Introduction

This blog is about a trip taken by David Gladman & Ricky Hearn in September 2014. The purpose of the blog is to act as a record to some extent but also to be a resource and encouragement to others who may be considering riding this route. The route we took forms part of the 6,000 kilometre North Sea Cycle Route and is probably the flatest part of the route.

Despite being talked about for a while, the trip came together fairly quickly and with the minimum of planning. Basically, we booked an outbound ferry, checked trains routes and went. We did have a look at what we could find on the internet and some useful resources came up - hence we wish to add to them with our experience.

The overall shape of the trip was ferry from Hull to Europort/Rotterdam; cycle from Europort to Rotterdam (about 22 miles and well signed) and then train from Rotterdam to Dan Helder. There was one train change. The train journey was simple and carrying bikes in Holland simply isn't a problem. At Den Helder we then cycled south east to meet the NSCR as it went towards Den Oever. We then cycled to Hamburg although we did take ferries where possible as we were falling behind our schedule.

Hamburg we found extremely busy and very expensive. We had planned to stay a day or two in Hamburg to have a look around but decided against simply on a cost basis. Our one night stay cost €230 for one room. The return journey was train from Hamburg to Rotterdam with two changes as Osnabruch and Amersfoort. The cost of this 500k journey was about €70 - a fraction of the cost of a similar journey in the UK. This included a bike ticket. It is advisable to book your bike in advance in Germany as some trains have limited space. There is no need to book in Holland although bikes may not be carried at peak times.

From Rotterdam we reversed the route to cycle back to Europort and the Hull ferry.