2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

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nathWilt
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2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by nathWilt »

Hello,

We like cycling and we likes holidays.
Easter last ear, we went for a 2 weeks trip on the Isle of Wight. We organised and booked everything ourselves. This time, we would like to go a little bit further but where?


I have looked on INternet but can not find any advice about small family trips in Europe. Either iit iis a blog of a family taking a year off or it is a advertisment...

We are looking for::
- safe road
- 2 hours of cycling a day (200km in ttwo weeks to give you an idea...)
- lot of things to see and do without gooing too far
- cheap accomodation / cheap renting of bikes/ trailers


Over the last two years, it has become harder and harder to take the train with bikes (6 of us) . Trailers don t seem to be accepted anywhere.

If anybody would like to take their family to the Isle of Wight, I can help !

Nathalie
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foxyrider
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by foxyrider »

Holland - just foreign enough but brilliant for family cycling up the coast - no big hills, beaches aplenty, ride all day without having to worry about cars and the weather is fairly good too - and the bonus - its easy to get there! :D
Convention? what's that then?
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Heltor Chasca »

nathWilt wrote:...If anybody would like to take their family to the Isle of Wight, I can help !

Nathalie


Yes please if you are offering. Take the lot of them!

Not funny sorry. +1 for the Netherlands. I'm planning a cycle trip for me and my 6 and 14 year old daughters next summer. This time I'm planning to head off south of Hoek van Holland to do some island hopping. We'll be camping....b
Bensons
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Bensons »

We are planning two cycling holidays with our 9 year old next year.

We do lots of camping generally but not bike camping to date. Our plan is to pitch somewhere for a few days and cycle day trips from there, then move on to another area, and again etc.

We have got as far as deciding on Holland and Normandy right now, ferries are booked, we just need to buy a tandem rack and a couple of maps.

There are some French rides that look like they are well planned on this page.

http://en.tourdemanche.com/suggested-to ... -greenways

We are hoping to do 30 miles a day, our 9 year old seems happy doing 20 odd on the tandem. Our plan is cake stop, lunch stop, cake stop and a town/attraction.
Bensons
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Bensons »

Sorry, I meant to add that St Malo to Roscoff is 200km ish, I wonder if you could do it one way and take a different ferry home. Although you would have to hire a car/take a train to get back to your start point I suppose. Sort of thing we would sign up for here!
JBB
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by JBB »

Try bretonbikes?
Vorpal
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Vorpal »

Denmark is great with a family. There's lots to do. It is both child-friendly and bike-friendly. Accomodation is not cheap, but youth hostels are reasonable, have secure cycle parking, and often have en-suite family rooms. I can recommend the one near Givskud Zoo. I think you can expect to generally pay under 1000 Danish Kroner per night for a family of 6, and some places it will be as low as 500 per night for a family room.

Edited to add: I haven't hired bikes there, but where I've been they seemed readily available. Also, bikes go on Danish trains with no problem. Most trains have one or two carriages just for bikes. I understand that cross-border trains, and some regional ones require bookings, but I have never booked a bike. I've just tunred up and gotten on, and I saw lots of people taking trailers, cargo bikes and families with bikes on the trains there.

http://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/nat ... g-holidays
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Bensons
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Bensons »

Thanks to this thread we have decided to squeeze an extra week in to do the St Malo to Roscoff trip on that link!

Not camping though, we have two beautiful tents and usually camp for a couple of months a year but they are heavy (a DeWaard and a Tentipi) and there is no way that we want to add a similar quality biking tent to our stash right now. It would involve new sleeping mats and bags as well as a tent. So we are going to stay in B&Bs instead in 2016.

Brittany Ferries don't have a problem with the tandem which is a relief as we have only had it a month and are completely new to taking it anywhere, we haven't bought a rack yet so our rides are all from home. We just pay for three bikes for three people. Shame the winter is approaching really, mind you it is going for a respray in the worst months.
Merry_Wanderer
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Merry_Wanderer »

Holland, for scenery, good food, majority of people speak some English and are friendly, great cakes and ALL ages of people cycle because the cycle paths and roads are cycle friendly and safe. We are doing a one week tour there in May 2016 after 3 holidays there when we have cycled on day trips
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foxyrider
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by foxyrider »

Vorpal wrote:Denmark is great with a family. There's lots to do. It is both child-friendly and bike-friendly. Accomodation is not cheap, but youth hostels are reasonable, have secure cycle parking, and often have en-suite family rooms. I can recommend the one near Givskud Zoo. I think you can expect to generally pay under 1000 Danish Kroner per night for a family of 6, and some places it will be as low as 500 per night for a family room.

