Route from Zeebrugge to Interlaken?

[zei220]

Hello, I'm trying to put a route together from Zeebrugge to interlaker via an overnight in Larochette. I've tried mapsource and the problem I have is, there's no clues about the quality of the roads. So does anyone have a interesting route I could use, please? Would perfer to stay off the motorways/tolls.

Thanks.

 

[sven]

Don't miss the Routes de Cretes north to south through the Vosges Mountains

 

[Tusky]

Don't miss the Routes de Cretes north to south through the Vosges Mountains

I would second Route de Cretes, as Black Forest option would be a bloody long day from Luxembourg.

Ignoring the first waypoint (Bubble Hotel at Raon Etape and the end going up to Lauterbrunnen), this is the route I did in 2010. it will still be a hard days riding as you need to get from Luxembourg to Raon Etape, so early start, especially if its at a weekend

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=88110+Râon-l'Etape&daddr=N66+to:47.774406,7.130127+to:Route+de+Vendlincourt+to:Lauterbrunnen,+Interlaken,+Berne,+Switzerland&geocode=FQKe4gIdPmRoACkTDtQp0IyTRzEwdzeauV8KBA%3BFWBo2gIdgmJrAA%3B%3BFYDM0wIdaBFtAA%3BFYT7xgIdoqh4ACkrGkXACaCPRzHw9BhAiP8ABA&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=11&via=1,2,3&sll=47.794707,7.058029&sspn=0.321052,0.862427&ie=UTF8&ll=47.580231,9.18457&spn=2.579038,6.899414&z=8

 

[Wapping]

Do you have a PC? I guess you do. Dial up Google maps.

It's very nearly a straight line north to south, heading towards roughly five o'clock.

See the recent thread from the bod asking how to get from Zeebrugge to Garmisch... It tells you how to plot a route.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3361313&postcount=15

What quality of roads? Black and tarmac. Unless you get very lost It's Western Europe, not the Russian Steppes

 

[wessie]

Larochette is less than half way so you have plenty of scope to do some wiggly bits along the France-Belgium-Lux border once south of the E42. Use the maps at http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ to determine the good roads (as with the paper maps, look for the green worm alongside the road for scenic routes)

Day 2 is a longer day of over 300 miles even by the shortest route. If you take the highly recommended Route des Cretes as mentioned above then you are in for a long day of 350 miles with some sections where your average speed will be quite low.

Personally, I'd add an extra night to the journey and stay with a friend who lives near Mulhouse. Then I could enjoy an afternoon in the Vosges and the following day in the lovely mountains between Dagmersellen & Interlaken such as the excellent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaubenbielen_Pass

If you really only have one day after your stop in Larochette then get on the free German Autobahn to the Swiss border and find your way to Dagmersellen then have a play in the mountains in the latter part of the day.

 

[sven]

We did Strasbourg to Luzern via the a routes des Cretes in one pretty easy day.

I think I'd use the Swiss motorways for the last bit to Interlaken if there are no obvious passes as the speed limits and number of towns/villages in the Swiss valleys makes progress pretty slow and tedious.

 

[Wapping]

Obvious (and usual) questions before everyone suggests routes:

1. When are you going? If it's next week, plan on being inconvenienced by snow. If it's August, discount that possibility.(probably).

2. How long do you have available to complete the journey, Zeebrugge > Larochette > Interlarken?

I guess it's two full days, as you mention just the one overnight stop at Larochette in Luxembourg?

3. Is there some particular time by when you must be in Interlarken? For instance, if you must be there by 13:00 it's pointless suggesting routes that will get you there by 21:30.

If it's a must that you must be in Interlarken, showered and in your best suit by 13:00* or you'll miss your wedding (and you only have one only the one overnight stop at Larochette) some motorway / toll roads may well be inevitable.... Or you'll need to get your skates on down the Route des Cretes and probably have to skip a leisurely lunch at noon, too.

4. You have highlighted Larochette for your overnight stop. Any particular reason?




*We had a fellow who (only after lots of us had suggested routes) dropped a similar bombshell

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

Brussels can be a pain in the morning en route from the ferry - traffic

Have you booked the ferry?

Its the same distance to your first stop from Rotterdam, its a bigger/better ferry, sails later and arrives earlier.

It also gives you the opportunity to get to Luxembourg through the Ardennes with time to call into the F1 circuit at Spa

As advised you then need to incorporate the Vosges before rolling out to Switzerland.

