Ferry booked!

I doubt midweek ferry's get booked up even in May but now that it seems there is minimal fuss getting into France and across to the Rally, I thought I'd book it.

DFDS from Dover to Dunkirk on the 25th May, and back on the 1st June. Same route.

Turning the clock back to 1998

I found these photos in a box in the loft as I was attempting to tidy things up a little.  They are all from Ivan Benda and I think some of them may have featured in the SOC magazine "Hustler".

L to R - Chris Worland, Tony Bayliss, Dave Greenhalgh, Me.

Dave and I receiving awards for 4th rally participation.

Chris Worland awards for Oldest Participant and Furthest Distance.

Ivan Benda special award for his work starting and running the Centre.

Some of the British participants at the old street track near Velké Meziříčí

France drops entry requirements

The French have changed their entry requirements for vaccinated people. We no longer need to pay to take a lateral flow test or PCR test upto 48 hours before arrival.

Now we need the other counties to do the same.

Channel Crossing?

I had toyed with Dover to Dunkerque on the way out and maybe the Shuttle on the way back. 

Then I checked the bookings on each of the Shuttle and DFDS sites:

Eurotunnel

DFDS

After having used the Shuttle on numerous occasions over the last 20 years I can't say that they have been much quicker than the ferry! 

Hardly ever has there been a delay-free departure at either end. 

Motorcyclists are still treated as second class citizens and are loaded last on the back of the train? Why? My 2018 V-Strom is far less likely to spontaneously combust than some of the ancient and badly loaded cars that can barely wheeze over the step to board the train....

On the ferry, bikes generally load first.

The other advantages are that there are seats, radical I know. Seats that even motorcyclists can use unlike the Shuttle where the worn and filthy decks vie with the vents and handrails along the side of the train.

I think I will be taking the DFDS option (or maybe P&O!) as I want to go to Dunkerque rather than Calais.

Finally?

It looks as though we may have finally got to the end of the planning stage.

Hotels and routes look to be sorted. All we need now is some movement from "our friends" in Europe to start opening their borders to international travel and to cut out the very lucrative PCR and lateral flow testing requirements.

It's become a veritable gold rush for companies that sprung up like mushrooms to make a fortune. Cowboy territory.

The hotels are (the links may need dates checked!)

May 25th 🇩🇪 - Hotel Stadt Coblenz on Booking.com! http://www.booking.com/Share-Cu4qVt 

May 26th 🇨🇿 - Hotel Plzeň on Booking.com! http://www.booking.com/Share-oZu81r

May 29th 🇦🇹 - Austria Traveller Hotel Lenzing on Booking.com! http://www.booking.com/Share-ChHSQr 

May 30th 🇩🇪 - Gasthof Kreisi on Booking.com! http://www.booking.com/Share-xd4mdsh 

May 31st 🇱🇺 - Hotel Carpini on Booking.com! http://www.booking.com/Share-AM8EN6

That's about it for now. I have all the routes in MyRouteApp. I could share them to any travellers that want to join us but you'll have to have a MyRouteApp login.

The whole trip looks like this.  I had to stitch all the days routes together.

Overall route as planned.

This is a rough idea of the routes all stitched together although I like to have an idea where the fuel stops are liable to be, not necessarily to stick to them, but it gives an idea of the distances involved. So each day will be updated a little with fuel stops!

All the routes:

MyRouteApp 

Of course there is no such thing as "finally" in a Devall production. I will be tweaking the routes until the day we set off!  Maybe even afterwards too! The wonder of smartphones, apps WIFI and Bluetooth tethering. 👍

Infinity and Beyond!

"To boldly go" etc.

So yesterday's post about Linz to Friedberg had a very short shelf life. 

Once I started to look for hotels in Linz and seeing that either they have very few rooms released to booking.com, or there is genuinely an over abundance of tourists when we are going to be in the area!

I then started to look at the route and the distances involved.  In MyRouteApp I started to toy with different distances.  I had set an arbitrary destination of Linz before checking hotels and even the distances involved. Perhaps I should have done some more research before blogging?  "Bugrit"!