Edited to add: I haven't hired bikes there, but where I've been they seemed readily available. Also, bikes go on Danish trains with no problem. Most trains have one or two carriages just for bikes. I understand that cross-border trains, and some regional ones require bookings, but I have never booked a bike. I've just tunred up and gotten on, and I saw lots of people taking trailers, cargo bikes and families with bikes on the trains there.

http://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/nat ... g-holidays


All this is true but feeding is very expensive, higher even than Switzerland! Even self catering is pricey 400dkr for a tin of baked beans (@ 10kr=£)
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
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Graham
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Graham »

foxyrider wrote:. . . . Even self catering is pricey 400dkr for a tin of baked beans (@ 10kr=£)

Forty quid for a tin of baked beans ????? Is this a typo ?
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Vorpal »

foxyrider wrote:
All this is true but feeding is very expensive, higher even than Switzerland! Even self catering is pricey 400dkr for a tin of baked beans (@ 10kr=£)

Well, I've only paid 15 dkr for baked beans. I won't say it's cheap, but it's possible to find reasonable priced food. Eating out can be a bit expensive, but even there, you can get a decent Chinese for 100 dkr per person at a shopping centre or takeaway. Hostels and hotels sometimes have pre-purchase packages that include food, and I have generally found them to be good value for money. Not necessarily amazing food, but decent and plentiful, and serving stuff that kids like to eat.

Quite a bit of the Surviving Norway thread applies to Denmark as well.

Edited to add http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co ... ry=Denmark has cost of living information, including typical prices for various things.
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Mr.Benton
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by Mr.Benton »

+1 for Holland.
In August of this year we did a circuit starting at Hook of Holland, taking in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and the Hague.
Lots of things to see and do including beaches, woods, zoo, citys, museums, windmills and best of all a theme park.
.
Accomodation was at the stayokay hostels which were reasonable price and offered a good standard of rooms suitable for families.
We took our 12 year old daughter and she managed the cycling fine and loved the whole experience.

lots of varied cycling but all on good cycling paths separated from the car traffic.

This was our first family cycling holiday and we were all a bit nervous about it, but it was much better than we all expected.
bretonbikes
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by bretonbikes »

Bensons wrote:Thanks to this thread we have decided to squeeze an extra week in to do the St Malo to Roscoff trip on that link!

Not camping though, we have two beautiful tents and usually camp for a couple of months a year but they are heavy (a DeWaard and a Tentipi) and there is no way that we want to add a similar quality biking tent to our stash right now. It would involve new sleeping mats and bags as well as a tent. So we are going to stay in B&Bs instead in 2016.

Brittany Ferries don't have a problem with the tandem which is a relief as we have only had it a month and are completely new to taking it anywhere, we haven't bought a rack yet so our rides are all from home. We just pay for three bikes for three people. Shame the winter is approaching really, mind you it is going for a respray in the worst months.


If you come over to Roscoff there's a route I've written here that may at least give you some pointers - http://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cyc ... ng-holiday

The hotels and B&B's are all good value.

If you need any free advice then please feel free to email or U2U - the more people I can encourage to explore Brittany the better;-)
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
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syklist
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Re: 2 weeks cycling hollidays with 4 kids in Europe

Post by syklist »

nathWilt wrote:Hello,

We like cycling and we likes holidays.
Easter last ear, we went for a 2 weeks trip on the Isle of Wight. We organised and booked everything ourselves. This time, we would like to go a little bit further but where?

+1 for Denmark. I would suggest the West coast of Jutland following one or other bits of the NSCR. The terrain is flat although a bit more demanding in places than Holland but the scenery is more varied. You should be able to plan a 200km trip starting at/close one train station and ending at another. Circular routes are possible but the centre and east of Jutland are generally more hilly.

Also useful is the network of free/very cheap camping spots open to cyclists, walkers and horse riders. Try here http://www.friluftsraadet.dk/indhold/overnatning-i-det-fri/english.aspx We've used a few over the years and have ended up on some lovely spots. We try and find ones with both fresh water and a loo nearby. These "teltpladser" allow you to bridge the gaps between campsites which is good if you are only doing 20-30km a day.

Food is not so expensive if you stay to basic simple stuff like pasta and make your own sauces. Shop at a Lidl or Netto if you bump into one.

Bike hire - we always use our own bikes so I can't help much with that. I would check the VisitDenmark website for more information about bike hire http://www.visitdenmark.com/cycling

I also have a soft spot for the German NSCR north of Cuxhaven which is also mostly flat. The only problem is that it can be a fair way between campsites so you might have to use hostels or B&Bs. Food is cheaper and a lot more varied in Germany plus there is loads of choice for vegetarians at the bigger supermarkets. Ostfriesland is also worth considering as it is nice and flat like Holland but not quite the same. http://www.ostfriesland-tourism.com/
So long and thanks for all the fish...
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