Inspiration Required - Netherlands & Harz Mountains

Atomic84

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Myself and the Missus fancy a week or so in September in the Netherlands and Harz area of Germany. This will be our first trip abroad on a bike. We will be arriving at the Hoek of Holland, and travelling back from there.

Does anyone have any recommendations for interesting places to visit, or great riding roads?

The only must-do on my list so far, is to visit the town of Rinteln in Germany, as I was born there.

Thanks

Simon
 
Feck me....

How many do you want?

A strong contender the laziest enquiry of the year.

Enjoy your holiday, as and when it arrives; you’ve got weeks (indeed, months) to prepare for it.

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/550981-This’ll-boil-Micky’s-piss-Part-2-Take-Harz

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/480504-Harz-routes

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/550889-There’s-feck-all-to-do-in-Holland

When you are in the Harz, you can link it to places like, Leipzig.

PS Delighted that this will be your first venture abroad. Seriously, you’ll have a great time. :thumb2:beerjug:

PPS You have a week. Is that door-to-door or a full week (7 days) between rolling off the ferry in Holland and rolling back on? Your day in Rinteln (280 miles from the Hook of Holland) is going to take up one of them. 280 miles there, is (maybe) one day and another (maybe) day back. That’s three days gone out of your seven or less. Let us know, please.

You can maybe see what I am getting at? You’ve maybe made the classic beginner’s mistake of not realising how far places are apart from each other and not worked out how long it will take YOU to do 280 miles (goat track or motorway) with your trouble’n’strife in tow, whilst stopping off to see great things and riding great roads.

Over to you.....
 
On reflection Wapping, yep it was very lazy! Hopefully someone else will take the title off me.

Thanks for your links. I love reading your stuff
 
Good man, I am sure there’ll be plenty along to knock the crown off your head before Covid-19 has finished stalking the land.

What you want to do is certainly possible. Let folks better know the timeframe and what’s most important: Holland, Harz (there’s plenty there, for sure, for at least two days) or Rintin Town? Are you happy to chuck in mototorways, if it gets you to somewhere faster? You know, you. We don’t. Someone might suggest the Arnhem WW2 stuff. Great if you like that sort of thing, desperately dull if you or (more importantly) your wife, thinks it’s dull. You could spend a full day, if you take in the museums or an afternoon or no time at all.
 
Do these things in any way appeal? All found by Googling: Things to do Harz.

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/g...op-everything-and-visit-the-harz-mountains-2/

https://en.harzinfo.de/things-to-see-do.html

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/germany/harz-mountains/top-things-to-do

If so, pinpoint the sites on a map and maybe tie them into the routes suggested in the linked threads. See if you can make a day of one or two of them or chose one of the towns as somewhere to stay, possibly?

One tip, when choosing a town, maybe try to find somewhere on a crossroads or T-junction, as it will lend itself to directions to take for a day or two out. Or just think about a different town for each night, though that can get tedious. It all depends on you, you and your wife.
 
Good man, I am sure there’ll be plenty along to knock the crown off your head before Covid-19 has finished stalking the land.

What you want to do is certainly possible. Let folks better know the timeframe and what’s most important: Holland, Harz (there’s plenty there, for sure, for at least two days) or Rintin Town? Are you happy to chuck in mototorways, if it gets you to somewhere faster? You know, you. We don’t. Someone might suggest the Arnhem WW2 stuff. Great if you like that sort of thing, desperately dull if you or (more importantly) your wife, thinks it’s dull. You could spend a full day, if you take in the museums or an afternoon or no time at all.

All very good points, and now you've pointed them out

Harz is more important than Holland. Rinteln will just be a passing visit on our way to the Harz. Would prefer not to use motorways, but will do when we have to.

We will have 7 to 10 days for the trip.

I'll have a good read of those links over lunch
 
On the face of it, this one is not too bad, as it criss-crosses the entire Harz and starts from the ‘right end’.

https://www.tourenfahrer.de/tour-datenbank/tour/komm-auf-die-schaukel-26/detail/

A bit over 200 miles, so you could take one day or two or three.... I’d suggest maybe, two?

It would give you a good cross-section of the area and, not least, tell you if you ever wanted to go back there again.