 

[Peirre O`Bollox]

Brussels can be a pain in the morning en route from the ferry - traffic

There isn`t an ideal solution, as the same can be said for hitting rush hour traffic when you leave the Rotterdam ferry, you just end up hitting a different cities rush hour

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

There isn`t an ideal solution, as the same can be said for hitting rush hour traffic when you leave the Rotterdam ferry, you just end up hitting a different cities rush hour

True - but have you ever been caught in traffic off the Rotterdam ferry getting out of Holland I haven't and I use it at least 3 times a year.

The 2 times I have used Zeebrugge - Brussels has got me every time

The last (and final) time was on the way back to the ferry which was the usual motorway congestion resulting in a rush hour detour through the city in suffocating tunnels

Maybe I'm just unlucky

 

[Ronno]

Larochette is less than half way so you have plenty of scope to do some wiggly bits along the France-Belgium-Lux border once south of the E42. Use the maps at http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ to determine the good roads (as with the paper maps, look for the green worm alongside the road for scenic routes)

Day 2 is a longer day of over 300 miles even by the shortest route. If you take the highly recommended Route des Cretes as mentioned above then you are in for a long day of 350 miles with some sections where your average speed will be quite low.

Personally, I'd add an extra night to the journey and stay with a friend who lives near Mulhouse. Then I could enjoy an afternoon in the Vosges and the following day in the lovely mountains between Dagmersellen & Interlaken such as the excellent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaubenbielen_Pass

If you really only have one day after your stop in Larochette then get on the free German Autobahn to the Swiss border and find your way to Dagmersellen then have a play in the mountains in the latter part of the day.

Funnily enough, I was in Larochette in September. What a dump compaired to my last visit there in 1999.

Vianden was so much nicer.

 

[zei220]

Thank you for your replies.

To answer your questions and comments..

When i said quality, maybe i should have said interesting as in not boring to ride.

The ferry is booked for mid July. We'll take two days to get to interlaken and we dont have arrive by a time limit.

This year we decided to use eurocamp' mobile home option for our accommodation. We have a mobile booked in Larochette, then three nights in interlaken, followed by one night each at Douceir, Pierrefitte-sur-sauldre and Saint-Valery-sur-somme, then return to zeebrugge.

 

[Wapping]

So, you know when you are going and where (and on what days) you plan stop for the night, over both the separate legs of your journey .. So all YOU need to do now is:

(a) Look at a proper map (not Mapsource, which you now know to be a crap map * but very good for getting data into a GPS device)

(b) Work out from the map's legend which roads are motorways, which ones are major and which ones are minor

(c) Work out which roads, across quite a huge area of France, suit your riding and timeframe best

This will give you a good start:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136891

Go on, give it a go

Seriously, have a look at the map sticky.... And arm yourself with the maps..... They are as cheap as chips http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3311931&postcount=18






*Actually, that's unfair. It can be an excellent map if you can imagine what the roads displayed should be like. That just takes a bit time and practice. You'll get the hang of it in a hour or two, I promise.

 

[Rasher]

IMO you need to cover some ground quickly, you do have a choice of either running along Route Des Cretes in the Vosges (West of Rhine in France) or riding down the B500 in the Black Forest (East of Rhine in Germany)

The part of Switzerland near Basel is best on the Motorways, once past Basel you should start to see some Mountains appear, once past the clutter you can head onto the back roads if you want, but...

Two days is a load of time for this trip so you could probably arrive quite early on day two, dump your gear and go for a spin.

Most of the Alpine Passes start a little SE or SW from Interlaken, but from your base you could ride the following route in an afternoon:-

Head east to Innerkirchen, from here you can take the Susten Pass to Wassen, the head south to Andermatt where you head West to Gletsch (this is the Furka Pass) and then turn North back to Innerkirchen (This is the Grimsel Pass) and then back to base - about 120 miles and 3 hours in the saddle, so an easy afternoons ride.

