Cilla2

We have a trip planned to Amsterdam and Normandy. When we travel back home again we will drive from Honfleur in France to Puttgarden in Germany. We have planned to get there with 3 nights stop. The nearest route is via Belgium/The Netherland and Amiens, Moms, Liege, Aachen and then into Germany Osnabruck, Bremen
​​​​​​But is that a nice route with good places to stay.
We are travelling with a dog as well so we prefer smaller town to really hectic big cities but would like to explore historic cities and/ or nice countryside/scenic roads.
One option is to start travel east and drive via Luxrmbourg and then the Rheinvalley up via Kölm or Hameln/Celle and then north.
It will take longer than the more direct route via Belgium/Holland and we are not sure if 3 nights is enough. .
We would appreciate advice on both travel options or other scenic routes as well.
We are flexibel as we have no hotels booked yet.

bilboburgler

you need Heti and lavandula, hope they will be along

hetismij2

Have you looked at routes with motorways switch off as an option? Just to see what it comes up with. The motorways are boring, and can be stressful, and plenty of road works in Germany as I am sure you know.
How long do you want to drive each day? That affects the route choice of course.

Cilla2

As we have our dog with us we need to stop more often and I think we would prefer not to drive more than 400-500 km per day,and hectic big cities might be too hard to deal with too. ( We are going to Amsterdam on first part of journey but rest of trip we prefer smaller towns) The route is Sweden.as starting point, south via Denmark, Germany ( Bremen), Amsterdam( 3 nights), Honfleur and Normandie( 7 nights) and then drive back from Honfleur via Puttgarden to Sweden

balthy

I’ve driven from Sweden thru Denmark and taken the ferry from Rødby to Puttgarden many times. Unfortunately I’ve always been in a hurry so have not stopped, however I have always admired the area around Puttgarden which I see from the car, the coastline is beautiful and it would be worth exploring what there is in the area to see. I understand Lübeck is worth visiting.

kerouac

Between two such destinations, there are countless possibilities. If you don't mind meandering considerably, I would recommend going up the French coast to Belgium and then turning inland at Ostende.

hetismij2

Or continuing up the coast through Zeeland which has the advantage of avoiding Antwerp and its jams. But it is really out of the way going along the coast. Lovely but maybe longer than you have time for.

If you want to stick to motorways then have a look at Google Maps for hotels which accept dogs in towns a bit away from it. The advantage of motorways is regular rest stops so you can walk the dog. Disadvantages are boredom, traffic and as I said road works on the Autobahn are numerous and frustrating.
Or take a different route inland avoiding motorways. Either way maybe stop in the Parc naturel de l'Avenois. Though that may be too far for one day you could push on to around Namur/Dinant.
The Bielefeld area is also a good place for a stop, motorway or not. Lots of woods around there where you perhaps can give the dog an outing.
I would have a play with Google Maps or another map app, switch off motorways and see what it suggests. Look along the route at what towns are nearby, investigate hotels and AirBnB. Work out timing and distance in the app to places that appeal.
One advantage of the Luxembourg route is you can fill up with cheaper fuel in Luxembourg, but it is really out of your way.
Do your three nights include Puttgarden? Do you need to stop somewhere near so you are on time for your boat?

lavandula

Hi, do you know the ViaMichelin site where you can ask for a scenic route? That might be helpful.

I would probably avoid German Autobahns to some degree which means picking B roads if you possibly can, but it will make the journey slower, although more interesting. You need a compromise between making good progress on the road and some 'pretty'. Kerouac is right, I don't think there is a 'right' way unless you are looking for the shortest route or the fastest roads. So perhaps it's best to go for cities or destinations that you want to visit. I like the suggestion of going via Luxembourg. We have done a trip via Düsseldorf, Münster, Hameln and Hildesheim (going across Germany) but I have also been via Osnabrück to Bremen, and I also know Celle. If you want to go that way, Osnabrück has been reconstructed unfavourably (although it is not downright ugly), but Bremen is really good, worth the trip. So you can still go the fast way but you should spend most of your time in Bremen. You can get timings from Google Maps or ViaMichelin.

