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Suggestions for a 5 day trip from Calais

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squishio
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PostPosted: 14:03 - 27 Dec 2018    Post subject: Suggestions for a 5 day trip from Calais Reply with quote

Hi All,

I've been around Europe a few times on the bike, but previous trips have all been 2-3 weeks so plenty of of time to go far and potter around.
My other half has booked the eurotunnel for us to go away (2 up) from Monday morning to Friday afternoon at the start of June.

Has anyone got any suggestions for where to go in that amount of time?

My previous trips have all involved zipping down through flaaaat france as fast as possible to get to switzerland/spain/italy and more interesting scenery/roads, but given we dont have much time on this trip, I'm looking for other ideas?

Cheers!
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ocatoro
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PostPosted: 21:58 - 30 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

German Black forest is a nice 5 day rounder from there.

we had a blast there in July this year.

check my thread here
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Last edited by ocatoro on 22:28 - 30 Dec 2018; edited 1 time in total
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Freddyfruitba...
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PostPosted: 22:22 - 30 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

French/Belgian Ardennes region? Fab biking roads, minimal traffic
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 23:35 - 30 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vosges mountains. Route des Cretes is good, and a brief detour showed me there are other good roads around those hills too. More views than with the B500 in the Black Forest (on a really clear day, you can see the Swiss Alps from certain points).

Metz just to the north is a nice town to use as a stopping point, good cafe culture, impressive cathedral.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!
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ocatoro
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PostPosted: 20:22 - 31 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
Vosges mountains. Route des Cretes is good, and a brief detour showed me there are other good roads around those hills too. More views than with the B500 in the Black Forest (on a really clear day, you can see the Swiss Alps from certain points).

Metz just to the north is a nice town to use as a stopping point, good cafe culture, impressive cathedral.


I will add that the hotel fella in germany did keep recommending us to go to the vosges for a day trip while we were there... we put it down to the age old not appreciating your own doorstep, and we'd come with solid plans for black forest having passed through so many times before
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 21:36 - 31 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I enjoyed the Black Forest as well, but found it a bit claustrophobic. Lighter and airier feel to the Vosges.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!
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ocatoro
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PostPosted: 23:24 - 31 Dec 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
I enjoyed the Black Forest as well, but found it a bit claustrophobic. Lighter and airier feel to the Vosges.


any specific suggestions? the fella was pretty passionate about the fact that we ought to go, and we're looking at france for a quick whizz in spring time all being well
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Current - None Sad but shed project H100 (first bike Smile )
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 02:01 - 01 Jan 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

ocatoro wrote:
chickenstrip wrote:
I enjoyed the Black Forest as well, but found it a bit claustrophobic. Lighter and airier feel to the Vosges.


any specific suggestions? the fella was pretty passionate about the fact that we ought to go, and we're looking at france for a quick whizz in spring time all being well


Can't tell you much more than I've already said really. Route des Cretes is the popular one, runs north-south. I would have liked to have explored further, but didn't have the time. I'd ridden from near the Grimsel Pass in Switzerland that morning, and still had to get to my hotel in Metz, which I managed, but was quite a long day.

Highest point on the route is Le Grand Ballon at about 1300m (so about the height of Ben Nevis-ish). Restaurant at the top, not expensive, more like a half decent motorway service type thing. Saw a couple of other cafes along the route too.

No fuel on that route, but I managed to find somewhere off to the side when I needed it. It's not that long, but I'd had to take a detour before I got to the Vosges and was running low. The route itself is easily doable in less than a full day.

Some pics:

https://i.postimg.cc/RhwDtkgN/DSCN0336.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/sggTfGCB/DSCN0338.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/t4v2sR9B/DSCN0326.jpg

Just before the descent to Sainte Marie aux Mines at the northern end of the route:

https://i.postimg.cc/C5043z4x/DSCN0352.jpg
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!
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ocatoro
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PostPosted: 21:13 - 01 Jan 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

cheers fella, will swing by there this year... or potentially through it on my next trip down to italy
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CBT - 17/09/12 * Theory - 23/10/12 * Mod1 - 05/03/13 * Mod2 - 25/03/13 * BOSH!
Current - None Sad but shed project H100 (first bike Smile )
Past - ER5, '93 ZZR600, '92 CB400 SF, ZZR600 (again), yellow Monster 620, Blackbird - black Monster 620ie - '96 ZZR600
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doggone
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PostPosted: 23:08 - 01 Jan 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rhine Valley is nice, a bit like a German Lake District - best avoided at busy times - but some lovely little towns and castles in a fairly compact area.
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c_dug
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PostPosted: 09:23 - 02 Jan 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's my write up of a similar tour: https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=278369

Realistically 1400 miles in 4 days was too much - spreading it over 5 would have been perfect.

Edit:

Actually this was some more information which I wrote in response to a question that might be useful to you:

c_dug wrote:
Glad you enjoyed the read Thumbs Up

To answer your questions via PM:

If I was to do the same trip again there isn't much I'd change. I'm actually pretty glad that we really planned it out, for a first trip it's a nice peace of mind. On the other hand it does also mean you have a schedule to stick to, so when you've already done six hours and you're aching, you can't just pull up at the next camp site, you have to ride those last two hours. I'd still book in advance on the first trip, even with that in mind.

I would avoid Northern France in general, it was quite flat and boring, and badly surfaced in comparison to lots of the rest of Europe (Obviously a big generalisation, purely based on what I've seen of both). If we did the same general route again I reckon we'd do more motorway miles for the beginning and end bits. We probably could have stomached an extra 100 motorway miles at either end and had a better time overall.

Hotel wise, this was the first place we stayed:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g206522-d1016818-Reviews-Hotel_de_la_Sure-Esch_sur_Sure_Diekirch_District.html

I didn't think much of the food, but that's purely personal taste. Otherwise it was excellent, and the local roads were honestly amazing. I can't believe this is less than a days ride away from London! The bike garage was huge, but on quite a slope. Leave your bike in first gear while parked to avoid any embarrassing situations!


The hotel at the bottom of the B500 was this place:

https://www.sonnenhof-sonnhalde.de/de/

It was a more polished hotel than the first place, very tidy, the staff spoke perfect English. The pool was really nice after a long day riding. And the food and beer were sublime!

If you were happy to spend a day on motorways you could be to the second hotel in a single (long) day from London but you could do some really phenomenal rides based from there. It was less than a days ride to the Vosges in France, the Alps in Switzerland and the Black Forest in Germany. Generally it was a good place to be based!

You've already seen the place we stayed on the last night. I believe it's under new management now, but the town and general facilities were top notch anyway, and it's the sort of place that could only be run by friendly people (it clearly relied on word of mouth and repeat business).

I'm happy to help more if you have any more questions.

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