Neuschwanstein Castle is undergoing a renovation and was completely covered in scaffolding a couple of months ago May want to check before going there
Mr. Ballheadknuckle, I like your idea....so tell me how to go from Kempten, Germany to the best passes in Italy. While you're at it, tell me where I can find arooms on that route at a decent price (<$100?).
Come out our way. The Großglockner, Nockalmstraße, The Eagles Nest. A lot of Austrian Passes may be Toll but you are getting a perfect surface on most. Unlike a lot of the roads in the Dolomites. I hate overbanding on a hot day.
Don't concentrate on passes only. Stelvio and 'glockner may be celebrities among the roads, but in the end it's just repetitive hairpins with a great view and expensive café on top. Get a Michelin or Freytag&Berndt map and look for the small curvy roads with the green lines. There's tons of small valleys connected with short little passes and not too much traffic everywhere, for instance around where Ali in Austria lives. Ali, what do you say? 'Round Dachstein: Aussee, Koppenpass, Gosausee, Pass Gschütt and then either right via Postalm to lake Wolfgangsee or left via your place and Ennstal to Gesäuse, Wildalpen, Mariazell,.. Or crossing the main ridge by Sölkpass, heading south...
Fully agree Flood. Did Wildalpen, Mariazell etc again yesterday, christ it was hot!!! Sölkpaß is a regular when we head south, just watch out for the cows. Personally I love Nockalmstraße and don't begrudge 8,- for such a good road. Don't forget the B164 from Bischofshofen to Saalfelden then head north and come around over Berchtesgaden.
www.allroundrent.com in Munich will rent you a bike. Right near the autobahn, so you won't get lost in Munich. Check out Beaches Motorcycle Adventures for some good routes on his Alps Adventure. It goes for 2 weeks, will give you some idea what you can see in a week or so. His route is on some of the best roads you will ever ride.
One of my favourites down that way is from the Plansee to Oberammergau. From Kempten head over to Füssen (where they filmed the motorbike scenes from The Great Escape), head down to Reutte in Austria, past the Plansee and up through the hills towards Oberammergau. As you come back into Germany (about 7km over the border), you'll pass the Linderhof - another one of King Ludwig's castles (the guy who had Neuschwannstein built). Worth a visit. All in, that's about an hour one way. From there you could head east past some of the lakes towards Chiemsee (another of Ludwig's places is on an island in the lake - Herrenchiemsee). I'd definitely recommend trying to get down to Berchtesgaden - there's a really nice private road (Rossfeldpanoramastrasse - http://www.rossfeldpanoramastrasse.de/) up around one of the hills that gives you great views out over Salzburger Land. It's 3.50 for a bike. There's also a nice run from Bayrischzell down to Kufstein. You don't mention when you're coming over, but at the minute it's bierfest time. Most towns have beer festivals (some for a weekend, some for 2 weeks) between now and October and of course there's the big one - the Oktoberfest in Munich - from September 20th to October 9th. Personally, I'd rather go for one of the smaller ones - it'll be more authentic and you won't be surrounded by shedloads of hammered Australians and grabby Italians. Bike hire-wise, if you're not wedded to the idea of a BMW, Triumph Munich hire bikes http://www.triumph-muenchen.de/webs...5%2fc6a1c48bae4a1812864d04dcdc70e3b9%2fmd5%7d
The folks at Martin BMW have treated me well on both occasions when I needed repairs and tires for my BMW. The shop I used was in Lengries, a very nice little town and a great area to explore on a bike. From there it's a short trip to Austria and some of the most beautiful mountains and best riding in all of Europe. Take a look at the and maps available here then go to the forum ask for advise and I'm sure you'll get some good responses. http://www.alpineroads.com/ Here's a site sponsored by a group in independent hotel owners that cater to riders. I've stayed at the Simonhof and highly recommend it, nice people, great riding, sauna, and wonderful food. All of these hotels will have maps of the local area and recommend routes, some offer guided day tours. http://www.motorrad-hotel.com/en.html#start When will you be going? From Oct till June many of the passes will be closed due to snow. And ...... be prepared to sample some of the great beer from the region. Regards, Paul
RE: the international drivers license... my local AAA told me it wasn't a licence but a translation in several languages to make things easier... I think I paid 14-15 bucks. I'm renting from Ad-Mo on the 14th in Munich. On the web site and agreement I received it said Comprehensive and liability were included. My question (and what led me to this thread) is about insurance. Is there such a thing as Collision over there in DE? Someone here suggested they thought "comprehensive" meant both but I haven't confirmed that. I wrote the guy in Munich but he hasn't responded yet. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if I need to purchase any additional insurance to be fully covered... OP - make sure you fill us in on how it all goes. My Buddy and I are doing almost exactly what you are doing 14-20 September. Additionally we are going to Lake Como and/or Modena to see the Moto Guzzi factory or Ferrari/Lambo. Have fun! Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Dreemrider, You don't mention when you will be in Germany. I assume after reading the response to your question that you are making the trip, right? Even if you can't make it to all the 'famous' passes this trip, do it anyway. The area is full of wonderful side roads that may not make the 'top ten list' but will be a great way to spend a week of biking. Plus it would be a great way to see some of the Alps and get your feet wet for a later trip to the Dolomites. You'd be wiser and more experienced when planning another trip and probably enjoy that one more as well.
