map's and harwich/calais Q's

ThatGuyOnABike

planning tour around europe. what map is it i need? something about michellin yellow or blue and a small scale. i've been mentioned this but can't remember. need the maps for south of netherlands, NE, E and SE of belgium and very N of france. more precise hook of holland to amsderdam to antwerp to liege to lille to calais.
second question is about reccommendations about getting to harwich from london quick and from calais to london quick. is there trains cos i got two week time frame and want to spend it in europe not going back and forth from docks in uk. then again it is a night boat at harwich so maybe we better strech our legs b4... actually has ne1 done the harwich to hook of holland trip? how is it?.

jibi

Have you checked the prices?

A day sailing is a lot cheaper than overnight.
I did it the other way from Holland, and overnight had to payover £100 which included about 60 quid extra for a cabin
My mate did a day sail and only paid 20 quid.

For maps I carried a map of the Benelux, and a general Europe one, then got local maps free from the tourist ofices.

tailwinds

george

andymiller

ThatGuyOnABike wrote:

second question is about reccommendations about getting to harwich from london quick and from calais to london quick. is there trains cos i got two week time frame and want to spend it in europe not going back and forth from docks in uk. .

Train.

Brains

Train London Liverpool St to Harwich Maritime, 1 mile down hill to Harwich docks, day trip to holland


Ferry from Calais to Dover, 1 mile to Dover station, train to London Bridge

Sorted.

ThatGuyOnABike

cheers for the train stuff. that is SORTED, found the companies and it is now on my plan. but i really need to know about the maps so i can buy them. jibi your approach seems a too slap dash for me (no insult hey it works for some). i just don't know which of the maps out there to go for.

Brains

By the sound of your transport plans you are in/near London

Therefore you need to make a visit to London's (and argubally Europes) biggest and best map shop . Stamfords in Covent garden. They will have all the maps you need and very helpful staff.
http://www.stanfords.co.uk/

Do you have a rough route between Holland and France ? Are you thinking of following the North Sea Route ?in which case THE maps to get are the Esterbauer Bikeline books, brilliant maps and even if you can't get the books in English (not all have been translated) they are worth getting in any language just for the maps.

http://www.esterbauer.com/

cpeachey

If Stanfords don't have what you what go to The Map Centre in Victoria. (Cook, Hammond & Kell) Caxton st? Also look at road atlas as they can be good value...tear out the pages you need.
Chris

ThatGuyOnABike

sorry brains but i don't know about the north sea route, and i ain't going near the sea so i guess that don't effect me but thanks anyway. i will deffinatly give stanfords and maybe the map centre a look in. i like the sound of helpful staff, i certainly need help as i'm quite bad with geography. :roll:

jibi

ThatGuyOnABike wrote:

cheers for the train stuff. that is SORTED, found the companies and it is now on my plan. but i really need to know about the maps so i can buy them. jibi your approach seems a too slap dash for me (no insult hey it works for some). i just don't know which of the maps out there to go for.

No insult taken.

But be sure to go into tourist offices and ask for maps of the local areas you are travelling through. some of them are fantastic.
I have just got one for Tasmania and it is really is a superb map .

I also get the tourist offices to photocopy routes through cities from the A to Z books

For Holland make sure you get BIKE routes as most of the time you are not allowed to cycle on the roads.

Have a great tour
tailwinds
george

ian_oli

The best cycling maps for Holland are regional ones supplied by the ANWB (the Dutch AA) as they show all roads outside of the towns and which main roads have cycle paths. I dunno if they can be bought in the UK or online nowadays, but they are easy enough to find in Holland.

The general rule in Holland in finding your way on a bike is all roads are rideable or have bike paths with the exception of bypasses and motorways. A bigger problem for navigation is that the cycle signposts are somewhat patchy and in some places you followroad signs aimed at vehicles and they take you the long way round as they try and keep cars out of town centres.

Tourist Tony

Get an IGN 1:100,000 map of the Calais area. Get the (Belgian) IGN 1:50,000 maps for the bits of Belgium you will be in, and Michelin yellow maps 1:200,000 IIRC for Holland and Belgium. There may be 1:100,000 Michelin maps available, but I hardly ever use Michelin maps so can't be sure.
Or just rip out pages from an old road atlas. There are brands that use Michelin as well as others that use IGN (French and Belgian equivalents of the OS)

ThatGuyOnABike

cheers all. i've been looking into maps and i know preety much what i will get now. thanks for your indispensable advice.