Riding to Rome over summer

mattgt · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Karma :

I put up a post in the touring section regarding an almost in planning stage trip to Rome (eventually to Athens) over the summer and I need to know if anyone's interested in coming. At the moment theres an RVF400, CBR400 and CBRFS600. On the way we will go through Bern, Milan and then Rome to stay for a few days. From there to Athens for a week or so. Is there anyone interested in coming part, or the whole way with us? The itinerary could be changed. We'd just feel a lot safer with a bigger group of us, as none of us have really done anything this big on bikes. We plan on taking between two and three weeks for this trip. Maybe four depending on the weather Wink

Anyone fancy a spin around Europe?

EuropeanNC30R... · Gay Hairdresser Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Karma :

Tell ya one thing, the difficulty navigating cities goes up exponentially each time you add a member to your group. Your tail-ender in a group of 3 will be running plenty of reds in the Italian cities (especially Rome) just to stay in touch.

natv4 · Brolly Dolly Joined: 31 Dec 2004 Karma :

You'll have no problems with weather in Italy in summer (35deg most days I was there). We (a small group of non BCFers) are going to do something similar, probably leaving begginning of Aug for 2 weeks. I'm then heading onto Croatia. Don't push yourself to hard, Athens is possible in 3 weeks, but you would miss everything on the way.

Our plan was Nurburg ring, then a nice pass or 2 (Switzerland/Austria) into Italy. See the normal tourist traps: Florence, Lake Garda, Rome, Naples. Then head home.

I kind of wanted them to stop in Czech Rep, but 2 weeks is not that long.

If you end up there around the same time, a meet up would be good.

I did not find any problems (security wise) on my solo trip. Its the same as any western eupopean country. Mind your wallet/things in big (tourist riddled) cities, and people are mostly friendly.
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Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
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mattgt · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Karma :

nat, are you guys going to croatia beginning of august? you don't want to pass by rome on your way... Razz

that's around when we'd b leaving. but we're on a tight budget, that's a big concern too. and there's the problem of seeing things - no matter how much you see, you always miss stuff so we have to prioritise in what we do. a meet would b great!

map · Mr Calendar Joined: 14 Jun 2004 Karma :

Sounds like a good trip. Unfortunatly I can't justify the time away Crying or Very sad

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Word to the wise about what you wear. Friends were coming back from Italy. Fine weather, in fact too hot and wore shorts, t-shirt, etc. just to avoid passing out (no safety nazi's please, they knew what they were doing/risks). Anyhow, got to go over/trhough the mountains and nearly froze Rolling Eyes

So remember to pack for all temperatures Wink

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0ddball · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Karma :

I've been wanting to see a bit of the world but am weary of going on my own and don't know anyone else who owns a bike let alone would be adventurous to ride that sort of distance. So yeah, i'm interested in this. A couple of Q's though.

How good are the other riders? i mean is everyone going to be knee down at 130mph+ on winding mountain roads or just riding at a fast commuter pace. I don't ride slow but i wouldn't want to be holding people up on my gpz500!

I'm on a budget too, with a capital B. How much do you expect the trip to roughly cost?

natv4 · Brolly Dolly Joined: 31 Dec 2004 Karma :

I would expect my costs to be around £40 per day (inc fuel, meals etc).
____________________
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

mattgt · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Karma :

well, ill give you a quick lowdown on our capabilities. ive been riding for 3 years now, definately not knee down in the mountains but quick commuter pace, enough to get the juices flowing a little. but we do want to make it in one piece. my friend is the same as me in experience, but a little head strong. but he'll be sensible. we just went and bought a new bike for my other mate, cbr600 fs, 28 and hasnt been riding for 3 years now. 6 years experience. so we have a little knowledge, but not a shed load. it'll be quite new for us all. it would be great if you could come along spannermonkey.

Money... it's between 1300 and 1500 miles there. so hopefully between 10 and 15 fillups if we ride sensibly (im on an rvf400). I would like to bring a tent and cheap it as much as possible, i would rather that than staying in hostels etc. and then there's food - how much would you eat! then there's the reserve money - in case something goes horribly wrong. so my estimate for myself is £300-400. i drove my car around spain for 4 months, living really cheaply, and could happily live off between 5 and 10 euros a day on food. although i couldnt last more than that. im saving like mad, working extra jobs when i can, and gonna have a couple hundred for the trip. shall we say 2/3 weeks getting there?

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

DukeRed · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Karma :

Depending on what my Brothers doing I might be going just below Rome so if going at a similar date would be a good laugh and better than doing it on my own. I'm on a TRX so I hope they stock fully synthetic every 200miles Confused

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EuropeanNC30R... · Gay Hairdresser Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Karma :

DukeRed · World Chat Champion Joined: 07 Mar 2004 Karma :

Looks like I'm going early-mid July. Anyone up for around those times?
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Nath · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Karma :

I may well be in Italy around about that time.

I will be getting the ferry from Greece to Italy, and then riding round to Portugal for the Faro rally which I think is the 20th of July. Since I've done Spain already however, I will probably blast down through Spain in two days leaving me more time in Greece and Italy. So by that logic I would expect to be in Italy up until about the 17th or so.
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