Hi does anyone know if there are any equivalents of cheap motels like rather French Formula1 in Belgium, Holland and North Germany. I am heading to Berlin tomorrow and will probably camp on the way back but due to time I am looking for cheap places to stay not by the motorways on main roads.
I tend to ride until I am too tired, so am not sure exactly where I will be staying.
Any info or info on good campsites that are between Dunkirk and Berlin would be great
Thanks Jak
Cheap motels Belgium, Holland, Germany?
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bikenav
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Re: Cheap motels Belgium, Holland, Germany?
from my experience hotels are a little expensive in Belgium but in Germany can be surprisingly good value often inclusive of evening meal and breakfast cant help much more than that I'm afraid have stayed in f1 etc a couple of times but try to avoid it where possible I'm sure the Germans will have something similar knowing what they are like. What about Hostels but they work out expensive in Germany solo anyway, other than that Booking.com is horribly efficient.
Re: Cheap motels Belgium, Holland, Germany?
We usually divert off the main roads and search out a Gasthaus. Even small villages seem to have a couple usually family run jobs and we have never been disappointed. They often don't have an internet presence or take cards mind. If in doubt always head for a lake there will always be accommodation nearby 
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Dark Knight
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Re: Cheap motels Belgium, Holland, Germany?
Stayed at one of those hostels (the ones with the big steel fire doors) last time in Berlin, it was near a U bahn stop.
cannot remember the name but found it on hotels.com, not a lot of help i know.
cannot remember the name but found it on hotels.com, not a lot of help i know.
Re: Cheap motels Belgium, Holland, Germany?
It does seem much harder to find cheaper accommodation in Germany and certainly Holland than it does in France. As I was on my own I rode longer nand further than I might have done in a group or with a pillion, consequently I stopped later. The first night was in Koln where I ended up in the Youth hostel which was sixty Euros a night. They would have charged the same if there had been two of us. The breakfast was a help yourself all you can eat continental affair which was great. There was a nice bar opposite where I ended up having a beer or three with some ice hockey fans. The hostel is just down the road from the station and there was a good Mexican restaurant on the corner.
The second day I rode through the Harz mountains and passed quite a few guest houses with biker welcome signs. I stopped here http://biker-hotel-harz.de and had a chat with the owners. They were very helpful and looked up some cheap places to stay near Potsdam which was sort of where I was heading. They also looked up,some tyres place in Berlin as my back tyre was quite worn by this stage and the bikes handling was feeling a little below par. The bar here looked great. I fully intended to stop here on the way back but in the end I had made such good time and the weather was so good I pressed on.
I tried to book the place near Potsdam from a service station but it was booked up. Somehow I ended up booking the hotel Panorma in the Centre of Berlin for 35 Euros including breakfast. This was done through booking.com and I think if you use this link https://www.booking.com/index.en-gb.htm ... type=total&
you can get a further 10% off. The hotel was okay, a bit seventies internally which was fine as it reminded me of the BBC adapatations of John LeCarre' s novels and I was in Berlin.
The next three days I stayed in a large flat with my family. On the way back I ended up at the bikers campsite near Venlo in Holland only to find it was shut. It appears to have changed hands and is now full of wooden shacks and what look like building site cabins. As it was dark by then and chucking it down I headed for Nijmegen and ended up in a motel for70 euros, it was an extra fourteen for breakfast which I declined.
After visitng one of the best toy shops in the world (Teo Lamers https://www.tlm.nl/en/) and the bridge at Arnhem I was going to stay at the Bikers Loft. After the previous day's experience with the campsite I phoned first. I was glad I did as they have now closed the bunk room and the rooms start at 70 euros, although I was cheerfully told that the next night would only be forty. I am not sure how many people want to spend two nights in a converted warehouse on an industrial estate near Ostend but I am not one of them.
I ended up cracking on and getting the ferry. DFDS were excellent and got me on a crossing two days earlier from Calais rather than Dunkirk at no extra cost. They literally closed the doors as I rode on to the boat.
A great, if short trip. I will see if I can work out how to get the pictures of the East German motorcycle museum in Berlin off my phone.
Cheers Jak
The second day I rode through the Harz mountains and passed quite a few guest houses with biker welcome signs. I stopped here http://biker-hotel-harz.de and had a chat with the owners. They were very helpful and looked up some cheap places to stay near Potsdam which was sort of where I was heading. They also looked up,some tyres place in Berlin as my back tyre was quite worn by this stage and the bikes handling was feeling a little below par. The bar here looked great. I fully intended to stop here on the way back but in the end I had made such good time and the weather was so good I pressed on.
I tried to book the place near Potsdam from a service station but it was booked up. Somehow I ended up booking the hotel Panorma in the Centre of Berlin for 35 Euros including breakfast. This was done through booking.com and I think if you use this link https://www.booking.com/index.en-gb.htm ... type=total&
you can get a further 10% off. The hotel was okay, a bit seventies internally which was fine as it reminded me of the BBC adapatations of John LeCarre' s novels and I was in Berlin.
The next three days I stayed in a large flat with my family. On the way back I ended up at the bikers campsite near Venlo in Holland only to find it was shut. It appears to have changed hands and is now full of wooden shacks and what look like building site cabins. As it was dark by then and chucking it down I headed for Nijmegen and ended up in a motel for70 euros, it was an extra fourteen for breakfast which I declined.
After visitng one of the best toy shops in the world (Teo Lamers https://www.tlm.nl/en/) and the bridge at Arnhem I was going to stay at the Bikers Loft. After the previous day's experience with the campsite I phoned first. I was glad I did as they have now closed the bunk room and the rooms start at 70 euros, although I was cheerfully told that the next night would only be forty. I am not sure how many people want to spend two nights in a converted warehouse on an industrial estate near Ostend but I am not one of them.
I ended up cracking on and getting the ferry. DFDS were excellent and got me on a crossing two days earlier from Calais rather than Dunkirk at no extra cost. They literally closed the doors as I rode on to the boat.
A great, if short trip. I will see if I can work out how to get the pictures of the East German motorcycle museum in Berlin off my phone.
Cheers Jak
