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Me and my younger son have a plan to go cycling in Holland at Easter just with our bikes no car.
Night boat Harwich - Hoek, then 4-5 days in Holland and afternoon ferry back.
The ferry is easy but for the life of me I cannot work out what / where I'm looking for accommodation. Camping seems like too much of a punt on the weather but everywhere self catering seems geared up for larger groups and/or 100+Eur/night (yes I know Easter / premium rates). Is that just how it is or am I looking for the wrong things?
I want somewhere we can hang out during the day if the weather stinks and leave vaguely nice bikes safely if we tram/train somewhere. Mostly if the weather is ok we want to ride places.
www.Stayokay.com/en
It’s been years since we did our tour in Holland, but I can recommend the hostels at Dordrecht, Utrecht-Bunnik and Heemskirk. They work very similar to our YHA.
We stayed here a few years ago,in Renesse, Zeeland, it was excellent. Dont discount the South/Zeeland, it’s different, but nice.
https://hotelblooker.nl/en/
Thanks all
May bite the bullet and go for the spendier holiday park option. Son is just 12 and we want our own space and ability to cook/make lunches in case the weather stinks.
It didn't look to me like the stayokay places had kitchen / self catering options and the other weird thing to me is it's Holland and nowhere tells you about bike storage. Somewhere semi secure would be preferred.
I looked at this trip to get to amsterdam, there were some suggestions for hotels and routes over on cycling uk forum, the old ctc.
We stayed in these log cabins in Rotterdam a few years ago. Cheap and close to the city
Safe storage isn't really a thing in the Netherlands, you'll see loads of bikes just locked up outside. In towns/cities there might be a proper manned garage but you can't count on it. I guess the issues you'll have is that your bikes are likely to stand out in a crowd whereas the average Dutch bike isn't worth stealing.
Advice for the Harwich ferry, try to get to sleep as soon as you're on board. You will get rudely woken at 5.30 by a loud announcement about breakfast and duty free.
Remember that in Europe 'Aparthotels' usually have a basic kitchen. I've stayed at a few for work travels, and it's always been enough to cook a meal on, not a huge range of kitchen utensils, but perfect for breakfast, making a sandwich and preparing a pasta & salad.
And there's plenty of food available in supermarkets that require minimal cooking. They don't do ready meals but you can get everything pre chopped/peeled.
We found bike secure parking with an attendant every time we needed it, i.e. Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem, Delft and Amsterdam.
We used Vrienden op de Fiets (as linked above) for a family cycling trip last year. Bike friendly B&Bs, all over the NL, 25 euros per night. Random hosts, but everyone we stayed with was very nice and the breakfasts were great.
Advice for the Harwich ferry, try to get to sleep as soon as you’re on board. You will get rudely woken at 5.30 by a loud announcement about breakfast and duty free.
We know that one, don't worry, be happy. 😉
My cousin used to live in Den Haag and we've had family friends there since before I was born so it was a popular childhood holiday spot too. We have done the crossing a few times. The kids have always loved their bikes and I can remember all the weird looks from the locals as my youngest pedalled along the cycle paths solo/attached to the Follow Me on 12" wheels 😂. Hoping to get the night boat back as well now and then the little ferry to Felixstowe before a final pootle through Suffolk countryside and back to collect the car from relatives.
Back to the accommodation search tomorrow night but thanks for the suggestions. 🙂