Bikepacking on a Brompton – England to Sweden

When the UK lockdown began in March, my husband was in Sweden and I was in London. Finally the restrictions eased and we could travel, but planes and long-distance trains still felt risky. So in August I took my tent and my Brompton, and I cycled through the Netherlands and Germany, and then sailed over the Baltic to Sweden. Before leaving London, I dehydrated enough meals for the whole journey, so that I could largely avoid going into shops along the way, apart from a couple of lovely bakeries, a brilliant sausage stall, and (quite a few) outdoor cafes serving apple cake.
Before I set out, I knew little about the region. I found it super interesting. There’s lots of history, good and bad – glorious old trade-route towns, as well as poignant reminders of the Nazi era. I found out that n the Dutch woodlands where I pitched my tent there’d been a labour camp from which people were sent to Auschwitz, and only a few miles south of my route in Lower Saxony was the site of Bergen-Belsen. The ride was beautiful, and really thought-provoking. Hope you enjoy the film.

Hello i’ve just finished another cycling and camping trip this time from london to sweden to see my husband who is swedish really excited to be on the way i took the train from london to a place near chelmsford past lovely village pubs and cricket pitches and huge golden fields

As the sun sank i arrived at the port oh hey i’m in holland and having a really easy day going from park of holland where the boat goes in to the hague it’s about 30 degrees so you really need to be either in the shade or cycling i think i’m gonna try and

Find a place for a coffee and um An afternoon cake i feel like that would be really nice i spent the evening with my lovely old school friend andrea and her husband arthur who gave me lots of enthusiastic advice about cycling in the netherlands now i am heading out in the direction of utrecht and the first challenge is actually to

Get out of town on the right road because there are super cycle paths but i’ve got to get used to how to follow them i passed canals and windmills i stopped to cool down at benthuisin sometimes the road traffic had to stop for the canal traffic

I rode on lovely lanes to the town of baldegraven and then along the old rhine hello i was in the area called the green heart of the netherlands i camped at a site in the polderlands north of utrecht and ate mushroom risotto as the sunset well it’s now tuesday and

I’ve just set off from the campsite at portengen which seemed to be very um promising but actually turned out really nice um because there was nobody camping there actually apart from me i rode along the amsterdam rhine canal to utrecht after you trashed i headed into the higher lands

In the eastern netherlands i went through amma’s fort it was super hot it’s tuesday afternoon now uh about four o’clock and over 30 degrees it’s been up to 33 today i stopped to pick up water and then had to shelter from a storm the thunder and the lightning is quite near actually

It’s so much cooler then i continued east into the province’s forests well this is the last little bit before i come to uh well here i am i think it must be wednesday i’m heading towards harperdawn i stopped at a place called twello and bought brad

Then i crossed over the isil river and entered dave enter city i was in the easternmost province of the netherlands now over isil i went on along roads lined with trees past fields of cows on dusty trails i entered the salland ridge national park found a pump that had water in it

I camped at a super simple woodland site the next morning i rode north through woodland and crossed the river reggae today i feel like i want to cross the border into germany i’ve been totaling through holland for so long nordhorn canal to the german border so this is the border the field there

Behind me is in germany and i’m standing in holland so i’m going to turn left down that road and i’m in germany how amazing is there sign at all okay this is germany i stopped at a fantastic campsite on the river ems thunder rumbled and then a storm broke

When i woke up mist was drifting over the river as i packed up the sun came out [Applause] there were lovely old farm houses and sweet corn fields [Applause] i came to the town of firstena and rumbled up the cobbles of its main street oh well i’m on these super long

Straight bits at the moment i’m heading for god belgium trying to catch up a bit because i think they’ve gone quite slowly in holland i’ll find it i can see a bend at the end i stopped for coffee and was hit by another thunderstorm well here comes the rain

I haven’t finished my coffee oh dear okay the rain really came down hard well it’s saturday morning and uh i’m camping at this place called gildama i’m back on track because yesterday i did a absolutely massive leg i arrived here through sheets of rain anyway slept really well and

It’s still raining uh i’ve got a puncture so i’m just having a second cup of coffee as a treat and then i’m gonna change the bath time found out about front puncher as well anyway both done oh so hopefully i can go on right now i’m gonna pack away all the

Soaking wet and i went on through flat farmland south of bremen it’s got a kind of deserted feel about it here strangeland they’re very few houses and then some of them are abandoned and then there’s just like some abandoned agricultural buildings i rode through tiny towns including kitchen where i stopped for an

Absolutely brilliant art warst i managed to buy bread at a larger town there were more lovely farmhouses some of the towns seemed lonely and half dead in the evening sun a road to a campsite on the banks of the river visa i woke to bright sunshine i crossed the visa

I was in flat countryside with red brick farm houses and huge fields it’s sunday and it’s super duper quiet the shops are all shut so thank goodness that did get those rolls yesterday it’s so hot about 30. you just get really sticky and we’ve got some cream on and then that’s all

Making the burst stick to me after another rain storm i rode into the town of this so somehow quiet and lonely i was now in the luna burger high that i crossed huge areas of flat empty farmland i aimed for a campsite near a place called

Schneverdingen and it turned out to be a luxury five-star place absolutely jam-packed with motorhomes i pitched in the lumber yard which was the only place i could find and wondered what to do about registering it was a bit naughty but to save trouble i just packed up super early and left

I had breakfast at the roadside after a few miles at aegis 12 there was a kitten church and behind it a very cute cat small lovely old farms and thatched houses and a fantastic windmill then i arrived in luna ball which was a brilliant old town full of hollyhock cottages and a red

Brick church and magnificent town houses and street cafes across the flatland north of the city i am so tired now I’ve been outside for a week i can feel my patience is quite thin like things going wrong i haven’t got that much resilience left now finally at the city of lauenburg i reached the album now across the alba i was in the german state of schleswig-holstein

At my last camp i had my last dehydrated dinner the next morning i used up the last coffee and i packed up the tent for the last time on this trip that’s it last one well here i am on the last leg the weather has cooled off somewhat so it’s about 28

Now which is really relaxing and nice Tonight how exciting Brilliant plate of chips and i arrived at lubeck So i headed north of the city to the port at travanda i had one last quite fancy apple cake to celebrate and then i took the night ferry I arrived the next morning in malmo you