Copenhagen to Bremen
 

I see that there appear to be two routes from Copenhagen into Germany. One is a land route to the West and the other is a Rodby-Puttgarden Ferry route to the South. Both appear to take about the same amount of travel time, but the land route is a longer route. Can anyone make a recommendation as to which route is the better way to go? I recognize it may just be a matter of preference, but I'm trying to find out if its possibly more than that once you factor timing the Ferry, etc.... Thanks.

Boring ferry's
 

Most ferry crossings are very boring. First you have to be there in time and then wait and wait and wait untill you can board. Then you tie down your bike and go to the deck and wait and wait and wait untill all cars, campers, trucks and touringcars are on board. Then you have a coffee/beer and something to eat and then you walk around the ship ten times, have another coffee/beer and something to eat. Then you arrive at the port. Then you have to wait and wait untill all cars and campers and trucks and touringcars are gone and then finaly you can ride again.......... I don't like ferry's very much but you may have guessed that by now :-)

If it saves me a lot of time, I may take a ferry but if possible I ride.
I bought a bike to ride it, not to park it in the hull of a ferryboat. :-)

Jan, thanks for the response. All other things being equal, I'm in total agreement about the ferry, but I'm not sure if everything else is equal. I'm presuming the land route is a fine route, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something that would cause me to decide that taking the ferry was a smarter decision. I'm hoping someone will tell me they've traveled both routes, and confirm that there is actually no good reason to take the ferry. Thanks again, Jon

The rødby-puttgarden ferry is a very short ride at only 45 minutes, and there is a ferry every 40 mins.
Taking the ferry will be a bit faster, going "overland" you will cross the "storebæltbroen" wich is a long and famous bridge (at least famous in Denmark).
Are you going straight from copenhagen to bremen, or are you planing to spend some time along the way?

Storebæltbroen is an airy/ hairy experience -- more exciting for me than the Oresund bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo/ Denmark and Sweden.

But I'd strongly recommend pootling round the south of Denmark, islands like Mons, Bogo, Falster, Lolland (they look and sound more Danish if you have the right Scandinavian characters on yr keyboard!) This is the Denmark of charming, tiny villages, thatched cottages and endless seascapes. Well-maintained but empty minor roads. It's very enticing.

That will also take you into Germany via Flensburg, which is an interesting city with some excellent bars, and access to the Autobahn network. What more could you want? ;-)

--Mike

>> and access to the Autobahn network. What more could you want? ;-) <<


Aw, don't suggest riding the motorway after Jan pointed out that ferries are rather boring. Autobahns are even more so ;-)

I'd cut across from Flensburg to the west and dwadle down the coastline. Friedrichstadt is quite an interesting experience - typical Dutch ambiente in Germany. When you get to the Elbe river carry on to Gluckstadt and take the ferry across to the other side. This allows you bypass the heavy traffic in & around Hamburg. From there it isn't far to Bremen anymore.
Hans

Thanks everyone for your input. Elbert79 where is the storebæltbroen bridge? I can't find it on the map. Is it just east of Slagelse and west of Nyborg? Vaufi, your suggestion about the coast sounds like a great idea. While I'm ultimately trying to get to a hotel in Bremen, I need to drop off the motorcycles at the port in Bremerhaven. If there's a ferry at Gluckstadt, I can jump across the Elbe there and be almost to Bremerhaven. Can you tell me anything about this ferry, like how often it runs? Does anyone know the best way to get from Bremerhaven to Bremen once we've dropped off the bikes at the port? We'll not have transportation after that. Is there a train or bus?

Storebæltsbroen is between korsør (close to slagelse) and nyborg, it's a toll bridge so you have to pay 105 dkk or 15€ to cross it.
There is a small ferry from just outside glückstadt that crosses the elbe and it goes all the time, when I took it last year all the motorcykles went in front of all the cars waiting in line.
I don't think there will be a problem to get from bremerhaven to bremen by bus or train, but I've never tried to do it.

There's a fun sequence on the run down the coast towards Bremerhaven: a big bridge (over the Kiel canal at Brunsbüttel), a long, slow ferry (across the Elbe, at Glückstad) and a bright, spangly new tunnel (the Wesser tunnel below Bremerhaven.)

As I recall, the Glückstad ferry goes every 50 minutes. It's a slow, low ferry and as you set off you wonder if it's got the pace and power to make it across. (It does. Just.)

It's a strangely old-fashioned means of crossing a river compared with the bridge and tunnel, especially in a rich and powerful area of a rich and powerful country, but none the worse for that.

--Mike

I'll probably go to glückstadt tomorrow and take the ferry om saturday, From the last time I took the ferry I don't remember it as a long ride, but there was enough time to get a cup of coffe and a bratwürst in the cafeteria. I let you know if things have changed...

The ferry took like 15 to 20 minnutes and costed 4,5€ There was a lot of other motorcycles onboard, and I had a nice chat with some of the others. Glückstadt is a very nice place to stop for some food because there is easy to find a place to park the bike next to the resturants around "Am markt" the back roads towards bremen are very nice and scenic going through forrests and smal towns.

Thank Elbert79. This is the route we'll take. I really appreciate you scouting it out for me and the rest of the helpful information!! Jon