LucyEliz wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 10:15am
Reading this thread with great interest as I'd love to do this route too - so many good suggestions here! I'd be departing from the UK though, and don't know how easy it would be to get the bike to Prague...
The aforementioned sleeper is definitely an option and I think you might also be able to connect with the Hook Van Holland ferry at Den Haag or Rotterdam Centraal (but I might be wrong so double check).
The sleeper timetable doesn’t always line up though (or couchettes sell out) so an alternative, also involving the Harwich-Hook ferry, is to take the IC train from Amsterdam to Berlin, then the EC from Berlin to Prague. It’s a long journey and you won’t make it in a day (the last direct train from Berlin is at 5pm), but with the overnight ferry you can be in Prague at lunchtime the day after next
LucyEliz wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 10:15am
Reading this thread with great interest as I'd love to do this route too - so many good suggestions here! I'd be departing from the UK though, and don't know how easy it would be to get the bike to Prague...
It’s depressingly easy to fly. Not that I’m advocating this as a first choice but it is a doable option with your bike.
LucyEliz wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 10:15am
Reading this thread with great interest as I'd love to do this route too - so many good suggestions here! I'd be departing from the UK though, and don't know how easy it would be to get the bike to Prague...
The aforementioned sleeper is definitely an option and I think you might also be able to connect with the Hook Van Holland ferry at Den Haag or Rotterdam Centraal (but I might be wrong so double check).
The timetable for next year is:
Rotterdam Centraal 21:22
Den Haag HS 21:42
.
.
.
Praha Holešovice 10:45
Praha hl.n 10:56
bohrsatom wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 7:56pm
The aforementioned sleeper is definitely an option and I think you might also be able to connect with the Hook Van Holland ferry at Den Haag or Rotterdam Centraal (but I might be wrong so double check).
The sleeper timetable doesn’t always line up though (or couchettes sell out) so an alternative, also involving the Harwich-Hook ferry, is to take the IC train from Amsterdam to Berlin, then the EC from Berlin to Prague. It’s a long journey and you won’t make it in a day (the last direct train from Berlin is at 5pm), but with the overnight ferry you can be in Prague at lunchtime the day after next
Thanks for that. Very helpful. Another option would be to ferry to Dunkirk and go to Brussels from there. Long journey doesn't bother me. Worrying about the bike being definitely booked on, and being definitely safe while on the train, does! A UK-based friend recently travelled from Munich to NL with his bike. He'd had it booked onto a train but then arrived and was told he COULDN'T take his bike on the train. Ended up getting a bus.
MrsHJ wrote: ↑11 Oct 2023, 8:21pm
It’s depressingly easy to fly. Not that I’m advocating this as a first choice but it is a doable option with your bike.
Ain't that the truth. And so much cheaper, too. I try not to fly, though.
Have looked in to it a bit more, and with care it's do-able in the time I have. Will probably plan a route and start booking once tickets are available.
Trains in Europe are usually OK for bikes - I think there's another sleeper from Mannheim or similar if you can get a train to there. Hotels were my only problem last time, one fella wouldn't let me take bike in to the hotel, so I ended up cancelling (for free) and walking in to the 4* next door and getting a last minute deal for 10 Euros more.
I am NOT a cyclist. I enjoy riding a bike for utility, commuting, fitness and touring on tout terrain Rohloff, Brompton M3 and Wester Ross 354 plus a Burley Travoy trailer.
Jdsk wrote: ↑5 Mar 2024, 4:28pm
This might be our summer tour this year, starting with the sleeper to Prague.
School holidays:
Czechia 29 June to 1 September
Saxony 20 June to 2 August
Brandenburg 18 July to 30 August
Any other dates of relevance?
There's football going on in Germany this summer (European Cup or something?) Probably only relevant to know which cities to avoid when the crowds are there.
Jdsk wrote: ↑5 Mar 2024, 4:28pm
This might be our summer tour this year, starting with the sleeper to Prague.
School holidays:
Czechia 29 June to 1 September
Saxony 20 June to 2 August
Brandenburg 18 July to 30 August
Any other dates of relevance?
There's football going on in Germany this summer (European Cup or something?) Probably only relevant to know which cities to avoid when the crowds are there.
Matches are 15/6-15/7 in the main Bundesliga stadia, but you may also want to avoid Leipzig as that's where all the broadcasters are based.
Then the Olympics start 11 days later.
A novice learning... “the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”