Bikes on Ferries

[Amanda P]

I was on that very ferry this time last month.

I have nothing much to add about where your bike goes on the ferry, but I would point out that the ferry docks nowhere particularly near Rotterdam, and not Hook of Holland either. It actually lands at Europoort, on the south side of the waterway. It's quite a long way round (and another (free for bikes) ferry ride) to get to Rotterdam or Hook of Holland.

You probably knew this. We didn't and found out the hard way!

 

[slowmotion]

thanks slowmotion - I guess I'm just one of life's worriers!

Worrying? No, no. I like to think of it as planning.

Sounds much better, doesn't it?

Have fun.

 

[Domestique]

We have used the overnight boat from Harwich to the Hoek three times now. Never had a problem with anything going missing etc. Even had some good advice from the crew in how to tie a good knot with thr rope provided
Pack one bag with yoour over night and valuable stuff and take it with you.
Coming off the ferry at the Hoek, can only describe it as another planet for cycling for all the right reasons. Hope you have a good trip

 

[Will1962]

I use the Hull-Europoort ferry a couple of times a year. The door that the cars and bikes use is on level 7 (which is several levels higher than ground level). There is quite a steep ramp at each end.

I think there are several places where you can leave your bike, but I have always managed to get a place right next to the door. I take my bar-bag and front panniers with me, but leave everything else on the bike. I secure my bike with the rope provided, but don't bother locking it.

Being next to the door means that I can be the first off the ferry. If you are ready to go, then the deckhands will let you go first. If you are not ready, then they will start to unload the cars, and you could have to wait for some time. The main advantage to getting off first is not having to queue up for passport control. At the Europoort end, the cycle path starts about 250m after passport control.

I usually drive down to Hull and leave my car at the multi-storey car park at the terminal. It used to be free, but now they charge £5 a day. If you are leaving your car there, try and avoid coming back on a week day - You arrive in the middle of rush hour traffic, and it can take you about a hour to get out of Hull.

Will

 

[jamesxyz]

Great advice

I assume using trains with bikes in Holland & Belgium is a lot easier than here - anybody had experience of that?

 

[Will1962]

I've used trains in Holland a couple of times. There is a few things to note about dutch trains and bikes:

1. You have to buy a day ticket for your bike which costs about 6 euros.
2. You are supposed to remove your luggage from your bike (sometimes you can get away with leaving it on).
3. There are designated places on some of the carriages for bikes.
4. You often have to change trains if travelling some distance. The connecting trains are often only a few minutes later from a different platform, leaving you very little time to load up your bike and catch your connection. Fortunately, the trains are pretty frequent, so you normally don't have to wait too long to get the next one.
5. Larger stations have lifts up to the platform, though they are sometimes not easy to find (such as at Rotterdam Centraal).
6. On smaller stations, there may be a place at the end of the platform where you can cross over the tracks (rather than humping your fully loaded bike down and up the stairs).

The dutch railway website is http://www.ns.nl/

Will

 

[slowmotion]

A couple more things about bikes on Dutch trains.

1)You can't take bikes on trains during weekday rush hours

2)The carriages with spaces for bikes have a bike symbol above the door (strange)

 

[Auntie Helen]

Dutch rush hour is weekdays until 9:00am and then from 4:30pm till... erm... six I think (though not sure about that). You can't have your bike on the train between those times. This means if you do the overnight Harwich to Hoek van Holland you have an hour to kill kicking around Hoek as they chuck you off the ferry by 8am.

Train travel generally easy on Dutch trains, railway employees all speak English. Sometimes it's a bit of a squeeze to fit all the bikes in the designated carriages, however. If you want to read more detail of the ferry and the train with my bike I have blogs for my two tours and the first day's entry should give you an idea. Links are:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=d5c4npx_7gj4x7xds

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AQQg1xq4WQf7ZDVjNG5weF83NmM3bTR4aGR0&hl=en_GB

 

[snorri]

Cycle parking at the bigger Dutch rail stations has to be seen to be believed.

 

[mike1026]

Talking of lifts watch out for those at Amsterdam Centraal they are not big enough to take a bike I managed by wheeling the front wheel up the wall and standing the bike on its back wheel not easy with four panniers. The people at the multi storey bike park next to the station are great for route info as there are no signs that I could find outside the station. Don't bother with the VVV tourist information there you have wait for ages and they know nothing about bike routes.

 

[Crankarm]

Talking of lifts watch out for those at Amsterdam Centraal they are not big enough to take a bike I managed by wheeling the front wheel up the wall and standing the bike on its back wheel not easy with four panniers. The people at the multi storey bike park next to the station are great for route info as there are no signs that I could find outside the station. Don't bother with the VVV tourist information there you have wait for ages and they know nothing about bike routes.

Who would have thunk it of the Amsterdam Tourist Office.


Unless ......... bike routes are just taken for granted as there are soooo many going absolutely anywhere you want to go...... like roads .

 

[smavter]

You can get anywhere from central station Amsterdam by bike, you just have to know what direction (south, west, east) you want to go and since central station is south facing its pretty easy.

just remember you english folks that its right side of the road! Also the center can be hectic, considering so many people cycle here, so take it easy and obey traffic rules. There are lots of unwritten cycling rules here because of that but you won't get in trouble if you ride predictably and sign what you're about to do.

anyways have fun!

 

[psmiffy]

I found cycling in large Dutch towns and cities a bit of a culture shock after spending large amounts of time on relatively empty rural cycle paths - stopping because you dont know where you are going is not a good idea -the cyclist(s) behind you does!

 

[canadiense]

I often take a ferry in British Columbia, in fact I just got off one a few hours ago. These crossings are usually less than two hours and the crew are always very accommodating. I always lock my bike to a railing at the front of the boat but really that is just to secure it from movement. I leave all bags on the bike except the handlebar bag. I have never had a problem in twenty years of taking ferries here.

 

[Beardie]

The ferry staff use hessian straps to tie the bikes to the railings but their rope work and knot work leaves a lot to be desired.

You'd expect knotting skills from a bunch of sailors, wouldn't you? I know they don't use actual sails anymore, but how do they tie the ship to the quay if they can't tie knots?