Travel Report: Bike tour from Hamburg to Kiel
From our guests Heinz, Hella and Hinrich
Our bike tour from 5.10.2024 to 10.10.2024: Hamburg – Kiel
Booked were 5 nights with breakfast for 3 people in a double room with an extra bed, including luggage transport. As we live on the Bremen - Hamburg railroad line, we strapped our suitcases onto the three bikes for the two short journeys to the station and from Hamburg main station to the first hotel. Now the journey could begin.
Show more Show lessDay 1: The elevator worked twice for one person with a bike each time, but the third time it only jolted up a metre before stopping. So the bike had to be carried down the stairs. At 9:10 a.m., the Metronom train to Hamburg arrived on time. We stood on the platform where the bike compartment is normally located. A couple of friends wanted to travel to Hamburg with us. There was no bike symbol at the front of the train, so the five of us scurried to the back of the train. There was no bike symbol there either. Our neighbor quickly pressed the "door open button", but it was already locked at that moment. The train left without us. We took it in good humor and hoped for the 10:10 train with a bike compartment. This train arrived on time and took us with it. Announcement just before Hamburg: This train only goes to Hamburg-Harburg today. So we changed trains with our packed bikes and continued to the main station. The directions to the hotel were good and the hotel was quickly found. We took the S-Bahn and U-Bahn back to the city center. There we walked through the old Elbe tunnel and back. Unfortunately, we were only able to see the "Michel" from the outside because of an event. We were looking forward to the next day with the first cycling stage to Glückstadt!
Day 2: Hamburg - Glückstadt, approx. 55 kilometers according to the description. Cycling at last! We still managed to get to the Elbe quickly with a few detours due to roadworks. At the Willkomm-Höft in Wedel we had a break with delicious fish sandwiches. Unfortunately, few to no large ships pass by there on Sundays. They lie in the roadstead so that the harbor fee can be saved for the day. What a shame, we would have loved to show our grandson. So we continued along the Elbe cycle path until after Hohenhorst. But there we stood in front of the closed barrage (only open until september 30th) So back and on towards Seestermühe and back onto the Elbe cycle path towards Kollmar. Another barrage and again only open until september 30th. According to the map, there is a historic passenger ferry nearby. However, this was also not in operation. On to Elmshorn and through the meadows and fields to the main road towards Glückstadt. 87 km instead of the planned 55. Good thing we are experienced cyclists. Our destination was a nice little hotel right by the market. Unfortunately, they had forgotten to put an extra bed in the room. Our grandson was given a very spacious extra room at no extra charge. We made jokes and said that we hadn't booked an adventure trip after all!
Show more Show lessDay 3: Glückstadt - Schafstedt. Start in drizzling rain towards the Elbe dyke. Once there, the gates were secured with a chain and lock. The cycle path was closed due to bluetongue disease in sheep. So we followed the main road 431 on the cycle path. There were already signs indicating that this road was closed from Brokdorf in the direction of Brunsbüttel. We planned to cycle as far as there and then continue on. Here we had to head towards Wilster, from where we wanted to cycle along the B5 to Brunsbüttel. Unfortunately, this was a car-only road and forbidden for bikes. So we continued on and looked for a way to cross the B5. This brought us to Kudensee on the Kiel Canal. The locks in Brunsbüttel were 11 km away - 22 km more. As it was still drizzling, we decided to skip Brunsbüttel and visit the locks in Kiel-Holtenau on the last day. The last stage was only 35 km, so we could easily extend it.
