 'Limburg'.
Personally I like forests and moors and I want to avoid cities. Then 'de Veluwe' and 'Drenthe' are definitely the best part of the Netherlands to visit and 'Twente' and 'Noord-Brabant' are also nice and friendly areas (both nature and the people)!
Good luck!
Regards, Martin
Hi Martin.
Oh I know the Netherlands. The reason I ask is because I've been personally organizing that very tour without even knowing there...were organized tours. Schipol is an excellent entry point into Europe for a couple of reasons for us oversees folk:
1. It's a bike-friendly airport with proper access close to a major city. Bike paths out of the airport. Couldn't ask for more. I spend a lot of time looking for routes out of major airports on a bicycle, either to downtown, or to the other side to access the country.
2. Relatively inexpensive, bike-friendly hotel just outside the airport to launch a big tour. 52.325472, 4.792060
But, strangely enough, Amsterdam has very few bike stores! I had to find a pedal wrench (14 mm) whilst near the Zentrum and it was near close to impossible. For so many bikes, you would think there would be bike stores. Heh.
I prefer to avoid cities. I like the countryside and quaintness of the country rides. Learned this in 2012 on my E12 trip.
Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery
Willemstad (I actually went to summer camp with the King William and his cousin)
Ottoland (brilliant place, top notch)
Gouda (it's not all about the cheese!)
Mijdrecht
Amsterdam
Schipol (hotel)
I'm looking for another route. That one listed above is a choice. But I might go in the spring and chase up the tulip season on the west coast. I might start in Paris some time in April and head to:
Roubaix (undecided which area)
Brussels
Bruges
Middleburg & peninsulas/islands through to The Hague
West Coast (Tulip area) to Haarlem
Schipol (avoid Amsterdam)
The beach scene in Belgium is a bit boring outside of Dunkirk. I don't mind being in-land. I would want to avoid prevailing headwinds and also have something interesting to see instead of a horizon of water on one side. Makes half a trip that way!
I like the manicured agriculture and water-systems in the NL. The quaint little places like Ottoland are just fascinating. Off-track bike paths that don't run beside highways are just fantastic. I'm from Canada so we have plenty of trees and rough wilderness. I can get plenty of that stuff here. In fact it's one of the reasons I probably won't be doing a tour here, as I've seen these silly trees all my life. Seen one, seen 'em all. Cities like my Dordrecht passing was a bit confusing. The Amstel River was fun while it lasted. Coming into Amsterdam was confusing as I was coming from SE and trying to hit the Vondelpark. Apeldoorn has some attraction as I am Canadian. Would be nice to hit the town there for a couple nights during the Canadian party. I'm not sure when that is. NE and East NL I know absolutely nothing about. Stayed in Eindhoven before, but can't remember much of it.
On the upstream side:
Dunkirk
Nieuwport
Kortrijk (excellent bike town)
Ghent (beer)
Antwerp
Kortrijk to Ghent was a nice ride, but I should have researched the trip a bit more and taken some a much more interesting route by heading slightly North to the canal.
Ghent to Antwerp at 3am was quite interesting and not the stressful trip I would have expected. However I think there could have been a better route. Lots of strippers leaving their places of work at 5 am. Heh.
Planning better routes with sufficient bike infrastructure, interesting views (waterways, scenery, interesting towns), and lunchtime opportunities with patios, are definitely things I would like to take into consideration when planning such a trip. The OpenFietsMap overlay in Basecamp certainly helps, but it would be nice to get all bicycle-optimized routes in there with bars/restaurants/B&Bs/cheap hotels in plain view.
Great report. Perhaps there should be some kind of report on countries here from the people from those countries. I could explain Canada in a long single web page. Looking at a new country, there is no way of translating population densities into potential cycling experience.
Cheers
Sometimes it is indeed hard to find the information you're looking for to plan your trip. A central place to assemble information is a good suggestion but the question is whether the WS forums are meant for this... If people would share useful information after finishing their trip -as I did after cycling the Canary Islands- will help people to find what they need...
Paris - Bruges (Brugge) - Middelburg & peninsulas/islands sounds like a good plan.
You might like going east then to Kinderdijk: https://www.kinderdijk.com/
Then north crossing het 'Groene hart': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groene_Hart
Visiting the 'Keukenhof' in Lisse is also definitely worth it: http://www.keukenhof.nl/en/
Regards, Martin
Just out of curiosity, how do you manage a bike with 6 bags when you're on a tour? It's difficult to lock up and keep safe, especially in a touristy area like this (Kinderdijk). That place sounds quite interesting. East of Rotterdam though. The ports are definitely interesting as well. I'd take a tour of the container operations if there was one.
So is there any attraction of west of E19? The Green Heart sounds interesting, more along the lines of what I'm looking for. Keukenhof is on the list. I was told that NW of Amsterdam is also great for springtime flowers.
I agree that there isn't any infrastructure here in Warmshowers for country or regional definitions, nor is it the place.
Any advice on camping solutions? I'm finding many of the online reports to show that camping can be quite expensive, over €20 per spot for a single tent...if I'm not mistaken.
Cheers
West of E19?
First of all before Middelburg enjoy the 'Boulevard' of Vlissingen (Flushing). You will enter here if you take the ferry and have a look at the beaches.
http://www.vvvzeeland.nl/nl/vakantie/veerdiensten/118959/fast-ferry-vlissingen-breskens-%28veolia-fast-ferries-fietsvoetveer%29/walcheren/breskens-vlissingen
I guess next 'Neeltje Jans' (the Dutchmen fighting the water; there was a big flood in 1953 that changed everything) is also a must on your list?
You might like Delft, Scheveningen, Leiden. Further north staying close to the shore (Katwijk, Noordwijk) might be the best.
But east of the E19 the area between Utrecht and Amsterdam is also really nice.
'Noord-Holland' has definitely a lot of flowers in the fields. North of Amsterdam, if you've never been there Volendam, Edam and Marken are maybe must see's too...
Camping is indeed relatively expensive here yes, not really biker friendly like the hiker-biker spots in the US where you pay only $5 or $6... Maybe camping at farms is an option: http://kamperenbijdeboer.nl/campings-binnenland/. Or just ask someone, like farmers, near the end of the afternoon whether you can put your tent up somewhere.
Leaving your stuff is always challenging. I bet that at places like 'Neeltje Jans' or 'Keukenhof' if you ask reception or security they will always help you to put your bike with your stuff somewhere safe and/or they will keep an eye upon it.
Alternative for both a good place to stay and a save place to leave your stuff is of course Warmshowers! Leave your stuff at your host and go out on your bike to visit one or more attractions and at the end of the day return to your host.
Regards, Martin
The Boulevard looks kinda touristy, but passable. Typical seaside stuff.
Neeltje Jans definitely on the list. I was thinking of some stealth camping here?
I am thinking you are preferring East of E19, inside the Green Land. I think that might be a better route, west of Gouda (since I been there already).
Marken looks nice. Stuff like that we don't have here.
Hey great recommendations. Thanks for the notes!
Cheers
That's true. Just skip the Boulevard. Remember some people have never seen the sea or the beach... :-)
I won't go stealth camping; they will definitely fine you.
Good luck.
OK good to know on the stealth camping.