Route to the black forest from amsterdam - blast down or alternative?

Heidelberg, is OK for sure, but....

Me? I'd go for Trier, perhaps? Why? It's a nice place, Germany's oldest town It's at about the same latitude as Heidelberg but more importantly, I think it would be easier to make a nice run from the Amsterdam ferry port. How is that? Here you go: Quick way (super slab) from the port to the line Maastricht / Aachen, then on the diagonal, Malmedy, St Vith, Bitburg, Aach, Trier. That's straight through the Belgian Ardennes, missing Luxembourg City away to the west. Good roads near enough all the way once you pass the Maastricht / Aachen jump off line.

Pump Amsterdam to Trier into Google maps and hit bicycle mode to see the way. 405 kms (say 250 miles) easy.

Alternatively: Aachen, then roughly south, Malmedy, Vielsalm, Clervaux, Viandem, Echternach, Trier. Which keeps the Ardennes going for a bit longer.

Richard

PS Crossed with post above from albatross. In fact what he suggests is excellent advice for the way down, the way back or both, depending on where you want to go to in Switzerland.
 
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excellent - prior to the posts above I had mapped out a similar route to the one you suggested Richard: https://goo.gl/maps/nkovu3GtYG32 - doubtful that distance would be comfortable but a good route with plenty 'thats far enough for today lets get a room booked' options.

albatross im going to go away now and plot out an alternative using your advice, and decide which to go down and which to go back.

the cat is well and truly skinned, and very grateful I am too ;)
 
We always just blast down the motorway on the first day, last three years first stop was Chemnitz before entering the Czech Republik (465miles), prior to that Freudenstadt in the BForrest was a favourite (380miles) very easily done on the autobahns you wont be arriving late in fact normally your off the ferry at Ijmuiden just after 10 and will be in Freudenstadt for 5pm no worries.
Save the wandering for the return trip to the ferry, we usually aim to be around Boppard or Cochem on the last night for an easy run to the ferry with no dramas.
Enjoy
 
We are definitely going to Switzerland as I sold the idea to my mate with this as the destination.

Good idea, as you can see the main problem once you land in Europe is there is so much choice, IMO the Ardennes / Eifel / Vosges / Morvan / Black Forest are not anywhere near as spectacular as the Alpine regions - but still plenty of good riding in all of them.

Switzerland is not as expensive as some claim, but is a bit steep compared to surrounding nations - I think people often compare with their local pub / Macdonalds - anywhere with a lot of tourists tends to be more pricey than the nation in general. Before the de-coupled the Swiss Franc from the Euro it was barely any more costly, but when they did that a few years back it jumped up a fair bit, the pound plummeting since has not helped (and that applies to all the Euro countries as well) The thing to watch for is they don't tend to have any cheapo options, what you tend to get is good quality but often more than you really want especially for lunch.

Andermatt area is good, when looking for a campsite you might want to consider altitude, Andermatt is quite high up, you might find heading South to Airolo would mean warmer nights, the Obergoms to the West are also nice (near the turning for the Nufenen Pass are some nice little villages)

One tip for a little diversion, at the top of the Grimsel pass you will see some traffic lights which control traffic one way and swap around every twenty or so minutes, if you go down there you get some great views of the pass and come out at a lake with a nice restaurant, when we where last there (2014) it did good value grub, by far the cheapest Swiss lunch we had that year.

There is also a nice dead end road off the Susten Pass that ends at a lake - IIRC there is camping there which might be an option, but probably nothing to eat without riding off somewhere.
 
We are on the same ferry in July, faced a similar decision but we wanted to do a trip with minimum motorways.

Baden baden a longish haul. Like most places there are nice parts and not so nice. Near the casino is rather good with some good bars.

Alternative is to head to Eifel national park, as mentioned in previous posts. Would suggest the Biker cafe near Simmerath at about three hours from ferry. http://www.biker-ranch-eifel.de

That gets around 180-200miles out of the way. An interesting break and refreshments. Then head via Cochem towards Kaiserlautern. Loads of twisty roads enroute. From there on the Sunday to Black forest, full B500? starting Baden baden and enter Switzerland near Rhine falls?

loads of options. Baden a long day 1. Via Eifel park will give you some fun roads after 3 hours..
 
Baden baden a longish haul. Like most places there are nice parts and not so nice. Near the casino is rather good with some good bars.

If you land on a night when there is live music in the mini arena outside the casino you will have a great night. :beerjug:

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Yep, we hit on for that 2 years ago^^^ fantastic night. Left us a bit rough the day after tbh! ;)
 
We are there on a Wednesday night so I would imagine less likely to stumble upon decent live music - never know though.