This one is longer and more complex....

https://www.tourenfahrer.de/tour-datenbank/tour/harz-ist-trumpf-457/detail/

But ‘easy’ if you take your time looking at it and doing just a little preparation.

Me? I’d use motorways if I went past the German Rhine cities of Düsseldorf and Essen, maybe as far across as, say, Paderborn. If taking a more northerly route, I’d still sling in some motorway past Rotterdam, Utrecht, Enschede. Then maybe the main roads to, say Minden, before carving off to the Harz.
 
On the face of it, this one is not too bad, as it criss-crosses the entire Harz and starts from the ‘right end’.

https://www.tourenfahrer.de/tour-datenbank/tour/komm-auf-die-schaukel-26/detail/

A bit over 200 miles, so you could take one day or two or three.... I’d suggest maybe, two?

It would give you a good cross-section of the area and, not least, tell you if you ever wanted to go back there again.

This one is longer and more complex....

https://www.tourenfahrer.de/tour-datenbank/tour/harz-ist-trumpf-457/detail/

But ‘easy’ if you take your time looking at it and doing just a little preparation.

Me? I’d use motorways if I went past the German Rhine cities of Düsseldorf and Essen, maybe as far across as, say, Paderborn. If taking a more northerly route, I’d still sling in some motorway past Rotterdam, Utrecht, Enschede. Then maybe the main roads to, say Minden, before carving off to the Harz.

First one looks perfect thanks. She'd quite like to stop in the Harz for 2 or 3 days, so we could do that sort of route bit by bit.

Thanks for your help Wapping.
 
Inspiration Required - Netherlands & Harz Mountains

Putting Hook of Holland to Harz into Kurviger gives you:

https://kurv.gr/7Gszq

27a24830f05132affd78cf3fa6f573f5.png


Doing the same into ViaMichelin, gives you something broadly similar:

f21740fefec333a95aeee838f91cb678.png



Which suggests that there is really only one way to go, unless you want to detour off away south, via the Ardennes, and then curve up north-eastwards. That would be about 600 miles, so quite a bit further really but not impossible by any means....

97b0471f4aa9d34d554a628b8cd1534c.png


If you took the full seven days, lobbed in some motorway to get you into the Ardennes and then from say, Koblenz to Kassel, it would be pretty good. Maybe the reverse of this might be the way to come back, or at least an idea?

One tip.... Take a bit of care with Kurviger, as it can suggest some pretty stupid little roads, just for the sake of it. A bit of common sense and looking at a map will sort those out. ViaMichelin is often better, until you get the hang of how things work.

I hope this gives you some ideas on using software to help with plotting out things. The key, I think, is always to look at the total mileage any route gives you and the time you have set aside to ride it. Having a bit of slack in the plan is not a bad idea. But, remember too, there is no shame in jumping on a motorway. Nobody will ever know, unless you tell them.

Look forward to hearing from you.
 
Inspiration Required - Netherlands & Harz Mountains

I am warming to your juant, better than some of my own :D

If you have a full seven days between getting off the ferry and getting back onto it, how about....

1. Get off the boat at the Hook of Holland

2. Bite the bullet and get to Rinteln, place of your birth and the ‘start’ of your holiday, as quickly as is decent. One day.

3. A day in Rinteln or a least a long morning, as it looks like quite a nice place. One day gone or better still go the two and half hours from Rinteln to Goslar in the afternoon, to get to Goslar around say 17:00. Two days gone.

4. A relaxed two days riding the criss-cross route, suggested above. Find a town you like the look of about halfway along. Four days gone.

5. You are now at the eastern end of the Harz.... bods often forget that they have to come back!

6. Three days to come back.... If you went right to the end (Kelbra) which is not compulsory.... direct it would look like this.

d9a935bd1a915dfac1467d10205d1a05.png



350 miles, using motorways, doable in a day, depending on what time your boat leaves. So we know you can get back and you have plenty of slack.

7. Then, look at something like this to come back. It’s 500 or more miles but you can lob in motorways, particularly after the Belgian Ardennes and you have three days to do it in. You could do it in two and have a day off somewhere in the Ardennes, or you could put the spare day into the Harz.... or just reserve it for slack.... or come back a day earlier.

