Devall Travels

With the chosen dates almost set in stone due to dog sitting courtesy of my Aunt Yvonne and Audrey, I have been checking the ferries. When there are only one or two crossings a day on the ones we have chosen, it is important to get them booked. Harwich to the Hook of Holland, the only reasonable North Sea crossing for those of us in the south of England, currently coming in at £253 for the return crossing for me, Claire and Dora, inc cabin, it is filling up. The other is the "cruise" from Hirtshals in Denmark across to Bergen in Norway.  It takes 16 hours and arrives about 1230 (lunchtime) so we should be able to get some deck time and see the scenery slide past.  This one is about £150 for the single journey.   Both crossings are overnight for the most part and so we travel as we sleep.  The alternative, of shorter ferries, will use up more valuable day time. I chose August as a gamble on the Fjord weather and also that once we...

Planning. The date has moved to August now after the decision to go to Florida in May/June. Once the spreadsheet (a modern day pen and pencil), columns for date, day, daytime, overnight, staying in, was started I could start to see that we have 11 days for the trip and then I could begin putting a few ideas together. Slotting in ideas. Using the Harwich to Hoek van Holland ferry means that we can use the Thursday night to travel. Claire doesn't work on Fridays so we would get a head start instead of sleeping at home. The ride from the Hook to Hamburg and the halfway point is 320 miles.  If we went over on the short route on Friday, the ride would be about 480 miles; a longer day and less chance to have a look around once we get there. From Hamburg the ride to Hirtshals is another 320 miles according to Google Maps, and about six hours riding. Allowing for a few stops we should be there well in time for the boat to Norway. The original plan was ...