Road trip between Hamburg and Copenhagen?
Jun 30th, 2020, 07:29 AM
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Jun 30th, 2020, 07:32 AM
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To answer your other question, I've cycled over a fair bit of the European continent. The best three countries for touring cycling is the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. All three have massive integrated cycle routes both local and long-distance with facilities along the paths. You will find hotels, B&B and Bett und Bike (bed and bicycle) accommodation as well as bike rental and luggage movers around because that is where the market is. Such things as small ferries will help you cross seas etc.
Hamburg is a great city to start with for cycling, you'll find tourist info will give away leaflets on local cycle tours or just direct you to websites with all the details. Cycle movements on trains are also allowed to a certain extent but not often on trams, some buses will let you hand them on the back. In Denmark, rental bikes are pretty bad as everyone owns a bike and you don't need more than 3 gears, Germany is better.
Hamburg is a great city to start with for cycling, you'll find tourist info will give away leaflets on local cycle tours or just direct you to websites with all the details. Cycle movements on trains are also allowed to a certain extent but not often on trams, some buses will let you hand them on the back. In Denmark, rental bikes are pretty bad as everyone owns a bike and you don't need more than 3 gears, Germany is better.
Jun 30th, 2020, 07:34 AM
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Thank you for the tips, I will start looking into cycling for at least part of the trip; if I started in Hamburg likely we would miss out on midsummer in Denmark, so I will look into what facilities are available in Denmark to perhaps start from Copenhagen. Thanks all for your ideas, I will have to do some homework now and will come back with more questions soon. It's night here now so I will be off the air for a while.
Lavandula
Lavandula
Jun 30th, 2020, 07:36 AM
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Just saying that contrary to popular belief, Denmark isn't "flat" and cycling there isn't particularly easy because of "flatness". Always surprises a lot of people. Also a number of popular Danish long distance throughroutes are on gravel.
Jun 30th, 2020, 03:00 PM
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Thank you all so much for contributing! I am still doing research but I will post snippets of what I have found as I go.
I found an interesting cycling tour around the towns surrounding Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein), which I will summarise here as it's in German: basically you start off staying at Hotel Prisma in Neumünster and have a snack there, then cycle to Hotel Carstens in Bordesholm for the appetiser, soup at Antikhof Bissee, the 'Zwischengang' (entree) at Restaurant Kirschenholz in Schillsdorf and the main meal and dessert back at Hotel Prisma. They take you past lakes, forests and fields, and it's a total of 43km. A nice way to work up an appetite!
(I tussled a bit with the translation of 'Zwischengang' - it's clear from the German that it is a middle course, between Vorspeise and Hauptspeise, but I know that North American readers use 'entree' for the main meal, whereas British and Australian readers use 'entree' for the first course (or courses here).)
Here is the link: https://www.staedte.sh/de/stadt/neumuenster
I don't think we can do the whole trip as a cycling tour. My husband is a cyclist but I am decidedly not, and my daughter will be very happy to cycle sometimes, but nevertheless I think I prefer just to do a part of the trip as cycling, so I think something like the above will be up our alley. Maybe we can do another such excursion at another point in the trip.
Whether or not we get to Scandinavia in midsummer depends purely on the dates when school breaks up. We are off early this year but that is a COVID thing and who knows when school will break up in 2022.
I will chase up your link on Auntie Helen's rides, she sounds like quite a character!
Lavandula
I found an interesting cycling tour around the towns surrounding Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein), which I will summarise here as it's in German: basically you start off staying at Hotel Prisma in Neumünster and have a snack there, then cycle to Hotel Carstens in Bordesholm for the appetiser, soup at Antikhof Bissee, the 'Zwischengang' (entree) at Restaurant Kirschenholz in Schillsdorf and the main meal and dessert back at Hotel Prisma. They take you past lakes, forests and fields, and it's a total of 43km. A nice way to work up an appetite!
(I tussled a bit with the translation of 'Zwischengang' - it's clear from the German that it is a middle course, between Vorspeise and Hauptspeise, but I know that North American readers use 'entree' for the main meal, whereas British and Australian readers use 'entree' for the first course (or courses here).)
Here is the link: https://www.staedte.sh/de/stadt/neumuenster
I don't think we can do the whole trip as a cycling tour. My husband is a cyclist but I am decidedly not, and my daughter will be very happy to cycle sometimes, but nevertheless I think I prefer just to do a part of the trip as cycling, so I think something like the above will be up our alley. Maybe we can do another such excursion at another point in the trip.
Whether or not we get to Scandinavia in midsummer depends purely on the dates when school breaks up. We are off early this year but that is a COVID thing and who knows when school will break up in 2022.
I will chase up your link on Auntie Helen's rides, she sounds like quite a character!
Lavandula
Jun 30th, 2020, 09:19 PM
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Thank you all so much for contributing! I am still doing research but I will post snippets of what I have found as I go.
