2008 Euro Adventure

[Edicap]

Hi Folks,

I'm trying to plan a european trip for me and a mate next year about a year from now. We're planning it all round next years Hungarian Grand Prix as we want to be in town to see that. At the moment our route kinda looks like this...

Part One
Home to Amsterdam - 311 miles (via Hook of Holland ferry from Harwich)
Amsterdam to Berlin - 401 miles
Berlin to Prague - 213 miles
Prague to Budapest - 334 miles (take in the GP)

Part Two
Budapest to Munich via Vienna - 400 miles
Munich to Luxembourg - 330 miles
Luxembourg to Dieppe - 290 miles (two days exploring the D-Day beaches etc)
Le Havre - Home - 150 miles

I'm kinda happy about the route but just wondered if anyone else who has done this kinda thing before thought it was a bit ambitious. Most days we'll only be travelling about 300 miles and I'm planning around eleven or twelve days for the trip.

My main worry is the ferry though. Do you usually book well in advance as I've heard you can just turn up if your on a bike and jump on one?

Any help, tips or answers would be fantastic!

Cheers
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Honda CBR600F

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Sounds a fairly reasonable route for the time, I'd suggest you have the odd rest day here and there.

Ferry's are generally a lot cheaper if you book in advance. Some routes will be prone to being very busy at times and may need booking so you're not waiting days for a boat.

I've paid £35 return before for a Dover-Calais ferry, booked about four months in advance. Next year I didn't book, turning up at 2pm on a busy Sunday in Calais we had to fork out £85-odd for a single to get back to Dover, and waited about four hours for a space.

[Itchy]

planning is bad , things can change.


general observations are:

P&O rip you off for ticket changes

Sea france don't give too much bother,

but then P&O ratchen tie down your bike,

Sea France use a bit of string as per Maurice.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Depends on the ferry with Sea France, on the newer ones you get a proper bike bay with it full ratcheted down, on the older ones you get a rail and a rope as you said.

[phil2alp]

I got a really cheap ferry Dover to Calais when I booked the night before travelling during high season. They said there is usually plenty of availability for bikes when I rang. Maybe I was just lucky.

On the Seafrance ferry the bike went into a proper bay and both wheels were clamped to the deck. On the Uk ferry back to Britain it was a bit of string. Must depend on which boat you get.

[Itchy]

I'd also say your miles lest you take motorway all the way which is boring are a tad optimistic, assuming that 1 day for each of the miles sections.

on non motorway its completely unrealistic,

I'd say 200 miles is more realistic, I often started at 7AM and went riding till 11am (for lunch) and finished at 4pm , and only managed to cram in 250 miles tops in one day (the hard heavy days ie 1 and 11 I cramed in close to 500+ and felt horrible).

factoring that I usually got losyt for an hour getting out of the city I was in , I got lost getting into the city I went to also, and I had fairly long lunches and had to stop to take tons of pictures.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Keef]

[Nath]

Ask yourself a question, for what reason do you want to tour?

To visit the cities you've listed (for the destination)?
To enjoy the route and the riding (the journey)?
Or both?

It strikes me that your route doesn't really include anywhere with particularly interesting scenery and twisty roads. If you're riding for the destinations, then you either need to cut down on stopoffs, or increase the timeframe for the trip, as you need more than two days to see or do anything of any real interest in a big city.

It's a good idea to have days of total mile munching (500+ miles), to allow more time for relaxation and sight seeing when you get where you want to go. If you're not so bothered about the destination then do some research and plan your route to go through mountainous areas, where the roads will be the most enjoyable.
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