With a full day from Andermatt head East over the Oberalp and then turn back south at Disentis to go over the Lukemanier Pass, then head back up the A2 and then take the St Gothard back up to Andermatt and then head West across the Furka, see map below - you may need to zoom put. This is a nice run of about 5 saddle hours covering six fantastic passes

<iframe width="1275" height="1050" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=interlaken&daddr=Innertkirchen,+Switzerland+to:46.7309863,8.4272634+to:Unknown+road+to:46.6552095,8.7085417+to:Via+Alpsu%2FRoute+19+to:Zona+Acquacalda%2FRoute+416+to:46.5468032,8.5608784+to:Furkastrasse%2FRoute+19+to:Am+Grimselpass%2FRoute+6+to:Route+11%2FRoute+6&geocode=FTtWyAIdGNB3ACmtYVJukKSPRzGhkz42fkdgvg%3BFRSmyAIdCJF9ACnL6ASypoiPRzFV76OLFiv0YQ%3BFeoOyQId_5aAACnPymxVwGOFRzHD8rPsvnDcPQ%3BFWWjxwId7EyDAA%3BFenmxwIdveGEACnRbrTvVm2FRzFcM1b3CsZs_A%3BFWaIyAId7u6GAA%3BFSklxgIdeLaGAA%3BFXM_xgId7qCCACmzpfJEYnaFRzGxZ4I7f3OAxg%3BFdRCxwId43GCAA%3BFbj0xgIdbAp_AA%3BFW8NyAIdRnd3AA&aq=0&oq=innerkirchen&sll=46.539027,8.636627&sspn=0.576226,1.678162&hl=en&doflg=ptm&mra=dpe&mrsp=7&sz=10&via=2,4,7&ie=UTF8&ll=46.539027,8.636627&spn=0.576226,1.678162&t=m&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=interlaken&daddr=Innertkirchen,+Switzerland+to:46.7309863,8.4272634+to:Unknown+road+to:46.6552095,8.7085417+to:Via+Alpsu%2FRoute+19+to:Zona+Acquacalda%2FRoute+416+to:46.5468032,8.5608784+to:Furkastrasse%2FRoute+19+to:Am+Grimselpass%2FRoute+6+to:Route+11%2FRoute+6&geocode=FTtWyAIdGNB3ACmtYVJukKSPRzGhkz42fkdgvg%3BFRSmyAIdCJF9ACnL6ASypoiPRzFV76OLFiv0YQ%3BFeoOyQId_5aAACnPymxVwGOFRzHD8rPsvnDcPQ%3BFWWjxwId7EyDAA%3BFenmxwIdveGEACnRbrTvVm2FRzFcM1b3CsZs_A%3BFWaIyAId7u6GAA%3BFSklxgIdeLaGAA%3BFXM_xgId7qCCACmzpfJEYnaFRzGxZ4I7f3OAxg%3BFdRCxwId43GCAA%3BFbj0xgIdbAp_AA%3BFW8NyAIdRnd3AA&aq=0&oq=innerkirchen&sll=46.539027,8.636627&sspn=0.576226,1.678162&hl=en&doflg=ptm&mra=dpe&mrsp=7&sz=10&via=2,4,7&ie=UTF8&ll=46.539027,8.636627&spn=0.576226,1.678162&t=m" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>


B - C = Susten

D- E = Lukemanier

Airolo - F = ST Gothard (Or take the Cobblestone Tremola if you prefer)

F- G = Furka

G - B = Grimsel

 

[peterc]

I did this trip couple of years ago, agree with Rasher, brilliant passes from Interlaken, although my route there was through Reims-Dijon-Interlaken and did the B500 Waldshut to Baden-Baden on the way home, fantastic roads.Will defo do it again one day, so much to see, so little time lol

 

[Wapping]

Two days is a load of time for this trip so you could probably arrive quite early on day two, dump your gear and go for a spin.

Unfortunately for that cunning plan, the OP has his heart set on the campsite in Larochette in Luxembourg for his overnight stop to end day one.

He then wants to ride the next day from Larochette to Interlarken, down interesting (non-motorway / toll) roads, a conservative distance of 350 miles. If he manages to average 50 mph down the 'interesting' roads, with his wife on the back and doesn't stop once, he'll be looking at seven hours. Penny to a tenner says he ain't going to that

Unless he follows your advice of covering some ground quickly (which suggests hitting the super slab with a reasonable bt of vim and vigour) he ain't going to be anywhere near Interlarken 'quite early' on day two and won't be heading off for another 150 miles around the excellent passes.... Or he can get up 'quite early' from his Larchette slumbers Another penny to a tenner says he won't be doing that either

 

[zei220]

Sounds like I'm in for a couple of character building days

 

[Wapping]

Which way you goin', Mister?

 

[zei220]

I'm working on it... give me a couple of days

 

[Wapping]

I'm working on it...

Good man