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France - England - Scotland - Netherlands

All pictures of this trip were taken with a Nikon D800 and a single lens, a 28 mm.

Paris

As so often before, after a normal working day I took the night train in a couchette, leaving Munich main station shortly before 11 in the evening for Paris Gare de l'Est.

Paris, city of love: today that love seems to manifest itself in padlocks, for security reasons. Where is the freedom left for revolution, longing, seduction and the romance one associates with this city?

Since I had visited Paris on earlier trips (Munich to Paris 2010, France in May 2013) I left the city quite quickly heading west.

Along the route of the 120-year-old cycling event Paris-Brest(-Paris) I cycled colourfully through France

Roscoff

to Roscoff. This stretch is pleasant to ride but does not offer many tourist sights. Further north I had already seen quite a lot in 2011 on another Tour de France, and I simply wanted to use the first days to "roll in". Lovely countryside, good food, no stress...
In the evening of 13 April I was in Roscoff and the next morning I took the ferry to Plymouth on the south coast of England.

This was my equipment:

Dartmoor

Tent, stove, and one more backpack, hidden in the stuff sack across the luggage rack, for hikes along the way. Just behind Plymouth the hills of Dartmoor begin.

Some farms open their meadows to tents, those were my favourite places to sleep.

Exeter and the Blackdown Hills showed themselves in the best weather and in full bloom.

In Glastonbury there were too many tourists in front of the abbey, so I left King Arthur, Avalon, the sheep and neo-druidism behind me.

Oxford

Oxford, city of dreaming spires.

Cotswolds

Through the heart of England, the Cotswolds, on the trail of Miss Marple; the many parked cars spoiled the townscape of Chipping Campden a little.

Stratford-upon-Avon

In Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace of the Bard of Avon is the tourist attraction. The weather was somewhat overcast that day.

Peak District

It was Easter and I was not the only one looking forward to the Peak District; the A515 behind Burton-on-Trent to Ashbourne was awfully busy that day. In England I saw far more vintage cars on the road than we have in Germany.

Yorkshire Dales

I rode past big cities like Manchester to avoid city traffic, and after the Peak District I visited the Yorkshire Dales.

This year, 2014, the Tour de France starts there, in England.

The weather in England stayed fantastic, a little rain now and then at night, but during the day I did not get wet once in April.

Lake District

The Yorkshire Dales turned almost seamlessly into the Lake District, which I did not have to myself on Easter Sunday. On via Carlisle towards Galloway

Arran

and between Ayr and Ardrossan I tried a signposted cycle route that chased me back and forth across the countryside for hours. In the evening by ferry to the island of Arran, which offers almost everything Scotland is known for in miniature, including a whisky distillery in Lochranza

Oban

The next day by ferry to Claonaig and north on Kintyre to Oban.

Ben Nevis

The weather turned a bit gloomy when I hiked up Ben Nevis the following day, but it is shrouded in cloud most of the year anyway. From 1100 m there was a continuous snowfield and visibility dropped to 20 m. At the top there was a small wind shelter, where I took a snapshot with my phone. In my cycling shorts and cycling shoes I felt somewhat "underdressed" next to many other climbers, and quite a few were out, equipped with gaiters, crampons and ice axes.

Glenfinnan Monument & Isle of Skye

Along the "Road to the Isles" next to a nice railway line, past the Glenfinnan Monument and several viaducts to Mallaig. From there a ferry took me to the Isle of Skye.

Eilean Donan Castle

The next day a loop around the Skye peninsula, which I left towards evening over the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh for Eilean Donan Castle.

Ullapool

Right opposite the campsite there was a small bakery, and the fresh bread early in the morning got me all the way to Ullapool, as tearooms and other places to shop were scarce on my route there.

Kylesku Bridge

I had not actually planned the north coast into my trip, but after meeting several End-to-End cyclists (Land's End to John O'Groats) and an 80-year-old who was walking the route pulling a little cart behind him (and was already on his way back), I wanted to reach at least the north coast of Scotland, too, and rode from Ullapool to Durness, among other things over the Kylesku Bridge.

Durness

Durness has some award-winning beaches and a memorial to John Lennon, who spent several holidays here in his youth.

Tongue

Shortly before Tongue a spoke broke in my front wheel. I had a spare with me, and on such a sunny day working on the bike bothers you less. There was not much traffic on the A836 to the south.

Loch Ness & Inverness

My supply of good weather seemed to be used up: the next day, when I visited Glen Affric, Drumnadrochit, Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness, it was mostly overcast and at times foggy. The rest of the way via Inverness, the Culloden battlefield, Cawdor Castle and south into the Cairngorms was rainy, and later there was even snow.

Balmoral & Loch Lomond

Via Balmoral and Braemar up to the Devil's Elbow, the highest pass in Scotland; I also rode over the second highest, the Lecht. Pitlochry and Lochs Tay, Katrine and Lomond lay on the way to Drymen. The campsite there is on the West Highland Way, and there were surprisingly many hikers with their tents on the small farm.

Edinburgh

The next day in Stirling I fixed a puncture in the rear tyre, noticed that the sidewall of my tyre was worn through, and got bulges when mounting it. It was Sunday and raining, and as I was just cycling past Stirling station I decided to try my luck in Edinburgh and took the train (8 pounds including bike for about 60 km). In Edinburgh I found bike shops that were open on Sundays. I left the shop happily with a spare tyre to cycle to a campsite a little outside the city and change the tyre there in peace. 50 m later: a bang, and the old tyre had burst open at the side. I had a spare tube with me.
In the afternoon I went to Arthur's Seat, a volcanic cone in the middle of the city, and the next morning I cycled to Stirling, since I wanted to see the Firth of Forth Bridge anyway...

I spent one morning in Edinburgh's Botanic Garden

On some former railway lines and along rivers you can cross Edinburgh quite quickly.

In bad weather I buried myself in a museum.

Rosslyn Chapel & Newcastle upon Tyne

A little south of Edinburgh I visited Rosslyn Chapel and the home of Dolly the sheep, spent a last night right at the Scottish border in Kielder and cycled along Hadrian's Wall to Newcastle upon Tyne, where I could move my ferry ticket forward by a day quite easily for a small fee.

IJsselmeer & Amsterdam

The Netherlands were a different world for cyclists: separate lanes for cars and bicycles everywhere, and the whole country so incredibly flat. France, England and Scotland had quite a few hills on the programme.

I spent the last day in the city until the night train from Amsterdam to Munich left, hiding in the museum most of the time, as the rain only eased off in the evening and after 5 pm I could still take a few pictures of Amsterdam; in the evening I took the night train comfortably back to Munich.