93c144686c722e8331e7bb898a8aca95.png



It’s difficult to plan bods’ jaunts but I always suggest having a bit of slack in it somewhere. That being said, I do like to push people a bit, as they can often go further (especially towards the end of a holiday, when they have got into a rhythm) than they think they can. There again, I want you to have a good time and, not least, still be married when you come back.... or ditch the witch in the Harz :D :beerjug:
 
I've done lots of driving around Europe in a car, and I need to be careful that I don't convince myself I can do things like a 600 mile slog in a day (like I would in a car).

I think we'll leave the return via the Ardennes out for now. In 2022 we'd like to go back to the Mosel, so would probably do the Ardennes then.

This is what i'm thinking

Hook of Holland - Rinteln
Rinteln - Harz
4 days there like you suggest.
Harz - Gouda for one night (so she can see the Winterdjik windmills)
Ferry home overnight.
 
I've done lots of driving around Europe in a car, and I need to be careful that I don't convince myself I can do things like a 600 mile slog in a day (like I would in a car).

I think we'll leave the return via the Ardennes out for now. In 2022 we'd like to go back to the Mosel, so would probably do the Ardennes then.

This is what i'm thinking

Hook of Holland - Rinteln
Rinteln - Harz
4 days there like you suggest.
Harz - Gouda for one night (so she can see the Winterdjik windmills)
Ferry home overnight.

The Harz itself is a small area. For your 4 nights you could use a single base and do day tours from there, or even take a day off the bike on foot. My little touring group stayed in Goslar for 3 nights a couple of years ago. We aren't keen on the move on every day style of touring. Plenty of hotels to suit all budgets from pensions to smart hotels. A very attractive medieval centre with a range of places to eat or just sit with a bier and watch the world go by.
 
The Harz itself is a small area. For your 4 nights you could use a single base and do day tours from there, or even take a day off the bike on foot. My little touring group stayed in Goslar for 3 nights a couple of years ago. We aren't keen on the move on every day style of touring. Plenty of hotels to suit all budgets from pensions to smart hotels. A very attractive medieval centre with a range of places to eat or just sit with a bier and watch the world go by.

Thanks Wessie, that's exactly what we intend on doing too. The missus isn't too keen on moving on every day, but she doesn't mind it if there's a destination for a few days in the middle somewhere.
 
4 days in the Harz is about right. Torfhaus is a good stop, as is Kyffhauser. Goslar and Quedlinberg are both very nice. Lots of hidden gems in general and nice roads aplenty.
 
The East-West German Border of course ran (north south) through the Harz
If Cold War history is your thing then check out these links
https://www.grenzmuseum.de/en/the-german-bordermuseum-schifflersgrund-2/
https://www.brockenhaus-harz.de/


And if Ancient history floats your boat, The Northern Route to the Harz passes Through the Teutoburger Wald
Where a local lad Arminius, was able to destroy Three Roman Legions, (that's 30,000 troops +) sowing the seeds of future German identity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermannsdenkmal
https://www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de/en/museum/

Fascinating stuff, but i know my lovely Frau would prefer to be destroying my credit card in Berlin! :D
 
The East-West German Border of course ran (north south) through the Harz
If Cold War history is your thing then check out these links
https://www.grenzmuseum.de/en/the-german-bordermuseum-schifflersgrund-2/
https://www.brockenhaus-harz.de/


And if Ancient history floats your boat, The Northern Route to the Harz passes Through the Teutoburger Wald
Where a local lad Arminius, was able to destroy Three Roman Legions, (that's 30,000 troops +) sowing the seeds of future German identity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermannsdenkmal
https://www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de/en/museum/

Fascinating stuff, but i know my lovely Frau would prefer to be destroying my credit card in Berlin! :D

I think my lovely Frau would prefer to be doing the same :headbat
 
......And if Ancient history floats your boat, The Northern Route to the Harz passes Through the Teutoburger Wald
Where a local lad Arminius, was able to destroy Three Roman Legions, (that's 30,000 troops +) sowing the seeds of future German identity......

It took many hundreds of years more for Bismarck to complete that process :D
 
Also worth saying, if you are in any way into WW2 stuff, it's perfectly doable to take in the Mohne and Eder dams (Eder is a bit more off-route perhaps) on your way to the Harz. If you're staying in Goslar the Eder would be more of a detour than if you were somewhere relatively central Harz such as Bad Lauterberg or Nordhausen. Both dams are a very worthwhile stop.
 


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