I found an interesting cycling tour around the towns surrounding Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein), which I will summarise here as it's in German: basically you start off staying at Hotel Prisma in Neumünster and have a snack there, then cycle to Hotel Carstens in Bordesholm for the appetiser, soup at Antikhof Bissee, the 'Zwischengang' (entree) at Restaurant Kirschenholz in Schillsdorf and the main meal and dessert back at Hotel Prisma. They take you past lakes, forests and fields, and it's a total of 43km. A nice way to work up an appetite!
(I tussled a bit with the translation of 'Zwischengang' - it's clear from the German that it is a middle course, between Vorspeise and Hauptspeise, but I know that North American readers use 'entree' for the main meal, whereas British and Australian readers use 'entree' for the first course (or courses here).)
Here is the link: https://www.staedte.sh/de/stadt/neumuenster
I don't think we can do the whole trip as a cycling tour. My husband is a cyclist but I am decidedly not, and my daughter will be very happy to cycle sometimes, but nevertheless I think I prefer just to do a part of the trip as cycling, so I think something like the above will be up our alley. Maybe we can do another such excursion at another point in the trip.
Whether or not we get to Scandinavia in midsummer depends purely on the dates when school breaks up. We are off early this year but that is a COVID thing and who knows when school will break up in 2022.
I will chase up your link on Auntie Helen's rides, she sounds like quite a character!
Lavandula
I found an interesting cycling tour around the towns surrounding Neumünster (Schleswig-Holstein), which I will summarise here as it's in German: basically you start off staying at Hotel Prisma in Neumünster and have a snack there, then cycle to Hotel Carstens in Bordesholm for the appetiser, soup at Antikhof Bissee, the 'Zwischengang' (entree) at Restaurant Kirschenholz in Schillsdorf and the main meal and dessert back at Hotel Prisma. They take you past lakes, forests and fields, and it's a total of 43km. A nice way to work up an appetite!
(I tussled a bit with the translation of 'Zwischengang' - it's clear from the German that it is a middle course, between Vorspeise and Hauptspeise, but I know that North American readers use 'entree' for the main meal, whereas British and Australian readers use 'entree' for the first course (or courses here).)
Here is the link: https://www.staedte.sh/de/stadt/neumuenster
I don't think we can do the whole trip as a cycling tour. My husband is a cyclist but I am decidedly not, and my daughter will be very happy to cycle sometimes, but nevertheless I think I prefer just to do a part of the trip as cycling, so I think something like the above will be up our alley. Maybe we can do another such excursion at another point in the trip.
Whether or not we get to Scandinavia in midsummer depends purely on the dates when school breaks up. We are off early this year but that is a COVID thing and who knows when school will break up in 2022.
I will chase up your link on Auntie Helen's rides, she sounds like quite a character!
Lavandula
She's a legend in recumbent bike touring. Very entertaining blog, bc she's a copy writer and literary editor.
Jul 2nd, 2020, 02:24 AM
#28
Taking kids with cyclists, this part of the world has two solutions, a little trailer can be towed and you will see lots of people doing so, really fun and something to slow husband down or he could ride a "family" bike, which has a large container on the front (to be seen to be believed) used all over the area often stuffed with two kids, the dog and shopping.
Jul 2nd, 2020, 01:07 PM
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Taking kids with cyclists, this part of the world has two solutions, a little trailer can be towed and you will see lots of people doing so, really fun and something to slow husband down or he could ride a "family" bike, which has a large container on the front (to be seen to be believed) used all over the area often stuffed with two kids, the dog and shopping.
Jul 2nd, 2020, 03:37 PM
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I think DD will be OK on her own bike but I have found a couple of cycling tours which I didn't bookmark (stupidly), but one in particular which was for families; basically it goes past a few lakes with swimming stops and also takes you through an adventure forest. The cycling distance is 20km. I am trying to find that one again now. The last one I mentioned was nice, but it was nice for me and maybe not for my daughter, thinking it through. Not everything has to be for her of course, we try to mix it up a bit, but I think exertion and boredom is probably not a winning combination. Will post a link to it and if it's only in German will provide a translation.
Lavandula
Lavandula
Jul 2nd, 2020, 04:09 PM
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https://www.outdooractive.com/de/rou...rten/26844667/
Here it is: the tour starts in an area just north of Lübeck, around Scharbeutz; it stops by an airfield where there are gyrocopter flights (Flugplatz Sierksdorf), heads to Hof Altona and goes then south to a lake for a dip (Pönitzer See), proceeds to a forest (Kramer Wald) where there is an adventure forest with rope walks high in the trees, and then to the beach, where there are two different swimming opportunities, one at the beach, or if the weather is cold, then there is a spa (Ostseetherme) with slides and sauna and spa areas. It finishes up in Scharbeutz, where there are cafés and ice-cream shops.
I don't know if we would have explored that area without the bike tour - really I am not clear about our pathway at all yet - but it may just be that we bounce from activity to activity. I am also finding quite a few websites about the roads less travelled in Schleswig-Holstein and if we have the patience there are loads of palaces dotted through the countryside. If we just potter about then we might hit up a few of those. When I find some of those websites again I will link to them also.
