2025 NSCR England
Yes, you have found our secret button for a new item on our site,
but ..... , we're still working on it.
September 2025, we finalised the part of the North Sea Cycle route in the UK.
In April/May, we had done the part from John O'Groats to Newcastle and in 2019, returning from our trip around Ireland, we cycled the part from London to Dover.
Our original plan was to cycle a first part of 250 km on the NSCR from Newcastle up to Driffield and than make a detour to York to visit friends, continue another 50 km to Leeds to visit Restrap and afterwards return by train to the NSCR somewhere between Driffield and Hull.
This did not happen as I (Dirk) crashed in to a fence on day 1 and the closest place where we could have the bike repaired was Leeds.
The end result for our track was more or less the same, only in another sequence.
If you like to receive the zip file of the GPX track of our trip, just send us a request to: dilistuffmail@gmail.om
In 2009, we both bought a Koga Miyata Traveller and started going on holiday by bicycle.
6 Years later, in 2015, we replaced them with a Santos 2.9 Travelmaster and since then, all our bicycle holidays have been with a Santos bike. Time has come for a new experience.
Sometime last year, Linda took over her youngest daughter's gravel bike, a Brother Mehteh. With less and lighter components, the difference in weight encouraged me (Dirk) to look out for another bike. Going for a similar look and functionality, my final choice went for a Fairlight Secan.
As both steel gravel bikes are English design, we also opted for an English brand of bikepacking bags, Restrap. I used their handlebar harness with dry bag already for a number of years and we knew the quality was very good.
They are producing all their bags in Leeds and as Linda has been making most of the bags for her Santos Adventure bike (all bags on the photo, except for the 2 Ortlieb panniers), she was very interested in visiting the Restrap workshop while we were in Leeds.
During the trip, some followers on Instagram asked why we changed from Santos to Brother and Fairlight.
The answer is simple, we did not really change as these gravel bikes are totally different and will be used for other types of travel with lighter packing.
The longer trips with more stuff to carry will still be with our Santos Adventure bikes.
Video on DILISTUFF YouTube channel
The daily "Morning"shoot
Every day, before we jump on the bike or go out for a walk, Linda takes a "Morning photo".
At the bottom of this page (menu item: Where, when and how), you'll find for each of these photo's where we stayed that night, where we cycled to, how much km's, in which location we had something to eat or snack and where we did our grocery shopping.
To the U.K.
It feels very familiar, with the bikes by train from Brussels to Amsterdam, more or less the same as we did in april when we started our trip around Scotland.
Whenever we're in Amsterdam, we cannot skip an apple pie with coffee.
Too good to let go.
It's a easy ride of around 30 km from Amsterdam central station to the ferry in IJmuiden.
The DFDS ferry between IJmuiden and North Shields is officially named the ferry between Amsterdam and Newcastle and sails every day in the afternoon. It's an overnight ferry with mandatory booking of a sleeping cabin and as cabins come standard with at least 2 beds, the cheapest solution is to also travel with 2.
There is also usually a discount of 15% when booking before the end of february for a sailing later in the year.
We have also been booking dinner and breakfast beforehand as this is easier than doing the queue.
The ferry arrives around 9 am UK time in North Shields and usually, disembarking is finished rather quickly.
This time our patience was tested as bicycles were parked on a raised car deck which you can only leave from one side. In front of us, a car had to be towed from the car deck and we were stuck for an extra hour.
After disembarking, it's just a few km to the North Sea Cycle route which follows mostly National Cycle route 1.
When we arrive at the river ferry over the Tyne, it's just arriving and we're ready to start our second trip in the UK this year.
Day 1 - North Shields to Middlesbrough
The first 20 km up to Sunderland is mainly along the coastline. We're seeing clouds appearing and we guess that the weather forecast is going to be correct. Rain as from lunchtime.
Forecast also says no rain anymore after lunch time, so the goal is obvious.
Make sure we're somewhere inside for lunch in Sunderland.
