I'm planning to do a European trip in July. My rough plan is to ride from the UK down to northern Spain to meet up with some friends and after a few days there, continue on crossing through the Alps on my way to (probably) Prague where I'll reconvene with said friends. From there I will take a more northern route going back towards the UK. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on must ride roads and or camping spots. My route and exact dates are very up in the air and I'm hoping to keep it that way. As such I'm more than open to any suggestions, and input is greatly appreciated!
There are loads of people on here ready to help you with your trip planning, but...we really need some concrete info first. There are unlimited possibilities so please try to give us an idea.
I recommend Norway not in the way but fantastic roads all over. Iceland of course too (cause Im icelandic) but that is further out of your planned route.
Suppose I could have been a bit more specific. Planning to meet up with some (non-riding) friends in Spain and it looks like we're going to shoot for doing the running of the bulls in Pamplona. This will also put me in a good position to ride the Picos. From there I'm thinking I will head into France staying close to the coast and then into the Alps in northern Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. Really wanting the Alps to be the focus of the trip. From there I will sort out some sort of return route probably through Germany, Belgium and France - this way I won't be back tracking and repeating any parts of the ride. Like I said before I'm planning to keep my route/itinerary very flexible and am more than open to any suggestions and I'm sure I will be 'improvising' once the trip get underway Unfortunately won't be able to swing Norway or Iceland on this trip, but definitely in the future! Also, any suggestions on good places to stay are appreciated. Looking to camp about 50% of the time and stay in hostels or hotels the other 50%
Planning a similar tour in Summer 2015. Have camped in the grounds of the youth hostel in Nimes while exploring the Roman ruins and also camped on an island of the Rhone river at Avignon. Lots to see in either place. Arles is very good also and is an easy day trip from either. The Napolean way north from Cannes towards Grenoble is also on my wish list as are the summits of Alpe d'Huez and the Galabier from Tour de France viewing. eurocampings.co.uk will get you a list of campgrounds. Hope this helps.
Re: the Festival of St. Fermin, I'd take a bivvy bag and plan on sleeping rough cos I doubt if you'll get a hotel, hostel or even tent space this late in the game. It also starts bloody early. Bloody amazing though. There's loads of places to check out, so I'd start with a google map, draw a real rough route on it, post it here and let folks start adding to it. FWIW I've done the route you're thinking about several times (bike and car) so think (in no order what so ever) Le Man, Cannes, Monaco, MIllau Viaduct, The Pyrenees, Fucking (for shits and giggles), the Grossglockner, Lako Como and the Guzzi factory, the Duc factory, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Prague, the Alps, Augsberg, Nurburgring ...heck, the list goes on and on and on...
If I were you..... From Pamplona, climb into the Pyrenees around Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and stay in the mountains until you get near Carcassonne. The coast isn't where you want to be, too built up, hot as Hades in the summer. Instead, head to the Cevennes National Park and Valence. Through the Vercors parc toward Briancon. From there, take this http://grande-traversee-alpes.com/route-des-grandes-alpes Lots of possibilities to enter Italy along the route or you can drop into Switzerland at Martingy and head east. Intense pleasure awaits. Dragonseeker mentioned the Route de Napoleon. Nice ride but not as up and down as the Grandes Alpes.
best and cheapest campgrounds in France are the "community campsites". You find them everywhere : http://www.camping-municipal.org/
