trip planning for 2012

[brett750]

hi, ive been reading threads on here for quite a while but never done more than day ride outs and a couple of trips to the isle of man tt.

me and a friend are planning to do a trip round europe next year but we are unsure weather to go through

france, germany, black forrest and swiss alps and back through france

or

down through france to the pyrenese and back through france.

we will be looking at 8-9 days and mabe 250-300 miles a day. we will be on sports bikes so much more than this isnt going to be comfortable. we will hopefuly be camping with some wild camping mabe in some rural areas.

also ive done a rough route on google maps, are there any sat navs you can put these maps on or a website you can use instead of google?

any advice greatly apreciated, like i said we have no experience in this sort of thing but were both verry keen.

thanks

[Maruchino]

Both good trips.

I have put up a recent ride report on black forest/route napoleon here: https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=232498

Pyrenees are fantastic too. I wouldn't ride through France again though, I would get the boat to Spain and ride up if I were to do it again. It is more expensive, but factor in time/effort/fuel/tyres/accomodation, there isn't really a lot in it. Especially on a sports bike this would be my preferred method.

[brett750]

i can remember reading that when you posted it.

ive been looking at the ferry but i only do a few thousand miles a year normally so i want to do as much riding as i can. germany and switzerland will probably be better option then in your opinion?

how would you go about planning the trip? refering back to what i said about planning a route on google maps and putting it on sat navs e.c.t.

cheers

[Maruchino]

Some I plan some I don't.

That one above was not planned, but I did have a sat-nav.

Google maps is good for planning when you want to just highlight places to go, best getting co-ordinates rather than postcodes etc.

For example I have started a map for next years Balkans trip here: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=206287178916150768230.0004b117960827130cd01&msa=0&ll=46.679594,13.710938&spn=24.281097,50.493164

I expect i'll plug those co-ordinates into a sat nav as a saved list of favourites then plan best route manually on google maps or something. I don't normally go to the trouble, but I am looking to do a lot in a little amount of time on that trip.


Both are excellent trip ideas and you won't be disappointed with either.

What's your budget? Are you camping or staying under a roof each night? How many days have you got for the trip?

[brett750]

we will be doing 8-9 days, camping with mabe a hotel or 2 if we get soft but id like to do wild camping at some point just for the experience. budget i havent thought of really. i want to do the trip so whatever it costs doesnt really matter, within reason obviously.

all i know is i want to do the black forrest, and the alps.

ive done a rough map where i go
calais
black forrest
zurich
over the alps
bologna
monaco
grenoble
dijon
calais

weve been talking about it a while but we only said we would do it for definate a week ago so this is a first draught. i wouldnt mind if i didnt got to bologna if it meant more time in the alps or black forrest.

i think it was just over 2k miles but that doesnt include getting from leeds to calais and back

[Big Bird]

[JoeDougieDoug...]

A little off-topic but I went to Monaco earlier this year, we had a trip through all the lanes high up in the foot hills then down into the center, such a gorgeous city (or principality ) I highly recommend hitting that area of France. We head west down the coast towards St. Tropez afterwards, such a gorgeous area of France (and supprisingly hot!)


____________________
CBT Passed - 22 / 10 / 11 >> Theory Passed - 16 / 02 / 2012 >> Mod 1 Passed - 07 / 03 / 2012 >> Mod 2 Passed - 18 / 05 / 2012.

[brett750]

i think after monaco its time to be heading home. im considering sacking bologna off and going somewhere else or spend more time on the mountain passes or balck forrest.

im not too fussed about st tropez, its all abit flash really, i only want to go to monaco for the f1 circuit. id much rather spend the time in the countryside.

out of interest when do you think would be the best time weather wise for the trip? im thinking the alps may be cold most of the year so just want to make sure we get it right.

have you got any specific names of good passes in the alps or good roads in the black forrest for when i do a more detailed route after xmas? cheers for your comments everyone

[JoeDougieDoug...]

About the weather: I visited Monaco in September this year and it was still shorts and t-shirt weather, and apparently its like that most of the year round, so your choice is pretty open then. As for the Alps, I think June or July would be a nice climate to ride in.

About the rest of the trip: If you do end up heading west out of Monaco down the coast, the coast road is absolutely stunning. Pretty twisty but very quiet (unless you hit it on a Tuesday or Sunday, those are the market days and it gets very busy), but there are some lovely roads heading up to Grimaud in the country side.


____________________
CBT Passed - 22 / 10 / 11 >> Theory Passed - 16 / 02 / 2012 >> Mod 1 Passed - 07 / 03 / 2012 >> Mod 2 Passed - 18 / 05 / 2012.

[Big Bird]

The route you are taking it is worth heading towards Andematt, you then have the choice of several Alpine passes to get into Italy.

Earliest I would go is May, many of the high passes are still closed prior to this.

[brett750]

ive just read your blog big bird, i thought it was great. sounds like you had a right laugh.

was that d500 as good as you thought it would be in germany? and what were the reccomended passes that were closed?

im just after some roads i can program into our trip. i'll look into it more after xmas but if you already know some it will save me a job.

what is at andematt? i will look at it when we do our final planning.

[Big Bird]

Brett the d500 is a great road, not terribly twisty more fast sweepers, fantastic surface and beautiful scenery.

Andermatt is a town in Switzerland which is a great base to take in the Grimselpass, Sustenpass and furkapass. Three great roads which pass over high mountains with hundreds of 180 degree switchbacks.

[brett750]

ok cheers for that. im going to try to work out a day by day route after xmas so ill be able to put in the specific roads and passes.

what would you say was a probable amount of milage per day? i was thinking 300? will i regret this after a few days?

[Big Bird]

I guess it depends on what you're riding and the type of roads. 300 miles of twisties everyday is hard going, but motorway is easy.

I would plan the occassional 200 miler, but equally Northern and Central France can be pretty boring so you can make up time by hitting the motorway and do a 400 miler.

My overall advice though is don't become a slave to your schedule. Make a rough route but don't chase it. If you are tired stop. If your having fun somewhere, stay a bit longer.

You can always go back