Time enough for a chat and some pictures.
Seems luck is again on our side as it stops raining when we have finished our coffee. From Sunderland up to Middlesbrough is a little more than 50 km. Denis, a friend of us in York told us most of the route is on a railway path, with other words, mostly flat. Easy Peasy.
When we're cycling through an A-frame barrier, we immediately feel the benefit of our smaller drop handle bars and bikepacking bags.
It all goes very smoothly until we cross the bridge over the river Tees just before Middlesbrough. When we're cycling next to the river, I see that the track goes all around the city and we've booked a hotel just at the end.
Big mistake! It's already 6pm and it's slowly getting dark. While cycling, I'm checking on my phone if there is an alternative shorter cycle track.
Than it happens.
I'm missing a turn, end up in the grass and crash in to a fence.
I hear Linda screaming at me.
Too late to correct, I'm already in the grass part next to the cycle path. Breaking does not help. Too late to make a turn.
Linda sees me going with my face straight in to the pole but fortunately, I'm missing it with 20 cm's and hit the wire fence. The impact is big, my helmet takes the biggest shock and except for my upper lip bruised on the inside of my mouth, a sore neck and shoulders, all seems OK.
After getting over the shock, I just get back on the bike. There is a problem with the derailleur. The next 4 km to the hotel (via the shorter way) will be walking.
Halfway, I discover that my action camera disappeared, the bike mount broke. That's a problem for tomorrow. While I try to find a repair shop in Middlesbrought, Linda will cycle back to where I crashed to search for the camera.
Next day, I found out that my derailleur cannot be repaired or replaced in Middlesbrough unless we want to wait for at least 4 days. Best to find a Shimano dealer in York or Leeds.
Something positive, Linda finds the action camera and it's still working. I'm having a spare mount so this problem is already fixed.
Leeds
The train ride from Middlesbrough to Leeds takes only 1.5 hours and also stops in York. We're buying tickets to Leeds and will get off early in York if we can find a Shimano service center which can help us. Calling them, they also do not have the required spareparts and they recommend to continue to Woodrup cycles in Leeds.
It's friday morning and checking the Woodrup website, first possibility for a service appointment is next week thursday.
We'll see and decide later on if we stay in Leeds or do something different.
An idea comes up, Woodrup cycles is a little further from Restrap, so we will first stop at Restrap to see if they have any contacts who can help us.
At Restrap, the guy who comes out, Nathan, knows the people of Woodrup cycles and calls them to check out what can be done.
The owner of Woodrup has a new bike with exactly the same derailleur system as mine. They will take the spare parts from his bike and install it on mine.
If we come now, it's going to be fixed in the early afternoon.
Later, we find out that Nathan is the owner of Restrap.
How much luck can we have?
Tom welcomes us at Woodrup and says "You must be the Belgians". They just finished maintenance on another bike and will start immediately on mine.
The bike will be ready early in the afternoon so enough time for lunch and explore the neighbourhood.
On the other side of the street, we see a Gentlement's Barber and it's the perfect timing for a haircut and some beard grooming. When Jan hears that we are a customer of Woodrup, we're immediatly getting a discount.
Not bad.
When we're back at Woodrup, Tom invites us to visit the upstairs workshop where Steve, the owner of Woodrup, is building the steel frames for their own bicycle brand.
22 Hours after my crash, all is back to normal.
We now need to adjust some of the first plans to meet Denis and Martine, ex colleagues of Dirk, in York on monday and t to be back in Leeds on tuesday to visit Restrap.
First, find a hotel for the night and we're lucky to find a last minute deal in the Met at 50% discount. Part of the hotel is still under renovation and this explains the enormous discount. Good for us.
Also time to plan for the next coming days. We moved our dinner with Denis and Martine to sunday evening and will spend the saturday visiting Leeds. We'll cycle from Leeds to York on sunday and meet our friends in the evening. Monday, we'll visit York and take a train back to Leeds in the evening. After our visit of Restrap, we're going back to Middlesbrough to pick up the route where we left off friday morning so that we do not skip anything of our NSCR.