Rasher I've spent hours reading through some of your ride reports and some stuff filed away for this and future trips
 
I would classify Switzerland as U.K. prices + a £10 service charge when eating out :thumb2
 
not too worried about the swiss prices - we have agreed to camp and make our own lunches from shops instead of eating out for the 3/4 days were there. if all else fails i have a stove and lots of noodles
 
Hi Gordon,
I would agree with others that Baden Baden is a big hit from Ijmuiden - I've done it before, albeit 2-up, but it doesn't leave any time for scenic routes etc - especially if your exit from the ferry isn't smart-ish.
The road system in the Netherlands is designed to put you on the Motorway and keep you there:rolleyes: - so do just that, using the motorways that suit your route.
I would also recommend the Mosel for a night - head to south of Netherlands then take a route through the Eifel (stunning roads) via the NURBURGRING - and have a quick lap!!! then drop down onto the Mosel for the night:thumb
Day 2 you can take a nice route along the Mosel banks to Koblenz area then cross onto east bank of the Rhine and follow the river down through the Rhine Gorge to Rudesheim - then chose the route of choice down to Black Forest - I would recommend Fruedenstadt for an overnight stop - nice size town with stunning roads in all directions, we've stayed there quite a few times - and of course use the B500 from Baden Baden to get there!
Day3 head south and pick up the B500 again and follow all the way to Switzerland.

Also, don't forget the Vosges to the west of the Rhine opposite the Black Forest area - some cracking cross-Vosges passes and the stunning Route de Cretes running N to S. If you do the Black forest going out then consider the Vosges coming home?

Have a great time whichever roads you choose - wife and I cross from Newcastle on 31st May.


Cheers..................Grizzly:beerjug:
 
Wapping I applaud your ability to put up with these questions again and again without becoming jaded and sarcastic ;)

Very good gog, I see what you've done there ! :thumb

Cracking little thread thanks all :clap

(Do you think that ISIS will be out of Cochem by June?)
 
:augie

Cheers Geo - yes the mosel/vosges is for the way back. Hope you and Mrs G enjoy your trip too. We have discussed it and have decided to take the hit of a long day and crack on to the BF for the first night. we are both quite happy doing long days in the saddle and dont much care what time we arrive at the hotel (pension williams reserved)

I suspect having longer in the alps will more suit the focus of this trip, and if we decide we would rather cut that part of it short and come back north for more of germany/france on the way back then that leaves us the option.

Cheers :thumb2
 
Hoorah, a decision has been reached. Blast from ferry to now past Baden Baden, into the Black Forest and then into Switzerland, returning to the ferry via a less blasty route.

A useful thread as it gives most of the ways to get from Holland / northern Belgium down to the Black Forest, proving (if nothing else) that there is more than one way; that much will depend on the time available and the hopes and aspirations of the rider(s) involved. That those hopes and aspirations change (and then change again) during the thread, is a given. That they may yet alter more before departure and / or during the journey itself, we'll maybe never know.
 
agreed Richard, appreciate the input from you all and this thread will be useful to me for more than just this first trip, and hopefully others. it's a popular crossing for us northerners and a popular destination so though the info is available in a multitude of other threads it's sometimes hard to piece it all together, especially for someone that's never done any moto trips abroad before. community like this makes the difference between a good trip and a great one.

ride report to follow, though i cannot promise it will be completely coherent ;)
 
If you want a well priced Hotel for that first night to make the long day a bit easier try Pension Williams, about an hour south of Baden (30 miles) along the B500, The Stretch from Bad until about 5 miles past the turning for Pension Williams is the famous stretch.

From here it is an easy run to the Andermatt area so you would have time to ride back up and down that section of the B500 again if you really like it, or catch it in bad weather on the first day.
 
If you want a well priced Hotel for that first night to make the long day a bit easier try Pension Williams, about an hour south of Baden (30 miles) along the B500, The Stretch from Bad until about 5 miles past the turning for Pension Williams is the famous stretch.

From here it is an easy run to the Andermatt area so you would have time to ride back up and down that section of the B500 again if you really like it, or catch it in bad weather on the first day.

Errr, read post 34 again re Pension Walliams/Seebach :thumb
 
Hi Gordon,
I would agree with others that Baden Baden is a big hit from Ijmuiden - I've done it before, albeit 2-up, but it doesn't leave any time for scenic routes etc - especially if your exit from the ferry isn't smart-ish.
The road system in the Netherlands is designed to put you on the Motorway and keep you there:rolleyes: - so do just that, using the motorways that suit your route.
I would also recommend the Mosel for a night - head to south of Netherlands then take a route through the Eifel (stunning roads) via the NURBURGRING - and have a quick lap!!! then drop down onto the Mosel for the night:thumb
Day 2 you can take a nice route along the Mosel banks to Koblenz area then cross onto east bank of the Rhine and follow the river down through the Rhine Gorge to Rudesheim - then chose the route of choice down to Black Forest - I would recommend Fruedenstadt for an overnight stop - nice size town with stunning roads in all directions, we've stayed there quite a few times - and of course use the B500 from Baden Baden to get there!
Day3 head south and pick up the B500 again and follow all the way to Switzerland.

Also, don't forget the Vosges to the west of the Rhine opposite the Black Forest area - some cracking cross-Vosges passes and the stunning Route de Cretes running N to S. If you do the Black forest going out then consider the Vosges coming home?

Have a great time whichever roads you choose - wife and I cross from Newcastle on 31st May.


Cheers..................Grizzly:beerjug:

I've just booked on the same ferry. May see you there.
 


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