European Tour advise and comment please

[stig]

hi guys,
I am embarking on a tour of France , Italy, Germany and Holland.
I will be planning this over the next 18 months.

Having not had the opportunity to travel to these parts and so would welcome comment and advice from those who had toured there, those that may reside there or those that are perhaps planning the same.

Also, any remarks regarding shipping bikes around the world would be welcome also.

thanks
Stig

[hirsty]

Stig,

I see you also saw Siggs post, Mike Lea has also just posted recently too:
http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?t ... 48a98d9439

The big destinations for Brits biking in continental Europe include:

- The Milau Bridge / Viaduct (as Mikes post above)
- The Pyrenees (twixt Spain & France)
- Andorra for duty free ...
- All the passes in the Alps in & around France / Italy / Switzerland / Austria
- The 'Gorges du Verdon' in Southern France (European 'Grand Canyon', just with trees) is less famous than it should be, but just stunning.




France is generally mobbed in August when they all go on holiday & often chronically busy on the Cote d'Azur (Nice / Cannes / Monaco etc) when I was there last year - go a few miles inland though & it's deserted.

If you time it right, you should also go to the BMW meeting at Garmisch in Germany during July & take in the Nurburgring and a Moto GP round too ...

See also:
http://www.alpineroads.com/
BMW Garmisch Meeting 2007

[Dr. Strangelove]

and get the Michelin maps looking for yellow and white roads.

Brittany is very nice also

John

[fightin kentuckian]

Holland, gotta do Amsterdam, the Hague. Maybe Nordwick (Beach town on the coast) if it will be summer when you're there. Beautiful country but the rest really doesnt lend itself to tourists. The dutch are some of the warmest people in europe and nearly everyone speaks perfect enlish.

If you're in Germany at the right time, you should try to squeeze in the BMW motorrad rally in Garmisch. If you want a taste of Oktoberfest out of season hit the HofBrauw (sp) Haus in Munich (Munchin) for a few hours. Notable rides in Germany are the Rheintal (Bingen-Koblenz), the Wine Strasse, a ride around Kiemsee, and Berchtesgarten. Just about anywhere in the Alps is great.

Suggest entering Italy through Switzerland (Bern- Mialno) and take a look at lago de como, Cincaterra then jet east on the autostrada and hit lago degarda, verona, and venice. Not much to see in Milan unless you want to look at the last supper but they have very unusual hours. Plan a day for Venice, then jet south to Florence and spend a few days there. (Get gas long before luch as everything closes up for a few hours in the afternoon. )

Cant recommend much in France as I've been there only once but contrary to what I expected, everyone was very nice and accomodating even though I spoke no french at all. Saw Paris, (cool) saw Normandy (very cool).

Good luck and feel free to ask any more questions at all.

[fj_pastor]

The Pirynees (north of Spain - south of France) and the North of
Spain is worth a visit.

For your planning, get on the Via Michelin Web and select the nicest
route --- You can't get it wrong without it.

Get a list of BMW dealers at Europe !!


Have fun. Ride safe.

[miekusss]

The most beautiful places to see:
Surroundigs between Gouda, Rotterdam en The Hague.
The Hague (and schevingen) is nice to see, Gouda, Leeuwarden and
Amsterdam also.
Groningen is also nice, when you travel east there are lots of nice places
to drive and hang-around.
I'm not so fond about Rotterdam. it's a most modern place, very crowded!
And of course: FRIESLAND! It's the north-west of the netherlands.
Full of different sights which you can find in the Netherlands in one state.

In Germany you have the Eiffel, Schwarzwald (both west) and the Harz
(east)... Places where it's fun to drive!
In Italy there are great passes at the Dolomites and dito sights... so I've
heard. We're gonna check them this summer!

[GypsyRR]

Stig:

Please keep a file of the good information you find while you are planning your trip, as well as while you are traveling. I'm interested in a trip like that, so I would love to see what you find in your researching and planning.

I hope you will be able to do a ride report while on the road if possible and let us follow your trip. If not, then a ride report afterwards would be very much appreciated. What a great opportunity. I wish you the best of everything in the planning as well as the riding.

[hirsty]

Stig - I've been thinking about this route a lot since your thread got bumped back to the top. Some questions:

- Duration?
- Circular route back to where you started, or one-way?
- Are you flying your own bike up from NZ?
- Pillion or solo?
- Camping or hotels / B&B etc?

There's a logical flow from Rome / Tuscany across into southern France, then back over the Alps via Switzerland into Austria or Germany & then on up into The Netherlands. That's about 3 or 4,000 miles though & you'd need at least six weeks to do it justice.

Whether you have time for a substantial detour west into The Pyrenees etc depends entirely on your trip length.

It'd certainly be a great bike trip, with so much variety in a little continent from hot southern Italy, snow-capped Alps, forests of Germany into flat-as-Hell (and probably wet) Holland.

[channa]

France is certainly a great place to Motorcycle I have done it twice on a bike this last two years.

As others have suggested Gorges du Verdon is stunning ..I cant remember the rule but checkout which side you start ...I think east to west the reason being the sun is then behind you for photos.

Cannes St tropez Monaco all worth a visit and the coastal road down there is a stunning ride.

Millau Bridge is impressive but a good distance from the south East But is handy for Perpignan Montpellier etc ...Sete is a nice place too.

The Alps are one giant playground ...and can be tiring with the concentration required.

campsites are excellent too

Andrew