Touring trips - mileage per day, etc

[loply]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for some advice on touring around Europe. Getting away from work is difficult for me, and I don't like the idea of "mad rush" touring just blatting to somewhere and back again, riding 24/7.

I'd like to take 14-21 days off work this year and go on a tour around Europe, and I'm trying to gauge how many miles I should aim for, bearing in mind I fancy doing it fairly casually.

I've done about 350-400 mile days before (in the UK), and my reckoning was that I could mean-average 250 a day whilst still having time for daily sunbathing, taking photos, and meandering around drinking beer etc. Am I off the mark completely here or...?

Also, anybody got any recommendations on particular places or routes to follow? I was thinking about going down the French coast a bit, then cutting accross to Italy, going via the mountains back up to Belgium/Germany and then home.

Lastly, costs. I figure 3,500 miles at UK prices would be £400 worth of petrol. Living expenses (food etc) I figure can't be much, I'd probably camp almost all of it, so.... what does this normally add up to?

In the UK I live on like £130 a week, but I know as soon as you go away from home somehow you spend that each day on mars bars and whatnot what do people normally budget per day for food, tolls, etc?

P.S. envy to all those who've already been there, done that!
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Yamaha SZR660 Caution to the wind, the throttle pinned!

[Itchy]

Should be in the Touring forum a mod will move it shortly I guess..

But I managed about £45 a day (3 meals a day , camping + fuel) , tolls depends on where you go.

But then I lost my tent and went a bit heavy and got seriously drunk regularly and started spending £60 a day...

But I am heavy on the throttle VERY heavy.

Have a read of some of the tours around the touring section just set the thread view to very good or excellent for the best ones, I have two tour threads in my sig...

But +30% on the costs due to the trashing of the £ , Spain is cheap though , petrol in France and Germany is horrendous as france includes an element of road tax, tolls build up quickly too in France...

I recommend 1.5 big days to blat out of Northern France on the auto route , about 500 miles till you get past Dijon and get to Grenoble where the roads get interesting...

Tenting is best namely as camp sites are less likely to fill up like hotels as per my 2007 tour where I spent hours looking for a hotel , just taking the tent gives you the option. As I intended in 2007 to quit at 4pm every day , (close to 8 hours in the seat daily) but ended up riding till 6-8pm regularly due to hotel hunting.


Note my touring style is Nick Sanders esq, ie I get up early eat, and go ride, I barely stop for sight seeing , I go there for the riding
stop drink lots of beer and fall soundly asleep.

, for ultimate cheapness go to Spain , beers are 2Euro (grande cerveza) camp sites are cheap , its hot , the roads are ace , there are few tolls and the food is pretty cheap , France is probably 150% more expensive than Spain,
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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.

[hmmmnz]

its norway thats the real killer, i recon you could spend your 21 days just touring there, and petrol prices make the uk look cheap, let a lone the hundreds of ferrys and road tolls, i spend 7 days on the cheap and that was around 900 quid
that was staying in camp grounds and never eating out,

but its gotta be the most beutiful place in the world... next to new zealand that is
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the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[daemonoid]

[Itchy]

[iooi]

Why not just set off with a idea of where you want to end up and a rough idea of the route, then take it from there. If you find somewhere nice along the way that you fancy a few days at then do that. If not keep going to your main target.

Take some cash and a couple of bank cards just in case.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[doggone]

Too much planning is bad.

Get a michelin map which has scenic green routes indicated and use those where you can.
If this is your first time over there avoid city centres cos they are mad.
Rural areas are quieter than here, but roads are usually wider and better maintained.
Most traffic seems to trundle around quite sedately.

It's much better to have no set itinerary, one day you might feel happy doing 500 miles, the next just pootle around where you are staying, leaving most of your baggage in hotel or campsite.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Your mileage per day estimates sounds about right, and general route idea pretty good as well.

For the trip distance and length you're describing I'd estimate cost as coming to around a grand-ish. Previously if you really skin-flinted it you could do it cheaper but the high euro is going to hurt.

You're not really going to get ripped off, but previously it was cheaper to eat out etc in Europe than Britain, now it costs around the same.

South of France and the French Alps are riding perfection, Italy has great food, scenary but slightly hairy "exciting" riding (surfaces and traffic mentality are best described as variable), the high alpine routes through Austria/Italy are epic. Germany is nice but a little dull, stick to the Black Forest side then go to the Nurburgring.

[RidersRest]

No idea what the cost will be - Fuel is more expensive in France than the UK for Brits due to the exchange rate it is about £1 a Ltr but depends on your exchange rate or what your credit card company charge for using a card...

Mileage should be 250 - 300 a day this will be about 6 -7 hours riding with fuel and coffee/ photo breaks and staying off the paeges and motorways.

There is loads to see looking at your route.

St Malo - Le Mont San Michelle
St Nazire
La Rocelle - head in land east to Limoges - Oradour-Sur-Glane - Lac Vassiviere,
head south Rocamadour - Puy Mary - Aurillac - Rodez - Millau Bridge
Pick up the Tarn gorges over the midi pyrenees to Nimes
keep going east into the Rhone Alps and drop into Nice
follow the cost road through Monacco and up into the Italian Alps... then you can head for Virragio and Pizza along the mountainious coastal roads...

come home through Austria, Black forrest, luxembourg...

Loads of info on the routes I have done here www.whereistonynow.co.uk this one covers some of the route I have mentioned https://www.whereistonynow.co.uk/france4.htm

Use municipal camp sites most reasonable sized towns have them and they will be average 10€ per night with basic ablutions... Additional cost for pillion.

If you like to eat well then stop at the restaraunts along your route with all the truck outside and ask for the "Plate de Jour" it is usually a 3 course meal sometimes 4 course and includes wine and or coffee usually 9 - 19 € dependant on what the plate of the day is. (The French eat religiousely from 12:00 - 14:00 and most of France closes to accommodate this.

Hope you found that usefull if you get near Limoges look us up link in my Signature...
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RidersRest Bikers only B&B in the beautiful Central Massif - France
Touring France not sure where to go? Central Massif on a motorcycle...

[RidersRest]

I have just noticed you have up to 21 days that is a good deal of time...

check this trip out UK, France, Germany, Austria, Hungry, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, UK - a total of 5,786 miles

Awsome trip you will never want to go to work again nor stop riding... https://www.whereistonynow.co.uk/tour2cure.htm
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RidersRest Bikers only B&B in the beautiful Central Massif - France
Touring France not sure where to go? Central Massif on a motorcycle...

[kawakid]

I won't be going to Europe this year.

Not until the pound has risen anyway. No way am I going when its £1 to €1 .

If you look at your high street travel agents, they've taken the currency displays off the window and there's nobody inside them.

No one I know is now planning to go to Europe, not till the pound has risen.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[Itchy]

[kawakid]

[RidersRest]

The £ € isn't that good for us but there are still a lot of good deals to be had, whilst France isn't cheaper than the UK anymore it is fair to say that France about the same price as the UK so still a good option for getting out on some good congestion free roads and away for the hustle and bussel of the UK. There are some excellent deals to be had out there don't just write France off
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RidersRest Bikers only B&B in the beautiful Central Massif - France
Touring France not sure where to go? Central Massif on a motorcycle...

[kawakid]

Excellent article on todays BBC website on how to avoid the
Eurozone for your holidays.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7815442.stm
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I've a twin and a 4.