Leeds is one of the bigger cities in the north of England and has an interesting mix between old and new.
In 1884, a Polish immigrant, Michael Marks, managed to secure a stall in Kirkgate market starting a business with the slogan "Don't ask the price, it's a Penny". Some years later, he joined forces with Tom Spencer and from this partnership, "Marks & Spencer" was born.
For the luxurious brands and stunning Victorian architecture, you need to be in the Victoria street neighbourhood.
Tip for Vegetarian lunch or dinner : Eat your Greens
Tip for Indian dinner : Mowgli street food, Leeds
Tip for coffee with a pastry: Laynes, Leeds
and last, but not least, if you like books, The "Hold Fast Bookshop"in the Leeds Dock
York
In the morning, we're cycling from Leeds to York via the National Cycle way 66. Just before Tadcaster, the signposts suddenly disappear and we're kind of happy that we have downloaded the GPS track.
Tip for lunch: Walkers Kitchen, Tadcaster
In the early afternoon, we're arriving in York, just in time before it starts raining. On the weather forecast, this afternoon and tomorrow seems to be the only rainy day for the next 10 days and we are not complaining.
The Shambles is a historic street, featuring preserved medieval buildings, some dating back as far as the 14th century. With it's cobbled streets and overhanging buildings, it is believed to have been the inspiration behind Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movies.
As could be expected, there is also an official Harry Potter shop, "The shop that must not be named".
Some shops still have exterior shelves, reminders when cuts of meat were served from the open windows.
The street was made narrow by design to keep the meat out of the direct sunlight.
Tip for lodging: The Fort York, a basic boutique hotel in the old center of York and although you need to do a few flights of stairs, its easy to take your bicycles up to your room.
Tip for healthy breakfast: Rise, York
Restrap visit
Here we are again, this time for a tour around the Restrap workshop with Tom Hill, the guy from the Restrap "How to" video's on YouTube. While we've never met him in person, it just feels that we know him already.
In 2010, Nathan started Restrap on a single sewing machine in a back bedroom by making pedal straps from old seatbelts. First for himself, later for his friends, followed by the development of a range of bags still available today.
We're following the production in chronological order, from stock to cutting, kitting, sewing and seaming, assembling, final quality control and packing & shipping.
Sewing kits in plastic boxes contain all pre-cut parts which are required to make a number of specific bags.
Sewists can pick the box they prefer to sew so that they have a variety of products to work on.
To ensure everyone can do all, samples of all finished products are lining the walls to refresh some of the details in case of doubt.
Final quality control happens at Packing & Shipping where all non fixed straps, cords, etc are added to the finished products before they are packed.
Middlesbrough to Scarborough
Arriving back in Middlesbrough, we first cycle back to the place of the crash. When we were in Leeds, we noticed that a front cover of the left control lever also disappeared. May be we find it here.
No luck but what we do find is the 2 magnetic ventilation covers of Dirk's helmet. Something we did not see yet as we are mostly riding without them in summer.
This one was not going to move out of the way.
As we only arrived by train from Leeds around 2pm, the plan is to cycle 40 km up to Great Ayton. The next possibility for lodging is to far away and we have been told that there are going to be some tough climbs coming soon.
Enjoying the simple fact that we are on the road again. We started 5 days ago and have only covered 80 km of the planned route. We know that without the bike problem, we would have diverted to Leeds and York later in the week anyhow, so it will finally be the same. But still, it feels different.
Looking ahead, we're getting a good idea of what we will be up to tomorrow.
Nathan of Restrap told us it's going to be really beautiful here but we will also have to climb 20% slopes.
A good test to see if we took the right bikes for this trip.
But that's for tomorrow, tonight we'll enjoy being back in a countryside hotel.
