London to Stuttgart by bike (via Eindhoven)

[Kosong]

Hi all

Am trying to do some planning for a possible bike ride this summer, from East London to Eindhoven, then on to Stuttgart. Well, actually 60kms east of Stuttgart but no one will have heard of it! I'm going to a gig in Eindhoven hence the 'via Eindhoven' part. I'd be able to leave London on Sunday 15th July and need to be in Eindhoven by the evening of Fri 20th. I'm then in Eindhoven that weekend and could leave at some point on the Sunday (late afternoon or so), and have 8 days or so to get to my partners house near Stuttgart.

I'd likely get a train from London to Dover because cycling in the UK does not appeal to me considering I live here...that way I'd have more time on the continent. The route to Eindhoven is easy to plan because 5 days is a long time to play with...however I'm struggling with finding a decent route to Aalen from Eindhoven. I'm leaning towards rejoining the EV15 along the rhein as i've wanted to do it for some time, and following that as long as I can.

What are the facilities like along this route? Is there oppurtunity for wild camping? I'll have everything i need for camping etc as I would like to keep budget to a minimum here if possible, if not the cheapest campsites will do (if youve done this route it would be great to know how much you spent on campsites etc)

If youve got any 'dont miss' places in these vague areas, recommendations, blogs etc to read up then fire away! am hoping i can find a way to make it work this summer

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Hi Kosong,

You're on the right track following the Rhine, I think. From Eindhoven head for Bonn and follow the Rhine as far south as maybe Karlsruhe. Too far south and you'll be crossing mountains to get to Stuttgart.

There's no shortage of campsites along the Rhine. Technically wild camping is illegal in Germany and the Rhine route is quite busy, so you'd need to find places well out of the way. Camping rates vary, but most offer a bike & tent rate. I can't recall exactly, but I was paying from 7-12 euros per night. In some places I was camping literally feet from the river :-)

If you're doing this in the summer, just remember that parts of the route will be very busy, especially on weekends with good weather. Don't be anticipating high speeds on those days!

Bonn to Mainz contains some of the most picturesque parts of the whole route in my opinion.

Good luck!

Frank

 

[Tigerbiten]

If your starting from East London, I'd be inclined to aim for Harwich -> Hook and do a loop to Eindhoven from there.

As for the Rhine.
I've gone up it on a camping tour a couple of times now.
I found it was fairly easy to find campsite roughly 50 miles apart the whole way, bar just above Mainz where there was a bigger gap.

 

[Kosong]

@Frank - thanks Yea i was thinking of cutting off at Karlsruhe - i have some friends who live there (and usually fly into there as its one of the cheapest ways to get to my partners house when stuttgart flights are expensive) - i can always get the train the rest of the way with the baden-wuttermberg ticket, but i'll likely have time to cycle most of the way especially if i avoid the hills Good to know the camping prices - I'm from the UK where camping can be prohibitivley expensive but if its 7-12€ a night then that's more than affordable Wild camping is also illegal in the UK too but i dont know if i'll bother if it means going really off route and especially if sites are that cheap!

@tigerbitten - thanks for the tips! Harwich isn't an option due to the ludicrous prices for the crossing and a bed - it would be nearly £100 plus the train to get there...from mine in London I can get to dover pretty cheap and cross the channel for £25 on the ferry to dunkirque and prob be nicely into Belgium by the time the other ferry will dock in Holland. Not planning on doing anything in France except cycle immediately out and towards Bruges. i have a friend who lives close to Dover so i can stay there for the night and get a super early ferry out and try and make it to Bruges in a (long) day of cycling, wind permitting. then its a slower pace from there!

the rhine route sounds lovely, i visited a lot of those places when i was younger but it will be nice to revisit as an adult...am in planning stages now and trying to work out how much money i need to make this happen...its either this or taking my van out to europe for 3 weeks which would also be fun but i'm quite up for a bike ride i think!