So today as I sat watching the greyhounds at my volunteer job eating and then running around the field I started to look for hotels.  One eye on the screen, one eye on the dogs!

The "previous current" Day 5 (Sunday) route took us from Vernířovice, via Brno with a 90 minute planned stop to see my former teaching colleagues and get a drink, then S52 into Austria.  The route calculated taking us to Linz. Most of it on the A1 Autobahn. We'd need the vignette. As I said before, I personally want the sticker to put on the bike as a "been there, done that" display rather than the e-vignette.

MyRouteApp calculates that as about 310 miles and 6h40m. This includes the 90 mins in Brno but no other stops, like lunch or petrol.

Phil will have his new R1250RT and that I guess will be frugal and get decent mileage. Giles has a Katana and I have no idea at the moment what mpg he gets. Vera currently doing about 50mpg over a variety or local and motorway riding.  

So that doesn't seem too bad. This brings us back to Day 6 Monday.  We have the Eagles Nest and Neuwanstein Castle on the visit list. Although a day ending in Füssen, the nearest town to Neuwanstein might seem sensible. It would leave about 560 miles to cover the be at the channel ports by mid-afternoon on Wednesday. Not too bad over two days, with overnight stops Monday and Tuesday.

But there is a hotel problem. Perhaps Neuwanstein is the mecca for tourists as there a few hotels in the more budget range.  Personally my wallet isn't in the £100+ a night bracket!

So I have from Neuwanstein I add the edited Romantic Road route from TomTom and saw that id starts in Füssen (!) and ends in Würzburg.

So Day 5 Sunday. In the end Linz was too short and Salzburg too long a day. Using booking coms map I worked my way from Salzburg towards Linz checking al the hotels that popped up. Looking at price and the number of rooms available.  You would be surprised how many hotels and gasthofs have one room left for May 29th 2022.

In the end I got as far as 40 miles from Salzburg at Lenzing. Not that far off the A1 and 60or so miles west of Linz. Linz not actually on the A1.

The Austria Traveller Hotel has plenty of rooms available and Lenzing is only 3kms off he A1. It does bump up the day's mileage to around 340. But quite a lot will be on dual-carriageway and motorway.

Day 5 - Sunday

That means that Day 6 (Monday) will be almost as planned with the stops and then part way up the Romantic Road to near Augsburg.

This is also brings into question a stop in Rothenburg ob der Tauber on the way to the rally on Day 2.  It's on the Romantic Road!  But that's a change for another day!

The stop tonight will be at Gasthof Kreisi in Friedberg as per the original plan of only yesterday!

Day 6 - Monday

Day 6 - Linz to Friedberg in Germany

I forgot to post https://czechinvader2022.blogspot.com/2022/02/day-67-miss-out-sinsheim.html and it was still in draft from a few days ago and so it has yesterday's date on it!

Things have advanced today and Sinsheim has bitten the dust. Instead it has been replaced with visits to the Eagles Nest at Berchtesgaden and Neuwanstein Castle.

Phil wanted to go to the "Disney Castle" at Neuwanstein and so I factored that in.

Whilst in the area a couple of times I have missed several opportunities to visit the Eagles Nest. So as it was only a short detour off the route westwards from Linz I added that too.

The end of May must be popular in the Füssen area as budget priced hotels seem to be at a premium. Maybe there are loads of tourists as there seem to be loads of hotels and little availability.

So my search started northwards on the Romantic Road that actually starts in Füssen. Ever northwards and still plenty of hotels and b&b but not a lot of room availability for three blokes on bikes.

In the end I found one near Augsburg. This will add 60 miles to the day. Even with an hour each for the two main two stops it makes for a long day.

I have cancelled Heilbronn and booked this one. A gasthof Kreisi with rooms and restaurant. Address at  Herrgottsruhstraße 18, Friedberg.

I emailed Phil and Giles straightaway. It's the usual free cancellation and no prepayment terms as usual.

As the day's mileage has gone up maybe we need to look at the other end, the start and see what we can do about moving an overnight in Linz a bit further westwards? Maybe nearer Salzburg?

Channel Crossing?

With Covid-19 still not defeated and crossing the channel still a pain in the arse getting to France - still need a PCR or lateral flow test, still need to be vaccinated and boosted and on top of that some stupid "honour" statement to show the border police.

