Overland to the start

London to Copenhagen by train and ferry

No flights ~a day travelling Bike friendly Trains + ferries

Copenhagen is the gateway to three EuroVelo routes and the best cycling city on the continent to begin from. The journey is a night on the North Sea and a day on German railways, and it ends in a country where the bicycle is simply how people get about. Take the slow trains if you can: they carry bikes without ceremony and they go through the Jutland countryside rather than under it.

The chain

  1. 🚆
    London to Harwich by rail or road Greater Anglia from Liverpool Street takes bikes; the overnight crossing puts you in Holland at breakfast.
  2. â›´
    Harwich to Hook of Holland by ferry Stena Line · about 7h · bikes roll on
  3. 🚆
    Hook of Holland to Hamburg by rail The run up through Bremen is flat and unhurried. Regional trains take a full bike; the ICE wants a reserved space.
  4. 🚆
    Hamburg to Copenhagen by rail The last leg crosses the Fehmarn belt. Danish trains carry bikes all day and the city end is all cycle track.
Ferry times here are typical crossings, not a timetable. Trains change with the season and the day of the week. The planner checks both for your dates and warns you when a train wants the bike bagged. Check anything safety critical with the operator before you travel.

Put your own dates on this and TourTrax will time every train, check the bike rules on each leg, and build the rest of the tour around it. Free to start. No account needed.

Plan London to Copenhagen live →

Book the legs

TourTrax never sells tickets. Each leg is booked with its operator directly:

Why go overland

Flying with a bike means a box, an oversize fee, and an hour on the airport floor with a multitool. Go this way and the bike stays built. Wheel it onto the ferry, hang it in the bike carriage, ride away at the far end. The travelling stops being the tax on the holiday and becomes the first two days of it.

This page comes from the corridor research that powers the TourTrax planner, written by a Cicerone guidebook author who travels this way. Have a look at the curated routes for where the chain could take you.