The next morning, we're preparing our own breakfast in the room. Fresh cut fruits with some yoghurt and granola, just like we do at home. It also allows us to start earlier and we're on the road around 8.30am.
There's a light drizzle and we decide to put on our raining pants, btw this was also the last time we used them on this trip.
About an hour on the road, the road starts to incline slowly, a little more and a lot more. We're in the North York National Park. We both feel the difference in gear ratios between our gravel bikes and our Santos pinion bikes. This is a totally different ball game. 1 Complete turn of the crank on Dirk's Secan covers in the lowest gear a distance of 1,99 Meter, on Linda's Mehteh 1.87 meter and on our pinion bikes it's 1.26 meter only.
We're of course a lot lighter, 7 kg lighter for the bike and also far less stuff that we are carrying, but still .....
Road signs with inclination levels are only there for roads going down. Very good, as it's not discouraging us when we start a climb. Instead, it just makes us feel good when we look backwards and see that the last climb was 25 %.
We also seem to stop whenever the occasion rises. In Castleton, we're stopping at coffeeshop "Off the scale" for a hot chocolate and just a few km up the road in Danby, we're stopping at the "Danby Bakery" to buy some take away lunch.
It is going slowly and when we arrive in Egton, we have been 4 hours on the road just covering 34 km's.
We're in doubt if our target destination, Scarborough or another 46 km's, is still a realistic goal.
Passing the Wheatsheaf inn, the decision is made to save our take away lunch for later and to go inside to warm up a little. Good decision and here we also get the good news that the climbing will stop soon. Even better, as from Whitby, there is a railway cycle path all up to Scarborough.
Oh yes, we know. What's going up, also goes down. This time, it sounds perfect and we like it.
From Egton to Whitby, it's all downhill and it feels good.
Just before Whitby, we're already on the Cinder track, a railway track which goes all the way to Scarborough.
We're back next to the North Sea and on this reasonably flat track, we start appreciating our gravel bikes again.
Without the steep hills, it now goes immediately a lot faster than with our adventure bikes.
Arriving at Robin Hood's bay, we're seeing a signpost indicating that it's going down at 33%. We will skip this one as the only way up is via the same road.
I stay with the bikes and Linda walks down a little to take some photo's.
The Cinder track is getting it's name simply from the material it is made of. The original railway track was in operation between 1885 and 1965.
In no time, we're reaching Scarborough where we find a room in the Central Hotel.
Scarborough to Lincoln
Leaving Scarborough, we're gradually going uphill with a nice view over the Scarborough Spa. Soon, we're seeing a sign that the next km is up at 16%. While this is steep, it's also only 1 km.
The plan is to have lunch in Bridlington where the NCR 1 comes together with the Cycle Way of the Roses, a long distance coast to coast route from Yorkshire to Lancashire.
The path is named after the war of the roses between Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose).
On our GPS track, we can also see that this is the last time that we will be cycling this close from the North Sea.
We're mid september and suddenly we see that autumn is indeed approaching, leaves are slowly going from green to orange and brown.
Temperatures are still perfect, during the day, it is usually around 18 degrees celcius. Perfect for cycling.
In Driffield, the Way of the Roses goes direction York. The hotel we had in mind just sold out their last room but, a few km's further away from the track, a room suddenly became again available in a previously fully booked inn.
Problem solved.
OK, I think we found out why this room suddenly became available again.
I guess someone made a reservation and decided afterwards that 120 euro per night, without breakfast, was a little overpriced if the only way to brush your teeth was standing with widespread legs over the toilet bowl.
It is what it is.
A new day, new challenges, new opportunities. It's very difficult to plan where we will stop for the day. The last couple of days, the track has been very varied. There are parts with very steep climbs, bringing the average distance you can ride well below 10 km an hour. On the other hand, we also had a few railway cycle paths with a maximum inclination of 3% where we were able to go really fast. Our GPS track does not have info on the inclination levels so we have no idea what to expect. There is also the wind, the last 2 days not really in our favor.
