Barefoot adventure: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg & France

Discussion in 'Europe' started by paulcalf, Sep 1, 2019.

  1. Written but needs editing and some photos removing
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    Day 1: Sheffield to Harwich.

    Set off leaving another bus on the drive - some of you may recognise it.
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    Only just made it to Harwich without running out of fuel

    Don’t think I’ve ever filled up as much

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    Stayed at the ferry terminal overnight.

    Toilets available until evening ferry departs and open two hours+ before morning ferry.

    Saw a split screen samba getting on the evening ferry.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019
  2. Day 2: Harwich to Hook of Holland then Delft

    I love a good ferry


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    Driving abroad was easier than I thought, felt very natural despite steering wheel being on the wrong side.

    Delft House not my kind of campsite, but great location for getting into Delft.
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    Walked into Delft had some food, loaded up with supplies for the trip.
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    Last edited: Sep 1, 2019
    Barneyrubble, blueeyes and Merlin Cat like this.
  3. Day 3. Delft is beautiful, we could have stayed much longer.

    Scorchio. Had a swim in a lake. [​IMG]


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    Wandered around delft.


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  4. Day 4. Delft to?
    Hadn’t booked anywhere to stay that night, and everything was very busy and full

    Even hotter, how would we keep the cool box cold:

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    Meijende nature reserve had been recommended to us by a random lady we spoke to whilst having an ice cream in delft. The Dutch are friendly and lovely people.

    So we headed there.

    Had a walk through the reserve to the beach. I had a swim in the North Sea. We only managed an hour before we had to leave the beach as it was too hot and we had no shade with us!


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    Decided to set off for Bergen.


    One of the roads we took was one of the most beautiful ive ever driven down. Nice houses with big canal and loads of boats – beautiful.


    Saw a sign for Haarlem, which id heard good things about, so called in for a look.


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    Parked up next to a canal. We didn’t stay that long but it was a very nice place indeed.


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    Topless photo to keep you interested!
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    After a wonder round, we had a beer (non alcoholic for me), then decided to find somewhere local to stay for the night.

    Stayed at Camspite De Liede next to a river. We will have to save Bergen for the next time we visit the Netherlands.


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  5. Day 5 Haarlem to Volendam & Edam & then where?

    Had a swim in the river before setting off for Edam.

    We missed one turn and I swear we ended up doing about a half an hour detour near Schipol Airport!

    Went through Volendam on the way to Edam, which was was hot and beautiful!


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    Campsites were all telling us they were full when we phoned up.

    Turned up at one near Edam by lake Ijssleemer and blagged our way on for the night.

    Great location facing the Lake.
    So hot we had to leave the sliding door fully open at night.

    Woke up to a massive storm at about 3am. Lots of commotion, rain, thunder and lightning, but still bloody hot. Didn’t last long.


    Our washing up bowl had nearly blown into the Ijsselmeer, found it the next morning.


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    Last edited: Sep 1, 2019
  6. Day 6. OVERHEATED. Edam, Schagen, Den Helder, Lauwersoog, Camping Lauwerszee

    View of the lake after the storm
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    Rude not to stop for a photo
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    It was the hottest day so far – so we obviously decided to drive for more than 4h! We did stop off at various places though.

    I love seeing different stuff than you get in UK shops.....

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    Drove 20Km+ across an impressive road that separates the Waden Sea from the Ijsselmeer.

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    The sound system started making strange noises, despite the volume not being turned up.

    Turning it off didn’t seem to cool the red hot amp down, so I had to pull it’s fuse when we next stopped.

    The amp couldn’t cope with 40c, luckily the air cooled engine could!





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    We left North Holland behind and drove into Friesland (Think of the cows). The Scenery became very different, still beautiful.

    Pulled over in a little car park between kite surfers on the Lauwersmeer and the Waden sea on the other side of the road. Had some Fries and mayo, I’ve only just realised that Friesland is actually Fries Land!

    The bus got loads of attention in the Netherlands, with loads of people having a good old chat. But whilst we were sat having our frites some people were practically cracking one off over the bus.


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    Wondered across the road from the car park to have a look at the Waden Sea.

    The Dutch know what they are doing with water, flood defences and reclaiming land from the sea etc!