-jbar28, Our trip is set and we are flying from Chicago to Munich on 9/7 and am staying in Kempten. I will probably just do some day rides and I may not leave Germany but may venture down into Austria if I get brave, just don't want to run afoul of the Vignette laws. This will be my first trip to Europe and when riding the bike I will be by myself and have never been to any foreign country except Canada. I'm not sure you can call that foreign! I have had a thread going on the "Layin down tracks" forum, trying to figure out how to use my Zumo 350LM and get it programmed before I leave but am not sure I will get it done. Guess I'd like to get back to the Hotel in Kempten to spend the evenigs with my wife....considering she's paying my way!! Really appreciate your encouragement and my plan is to pretty much follow your advice. -Roadscum, I have rented the bike from Martin in Oy-Mittleberg but only have the bike from the 11th -13th. I just wanted to get a little taste of riding in the area. -tt100, I went ahead and got the International Drivers Permit. I figure if I get pulled over I will want all of the advantages I can get. Really sorry I can't go a week later and ride with you guys! You've brought up a great question about the insurance, I'll check into that also and let me know what you find out. Until you said that, I guess I just assumed the bike would be insured. Martin has you put down a 1500Euro deposit through your credit card. Thanks to you all and others I didn't specifically mention!
If you can get the GPS going it will greatly improve the chances of seeing the things you want to see I had paper maps and my iPhone with google maps and I couldn't find Switzerland, sounds stupid? Yup but man, the signage here just plain stinks without a turn by turn GPS helping out. I had a whole plan to get down to Stelvio in Italy then come back through Switzerland etc etc, but gave up about 3 hours into my ride and just decided Fuck It I'm just going to get lost and see what happens, that's when it turned into a whole lot of fun. As for vignettes, no big deal, just stop at any service station as you cross a border and buy one, the one for Austria was 8 euro. Keep track of your fuel, and fuel up early as fuel stations aren't always easy to find, meaning they aren't always along the beaten path....but don't fear, there are a lot of other riders out and about all over the mountains and they all speak a little English minimum and are willing to help if need be INSURANCE - ask what the deductible is, unfortunately I went down (first time ever) in a roundabout in Fussen and ended up having to pay 400+ euro for the damages to the bike, even though I got the insurance, I didn't know the deductible was 2,000 euro Ask what the cash deposit is for the rental, men was 200 euro, and make sure you have the cash on you obviously... Lastly, don't worry about getting lost or being afraid of going into Austria, everywhere I went, after getting into a town coming out of a pass Kempten was always on a sign as a direction to go, so staying there it will be real easy to find your way back even if you think you are lost....Switzerland? No clue, I don't think it exists...LOL
totally disagree.... signage there makes way more sense than the US (in my opinion anyway). I think since you were in Germany it was a cunning Swiss plot to keep the Germans out.
jbar28 just emailed you some great info on the area near Kempton.... Make sure to fill us in on your ride and sorry we aren't going to meet up. Viel Vergnügen! Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Good move - it is required in Italy & Austria (see their Embassy web sites). That being said, nobody has ever asked me for mine - cheap insurance, though, on the off chance...
+1 I use my GPS primarily for recording my ride track for later viewing in Google Earth (orange line), getting through cities (I pick a point on the other side and tell the GPS to fetch) and, occasionally, finding fuel when I wasn't paying enough attention to my fuel gauge :eek1