After about 30 km, we're in Beverley, too early for lunch, too late for a snack in between, just right for a hot chocolate and something else chocolate. Gemini Chocolate is one of these shops we cannot resist stopping for.
It's all going smoothly today and we're crossing the river Humber in the early afternoon. Everyone has been telling us that Lincoln is a nice city to visit and that's around 80 km from here. We decide to look for a hotel some 15 km further down the track making it a shorter ride to Lincoln tomorrow.
CHANGE OF PLAN: When we're checking hotel prices in Lincoln for next day, we're instantly in a state of shock. Tomorrow, it's saturday and the cheapest hotel on booking.com in Lincoln is 540 pounds (620 euro) for 1 night.
Even worse, the only hotel on the track before Lincoln is in Market Rasen and is 350 euro for 1 night.
No way we're going to do this. As from sunday, prices in Lincoln drop again below 100 pounds.
We're finding an affordable hotel in Laceby, some 5 km from the track and just 23 km to cycle today, making it 52 km tomorrow to Lincoln. Weather forecast for this afternoon is rain so this is probably also the best choice, regardless.
For your info: I did not fall of the bike, this is just the position from where I need to take the next photo.
In the afternoon, it indeed started to rain and we visited nearby Grimsby by bus. Grimsby is a small town which became in the 1950's the largest fishing port in the world.
The history of Grimsby goes back to 866 AD when 20.000 Norse invadors passed through the town on their way to York to take control of Northern England.
The next morning, the weather is again marvellous. Even better, the weather forecast is giving us sunny conditions for the entire week to come.
Finally. We're now on our 12th cycle day and we're meeting our first fellow cyclist coming from the other direction.
Jason lives in the UK and is just doing a 1week trip. Today, he's trying to do around 180 km's and when we ask if trains a lot, he says "Not at all, I usually go from zero to hero and back again".
In the early afternoon, we're arriving in Lincoln. Lincoln cathedral was for a certain time the tallest building in the world.
From the old city, it's a very steep downhill to the new city, something which really surprised us as we did not have a big climb approaching the old city from the North.
We stayed at the Charlotte house hotel and they get our price for the most welcome and friendly reception staff.
It's located in the heart of the old city, adjacent to the West gate of the castle.
Lincoln to Norwich
Leaving Lincoln all the way down via the new city, we're immediately cycling next to the river Witham.
From Lincoln up to Boston, we're on the Water Rail Way, a 54 km cycle route, formerly part of the Great Northern Railway.
60 % of the route is traffic free on the former railway land and the remaining part goes via quiet country roads.
The route also features several sculptures inspired by nature and local animal breeds
It's all going like a breeze today. Around 3 pm, we're already in Holbeach which is on booking.com after Boston the first village where we have an hotel. Having done 92km already, this is certainly the day where we can fulfil Linda's wish to do at least once 100 km's.
We're finding lodging in Long Sutton, just 2 km's away from the track and another 13 km to cycle.
There's a cheap hotel and a more expensive hotel. Let's sleep in the cheap one and go for dinner in the better one.
This trip, we've been making it sort of a habit to make our own breakfast in the room. In the larger hotels, we will still from time to time go for a buffet breakfast but in the smaller ones, the available choice is usually not the most healthy one and mostly also always the same.
We're carrying granola and the evening before, we usually already buy some fresh fruits and yogurt.
The first village we're passing, we're looking out for a place where we have our second breakfast with a cup of coffee.
While we always try to find a small local coffeeshop, this did not work in Wisbech. We ended up with Costa and ordered a size large, as usual. Oops, this is really a big one.
When we were at Restrap, they told us that this part of the route up to London would not have any steep climbs anymore and we are confident that as from now, we will easily be doing between 80 and 100 km's per day. The only enemy we have today is the headwind. This afternoon, the route is making a turn to the right so we're hopeful for sidewind later today.