I read a few trip reports here on Fodor's - people who had gone between Copenhagen and Hamburg - and some of the German contributors were a bit down on S-H, although visitors were quite positive. Does it have a terrible reputation in Germany for being boring? I have done quite a few areas in Germany already, just looking for fresh pastures (have to refresh my German every couple of years as I use it professionally). I don't think we will be bored, but it seems to be all about being out in nature, and not so many dynamic cities
Also thinking about the bikes again - maybe on of those tandem bikes with dad would be a good option....
Random thoughts - thanks for planning with me!
Lavandula
Here it is: the tour starts in an area just north of Lübeck, around Scharbeutz; it stops by an airfield where there are gyrocopter flights (Flugplatz Sierksdorf), heads to Hof Altona and goes then south to a lake for a dip (Pönitzer See), proceeds to a forest (Kramer Wald) where there is an adventure forest with rope walks high in the trees, and then to the beach, where there are two different swimming opportunities, one at the beach, or if the weather is cold, then there is a spa (Ostseetherme) with slides and sauna and spa areas. It finishes up in Scharbeutz, where there are cafés and ice-cream shops.
I don't know if we would have explored that area without the bike tour - really I am not clear about our pathway at all yet - but it may just be that we bounce from activity to activity. I am also finding quite a few websites about the roads less travelled in Schleswig-Holstein and if we have the patience there are loads of palaces dotted through the countryside. If we just potter about then we might hit up a few of those. When I find some of those websites again I will link to them also.
I read a few trip reports here on Fodor's - people who had gone between Copenhagen and Hamburg - and some of the German contributors were a bit down on S-H, although visitors were quite positive. Does it have a terrible reputation in Germany for being boring? I have done quite a few areas in Germany already, just looking for fresh pastures (have to refresh my German every couple of years as I use it professionally). I don't think we will be bored, but it seems to be all about being out in nature, and not so many dynamic cities
Also thinking about the bikes again - maybe on of those tandem bikes with dad would be a good option....
Random thoughts - thanks for planning with me!
Lavandula
Jul 2nd, 2020, 08:24 PM
#33
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https://www.outdooractive.com/de/rou...rten/26844667/
Here it is: the tour starts in an area just north of Lübeck, around Scharbeutz; it stops by an airfield where there are gyrocopter flights (Flugplatz Sierksdorf), heads to Hof Altona and goes then south to a lake for a dip (Pönitzer See), proceeds to a forest (Kramer Wald) where there is an adventure forest with rope walks high in the trees, and then to the beach, where there are two different swimming opportunities, one at the beach, or if the weather is cold, then there is a spa (Ostseetherme) with slides and sauna and spa areas. It finishes up in Scharbeutz, where there are cafés and ice-cream shops.
I don't know if we would have explored that area without the bike tour - really I am not clear about our pathway at all yet - but it may just be that we bounce from activity to activity. I am also finding quite a few websites about the roads less travelled in Schleswig-Holstein and if we have the patience there are loads of palaces dotted through the countryside. If we just potter about then we might hit up a few of those. When I find some of those websites again I will link to them also.
I read a few trip reports here on Fodor's - people who had gone between Copenhagen and Hamburg - and some of the German contributors were a bit down on S-H, although visitors were quite positive. Does it have a terrible reputation in Germany for being boring? I have done quite a few areas in Germany already, just looking for fresh pastures (have to refresh my German every couple of years as I use it professionally). I don't think we will be bored, but it seems to be all about being out in nature, and not so many dynamic cities
Also thinking about the bikes again - maybe on of those tandem bikes with dad would be a good option....
Random thoughts - thanks for planning with me!
Lavandula
Here it is: the tour starts in an area just north of Lübeck, around Scharbeutz; it stops by an airfield where there are gyrocopter flights (Flugplatz Sierksdorf), heads to Hof Altona and goes then south to a lake for a dip (Pönitzer See), proceeds to a forest (Kramer Wald) where there is an adventure forest with rope walks high in the trees, and then to the beach, where there are two different swimming opportunities, one at the beach, or if the weather is cold, then there is a spa (Ostseetherme) with slides and sauna and spa areas. It finishes up in Scharbeutz, where there are cafés and ice-cream shops.
I don't know if we would have explored that area without the bike tour - really I am not clear about our pathway at all yet - but it may just be that we bounce from activity to activity. I am also finding quite a few websites about the roads less travelled in Schleswig-Holstein and if we have the patience there are loads of palaces dotted through the countryside. If we just potter about then we might hit up a few of those. When I find some of those websites again I will link to them also.
I read a few trip reports here on Fodor's - people who had gone between Copenhagen and Hamburg - and some of the German contributors were a bit down on S-H, although visitors were quite positive. Does it have a terrible reputation in Germany for being boring? I have done quite a few areas in Germany already, just looking for fresh pastures (have to refresh my German every couple of years as I use it professionally). I don't think we will be bored, but it seems to be all about being out in nature, and not so many dynamic cities
Also thinking about the bikes again - maybe on of those tandem bikes with dad would be a good option....
Random thoughts - thanks for planning with me!
Lavandula
here are some more tours in that area, some overlapping with the tour you found.
https://www.komoot.de/guide/1024/rad...und-um-luebeck
Parts of the Ostsee Radweg are also very good: that one is widely thought to be one of the best cycle routes of Germany
