stuff to do in europe

[h00dwink]

i'm considering riding around good ol' mainland europe, i have a basic route in mind. what i am in need of though, is things to do, or places to visit.

from peoples' experiences, where would you recommend going to?
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Sahf East Winnah 4LYF
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[h00dwink]

what's going to sound crazy, i was thinking that both of my bikes are not wholly suited to riding such a jaunt.
but one of them's not. my wee sr125 would easily be up for the job. the thing's not skipped a beat since i'v owned it. it does better mpg than my honda, and pretty much any tourer. cheap and easy to maintain. comfortable on long rides.
so i think i'll have that one out for one last big ol' ride. i feel it'd be very interesting.
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[Keen]

where do you start? theres a million things to do! its pretty hard to name just a few.... that book 'a 1000 places to see before you die' could be a good investment to help planning (this trip and pretty much every other you ever take!).

whats the route you have in mind?

I think my favorite city that I've been to in Europe is Barcelona, my girlfriend's from there and every time we go to visit I'm stuck by how friendly the people are, the general atmosphere and the amazing modernist architecture.

I keep planning to visit the millau bridge in France, I think that would definitely be worth seeing....
If you're planning on going to the south of France, let me know and I can provide more specific info on stuff to see and do in the Antibes/Nice/Monaco area
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"he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man"- Dr. Johnson

[michael j]

Check out the Eiffel region in Germany. Stunning roads and scenery, not too far from the Nurbergring either.

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Ducati 996

[h00dwink]

well, here's a draft route.
https://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3931/draftroutecopyau3.jpg

i say it's draft as i don't really know how much time i could take to do this. probably 21 days at most.
here's a list of the places i'v got that are en-route. they're most likely where i'd do something, see something and sleep.

on some places i'd like to stay more than 1 day for a proper bit of R&R, and to see the sights. the ones without brackets are what i already know what i'd like to do, although do feel free to add.

also, if you know good places kind of around the line, do mention them as i could change the specific stop-over.

from calais-
amsterdam (we all know what's there!)
berlin
warsaw (maybe)
krakow (would like to visit auschwitz, morbid as that may sound)

from there it's either through the czech republic, or slovakia to get to vienna

vienna
outside venice (don't think i'd go into venice)

from there it's either along to genoa (brown line) or down to rome and vatican city.

rome/vatican city (worth going far out of my way? convince me)
genoa
monaco
marseille
andorra
toulouse
limoges
orléans

from here i'd be skirting around paris, been there so many times before i don't really fancy going again.

vic sur aisne (small village in northern france i used to work at)
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Sahf East Winnah 4LYF
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[natv4]

Looking at your route I would suggest:

1. Skip Warsaw (nice but extremely long distance and time to spend getting there, best use the time for several other things) and pass through Czech Rep. The ardspache templice skaly (rocks) in the north east are amazing. You could easily skip over to auschwitz from there. Its then not far to Zenopane in the south of Poland (nr Slovak border) for the beautiful High Tatra mountain range (you must goto the top via the lifts and enjoy a really special top of the world feeling). Don't forget to try the local food - Goulash with dumplings is highly recommended.

2. There are lots of castles in the south of Germany, it could be worth a look there. Near the Munich area I'm told.

3. Definitely cross the Alps, great fun and beautiful. There are countless high passes which will give you technical roads and phenomenal views.

4. Venice is worth a visit, preferably early morning (pre 8am). Otherwise, it gets very busy. Eating there is generally a rip off. If you do go, get accomodation on the mainland (there is a campsite near the airport).

5. Vatican city is very interesting (if you like huge churches, great artwork and guards wearing outragous uniforms). Rome is overhyped, better to see Firenze (Florence). Do goto the top of the Duomo. There is a nice campsite with a view overlooking the city to the south east. Avoid Piza at all costs, its a dump with one attraction, long queues, and is not special at all.

6. Genoa is an ugly sprawling city with the best thing about it being the autostrada heading north out of it. Particularly unpleasant just after a football match.

7. The coastal roads between Genoa and Marseille are some of the most beautiful on a sunny day (nice corners too). The sea on one side and mountains on the other.

8. Whilst there it would be rude not to ride the N85 (route Napolean) up to gap, which has been voted best biking road in Europe. Its certainly a hell of a lot of fun. You could even take a detour and see the Gorges du Verdon, which are beautiful (but busy during peak summer).

9. The roads around Andorra are great. Pick any route which looks slightly wiggly on the map and you won't be disappointed.

10. A favourite of mine is the A75 from Lodeve to Claremont-Ferrand. Possibly the best motorway in the world. It changes altitude every inch and has amazing corners that will tempt you well above the 130kph speed limit. You will also cross the Millau viaduc, which is pretty.

Although having just re-read the bit where you were considering taking the 125 maybe some of that would not be so wise (motorways?).

I'm not sure how much ground you would cover on the 125, I took a VFR on a fairly similar trip and it was a lot of riding in 23 days. Which is good if you like riding (I do) but not if you are more of a holiday type of person.

Still, anything is possible, it just depends how far you are willing to push yourself. The main thing I would recommend is not to be too definite with your plans. You will probably meet people and picking up ideas from them can lead to the most memorable adventures. There is nothing like local knowledge to find cool places.

