european tour in july , help and advice needed

[lynden259]

Hi ,im going round europe in july ,
rotterdam, prague,krakow, down through austria to venice, back up through stelvio pass , up to the black forest , then back to rotterdam , any advice on route/hotels etc , looking for some route to prague and a nice place to stay ,
thanks Lynden

[Marmalade]

I usually just head in general direction and find a room on booking.com when I've almost had enough or find a nice town to stay in.

If you go into czech on the E50 there is a macdonalds a few miles up the road and a huge shopping centre on your left near Plzen at J5 which I like to have a wander round and pick up any supplies that are needed.

i'd go to Lake garda in italy If i were you and have the time. Places to stay in immediate vicinity are expensive but a few miles out it gets back to normality.
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[Maruchino]

[c-m]

Since you are going through Austria and to the Black Forest, I would highly recommend Grossglockner alpenstrasse or whatever it's called.

It's probably more fun than Stelvio as it's more open and sweeping.

Plus Austria is much prettier.
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Motorcycle headlight bulbs and HIDs
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[Enduro Numpty]

If you do go to Prague be prepared to be ripped off or at least pay through the nose. Me and missus spent 2 months touring Europe last year, 15 countries, umpteen capitals and Prague was the biggest let down of the whole trip. Main tourist bit has some really nice old buildings but that's it. All bars and restaurants that we visited were only interested in getting as much money as quickly as possible with minimum service. Cops everywhere and not without good reason. During our travels we went to some real out of the way places in Eastern Europe and the Balkans but Prague was the only place that we didn't really feel safe.

If you've got a decent smartphone or small laptop I would also use booking.com or similar to arrange accomodation. We booked 1 day in advance. Gives you a great degree of flexibility, you can get some great last minute deals and if you're using a sat nav you'll get coordinates that'll usually get you there with minimum of grief, particularly if you're visiting city centres.

Agree with other comments regarding Grossglockner, loads of passes in the alps but the Grossglockner is superb. There is a toll for using it but it's worth every penny. Never been to Krakow but Wroclaw is worth a visit if you find yourself in the area. Roads in Poland are fairly boring for most part and extremely busy with freight. Also worth considering Slovakia for a day or so if you're down that way. We only spent a day there but much prefered it to Czech Republic, great scenery in the High Tatras. Once you're out of the alps in Italy, I don't think there really is a scenic route to Venice, we were heading slightly further south and used a mix of autostrada and really busy A type roads.

In general, with regard to route and roads I think it very much depends on what you want and what bike you're on. We used motorways quite a lot on trips as quite often they were the easiest option for getting through the "boring bits". We found that progress was painfully slow, particularly in Eastern Europe if we stuck to small roads. A never ending succession of 50KPH zones passing through villages and poor road surfaces. It seems like a good idea, the romantic notion of seeing the "real" Poland or the "real" Romania but very soon all the villages look the same.

Whatever route you choose I'm sure you'll have a great time.

PS. If you've got a big bike, make some use of the Autobahns - they're great

[c-m]

Prague isn't so nice in the height of summer, but it's certainly less dangerous than anywhere in the UK, and I've never felt unsafe in my 6 previous visits.

That being said, it's been 4 years since my last visit so many things could of changed.

I've done the journey from Prague to Krakow, there are some nice roads until you get closer to Krakow where it's all flat and industrial.

I would recommend at least an afternoon or even a day in Kutna Hora. I nice small town about an hour east of Prague. It's where the church of bones is, with it's 40,000 odd human remains made into chandeliers and other decorations. It's also a welcome break from all the tourists especially Americans in Prague.

Krakow itself is nice, and excellent fun if you're a young good looking guy. Plenty of hot women, and bars (some only allow well dressed good looking people in, so be prepared for that). Equally there are cheaper bars, that are just as much fun. Expect to pay a few quid for a pint. It's much more expensive than many other parts of Poland.

I stayed at Hostel Yellow which is pretty central and was cheap enough. Had good facilities and even did my washing for free.

It's worth noting that traffic in Krakow can be very heavy.

I agree with Enduro Grossglockner is great, as are the roads around that whole area. There's loads of little picturesque villages and towns, many with great, friendly bars too.
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Motorcycle headlight bulbs and HIDs
Blogging about my bike and trips
https://ridershandbook.com/

[Enduro Numpty]

Forgot to add, Austria is a very biker friendly place, particularly in the mountain areas. Same applies to Slovenia with many "bikers welcome" signs.

We're planning on a fortnight mainly in the alps in August.