Ferry booked in june, planning the route - help.

[Blunet600]

The ferry from dover to calais is booked for the 7th june and the return ferry is on the 18th june. The journey is through france, the swiss apls then down to Rome. People who have done this trip before, what route would you recommend? if there are any pics or plans on maps, thats would be great.
Also is 10 days enough time to get to rome and back to calais and enjoy the sites along the way?
ANY input and/or advice is welcome and would be appreciated. First time for me on a bike trip. Im going on my hornet with my dad on his zzr600.
cheers.
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Honda - Power of Dreams - NSR 125R - Hornet 600

[Clanger]

You could go this way to Italy... https://www.railsavers.com/ then travel back at leisure, through France etc.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[barnhatter]

Have done a few tours on a hornet twice to Italy, Ravinna and Cortona. Italy is good althought the North can get a bit congested especially with east european lorries.
Getting to Rome might be a bit too far. Motorways are quick but no fun, especially on a naked bike.
Touring average speeds can be surprisingly slow when you take fuel, food, and piss stops into account. On motorways 50mph is good on other roads 40 is pushing it. On mountain paths I recon on 30mph + 1 hour. Stopping to see anyting can take up to 2 hours.
I find that a map plan of 250 -300 miles is enough for a days travel.
My advice istake it easy, don't push the mileage so you will enjoy the trip. plan ahead chosing roads and sights that you fancy and want to see. Remember its a holiday not an endurance exercise.

[kitty kat]

I agree with ^ 300 miles is more than enough for a day, especially if riding mountain roads which take a lot of concentration. I did do in excess of 400 miles a couple of days on my tour, but we were staying at the destination for 2 nights and we had a full day as a rest day.
To get from Calais to Rome it says on Google maps that it will take 1 day and 7 hours, almost 1100 miles, that is without stops and straight there, without going into Switzerland.

Maybe Rome & back in 10 days is a little bit ambitious. Rome will still be there one year when you have more time for your trip.
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Enjoy everyday, tell those you love everyday you love them
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[Blunet600]

I have the time to do it. i have 4 weeks worth of holiday to use but wont need all that. The ferry is booked, i will ring them tomorrow and try and change the return date. Would 14 days be enough time?
Cheers for the input guys, appreciate it.
____________________
Honda - Power of Dreams - NSR 125R - Hornet 600

[Phoenix]

10 days is enough but it won't exactly be a relaxed pace, 14 days is plenty. As kitty kat says, 300 miles a day on average is the maximum you want to be doing really if you plan on actually stopping at places along the way for an hour or two.

I'd still motor it through the north of France because it really is boring and flat, as you get down a bit further you can take some N roads to make it a bit more interesting. On my way down south I interrupt the motorway with the N71 from Troyes to Dijon, nice fast but twisty road in places through nice little towns and villages, there are loads more N routes which I may go for next time, just use them to break up the motorway. Route wise I think the best bet is to get a decent map of Europe, one which marks the scenic roads and passes and just choose a route that incorporates plenty of those and gets you where you want to be, plan it as you go. This has always worked for me and i've ended up on fantastic mountain passes and rural roads. Definately don't miss Switzerland as it has some of the best passes around, as does the south east of France. Just watch the Italians, the driving is dangerous.

[kitty kat]

[barnhatter]

I prefer the AA maps. They are a larger scale, using both sides and are less cluttered. I tend to use a highlighter pen to show the route that I planned, also I write a list of key towns/roads along the route. That way I find it easier to keep on track and not get lost.
Now I load my route into my Tomtom and that is the easiest way and takes out the problems of navigating, leaving me to enjoy the scenery and ride.

[kitty kat]

We used to look at the maps in the evening in the tent and load the route in the Tomtom Rider ready for the next day. As you say, made the ride more pleasant not looking at maps and we had a bike to bike intercom which meant Steve could tell me what way to go before we reached any junctions.
____________________
Enjoy everyday, tell those you love everyday you love them
Life is too short to fall out with people

[G]

From Bern to Martingy, then the St Bernard Pass to Aosta.
A well recommended route - I just set the sat nav to 'shortest route' to Martingy (I did turn avoid unpaved roads off) and the vast majority of the roads were very good, the pass was even better.
Oh and some very good cheese along the way too .

[barnhatter]

I plan my trip before I go, loading the whole route into the Tomtom, I use the itinery and put in each day;s route. I have learnt though to be flexable if I need to be. Last year turned up at the top of a mountain pass only to find the decent into Spain was closed. I decided to miss out Spain as to use another route would have been too long in time and mileage as I was only across the boarder for 1 night. In the past I kept rigidly to my plan regardless of the times.
I have only toured alone so I plan ahead to remove any potential problems of road and campsite finding. Once on my trips they tend to go well with the minimum of problems.