If you want lots of open fields and easy stopping on the side of the road, those B roads between Münster - Hameln - Hildesheim - Celle would be good and then from there you could take the B roads to Hamburg. North of Hamburg I don't know much. I have been through those parts 30 years ago and don't remember much, just a bit here and there.

From Luxembourg into Germany you could probably go from Trier to Koblenz to Bonn and then via that ghastly area with all those Autobahns in the Ruhrgebiet (hold your breath) up to Münster. It is very stressful on those roads with all the exits and tight timings between them. If you want to go via the Rhine there is no easy way past all those roads unless you really want to avoid them altogether and you can go from Koblenz across the middle of Hessen (Koblenz - Limburg - Marburg - Hannoversch Münden - Höxter - Hameln - Hildesheim - Celle), but this would be a looooot slower. Most of the towns along this route are pretty, though, especially Hann. Münden, Hameln and Celle.

I don't know if any of this is useful - the slower routes I have given you might take you too long, in which case we can swap out some of those slower roads for faster ones. Happy to kick around ideas, anyhow.

Lavandula

hetismij2

You do have to be careful going from Luxembourg into Germany as many roads are still closed following the catastrophic flooding.
Another thing to consider is the high price of fuel and decide whether you are happy taking a longer route.

Cilla2

Thank you for reminding me about the terrible flooding last summer. Is it still affecting many roads in the area?

Cilla2

Ideally we would like to go via the Rhine as well but I do realise we might be very pushed for time. We need to arrive in the Puttgarden-area Friday evening.
Ferry booked for Saturday morning so we will have 3 days of exploring the route from Honfleur to Puttgarden
One option is to go from Honfleur to Luxembourg or Trier for 1st night and the drive via the Rhine up to Koblenz and then on to for instance Kassel or Göttingen for 2nd night and then drive on the 3rd day to Puttgarden. Seems to be a lot of interesting towns and sights, but maybe too little time to see it !

If we were to drive a more direct route via Belgium / Holland- what villages/towns or other sites should we try and stop at then?
The most direct route I think would be via Amiens, Liege and Munster. I do not know much about these cities or nice smaller towns around that area so any advice would be greatly appreciated

bilboburgler

I like Trier or any of the smaller places along the Mosel if you are going that way. Urzig is especially nice but there are 4 or 5 others.

VANAARLE

Do you realize that Amsterdam is a ultra tourist destination? I just watched a You Tube bloggers visit to the city and they could not get over the amount of rubbish laying around. They also suggested that the Dutch who know the rules of the road still have crazy amount of cyclist which added to the confusing situation, made it far too busy.
I would suggest you use viamichelin route planner. Dial out the options to use motorways and add discovery. You will find some great places to visit. You can add way points like Ypres in Belgium.

lavandula

Hi, sorry for the delay in responding. I don't know the roads through Belgium so well but along that trajectory I would possibly stop in Namur and then prioritise Maastricht (NL) or Aachen (DE) as stops over Liège, and then from there head up to Münster. Münster is quite pretty, worth the visit. Liège is OK but a little on the gritty side. Pretty much anywhere you drive in Belgium is OK road-wise. It's the only country in the world where all the roads including highways have street lighting.

If you opt for a pathway through the middle of Germany, Göttingen is more old school pretty with Fachwerk houses (I can recommend Cron und Lanz, a coffee house with amazing cakes). Kassel was badly hit during the war and badly rebuilt. There are still some drawcards there like the Documenta exhibition which is on this year (every 5 years, don't know if it will be on when you travel) and the Wilhelmshöhe (a Baroque water fountain that runs down to Schloss Wilhelmshöhe). I would check out whichever one of those speaks to your interests. If you are a serious Fachwerk aficionado then Hann. Münden or tiny Duderstadt near Göttingen are worth a stop. If you don't make it back that way there is always next trip.

Lavandula