Hey guys, I live close to Frankfurt, Germany and want to go on a 2 week long motorrad trip. It'll be sometime in late July - late August. My girlfriend and I will be going together on the same bike, a Triumph Tiger 800 XC. I have large Touratech cases and we'll want to camp most of the nights. Last year we took 8 days and explored all over the Alps in northern Italy and Switzerland. We LOVED this trip, learnt a lot, and know now how to better prepare for this 2-week long trip. But we don't know where we want to go yet! We would both prefer days without too long of drives (5 hrs max or so) and somewhere warm...preferable with water. I'm looking for suggestions from you guys Here are some of the ideas I've had but am looking for any suggestions you may have: - Probably my favorite idea because it rules out 2 longer, boring drive days. Take a vehicle train from Dusseldorf to Narbonne, France...then spend some leisurely time exploring the the French Riviera heading east towards Monaco, then heading north up through the French Alps and back into Germany. Problem with this plan is it costs 566 Euro for the train trip alone!! This is way too much for my blood so this is ruled out. - Head north up to Denmark. Take a ferry to Norway. And ride around Norway's countryside and along the fjords. Problems here are I don't know if 2 weeks is long enough (because it's a long distance) & Norway is CRAZY expensive. - Drive down to the south of France and likely hit the French Alps either coming or going. - Drive to northern Italy and make home "bases" to venture out into the Dolomites and even into Slovenia. Come back home through the Austrian Alps. - Rush to Croatia and chill along the coast. Come back through the Dolomites. As you can see, I'm have no clue where to go! I do know anywhere we end up going will be amazing though! Surely many of you have done trips in Europe and can recommend something. Thanks guys!
Check out Beach's Motorcycle Adventures, classic alps tour & follow that route. Doesn't get any better that that. If you are near Lake Garda, check out Limone & take the little road up to Hotel Paradiso.
Since you don't know where you're going, , my top suggestion is to stay away from the South of France in the summer. It's hot, over-over-crowded, and expensive. Now, if you want to see what the 'real' France is like and you want to ride a motorcycle, I'd recommend a few areas that you'd probably never visit. First off, go to this site: http://www.viamichelin.fr/. Google will translate for you. All the good roads are highlighted in green. Pick up the appropriate paper Regional Michelin maps. When you get to eastern France, there is a mass of twisties in the Voges mountains, they're not really mountains but cute, in a triangle of Strasbourg-Epinal-Mulhouse. Weekends can be very busy. To get to my second recommendation, you can continue SW to Belfort-Pontarlier-St. Claude-Bourg-en-Bresse-Roanne-Thiers. Mark out a rough circle Thiers-Valence-Florac-Millau (for the bridge) Cahors-Tulle-le Mont Dore-Thiers. Feel free to explore outside the circle but avoid all major towns. The Alps are crazy in the summer, too, but if you feel lucky, peel off at Valence and go east into the Vercors. From there you can join the pack in the Alps, http://www.losapos.com/great_alpine_road. I was there last week and it wasn't too crowded but I saw bikes from as far away as Finland. I left out the Dordogne even though it's wonderful but...visualize a can of sardines...not in summer. Lemmie know if I can be of more service.
This thread is a double-up of http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=982155 Same OP/ same poster
Well, I decided on where to go! We'll be heading down through Germany, through Munich, into Austria, and into the Dolomites. We'll be camping probably 5 nights and staying in a B&B or hotel for 1 night. I've been looking at routes through Austria that'll take us down into Italy. It seems like there are TONS of good roads and passes to take. Does anyone have any recommendations for this trip? We'll probably stay in the Dolomites region most nights and head out each day to see new things. Lakes, mountains, etc. Possibly hit Lake Garda for one day? Looking for any help I can get! We leave Saturday and I'm soooooo excited!!
Sounds great. We are reviewing similar route from Munich to Italy in early September..post your route if you have one. Do you recommend booking hotels. I was hoping to wing it but on of our guys is a bit more of a planner if you know what i mean.
I'm been studying different routes to the Dolomites through Austria...and different places to stay and drive in Italy! It's completely overwhelming! We will be camping most nights. Just going to wing it.
