Last Updated on: February 17, 2025

Our next goal was Calais, Eurotunnel to Folkstone, and up to Hinckley, England. We had a mission there, before returning to mainland Europe.

On as small ferry that runs across Weser, northwest of Bremen, Germany

So the plan was to spend a night in Calais, and hop on the train the next morning. We wanted to stay off the Autobahn (AB) as much as possible, even if that means an extra night on the way down. None of us fancies AB, but sometimes it serves the purpose of getting somewhere fast.

Through Germany

After a decent breakfast we made ourselves ready for departure. The zipper on Truls-Erik’s tank bag suddenly decided to call it a day, just as we were about to ride off. He locked it down with luggage strap. Those can come in handy, it’s a good idea to bring an extra or two.

The GIVI tank bag zipper just gave up.

We decided to look for a replacement later. When we knew exactly where we would call it a day. Despite the luggage strap it wasn’t a weatherproof solution. In rain more of a water scoop than a tank bag. Fortunately there were no rain in sight.

If you ride northwest of Bremen along Bundesstrasse or smaller roads you’ll have to take a ferry across Weser. There are five to choose from. Which means a lot of freedom to decide on where to cross. They run literally all the time and only takes a few minutes to cross over.

Over on the other side we continued in direction of Oldenburg, then turned southwest in direction of of the border to the Netherlands. Over on the Dutch side things slowed down considerably. More than partially due to our desire to ride small roads. And small roads we got, with lots of bicycle riders.

Crossing borders twice

Riding small roads in The Netherlands is an entirely different cup of tea. A slow cup of tea to be precise. Affordable accommodation options were few and far apart. Booking.com found a hotel across the border in Germany. So we booked and went here. It was late afternoon as we winded up in front of Hotel Haus Duden in Wesel.

Hotel Haus Duden, Germany. SLightly shabby but ok

The hotel was ok, somewhat quirky, with buildings that needed more than a touch-up. But the price was ok. No dinner serving at the hotel so we had to go elsewhere for food. Since no bar open either we bought drinks in a supermarket. Which was fine and probably saved us more than a few Euros.

To Calais

One thing I have to say about Hotel Haus Duden is that the breakfast room surprised me. Didn’t see that coming. Definitely a four star hotel design, and one of the best parts of the main building. The breakfast was pretty decent too!

The breakfast room and restaurant was a pleasant place.

Leaving the little town of Weser we (or rather Google Maps) found a motorcycle gear shop. Truls-Erik picked up a sort-of usable tank bag that fit both purpose, tank and brackets. Not ideal he said, but better than nothing. And it was at least more weatherproof than the broken GIVI.

From Weser we rode south, hopped on the Autobahn past Duisburg, turned west north of Dûsseldorf, and rode through Belgium in direction of Ghent. We didn’t make many stops and I took no pics. The goal was to get to Calais, find a hotel near the Eurotunnel and be in position for the ride from Folkstone to Hinckley the next day.

The manager at Ibis hotel in Calais

Hote Ibis in Calais fit the bill. Simple, but just what we needed after a long day or riding. Good food and drink served as well. We particularly liked the “hotel manager’s” relaxed attitude (above).

Below our route. In hindsight we should perhaps have dropped the Dutch detour but hey, it’s such things that makes up an adventure.