Hope you have fun.
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Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
Bike: Blue Honda VFR800fi (*NEW*) Mileage: 22k Countries visited: GB/F/D/CZ/PL/E/I/B/A/HR/H/Rus/E/MA
West Europe...2004, East Europe...2005, Russia/France...2006, Morocco...2007

[h00dwink]

cheers for the reply mate, it's the sort of info i wanted. very helpful aswell as you've done a similar trip.
just read through all of your adventure. gotta love them, they're inspiring. i really want that sort of experience.

i have looked at larger bikes on ebay. but i don't really think i'd gain anything over the 125. and it's a little more ambitious. i know motorways would be a bit cack on it, that's why i'd be trying to avoid those as much as possible so i could experience more.
like i'v said, it's more fuel efficiant, get about 120 miles on 8 litres of petrol. would be really easy to do any mechanical work on it should problems arise as it's so basic.

i do enjoy riding and would love to just be able to get up each day just going where i want. eating new food, seeing new sights etc...
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Sahf East Winnah 4LYF
https://bikepics.com/members/h00dwink/00sv650s/
www.youtube.com/h00dwink updated regularly

[h00dwink]

from taking on board what you've said-
i'll cut out warsaw and go straight to kraków. see auschwitz, as it's something you can't excuse not doing if you're there and interested in that part of history.

the tatra mountains sound ace, so would enjoy that.
on to austria; i'v been there before on holiday and know it's an amazing place. such a fantastic and proud culture i'd want to spend some time with again. that and the mountains all around is incredible.

then from there would be to vatican city.

this will take a helluva lot of planning tbh. there's a lot of finding out about places to go to.

considering a GPS, set the destination and put "avoid motorways". but then that takes a large chunk of the independance away.
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Sahf East Winnah 4LYF
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www.youtube.com/h00dwink updated regularly

[natv4]

Sounds like you've thought it through pretty well. The only reason I mentioned the 125 was time really. My last trip was on a bandit 600 (my bike was written off a week before I left).

I hadn't counted on just how much longer it takes to cover distance when you avoid motorways and average 60mph instead of 80. I quite enjoyed the extra time on the road, but I have friends who really wouldn't like so many miles.

All said, the most exciting trip I've read so far is from a chap who took several months to ride the trans atlantic highway (mostly gravel) through Canada and Alaska on a 50cc moped. You will have more fun and you will have to interact with more people (motorways nearly always mean meeting travellers, where as A roads mean you meet locals).

When I went, I didn't know about Auschwitz, it was recommended by people I met in Krakow. I did take lonely planet "Europe on a Shoestring" which is very useful for interesting places to visit.

Austria is somewhere I hope to see more of this year. I've driven through a few times (Vienna was nice) but usually a blurr. The mountainous region was at night, although I couldn't see anything, I got the impression the landscape was stunning. Would you suggest anywhere in particular?

Don't forget to write up your adventures for those of us whom are still unlucky enough to be working.
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Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
Bike: Blue Honda VFR800fi (*NEW*) Mileage: 22k Countries visited: GB/F/D/CZ/PL/E/I/B/A/HR/H/Rus/E/MA
West Europe...2004, East Europe...2005, Russia/France...2006, Morocco...2007

[h00dwink]

unless i get a new job (trying for) then i'd be riding europe in the summer. if i do get the new job, i'd take a month off to do this ride when possible. so starting the planning now.

well, when i went to austria i was a fair bit younger (about 5 odd years ago now). i don't know specifically where we were. but all i remember was that it was amazing.

one night we went to a local bar where they had traditional food and entertainment on. it was incredible.
there's also this that you HAVE to try out- i can't remember what it's called, but it's like dry slope toboganning. they have like pipes cut in half making a 1km track down a hill. you control how fast the toboggan goes. it's very cool and very fun.


there's a few things i looked at on tourist sites about austria
the ice bar https://www.ice-house.at/
and the alpine coaster https://www.alpine-coaster.at/

unfortunately they're on the other side of austria i'd be and would be too far out of the way to make a detour to.



ahh, after a wee google i find this.
when i was in the scouts we went to austria with a company called jeka who organise the trips for the scouting organisation.

apparently the place is called "lech valley" in the north west corner of austria.

https://www.jeka-groupholidays.co.uk/docs/destinations/austria.php#null
https://www.jeka-groupholidays.co.uk/img/destinations/L_austria1.jpg
you can't say that's not stunning.
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Sahf East Winnah 4LYF
https://bikepics.com/members/h00dwink/00sv650s/
www.youtube.com/h00dwink updated regularly

[michael j]

On your route map, you cut right across the north of Germany. You may find it interesting to stop at Bergen/ Belsen, considering your interst in Auschwitz.
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Ducati 996

[Al]

[natv4]

When I wrote that I had a quick look around but could not find the site. It was a young ish chap whom did the journey in the eighty's (before they paved most of the road). I'll have another look now and see if I can find it....
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Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
Bike: Blue Honda VFR800fi (*NEW*) Mileage: 22k Countries visited: GB/F/D/CZ/PL/E/I/B/A/HR/H/Rus/E/MA
West Europe...2004, East Europe...2005, Russia/France...2006, Morocco...2007

[natv4]

It wasn't that difficult after all...
Alaskan Highway, in '78 but still an epic. This page best shows the effort involved, remember this is a 50cc moped. The trip took 3 months and I am jealous as hell:

https://wmuma.com/moped78/intro2.html

and the whole story starts here:

https://wmuma.com/moped78
____________________
Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
Bike: Blue Honda VFR800fi (*NEW*) Mileage: 22k Countries visited: GB/F/D/CZ/PL/E/I/B/A/HR/H/Rus/E/MA
West Europe...2004, East Europe...2005, Russia/France...2006, Morocco...2007