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    Carried on to our campsite as it was getting late and I deserved a proper beer after an epic drive in mega hot conditions.

    Well done to the Beast!
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019
  7. Days 7&8: Camping Lauwerszee & Lauwersoog National Park

    Spent a lovely couple of days walking around this beautiful area.

    Saw a few marsh harriers and some spoonbills!

    You can walk from the mainland to one of the Frisian Islands (guided) – but we hadn’t taken suitable old shoes that we could get covered in mud, so we didn’t bother.

    You can also get a ferry across to one of the car free islands, but we didn’t do this either as it was just too hot!




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  8. Day 9: Camping Lauwerszee to Groningen to Camping Thyencamp

    Time to head South

    Drove to Groningen Park and ride and got public bus into town.

    Loads of motorhomes were staying for free at the park and ride site.

    Groningen is another beautiful city. Its full of students.




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    Arrived at Camping Thyencamp, nice rural campsite, but with good facilities as well.
    I was running out of clean pants so it was time to do some washing!
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  9. Day 10: Camping Thyencamp to Giethoorn.

    Had a lovely walk whilst our washing dried.

    I’ve never seen as many grass hoppers in my entire life.


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    Then we headed to Giethoorn which is ‘the Venice of the Netherlands’.

    It was still very hot, when we arrived we saw a load of motorhomes at a marina so called in and decided to stay for the night.

    Had an early evening wonder into Giethoorn. Hired an electric boat for a cruise around the beautiful canals. Couldn’t have chosen a better time for it as it was cooling off and most of the tourists had gone!

    What a beautiful place. If you go I recommend an early evening trip in to see the sites



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  10. Day 11: Giethoorn onwards: Arnhem, Mönchengladbach (Germany), Kelmis (Belgium)

    Met an lovely Germany dude with a great 1980's mercedes camper.

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    Little & Large!
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    We decided to meet some friends in France, various routes were possible but we wanted to make it a round trip and hopefully cross paths with some other friends.

    The plan was head to Arnhem, then onto Belgium and Luxembourg before France.

    I hoped it wouldn’t be ‘a bridge too far’ for the camper.


    Arnhem: Airborne at the Bridge (museum) was fascinating and educational.
    https://www.airbornemuseum.nl/

    Had a wonder round Arnhem, before continuing our journey towards Belgium

    The Sat Nav took us across the John Frost Bridge and towards Germany - it didn’t prove to be a bridge too far for the beast!


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    When we saw the sign for Monchengladbach we just had to call in. I’ve always loved that name. We stretched our legs, got some cheaper fuel and beer before continuing our journey.

    We stayed the night at a free site with toilets in Kelmis in Belgium. Near the border between Netherlands, Germany & Belgium.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019
  11. Day 12: 4 Countries in one day! Belgium, Germany, Netherlands. Then onto Luxembourg.

    We went to the meeting point between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

    We went up the tower for some amazing views.

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    We didn’t feel we had said a proper goodbye to the Netherlands so we had some Dutch Pancakes on the Netherlands side.

    We also visited the Netherlands highest point a whopping 322.5 metres!
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    On the way to Luxembourg we passed various ski resorts! No snow at this time of year obviously.

    It made a change from the flat Netherlands. Although I didn’t really feel like we drove up any steep hills. Scenery looked like we could have been in Switzerland.

    Campsite in Luxembourg

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  12. Day 13: Luxembourg.

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    Our friends were nearby but their motorhome had run out of diesel. Then it wouldn’t start, (I’d removed my jump leads from the van just before we set off on this trip) so we borrowed some jump cables and went to try and help. We couldn’t get it going as the cables weren’t big enough. We left the driver to wait for the breakdown people and took the wife and kids back to our campsite for tea. He turned up soon afterwards and we both had a well earned beer (I hadn’t really earned a beer).
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2019
  13. Day 14: Luxembourg, Belgium & France

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    Had a swim in a reservoir.

    Had lunch in a pretty village.

    Petrol was dirt cheap in Luxembourg (no tax) compared to other countries we were going to.



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    We set off for France, the idea was to drive through a bit of Luxembourg get some fuel and then go into Belgium and then France.

    We somehow managed to leave Luxembourg without knowing and ended up paying 1.60 a litre for petrol instead of Luxembourg's 1.22 euros!


