So yes this big trip happened. *Pinches myself to wake up* ;D

After planning on paper and speaking to select, relevant people to get insights and tips I was off to make this trip happen. I was concerned that there maybe a gap between all my research and what was needed on ground, but it went of fairly well. Of course last minute adaptations were needed, but managed.

There were many moments where I questioned whether I was taking up too much and can I do this?

But well, just keep plodding on – that I have realised is the secret to many things in life.

Choosing the route,

(In case you are looking to plan your cycling trip, I have jotted down notes here about choosing your long distance cycling route)

GERMANY – the country of choice because it is well cheaper, very cycle friendly and fairly flat – great combination for a first trip.

Berlin was where my base would be. I spent the first 12 days here to get my gear. Very hectic with a bit of city exploration added. 15 days would have been better.

I considered different routes,
– north coastal France, Netherlands & Belgium
– Berlin, Dresden to Prague

France didn’t seem to have adequate campsites in that region. Czech wasn’t that cycle friendly. And overall none were feeling right.
More research.
Came across the Berlin – Copenhagen route, felt right. Fits in with my plan to keep Berlin as base of this trip. It would take me to Denmark & I totally wanted to cycle in Scandinavian countries. I would also love to visit Copenhahagen! So Berlin to Copenhagen it is!

Transport back from Copenhagen wasn’t the easiest and there were many other difficulties bit I think any route would have some difficulties  and so I went ahead researching it more.

Bikeway Berlin – Copenhagen is an official international travel route:
http://www.bike-berlin-copenhagen.com

They have identified three sections,
Brandenburg – Germany
Mecklenburg – Germany
Eastern coast of Denmark

You can of course find lot of info on the website… They split each section into day wise trips ranging from 35 km to 70 km. For most avid cyclists in Europe this distance is fine.

However, I chose to do a cycling trip as a slow traveler – I love cycling but am not really an avid cyclist. I planned to cycle just abt 30 – 40km a day. So the stops I took and daily coverage was lot different. I often stopped at a place for many days, just absorbing the camping experience and cycling around in the nearby town.

The daily stops would also depend on the accommodation.

Accommodations can be managed with,

Campsites – in which case you need camping gear but on the upside you can be entirely impromptu

AirBnB/Couchsurfing – this can be budget but needs planning on the road

Hostels/Hotels – this may not be budget as the route touches many small towns. Also you would need to book in advance to get better deals.

The advantage of camping or keeping accommodation impromptu is that it allows you to be flexible. When cycling, your plans change. Depending on the weather or your health or some other factor you may not be able to cycle the planned distance.

I camped almost all the days as it let’s me be impromptu and budget.

So here is how I covered the entire route and some brief notes,

View the map here

I will blog in detail about the various places and then link those blogs here so you can get additional info.

Ride 1:
Berlin to Oranienburg (~35 km)
After a really late start from Berlin reached the lovely Oranienburg campsite by end of day. My first camping experience. 🙂

Here I made a German friend here using Google Translate

A trip to Sachsenhausen concentration camp (10km)

Ride 2: Oranienburg to Zehdenick/Zielegar Nature Park (~45km)
Lovely route by river Havel. Towns Liebenwalde and Zehdenick – really picturesque.

Ride 3: Zielegar Nature park to Furstenberg Havel (~45km)
This is when the route gets really scenic! I think this was one of best routes in the German section in terms of scenic and flatness… The later parts get a bit hilly.

The Umbracke concentration camp was located on the way

I visited Santas house @ Himmelpfort 😉 

Explored Furstenberg Havel (10km)
Shocked an Italian restaurenteer and got  free drink. 😉

Ride 4: Furstenberg Havel to Wesenberg (~35km)
Route got hilly.  Not much for experienced people – but I am not experienced!! In fact I didn’t know how to use gears on hilly. ;D
Spent two days at Wesenberg campsite & figured out.

Ride 5: Wesenberg to Waren (~65km)
Managed the hilly. On verge of enjoying. Took a “detour” which turned out to be a pot-holed mud path. The second maddest ride in the trip.

Explored Waren (10km)

Ride 6: Waren to Krakow am See (~50km)
Krakow am See again a lovely town. Had dinner at a lake facing restaurant 🙂

Ride 7: Krakow am See to Gustrow & Rostock (~20km)
Cycled to Gustrow. Enroute met some lovely and somewhat eccentric people including an almost-round-the-world cyclist. Spent some time here… So then decided to take a train from Gustrow to Rostock.

Explored Gustrow: 10km

& reached Denmark by ferry!

Ride 8: Gedser to Marielyst Strand ( ~20km)
A crazy ride from 7pm to 9.15pm on a windy night!

Ride 9: Marielyst strand to Nykobing Falsing (~20km)
Explored marielyst strand – award winning Denmark beach. Realised that here in Denmark I can have conversations with locals because they know English.. Unlike in Germany. Though this wasn’t true later as the area got more rural.

Ride 10: Nykobing Falster to Stubbekobing (~45km)
Great fun riding. Wind was picking up. I didn’t know what was in store for next day. So amazing scenery, can’t even say. But the best was yet to come! Oh yea n I didn’t get any food.

Ride 11: Stubbekobing/Bogo to Stege
(~25km)
Winds. Mad winds. 45 km/hr. The brilliant North Baltic sea. This was my maddest ride and also one of the most awesome.

Ancient limestone frescoes @ Fanefjord Church

Ride 12: Stege to Tappernoje (~30km)
Calmer weather and a private farm camping experience

So much wind!

Ride 13: Tappernoje to Rodvig (~40km)
Learnt: drink enough water! Cramps. And over-all pondering on the fact that the trip was ending!

Bio-luminescence at the beach, Faxe Ladeplads!

Rodvig to Store Hedding (~15km)
& a train back to Copenhagen

Ending the trip was really difficult, but there were many practical considerations. I had to sell the cycle and camping gear because I couldn’t transport it back to India. The cycle was really good and I am still wondering whether I should have somehow got it back to India.

Camping gear I anyway did not want, I would like to buy better quality, if and when I am doing this again.

What a mad trip though, I absolutely enjoyed it.

I will be writing about the budget for this trip later, to give people an idea. I managed to sell my stuff later so the overall costs were really decent.

And here are some of the best trip pics, watch full screen! 🙂

 Media Mentions: 🙂

Gujarati newspaper Janmabhoomi

Marathi newspaper Navakaal

*I am not sure of exact km cycled. It was about 500 to 550 km. My cycle computer stopped working and I didn’t track it via any GPS app. Just calculated roughly on basis of the kms given on the route site and using Google maps.