We cycled along the NOK until 6 kilometers before Schafstedt. Hunger called for a break with sandwiches or something similar. There was a snack bar here, but it was closed until 2pm. I quickly googled the opening times of our hotel and drove the few kilometers further. According to the description, the hotel was supposed to be open all the time, but it was closed. There was a sign in the door: Today and tomorrow only open from (I think) 16:30. I called them and explained our surprise and the situation. The friendly lady offered to serve us cake or cookies. The suitcases were already there, but we still had to pay for the extra bed and breakfast for three people the next morning. We refused and phoned the travel company. It was a booking error by the hotel. An employee from Radweg-Reisen took care of it and covered the additional costs. There was a bakery 2 kilometers away where we satisfied our hunger. According to the hotel description, we thought we would find a well-stocked menu for the evening. Unfortunately, it was just better fast food. Our room faced the access road to the ferry terminal. Due to the weather forecast for the next few days, tractors with trailers full of maize chaff drove across the NOK in both directions on the ferry all night. We live in a village and are used to these noises, but not in such large numbers. Never mind, nobody can do anything about the weather!
Show more Show lessDay 4: Schafstedt – Rendsburg (Büdelsdorf). We were looking forward to the transporter bridge below the high bridge. Start in drizzling rain. Due to minor roadworks on the canal, we took another detour. It wasn't very far, but the road surface was full of mud as the corn harvest was in full swing. At the transporter bridge, we learned that there was also supposed to be a tunnel under the NOK. So we decided to make one crossing with the ferry and one through the tunnel. Europe's longest descending escalator leads down to the tunnel. Both crossings were an experience. Our grandson was surprised that all ferries could be used free of charge. We gave him the explanation: wherever there were road connections before the canal was built, free ferry connections were created so that farmers could reach their meadows and fields.
Floating ferry
Day 5: Rendsburg (Büdelsdorf) - Kiel: Well rested we had an excellent breakfast and wanted to continue our journey to Kiel. Panniers on the bike and... Bad luck: one front wheel was flat. It had been fine in the evening. We checked the tires and discovered that there was a small shard of glass stuck in them. The inner tube had slowly lost air overnight. As we are frequent riders, we had a spare tube with us and didn't have to patch the defective tube first. We removed the front wheel, replaced the inner tube and put it back in the bike. Now we were off. This day brought no further surprises. In Kiel-Holtenau we were able to marvel at the large lock chambers towards the Baltic Sea. It is quite impressive when a freighter and other smaller ships can fit into a lock chamber alongside a large container ship. The hotel was a little out of the way, but very nice and quiet. The menu also left nothing to be desired. We prepared our luggage as we had to transport it to the station on our bikes and home by train the next day.
Day 6: Journey home from Kiel: Unfortunately another rainy day. As it wasn't too far to the train station, it didn't spoil our mood. The train connection Kiel - Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, with a change in the direction of Bremen, was questionable. On the outward journey we had already had to change trains in Hamburg-Harburg. Our train departed a little late because the train driver was not on time. From Hamburg-Hauptbahnhof there is an hourly train to Bremen. So if the changeover time is too short, you can easily catch the next train. Three bikes with luggage means taking the elevator three times. That takes time. Shortly before Hamburg, an announcement is made: "This train only goes to Hamburg-Altona today. Everyone has to get off and take another train or the S-Bahn to the main station. The information desk is very busy. The railroad employee says we should take the elevator to another platform and from there take the S-Bahn. As we had a joint ticket, we didn't dare take the S-Bahn in different compartments. So we decided to take another train. This attempt ended at the elevator. It was so small that a single bike would only have fitted in on end. Annoyed, we looked to see how far it was through the city to the main station by bike. Our grandson switched on his sat nav and guided us through Hamburg to the station. From there, we took an express train to Rotenburg and waited for the Metronom train to take us home. This Metronom train only started in Hamburg-Harburg. So we would have had to cycle across the Elbe, which we wanted to avoid in the rainy weather. In Rotenburg, we were able to help Spanish tourists find their way back onto the train to Tostedt. They hadn't reached the door in time on the packed train. Hopefully they arrived safely!
Show more Show lessAt home, we had 282 kilometers on the clock. If you deduct the journeys to and from the stations, we covered 270 kilometers instead of the planned 200 kilometers. Despite all the adversities, we had a lot of fun. Conclusion: It was still very nice!!!
