Last Updated on: January 5, 2025

July 2024 it was time for another Euro Adventure. July is not my favourite month for going south in Europe. I was later to be reminded why.

Another Euro experience, in July

Circumstances led to the choice of month. Not ideal. but oh well. Work, life and in addition a friend wanted to come along. The same friend who joined me in 2022. That whole story begins here.  He too had booked his vacation in July.

The plan, to the extent any of us likes that concept (not much), was to first ride through northern Europe, down to Calais, France. Take the Eurotunnel over to Folkestone, England, and then a little north. We were only going to spend one night there. So no grand tour of the UK this time.

Back in Calais we would then continue through France, and down in direction of the Alps. That’s all we had “planned”.

Since Truls-Erik (the friend) lives in Bergen, a city on the west coast of Norway, and I live in Oslo, we agreed to meet up in Denmark, somewhere. He would catch a ferry from the southern tip of Norway. I would do as I always do, ride down to Larvik, a couple of hours south of Oslo.

The 1250GS packed and ready for another euro adventure

First leg(s)

The weather was great when I left home. And it continued to be great all the way down to Biker’s Rest in Løkken, Denmark. Biker’s Rest is my usual stopover place when going north/south. It’s an affordable place, and a real bikers lodge only 45 minutes from Hirtshals. Ideal when taking the late boat from Norway. Or day sailing back north & home.

Great weather In Larvik while waiting to board the ferry.

The following day I rode from Bikers Rest down to Løgstør to meet a friend. As expected the weather was changing, rapidly. Denmark can be very cold and wet in July. As I left my friend there it started to pour down. That had me regret not bringing my Goretex suit.

But two layers of good rain gear and some warmer clothes turned out to work fine. Just a nuisance, when having to take raingear on/off.

Did I mention it rained in Denmark?

Elbfähre, as usual

An hour and a half after my arrival, Truls-Erik showed up. We then rode straight down to Glûckstadt, to catch the ferry across the Elbe. Fortunately the weather had improved as we crossed the border into Germany. A hotel was booked on the other side of the river.

On the ferry, check out the lights on that bike!

This is another of my standard routes. Especially if going southwest. One I can recommend, especially to motorcycle riders. Regardless of direction. By taking Elbfähre you avoid potential mess around Hamburg. And messy it can be, traffic-wise.

But for cars the ferry can imply  a bit of waiting in both directions. Check the website before you decide.

Mordor awaited us, but we avoided it!

We stayed in the dry from right before crossing the border. Crossing the Elbe “Mordor” was looming on the other side. Typical, from one shower to the next one. One reason why I don’t like July when on (another) Euro adventures.

Luckily our hotel was more east. So we managed to escape with just a few drops of rain. And arrive at the hotel just a few minutes before the restaurant closed.

And so ended the second day. More soon.