Hello guys! I am going to relocate to UK and going to take the bike with me. Unfortunately I will have to do this trip at the begining of december. I have planed 2 possible routes: Cyprus - Turkey - Bulgaria - Serbia -Hungary - Austria - Germany - Belgium - France - UK and Cyprus - Turkey - Greece - Italy - Switzerland - France - UK What route is the safest, considering the period of the year. I would like to go through Switzerland but I am thinking of possible snow this time of year. Not looking for scenery route, but it wouldn't hurt. Don't have a time limit, but I want to make it cheap and as short as possible. Also any advice regarding cheap acomodation is welcomed!
Quick = highway, not stopping for photos etc. Not camping. Cheap... camping? err at that time of year ... Youth Hostels. Or Backpackers. Some of them will be closed at this time of year (as well as most camping grounds). I'd not stay overnight in large cities... due to theft considerations. So find Youth hostels/Backpackers along side the routes you have that are open and see if you can string a good route out of them?
The only real difference is how you get to Austria/Italy as once you're in either you're home free so that leaves riding through the Balkans or hopping a ferry to Venice (IMO it's not worth using Brindisi, it's a shite ride up the east coast of Italy) Personally I'd leave the Balkan route for warmer weather and let the ferry take the strain. You might even want to look into taking a sleeper train (offsetting the cost of hotels (ballpark 40 quid a night) against the cost of the train ticket for you and the bike) over the alps.
Thanks guys! I would like to know more about the train over the Alps please. Sounds like the safest way to cross.
If you follow the Ligurian coast in Italy to Genoa and Ventimiglia, and then cross into France, and after a while turn north towards Lyon, then you do not have to really ´cross´ the Alps. Even if you want to cross them, there are some big mountain tunnels, like San Gottardo, that should be open more or less year round (but it can still be cold in December). Generally at that time I´d stay close to the coast, when possible.
If it's December I'd go down the Greece boat Italy route, or Slovenia then in to Italy and hit the Po valley/plains or whatever. That very flat bit of land which will be much warmer than Austria. My old man said he tried to get in to Austria in the 70's (he was going Turkey to UK) and the road was so bad with snow and bad stuff he had to turn back and follow the med coast.
I suggest too to take te ferry to Venice, sometimes Italy adriatic coast get really bad weather and its not unusual to have snow-covered beaches. There is also an auto train between Edirne and Villach http://www.optimatours.de/de/?p=fahrplane but runs April-November DB autozug runs also in December, from Bolzano/Bozen to Dusseldorf http://www.mit-auto-und-zug-durch-europa-reisen.de
Thank you guys! I pretty much decided the route, and it is the folowing: Tasucu - Ankara - Istambul - Igoumenitsa - Brindisi - Rome - Genoa - Monaco - Marseille - Lyon - Paris - Calais - Dover. I am thinking to make reports everyday on the trip, not sure if I should start a new topic in RIde Reports or continue in this one.
Good idea to stay at low altitude. Couple of hints: don't even think about going into Marseille or staying anywhere around it, for security reasons; when you reach Beaune on the A6 from Lyon, I recommend you take the A31 then the A5 toward Troyes, then the A26 to Calais. Traffic is much lighter and you don't have to contend with the mess around Paris.
Wow! Maximum-Respect mate! That is quiet a bit of an undertaking in December... ! You might want to stop early every day to warm up your fingers and body for beeing able typing a bit of a report
Sorry for the late reply guys, but I left Cyprus without an EU plug adaptor so not too much batery in my laptop, and now I am job hunting in Aberdeen (anyone?). The results: 5250 km from 30 November to 9 December. Winning route was the longest one: Larnaca - Girne(ferry) - Tasucu - Antalia - Canakkale(ferry) - Eceabat - Igoumenitsa(ferry) - Ancona - Genoa - Nice- Lyon - Reims - Calais(ferry) - Dover - Oxted - Aberdeen. Two scary days, one in Greece before Ioanina in the mountains when it started to snow and it was night, and one day on France motorway with strong side wins. My best friends on the trip was the tea dispencer from service station and hot air blower from the toilets. Did not take many pics, being busy riding and surviving ... I have the maps with daylly rides on my FB, not able yet to post pics here. The shortest day ride was 75 km from Valence to Vienne in France where I had to stop becouse of snow, the longest ride was from Oxted to Aberdeen 920 km. The bike: Suzuki DL 650 Abs 2009 The rider: romanian freezestyler model 1977 (the best production year) Would I do it again? Hell yes! ... but a bit different, with less laguage and heated vest and gloves, and better waterproof boots. Now I will get back to my job hunt, need money for my next trip! I will provide any details on request. Ride safe!
