what country?

[Nigeyy]

What about flying into Boston and doing a New England ride? You might get a good air fare to Boston and there are some pretty nice scenic routes in New England (Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, etc).

If you are interested, pm me with details of how far you want to go, what kinds of things you might like to see, etc.

 

[rich p]

I agree with FM here! Fly to Stockholm, 550 km to Oslo, about the same to Kristiansand (southern Norway), ferry to Denmark, cycle down to Esbjerg for ferry to Harwich!

The roads are quiet and are excellent for cycling; magnificent scenery (like Scotland, Canada, Tuscany, SW France rolled into one). Can be expensive, but can also be cheap!

you can always doss with Dayvo too!

 

[ASC1951]

We have tryed in France but it was tough, language, bad attitudes etc...
We love France (cycled there on three occasions) but some of the people there have got real issues with speaking English.

Give Wales a miss, then - or at least don't listen at the window after you've just walked back out of the pub!

I've cycled in counties where my language skills vary from fluent to none. The secret is to have at least a few phrases and use those to start any dialogue; it's only polite, anyway. In Turkey those were things like "good morning, excuse me, how are you" because I wasn't going to understand an answer in Turkish, although it is surprising how much you can converse by mime if you are inventive.

Most Fench people speak serviceable English and in my experience if you start in French they will reply in French if you seem fluent but happily switch to English if you don't. The French see their culture as under pressure in an ever more Anglo Saxon world, far more so than the Germans or Italians who don't fret about it. They have a point.

 

[ASC1951]

If you like islands, Bonj, and I do:-
- circuit of Corsica (if too short, add..)
- circuit of Sardinia
- the islands off the Dalamatian coast, then back up inland (although not up the coast road, which is very busy)
- the Canaries south to north.
- Hebrides south to north, although again you would have to add to it, for instance by trundling round Skye and a chunk of the mainland west coast.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

We love France (cycled there on three occasions) but some of the people there have got real issues with speaking English

Ha..the french are pretty arrogant really (same as us I suppose). I only met one frenchy who was willing to speak in english and he wanted me to fix his de ralieur..which isnt my strong point!

I however quickly learnt a lot of common french phrases like:

"Non"
"Non mon sewer"
"C'est ferme"
"Pas de camping ici mon sewer"
Oui c'set le camping ici mon sewer...mais c'est ferme aujourdoui"
"dit moi.....Non"
"Non c'est ne pas possible"

..pretty neggie lot the frogs.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I am not so sure that 100km a day and scenery necessarily go hand in hand. In my limited experience scenery means hills, and hills mean slowing down. I preferred france to germany for scenery but they both have strong points...germany is much more civilized and if I ever had a problem on the bike I would rather be in germany than france.

 

[xilios]

Ha..the french are pretty arrogant really quote]



LOL I was trying to be nice

 

[ComedyPilot]

I went to Germany for a week in July, loved it. Clean, no probs, good weather, good food, friendly people. I stayed in one area of Bavaria and just mooched around on a hired bike. I speak German too, which swung it a bit. The Germans got attitude off me if they tried to speak English!! Two weeks is long enough to do Rotterdam to Black Forest/Mosel area and back again. Plenty of scenery, culture vulture towns along he way and good facilities for camping / b&b etc.

 

[Bodhbh]

Leaving tonight to hook of holland to bike down to Karlsruhe. Was intending to head down via Belguim, the Ardennes, Luxumbourg and just into Germany for the last bit around Saabrucken. Reading this however, wonder if I should take a more direct route and just head down the west side of Germany. Any suggestions be gratefully recieved!

 

[Andy in Sig]

Easy: you pick up the Rhine bike route from the Hook and stay on the Rhine through Holland into Germany. (Guidebook: Rheinradweg Teil 3 from the Bikeline series published by Esterbauer Verlag). I reckon you should have no trouble picking up the book in one of the bigger book shops or perhaps the railway station in Rotterdam. Rotterdam is signposted from the Hook. Don't worry that it is in German as all you really need are the maps, which are good and the lists of hotels and campsites at the back. Bike repair places are also listed.

Places to stop in Germany include Düsseldorf (great night out), Koblenz and one of the wine villages e.g. Bacharach. Mainz is OK too. It really is a lovely trip. You'll need Vol 2 (Teil 2) for after Mainz.

 

[pinkkaz]

I'm planning on going to Iceland next summer - can't wait!

 

[Bodhbh]

Easy: you pick up the Rhine bike route from the Hook and stay on the Rhine through Holland into Germany. (Guidebook: Rheinradweg Teil 3 from the Bikeline series published by Esterbauer Verlag). I reckon you should have no trouble picking up the book in one of the bigger book shops or perhaps the railway station in Rotterdam. Rotterdam is signposted from the Hook. Don't worry that it is in German as all you really need are the maps, which are good and the lists of hotels and campsites at the back. Bike repair places are also listed.

Places to stop in Germany include Düsseldorf (great night out), Koblenz and one of the wine villages e.g. Bacharach. Mainz is OK too. It really is a lovely trip. You'll need Vol 2 (Teil 2) for after Mainz.

Alright, thanks. That's a great help tbh, wasn't sure were to start. I would normally read up earlier, but for a Brit Germany is one country it's easy to assume you're more familiar with than you actually are till you actually come to do something.

 

[Andy in Sig]

Let us know how you get on. The Bikeline books are about 10" x 4" as they are designed to fit in a bar bag. The front covers are largely blue.

 

[Crackle]

think you're wrong andy:
on http://www.harwich.net/travel.htm
it says "Note that the Cuxhaven route has replaced the Hamburg route with effect from March, 2002"

that doesn't look that far from hamburg though

also:
http://archive.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/2001/11/6/171111.html

Hasn't the Cuxhaven ferry gone now too? I don't think there are any direct ferries to Northern Germany from England now.

 

[Andy in Sig]

That's a bit alarming. I'll have to look into that. Mind you, it is probably liveable with, if a bit inconvenient as it is very easy to get a train from the Hook to the Dutch-German border if you want.