On the road before 9am, the roads are still wet from tonights heavy rain and we still have a light drizzle. It's 80 km's to Norwich so we hope to arrive in the early afternoon.
Every evening, we're downloading all photo's and video's on our iPads and we notice that we are taking far less photo's and video's than usual. While the route and the landscapes are very nice, we find it just less spectacular than the rough coastline and mountains of Scotland. In fact, it looks a lot like where we live in Belgium, just a lot more of it.
A few km's after Fakenham, we're stopping at a pig farm to take some photo's and a passerby stops and asks us why we are doing this.
We need to explain that in Belgium, all pigs are kept inside and this is a rather unusual sight for us.
He looks at us, shrugs his shoulders in disbelief and walks away.
Around 4 pm, we arrive in Norwich. Tonight, we'll decide if we leave in the morning or take a day of rest to visit the city.
Norwich to London
Strolling around Norwich yesterday evening, it became clear we needed to stay a little longer. We found a B&B for tonight in Beccles, about 43 km from Norwich, and will leave after lunch.
Known locally as "the village within the city", the Cathedral grounds are open to all visitors. Set in 44 acres with access to a riverside walk, it's hard to believe that you're in the centre of the city.
In the Lower Close next to the Cathedral, we saw an interesting modern artwork "Sitting Figures" and were in fact surprised that this was made already 35 years ago by an artists who was at that time 75 years old.
A must visit is certainly the Norwich market, an outdoor market of about 190 stalls, open from monday to Saturday.
It's one of the oldest markets, going back to the 11th century.
On the north side of the market is the Norwich Guildhall which served as city hall for many centuries.
When leaving Norwich Market on the east side, you're walking straight in to the Royal Arcade which leads to the Norwich Castle grounds.
Tip for lunch: No33 at Exchange street.
We're leaving Norwich around 1 pm with just a good 40 km to cycle up to Beccles.
Leaving Norwich, we're immediately cycling in and alongside the Norfolk Broads national park.
Beverley is following Linda on Instagram and the National cycle route 1 is passing their house. When they noticed we would be passing by, they invited us to stop for a coffee or to stay over if we needed a place to sleep.
From Julian, we learned that it was also possible to travel between London and Brussels with fully assembled bikes.
That would make our return home from London a lot easier. We will certainly check this one out.
We booked a room in the "Flemish house" in Beccles. Suppose it's because of the name that I was giving this one a go. New on booking.com without any reviews but a score of 10/10 based on experiences on other websites.
Turned out to be a great place with superfriendly hosts. Bikes were parked inside and they recommended us to go for a drink near the river (only took photo) and have pizza at Oakfired at the Royal Oak. Honestly, one of the best pizza's we've had since a long time.
September 26 and we're about 280 km from London. Should be doable in 3 days if we can go past Ipswich today.
Followed by:
Linda: "I'm gonna take some photo's but need to change my camera lens".
Dirk: "Of course my dear".
And usually, it goes like this :
Linda: "Hey, hey, I want to stop here"
Dirk: "Of course my dear"
Cycling in to Halesworth, we're making an emergency stop for a toilet break at The Black Dog Deli. And it just happens they also have the most delicious sweet fruit scones with a hot chocolate on the side.
When passing the Framlingham castle, we decide to also make a short detour in to the village to buy some food for lunch. Who knows, may be we just bump in to Ed Sheeran.
No Ed Sheeran, seems he is temporarily living in the U.S. while he is touring there.
But, Ian asks us if he can take a photo of us with the bikes. No, no, it's not really for us but for my bike.
Andrew, his son, has also bought a Fairlight Secan 3.0 and is expecting delivery in a couple of weeks.
After being on the road for 2 weeks now, we finally have the automatic reflex to put our bikes on the ground or against something on the left side of the bike.
Having been riding with pinion internal gears for nearly 10 years, with no fragile parts on the left or right side of the bike, we were just used to put down the bikes on either one side, depending on the location.
With our gravel bikes, it's of course a must to be more careful as the exposed derailleur makes it more delicate.
