Anyone toured in Denmark?
Chris Bcp
Posts: 139
If so, what's the best/cheapest way to get there and where did you ride?
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CAn't comment about getting there but its well organised for cyclists. There is the equivalent to CTC who do excellent maps showing all cycle paths.Camping is good and relatively plentiful, inlcuding 'back to nature' = very simple sites. Denmark is flat compared to Spain etc but some bits are are a bit hilly. The prevailing wind is sort of south west so if you're planning coastal cycling keep that it mind - it can be very windy!!
try WWW.dcf.dk mostly in Danish but some english - mpas & guides etc - give them a ring they will speak English.
HAve fun0 -
Hiya
Yeah I've just recently done another tour in Denmark, my second. The first time I rode from Hamburg in Germany along the old Army road that winds through the northern countryside and links up with National Cycle Route 3 in Denmark. From there north to Viborg where I cut west on Route 2 to the island of Mors. Taking it easy on full packs it took me six days, camping.
This time My wife came with me on her first cycle tour so we rode from Padborg on the border to the town of Aarhus following National Cycle Route 5.
Denmark is really, really great for cycling. The routes are all well sign-posted for the most part and a single map denoting all the national and local routes across the country was enough, although some of the smaller hamlets aren't marked on it - but that wasn't a problem. You can of course pick up more detailed area maps at the tourist info offices. The national and regional cycle maps show all of the nature camps, but it's advisable to pick up a copy of 'Over Natning' - a guidebook to the camps that also has maps - b/w unfortunately - and lists the facilities on offer at the camps. The text and directions however are in Danish, but it's still extremely useful to the none-Danish speaker. Generally they're on privately owned land, but the camp fee is minimal - around 10 to 15 DK and are only open to hikers and cyclists, no cars, campers or caravans. Most of them have toilets, shower or washroom facilities, firewood and a fireplace, fresh water and are often able to sell you milk and the odd bottle of beer after a day's ride and in my experience are run by very friendly and accommodating folk.
What the book doesn't tell you in English, although it's pointed out in Danish, is that a great number of these sites are actually free to use, they're denoted by - (S), which means that they're located in a forested area and free to use. Also sites denoted by Admin or (|Amt) are also free sites. Many of these also provide fresh water, toilets, a fire place and often firewood. In our experience they were all in scenic and fairly secluded spots and were ideal.
The routes themselves are really great to ride, on the last ride over five days we shared the way with heavy traffic around 5% of the time and of that 5% around 1% was roadside as opposed to segregated bike lane. Usually if you find yourself roadside you've either missed a sign or you're very briefly crossing a highway to connect with the route on the opposite side. The routes meander and cut back on themselves a little to avoid major roads, but it's a small price to pay to get away from fast cars and trucks. Sometimes it can get a little confusing getting clear of some of the larger towns that lie on the route, but again, not a major problem. Often the routes make use of rougher track or gravel through wood land and the like. I rode with 32's on a Galaxy with full packs and didn't have any major problems, although where the track had been laid with sand- only happened one or twice - it could get dodgy. On a bike like the Galaxy with full packs I'd recommend strong, high quality rear rims rather than the stock rims that come with the bike.
All in all everywhere we rode in Denmark we found the people to be warm, welcoming, extremely helpful and friendly and kudos to the Danish people for making it such a great bike friendly experience.
Getting there. Well Aarhus is a hub for budget airlines, I'm pretty sure Easyjet fly there and there's also a budget Danish carrier, which I can't remember the name of.
This time as it was my wife's first tour - we're based in Hamburg - we took the train to the border and rode from there. There's a train ticket you can buy for 29 Euro - Schleswig-Holstein - Ticket, which is good for five people. No, that wasn't a typo - 5 can travel on a 29 Euro ticket in a massive radius around northern Germany - there's a small additional fee for the bikes. So my wife and I with the bikes travelled from Hamburg to the Danish border for a total of 35 Euro. Train travel time to the border was around 2 hours. Actually as we were buying the ticket a young girl saw us and asked if she might tag along, we said that was no problem and she insisted on giving my wife 10 Euro - just over half of what it would have cost her to travel by herself - so she was happy and naturally so were we. I'm told this is a fairly common occurrence.
Yeah I can definitely recommend Denmark for cycle touring
bird0 -
Fantastic posts, most useful.
We've booked a ferry from Harwich which is very expensive but does include a cabin so it'll feel properly like a holiday! So with a SW wind it's best to head north along the cost and the camping sounds excellent.
Thanks both.0 -
Can also recommennd the overnight camping guide. Used it when touring round all over the country and stayed at quite a few idyllic free spots off the beaten track. Though the guide is in Danish, it's fairly straightforward to use the symbols and key. The quiet sites made a good change from the larger, commercial sites, which can be quite busy and full of motor tourists with caravans.
"Overnatning i det fri" is available at the Danish cycling tourist office and there is a website too, with more details. You'll find a summary page in English there:
http://www.teltpladser.dk/engelsk.htm0 -
RW, I private mailed you about the guide. Where is this office as the link doesn't tell me where to buy it. Or would you sell me your guide?0
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My guide will be out of date now, as it is a few years old. Cordee (as per website) don't seem to have it in stock. The guide is in the danish cycling club online shop (98 Kr). If you find the Danish intimidating, I suggest you just send an email in English to them. I'm sure they'll sort something out for you.
I bought the guide from them at their shop in Copenhagen. They were very helpful.
The email address is
dcf@dcf.dk0 -
We did Harwich/Esbjerg on the ferry
Denmark is not the most exiting country in Europe and whilst senic and very nice I have no desire to go back again
The best book we found was the bikeline book - brilliant maps.0 -
Not good for Cols apparrently but brilliant for pootling around on bikes and camping in out of the way places.0