I was thinking that a ferry out would be a better option and maybe the tunnel.on the way back. 

Current thinking is Dunkerque out instead of Calais. It's the same price, the crossing is about half an hour longer and from experience it is actually more relaxed than Calais or the Shuttle.

Current fare is £37.

Food for thought.

Day 6/7 - Miss Out Sinsheim?

Question? "What if I dropped Sinsheim?"  The original Day 6 would have been a longish day starting around Brno and ending in Heilbronn.

The decision to convert Brno to a stop rather than a stopover means that Sunday evening (Day 5) could be in Austria.  I plucked Linz from the air as I have stayed there before, in the Youth Hostel.

That end point was to allow for a shorter journey the next day to Heilbronn on Monday to get to Sinsheim, visit the museum and then head homewards with an overnight stay in Luxembourg. Instead there maybe a different trip planned for later this year or in 2023 that includes Sinsheim.  So it seems a bit daft to go twice!

Dropping Sinsheim would mean cancelling Heilbronn overnight and maybe even the Luxembourg overnight.

So Day 6 from Linz onwards. Maybe incorporate the Romantic Road ending up at the end of that around Würzburg?

Even I am getting confused with what day is what and where I will be!

Day 1 (Wednesday 25/5) - Ferry or Shuttle - Overnight near Coblenz.

Day 2 (Thursday 26/5) - Across Germany - Overnight Plzeň

Day 3 (Friday 27/5) - Cross Czech - Overnight Vernířovice

Day 4 (Saturday 28/5) - Rally - Overnight Vernířovice

Day 5 (Sunday 29/5) - Leave Vernířovice, Brno, Austria - Overnight Linz?

Day 6 (Monday 30/5) - Leave Linz, Romantic Road? - Overnight - Würzburg?

Day 7 (Tuesday 31/5) - Würzburg - Overnight ???

Day 8 (Wednesday 1/6) - ???? to Shuttle/Ferry - Overnight Home!

Day 5/6 - Brno Stop?

As mentioned before. I might make Brno a stop rather than a stopover on the first stage of the return leg.

Currently, the return leg is based on two visits. Firstly to see my friends in Brno and secondly, to visit the Sinsheim Technology Museum.

If the first one becomes at stop rather than stopover, maybe Sinsheim could be consigned to the bin?

It looks as though I have some more tweeking to do!

Where to stay on the Sunday? I was thinking that if I leave Vernířovice about 10am I could be in Brno before lunchtime. A pitstop and chat, then off. But where?

From Brno it's maybe 90 miles or so to Vienna and only 45 or so to the border with Austria.

So back to where to stay?  

This would be Day 5. I have stayed several times at the Youth Hostel in Melk on the Danube. And also in Linz once. That's an idea. 

How to get there? The quickest would be to cross the border on the dual carriageway that replaced the old S52.

This was actually the first way we came in on our first trip to Czechoslovakia in 1986. We crossed from Drasenhofen to Mikulov through a very tight border complete with anti tank ditches, wire and dogs. When I lived in Zastávka I went through here a couple of times a month to buy an English newspaper in Austria and to meet my partner at the time from Vienna Airport.

I digress. To use the motorway to Linz would take the mileage to about 280 for the day. That's doable in a day Inc a stop to sea friends. It would mean buying a vignette asap in Austria as bikes have to pay to use the motorways. It's not that expensive.

I'd prefer the stick on one but you can get one electronically! https://checkout.mautpilot.com/product/10-Tages-Vignette?

The stick on is like a tourist "I've been" sticker!

To keep Day 6 (Monday) ending in Heilbronn would mean a other longish day again on motorways. Linz to Strasbourg and then into Germany. The app calculates it to be 350 or so.

Of course. I might decide to drop Sinsheim and plan something else.

All part of the fun.

Church of Bones

Way back in 2011 Claire and I were in the car and on the way back from Brno we went off motorway and called in to Kutná Hora and the Church of Bones.

I'd like to go again and maybe get a closer look 

It's part macabre and part artistic. 

(Photos are all taken by me)