Reaching Ipswich, the traffic is a little overwhelming and we're checking for hotels outside the city. 10 km further down the track is a Best Western hotel. They promote themselves in the UK as a bike friendly hotel and when we were staying with them in Laceby, we were allowed to take the bicycles up to the room.
Calling them, they confirmed that would here also be no problem. Done deal.
We're on track. Done 97km's yesterday. If we can repeat this today, we're in London tomorrow.
The sun is out again and the roads are scenic.
Here it is, the first National Cycle Network Millenium Milepost with London on it.
Since the year 2000, over 1000 of these mileposts can be found all over the UK at scenic spots on the Network.
We're buying some wraps in a supermarket in Tiptree and have our lunch in the park across the supermarket.
Soon, we're approaching the Maldon Marine lake where we start cycling next to the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.
The narrow boats on the canal can be seen all over the UK. They were originally working boats built as from the 18th century for carrying goods on the narrow canals where locks and bridge holes would have a minimum width of 7 feet only (2.1 meters).
We're in Maldon around 4 PM so it's time to start finding a place for this evening. It's saturday evening so we have to be prepared for some ridiculous prices again. If we want to arrive in London tomorrow, we need to continue today at least for another 20 km up to Chelmsford.
As expected, what we find on booking.com is or very expensive, or very poor rated. In such a case, we always also check if there is a Travelodge. They are not our favorite chain of hotels but as they are not on booking, they sometimes still have something. We're having one of their last rooms. Good.
Nearly there .... and we're thirsty and hungry.
Last day, we're leaving Chelmsford following the river Can. This afternoon, the weather forecast gives light rain so we hope to be fast enough to reach London without having to change to our rain gear.
We're having lunch in Harlow and are mostly cycling next to different canals up to Startford where we leave the North Sea Cycle route / NCR 1 to go straight to St Pancras train station. There we hope to book our tickets for the bicycles with the Eurostar to Belgium.
London to Brussels
We stayed just 1 day in London as our last visit was not too long ago. Just taking some time to go to some of the shops we know from previous visits and to have lunch at Blanchette, our favourite restaurant in Soho. 3 course lunch menu at 23 pounds is a give away considering the quality of the food.
Taking your fully assembled bicycle on the Eurostar.
Once you get it booked, it all goes perfect but trying to get it booked is a complete nightmare.
While we were on our trip, I got in contact 3 times with their customer service desk and no one could give me an answer of how to book it and how to prepare the bikes for transport. The answers varied between putting it in a carton box, a plastic bag, remove pedals, etc... When we arrived at St Pancras, even the staff in the ticket office gave me a wrong answer. When we finally got referred to the Eurostar Travel services, somewhere in a remote office behind the station, we got a good explanation and it was all fixed within 15 minutes.
Some of the rules :
- All panniers, bags etc have to be removed from the bike. Only a little tool bag and possibly a harness can stay on the bike.
- no need for carton box, bag, etc...
- You need to check in at least 2 hours before departure
- Its only possible on specific journeys Brussels/London and Paris/London (not Lille, R'dam or A'dam)
- Seems you can also book online but only after you've booked your ticket - You can only check if there is a space available via the ticket office.
- Price is higher if booked less than 48 hours before departure
- Seems they only provide the service if main tickets are directly booked with Eurostar.
When back home, I have tried several times to get in contact with their service desk to raise the fact that it is so difficult to have this booked. Their AI system keeps on ignoring several messages and I gave up after 6 weeks of trying.
End conclusion : It's the perfect solution to get your bike to and back from London but their service function to assist you in getting it booked is a total disaster. When I asked ChatGPT to give me a polite, proper way to say what I wanted to say, the following came up : severely compromised, in a state of complete disarray, hopelessly flawed, fundamentally unsound, beyond repair, entirely dysfunctional, a complete mess, totally screwed up, utterly ruined, absolutely catastrophic, a total shambles. Guess what I originally said.