    Avoiding the motorway and a wrong turn led us here:
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    We wanted to get roughly half way to my mates in France. Somehow we found ourselves opposite Reims Cathedral in the bus, then we pulled in to find somewhere near ish to stay for the night.

    We ended up staying at Chateau Thierry, between a McDonalds and the Marne river. Had lovely riverside walk into the town for some food (Not a Maccy D)
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  14. Day 15: Chateau Thierry to Evron.

    Not only was Chateau Thierry in the Champagne region it had some serious world war one history and a massive American monument.

    Plan was get fuel, head to the monument, then leisurely champagne drive before continuing on bigger roads to my mates house. Sometimes things don’t go quite to plan.



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    The van cut out as we left the monument, once we re started it I didn’t fancy stopping and starting at various champagne farms and fields. It was a Sunday and they were all shut anyway, so we just drove through them.


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    Bus drove fine all the way to my mates house. Shame the same couldn’t be said about the French drivers especially the ones just near Paris!

    Made it to our destination!
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    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019
  15. Days 16-19: France

    Traditional french food.....all the french restaurants were shut for the holidays
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  16. Day 20 Evron to Camping de la Loge

    Plan was to drive as far as we could (towards Ypres in Belgium) before I got bored/tired!

    Loaded up with Croissants for the journey
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    Library and insect house!
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    Very French campsite - 10 euros a night.
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  17. Day 21 & 22 Ypres - Menin Gate

    Very moving few days!

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  18. Day 23& 24 Jaberkee (Klein Strand) & Brugge

    Campsite in Brugge was fully booked, so we stayed at Jaberkee (thanks to a recommendation on here from @matty) and got the bus into Brugge.

    Brugge is beautiful
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  19. Day 25: Brugge, Blankenburge, Zeebrugge to Hull Ferry

    Loaded up with food for ferry home

    Late Lunch at Blankenburge


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    Ferry Home
    A few Leffe Blondes, evening Meal with wind turbine views. Fascinating.

    First night not sleeping in the bus – I missed it!
     
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  20. Day 26: Hull to Sheffield

    Got home safely


    Had to use the bus to jump start the car which had a flat battery & tyre!
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    Removing the GB sign revealed the trips dirt and grime.


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    Every single mile of the journey was driven barefoot!

    Summary/ramblings:

    Amazing trip.
    We could easily have spent 3.5 weeks in the Netherlands.
    We only booked the first 2 nights and the rest was just a vague route.
    As it was so hot and the school holidays, campsites were very busy and full.
    We prefer smaller rural campsites, but if visiting toursisty areas this isn't always possible.
    Many sites are large, with loads of facilities - good for those with kids etc.
    park4 the night app was useful. If we had a toilet on board we would have even more options.
    https://www.natuurkampeerterreinen.nl/en/ is a network of smaller 'greener' campsites - we only found out about this just as we left the Netherlands. Its a members only type set up.
    We could have done loads more in Belgium, we barely explored it.
    It was good seeing our friends in France, but added loads of miles.
    Next time we will probably do less miles over the same amount of time away - staying places for more nights in a row.


    Netherlands won the best Frites and mayo competition.
    French won worst road users - they love driving right up your ass.

    We managed the entire trip with a cool box. It meant remembering to freeze half the ice blocks and switching them.

    I'm glad we took a spare sheet, as often it was far too hot for the duvet!

    I need to get/make some insect blinds.

    It was so hot I had to cut off a pair of trousers.

    Didn't wear trousers the entire time we were away.

    Wore a jumper/hoody for half an hour one evening in Luxembourg.

    Raincoats only made an appearance in the last two days in Brugge.

    I've owned the bus for 22 years and that is my first time going abroad in it.
    Britain has loads of amazing beautiful places to visit, but I also loved this trip.

    I definitely recommend The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium for an enjoyable camper trip.

    Starling bank app/card was amazing - no fees on cash withdrawals or purchases. Best conversion rates on the market. Each time you spend you get a message showing the rate and your balance. Its a mastercard, so isn't accepted everywhere s0 always have some cash in reserve. Get a starling account if you go abroad! Recommended by Money Saving Expert.

    Fuel: V Expensive in the Netherlands.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019

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