Planning a European tour

[maltabiker]

I am starting to plan a European tour for May 2015 (Have to start planning early to give me the incentive to save cash).

I am planning on the following

Malta to San Nicola in Italy
San Nicola to Rome, Italy
Rome to Florence, Italy
Florence to Livigno, Italy
Livigno to Saltzburg, Austria
Saltzburg to Zagreb, Croatia
Zagreb to Split, Croatia
Split to Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik to Bari, Italy
Bari to Baracchella, Italy
Baracchella to Malta

I am looking for ideas where to stay that is not too expensive, I would prefer small hotels, bed and breakfast or camp sites with chalets or similar.

This will be my first proper tour for quite a few years (last time was down through France and Spain and on to Morocco)

Will be travelling fairly light. I just want to use a set of soft panniers and a tank bag (looking for recommendations). Will be travelling two up and just carrying clothes (mostly hers I guess!).

I am also looking for a cheap sat nav, I have never used one before on a bike but as my sense of direction is legendary bad and this time I will be following a loose plan and with a passenger, I think a sat nav may be a good idea. I used to just go in whatever direction I fancied and sleep rough or find a really cheap hotel when I travelled alone but that is not an option I am told this time (it will be our Honeymoon).

I don’t want to spend hundreds of euros on a sat nav that will be used once a year. A second hand one is fine as long as I can get the maps for it. So any recommendations on sat navs, is it possible to hire them?

Thanks for taking the time to read the post and I welcome any advice.

[Enduro Numpty]

I would suggest if you've got the technology (decent smartphone or small computer) that you book as you go along, maybe a day in advance. You can get some great deals and you more or less choose how much you want to pay. I've got a Zumo 660 sat nav which was anything but cheap so not much help there. You should be ok with sat nav in countries you mentioned but if you decide to go into Bosnia (highly recommended) or Montenegro (not so highly recommended) you will need maps - sat navs don't seem to have the maps required. I know to my cost.

[garth]

Yeah, just use laterooms or booking for hotels, we got some utter bargains last summer.

Car sat nav bodged on will work fine.

[maltabiker]

I have a feeling I will need to book hotels to keep the Girlfriend (Wife by then) happy. If it was just me I wouldn't bother as I would rather make it up as I went along, but she is very organised and loves making lists! So I suspect hotel booking is the way.

Sat Navs here, well car ones anyway run at around 300 Euros, I haven't seen bike ones yet. I could get one from the UK new/second hand and wait for the next family visitor to come over and bring it with them.

I use to have a tomtom GO XL Europe when I lived in the UK. It was OK. I would like to use Bluetooth, I could use my android phone I suppose and stick it in the Map pocket on my tank bank. Just fancy a 'proper' GPS but new lifestyle means time rich/cash poor

[Enduro Numpty]

[garth]

[maltabiker]

In my defence it is our honeymoon and I have made her wait 29 years for the wedding.

I have never done a 'posh' tour so it will be a new experience for me sleeping in a proper bed every night.

I am also getting too old for the rough sleeping. Whilst I have great bar room tales of being kicked awake by the police on Italian beaches and having a gun held against my head in Spain, being stabbed in a fight in Greece (I was defending myself whilst being mugged) it was all taken in my stride in my 20's. In my late 40's now and I think my recovery time from a good kicking would be considerably longer nowadays. 1 heart attack, and 2 major crashes have left me the kind of biker who appreciates a warm comfortable bed, hot showers and a relaxing meal before bed is a major plus point.

like I said, it doesn't have to be plush. A cabin in the woods would be nice. just no tent or open sleeping as I would seize up and be unable to ride the next day.

To be honest, I don't care, actually doing the tour is the most important part for me. Where we sleep is just fluff that I don't care about. She can have her say, that's fine, as long as I get to spend 3 weeks riding around Europe I don't care.

[Peirre oBollox]

[maltabiker]

Thanks Peirre oBollox, some good info there. We will be staying in the odd posh hotel along the way but the rest of the time we would rather stay in a B&B.

[ws4936]

Taking a bike in or out of Malta is expensive.

I just learnt that I did.
____________________
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

[maltabiker]

Getting a bike over to Sicily is not too bad compared to flying then renting a bike to do a tour. Importing a bike is very expensive and a bit of a rip off.

This is why I bit the bullet and sold my Harley in the UK, it was just too much cash (around 2000 euros) to import my bike, so switched and get an old Honda CB1000 instead.

ws3936, how did you discover the issue with getting a bike in/out of malta, do you live here or were you visiting?

[Diddylord]

when I stayed in Florence i stayed here,

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187895-d567726-Reviews-Dany_House-Florence_Tuscany.html

it is a nice hostel and a really good place to stay.

there is also a car park here: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=florence&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF-8&ei=Go_ZUuiGJMi3hQfqu4D4AQ&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAg

we parked a old car there for a few days without indecent and there were quite a few bikes down there some looked like they had been there for a while.

[ws4936]