first timer

[deek1922]

hi,i plan to take a trip over to germany in the summer,myself,son,brother and a couple of mates will be going,the most i've travelled in one day is about 450 miles,i'm looking to save money,i live in ayrshire so should i take the rosyth ferry on the east coast of scotland or travel down to the east coast of england and catch the ferry from there?,i'm 50 this year so it's now or never and i'm looking forward to the trip as i've never gone this far on a bike,i'll be on a 1992 bmw k100lt
i'm thinking of going to the bmw biker meeting at garmisch in july,anyone that's reading this been? and if so what's it like.
thanks for reading this.

[welovebikes]

Hi

Should be a fun trip to Germany with a gang of you and if you do set sail from the South Coast, I would highly recommend you stay your first night at the Bikers Hotel in Ostende, a great place to start or finish a European trip. See details at Motorhotel Groenedijk - Oudenburg, Oostende


Would also like to meet up for a pint and if it helps can book you in to our local pub for a cheap B&B, about £20 each on your way down or up, as we are near Banbury, Oxfordshire just off Jct 11 of the M40.

Ride safe.

Chris

[craig76]

I always use the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry but then I only live about 15 minutes or so from the port. Be flexible with dates and you can get a good deal. Always a few in the queue from Scotland and even the Shetlands so must be worth the trip, probably because you can get a cabin cheaper than a reclining seat on the Rosyth ferry.

[deek1922]

thanks craig,any idea how much the ferry will be and the best days of the week to get the ferry,
cheers

[craig76]

The fares are calculated per cabin, not per person and then per bike. As far as I know, they travel every day and leave around 5pm so you sleep while you travel, wake up in Holland ready to go. You're best off checking the DFDS website for an exact price.

For Ferries to Europe and Scandinavia - DFDS Seaways

I usually travel alone so it always appears expensive compared to the Dover ferry because I have a 2 person cabin to myself. Once I take into account the fuel, tyre wear, a B&B each way, 2 extra days off work riding to and back from Dover, and then the cost of the ferry itself, it starts to make sense.

Note that the price can go up the closer to your travel date that you want and also depending on what events are on in Holland. For example, me and a mate took our bikes to the Dutch TT/Moto GP at Assen in '08 and it was a lot more than I usually pay.

[dave08]

Hi deek,

Garmisch is a fantastic place with some great biking roads all around, been a couple of times but not to the bmw meet

[craig76]

I'll second that. Travelled up through Austria, through Mittenwald and stayed near Walchensee last year, not far from Garmisch. Any of the roads round that area are great biking roads.

[Hooli]

if the ferry prices are anything like the ones to spain then its cheaper to relax on a boat than ride the bike there.
work out your mileage & fuel use to get further south on the bike & compare it to the ferry. its probably about the same. then consider your sevice interval & tyre wear. if you rode to dover & back that'd be about 1k mikes? on my bike thats 1/4 of a service interval & a noticable amount of tyre life.

[deek1922]

i,ve been online and it looks like norfolk line are taking up the rosyth to zebrugge line,from the beginning of may 'til the end of june it works out at £120 each splitting it four ways,sounds not a bad deal.
thanks for all your replies.