Spur of the moment mini-tour.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
B

Brandane

Legendary Member
I'm guessing you just head south, across all the dykes. I fancy having a go at this. When would be too late in the year? Is navigation easy? Where did you leave your car in Hull?

I plotted the route on Garmin before I left, and to be honest I would have been struggling to navigate without it. I was even struggling in a few bits WITH it! Garmin route here. I felt as if I could have done the ride in one day, but that wouldn't have allowed any time for stops or navigation errors, and in any case I like to take my time and see the places I go to. You are off the ferry at Rotterdam shortly after 8am, and need to check in for the ferry at Zeebrugge about 5pm. 85 flat miles in under 9 hours then..... Easy enough if you don't want to spend a night on the continent.
As far as how late in the year is concerned, I suppose that depends on how hard you are when it comes to the weather! I was lucky to get a good few days in October (otherwise I wouldn't have gone).

I left my car at the P&O terminal (for the Rotterdam ferry. The Zeebrugge ferry goes from another terminal about half a mile away). £7 per day parking charge. No doubt there are cheaper or even free options nearby but I didn't have a lot of time to get that organised as I only decided to book it on Sunday night.

Edit: You also need to factor in the time it takes to get the ferry crossing between Vlissingen and Breskens (cost about 3 euros). The crossing only takes 20 minutes but I'm not sure how often they sail. I think it might be hourly in the winter? Check here if you're any good at Dutch! Going in the opposite direction i.e. Zeebrugge to Rotterdam would allow more time, as I believe the ferry arrives at Zeebrugge at a similar time in the morning, but the ferry leaving Rotterdam at night is about 90 minutes later than the Zeebrugge departure. P&O ferries.
 
Last edited:

snorri

Legendary Member
. Western Isles? No, weather looks dodgy.
The north west has been blue skies and :sun::sun::sun::sun::sun:scorching:biggrin:.

Still, good to hear you enjoyed your trip:smile:.
 

snorri

Legendary Member

Attachments

  • DSCF5339.JPG
    DSCF5339.JPG
    63.6 KB · Views: 30

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
What a fantastic trip! That ferry fare was an absolute bargain. I spent quite a bit more on the Harwich-Hoek route three weeks ago but it was still worth every penny. I love overnight ferries with a bike. Fun, travel, adventure.
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
It looks like a really nicectrip, especially for this time of the year.

With regards to the parking in Hull. I cannot think of any other Secure parking nearby. Certainly not for free. I certainly wouldnt leave my car outside of the port area.

Steve
 

andrew_s

Legendary Member
Location
Gloucester
If you want free parking, the usual trick is to use Google Maps/Streetview to pick an area where a reasonable proportion of the residents leave their car on the road, but where there isn't any real competition for spaces (i.e. terraced housing). In the case of Hull, somewhere half a mile or a bit more north of Hull KR looks reasonable.
 

400bhp

Guru
Bi
I plotted the route on Garmin before I left, and to be honest I would have been struggling to navigate without it. I was even struggling in a few bits WITH it! Garmin route here. I felt as if I could have done the ride in one day, but that wouldn't have allowed any time for stops or navigation errors, and in any case I like to take my time and see the places I go to. You are off the ferry at Rotterdam shortly after 8am, and need to check in for the ferry at Zeebrugge about 5pm. 85 flat miles in under 9 hours then..... Easy enough if you don't want to spend a night on the continent.
As far as how late in the year is concerned, I suppose that depends on how hard you are when it comes to the weather! I was lucky to get a good few days in October (otherwise I wouldn't have gone).

I left my car at the P&O terminal (for the Rotterdam ferry. The Zeebrugge ferry goes from another terminal about half a mile away). £7 per day parking charge. No doubt there are cheaper or even free options nearby but I didn't have a lot of time to get that organised as I only decided to book it on Sunday night.

Edit: You also need to factor in the time it takes to get the ferry crossing between Vlissingen and Breskens (cost about 3 euros). The crossing only takes 20 minutes but I'm not sure how often they sail. I think it might be hourly in the winter? Check here if you're any good at Dutch! Going in the opposite direction i.e. Zeebrugge to Rotterdam would allow more time, as I believe the ferry arrives at Zeebrugge at a similar time in the morning, but the ferry leaving Rotterdam at night is about 90 minutes later than the Zeebrugge departure. P&O ferries.

Just looking at cycling options and this one might work for us.

Is the route doable on 23mm tyres?

I'm struggling to book 2 people with 2 bikes on the ferry though.
 
OP
OP
B

Brandane

Legendary Member
Bi


Just looking at cycling options and this one might work for us.

Is the route doable on 23mm tyres?

I'm struggling to book 2 people with 2 bikes on the ferry though.

From memory, there was one stretch of about a mile which was on cobblestones, which were a bit of a PITA even on 28mm tyres. Other than that, the whole route is on minor roads or cycle paths, all of which were properly surfaced and sealed. No tree roots and broken glass a la UK..

I assume the problem you are having with the booking is down to the people rather than the bikes? Given that they have rather large car decks. Or do they restrict numbers of cycles allowed on board? Enjoy the trip if you do it. I can thoroughly recommend it :thumbsup:.
 

400bhp

Guru
From memory, there was one stretch of about a mile which was on cobblestones, which were a bit of a PITA even on 28mm tyres. Other than that, the whole route is on minor roads or cycle paths, all of which were properly surfaced and sealed. No tree roots and broken glass a la UK..

I assume the problem you are having with the booking is down to the people rather than the bikes? Given that they have rather large car decks. Or do they restrict numbers of cycles allowed on board? Enjoy the trip if you do it. I can thoroughly recommend it :thumbsup:.

Thanks.

I go on the P&O website and it only allows me to make a single person booking when I select bicycle. The cost on their site for 1 person is 300 odd euros.

Yet, if I go on the Aferry site I can book 2 people and (appear to be able to) book bicycles and the cost is £156 for the same trip.:wacko:
 
OP
OP
B

Brandane

Legendary Member
Thanks.

I go on the P&O website and it only allows me to make a single person booking when I select bicycle. The cost on their site for 1 person is 300 odd euros.

Yet, if I go on the Aferry site I can book 2 people and (appear to be able to) book bicycles and the cost is £156 for the same trip.:wacko:
Yeh, I don't know what goes on with the P&O website at times. The prices are stupidly high most of the time, but occasionally they seem to have offers on short trips at stupidly LOW prices! Must try that AFerry site.
 
Top Bottom