Gütersloh - Waterloo - Wilshire: Advice please!

[scarlowe]

Good evening all,

I am new to this site and very much new to the cycling world A total novice!

This Autumn I am planning a trip from Gütersloh, Germany to Wiltshire, UK. We are planning to go via Waterloo in Belgium. Myself and colleagues will be participating and hoping to complete the trip in around a week in aid of two charities we support.

I am appealing to anyone who has any experience cycling in Germany, Belgium or France and can offer any advice. In particular route planning but also accommodation etc.

Many thanks in advance!

Scarlowe

 

[Brains]

The best books for the German section are the ones produced by BikeLine
http://www.esterbauer.co.uk/international.html

From Gutersloh you need to cut across to the Lippe river which has a bike lane all the way along
This will lead you to the main Rhine cycle route which will take you to Hook of Holland (Rotterdam)
Where you catch the overnight ferry to Harwich (with loads of other cyclists)

If you want to put in a side trip to Waterloo, this could be done by cycling off the Rhine route at Dordrecht, down to Antwerp onto Waterloo, and then back via Ghent and Bruges and then either to Hook of Holland (better) or Calais (nasty headwind), you 'may' be able to get on the freight ferries that run from Zeebrugge to Dartford

In the UK, decide on your arrival port Harwich or Dover (or Dartford), and we can plot you a route from there.

 

[snorri]

Gutersloh to Waterloo is the easy bit, I would suggest just following as near as practicable a straight line to Waterloo. Then you have to do some research regarding frequency of sailings, times, costs and convenience regarding which ferry port to head for on the mainland Euro side. There are countless options, for getting to a port, Calais, Dunkirk, or Hook of Holland. There may be other ferry routes, but these may not take bicycles. Germany is very cycle friendly, Belgium is ok, and north east France a bit less so but you will not be there for long .

 

[slowmotion]

The ferry from Hoek van Holland to Harwich is really good, but the roads out of Harwich are not at all friendly for cyclists. Lot's of big lorries and quite narrow roads.

I hope you have a great trip.