Arriiving in Brussels-midi, our bikes were waiting for us with a staff member guarding them. Again perfect.
Cycled to Halle via the Brussels-Charleroi canal cycle way and stopped for some Belgian fries before reaching home.
NSCR England - Favorite Outtakes
On a trip, many photo's are taken but only a small selection makes it in to the main story hereabove.
This is mainly to avoid overlap, keep it visually appealing, provide valuable content, not too short and not too long, etc...
Hereunder some of our favorite outtakes which did not make it. Click on the photo to magnify.
When, where and how
Where:
Date:
Today:
Eat or drink:
Groceries:
September 10
Home to Ferry IJmuiden-North Shields
Train from Halle to Amsterdam - 32 km from Amsterdam to IJmuiden
Amsterdam - IJmuiden
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Where:
Date:
Today:
Eat or drink:
Groceries:
September 11
North Shields, just after ferry terminal.
80 km - North Shields to Middlesbrough
Sunderland - Middlesbrough
Sunderland - Stockton on Tees - Middlesbrough
Where:
Date:
Today:
Eat or drink:
Groceries:
September 12
Train - Middlesbrough to Leeds
Sunderland - Middlesbrough
Sunderland - Stockton on Tees - Middlesbrough
The Highfield hotel
Where:
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September 13
The Met hotel
0 km
Leeds
Leeds
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September 14
The Met hotel
56 km - Leeds to York - NCR 66
Tadcaster - York
Leeds - York
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September 15
The Fort York
Train - York to Leeds
York - Leeds
York - Leeds
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September 16
The Met hotel
Train + 39 km - Middlesbrough to Great Ayton
Sunderland - Middlesbrough
Sunderland - Stockton on Tees - Middlesbrough
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September 17
The Buck
80 km - Great Ayton to Scarborough - NCR 66/165
Danby - Egton - Scarborough
Great Ayton - Danby - Scarborough
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September 18
The Central Hotel
75 km - Scarborough to Wansford - NCR 1
Bridlington - Driffield - Wansford
Scarborough - Bridlington - Driffield
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September 19
The Trout Inn
74 km - Wansford to Barnetby le Wold - NCR 1
Beverley - Barton upon Humber - Barnetby le Wold
Beverley - Barton upon Humber - Barnetby le Wold
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September 20
Holcombe guesthouse
23 km - Barnetby le Wold to Laceby - NCR 1
Grimsby - Laceby
Barnetby le Wold - Grimsby - Laceby
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September 21
Oaklands Hall hotel
52 km - Laceby to Lincoln - NCR 1
Market Rasen - Lincoln
Laceby - Market Rasen - Lincoln
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September 22
Charlotte House
105 km - Lincoln to Long Sutton - NCR 1
Boston - Long Sutton
Lincoln - Boston - Long Sutton
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September 23
The Crown and Woolpack
94 km - Long Sutton to Burnham Market - NCR 1
Wisbech - King's Lynn - Burnham Market
Long Sutton - Wisbech
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September 24
The Nelson
81 km - Burnham Market to Norwich - NCR 1
Walsingham - Fakenham - Norwich
Fakenham - Reepham - Norwich
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September 25
Central Hotel
43 km - Norwich to Beccles - NCR 1
Beccles
Norwich
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September 26
Flemish house B&B
97 km - Beccles to Copdock - NCR 1
Halesworth - Framlingham - Mill Hills - Copcock
Halesworth - Framlingham - Ipswich
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September 27
Ipswich Hotel
97 km - Copdock to Chelmsford - NCR 1
Colchester - Maldon Marine
Hadleigh - Colchester - Tiptree - Chelmsford
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September 28
Travelodge
89 km - Chelmsford to London - NCR 1
Harlow
Chelmsford - Harlow
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September 29
Cheshire hotel
0 km
London
London
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September 30
Cheshire hotel
Eurostar train London-Brussels - 20 km to Halle
London - Halle