2014 Euro Tour

[Hedgetrimmer]

So, a week off, time to start planning my Euro trip for next year. I've now narrowed it down a bit, and have the outlines of a plan:

Part 1.
Ardennes

I've always wanted to visit the region in which the Battle of the Bulge took place, partly to see the terrain and places that events happened in, and because from what I've read there's some great scenery and good roads to ride in the area. I would like to visit a museum or two (apparently a new one being built in Bastogne to open in 2014, 70th anniversary year of the campaign, and I've read there's a good one in Diekirch, just north of Luxembourg). So this region will be my first destination. Plan on a Dover-Calais ferry, heading quickly into Belgium to avoid toll routes, and south to area bounded by (approx) Monschau-Bastogne-Echternach-Bitburg-St. Vith. Camping if the weather is good. One day to get there, say 3 days to explore. Then perhaps head down through Vosges region to ......

Part 2.
Alps

With Switzerland as main destination region, but haven't decided exactly how to do this yet. Concerned that Switzerland will be expensive, especially if combining camping with hotels/YHA hostels/B & B etc. Have had Route des Grandes Alps recommended to me, but actually want to head on a more easterly direction to/towards Austria, or south to the Italian Dolomites side. From what I've read and heard, once in the approximate region I can't go far wrong for fantastic scenery and good roads to ride, so probably won't plan this to the last detail before going, although I have been researching recommended routes/rides. I like to be able to wing it as the mood takes me as much as possible. 5-7 days to do this part, and perhaps 2 days to ride home in.

Not looking to do colossal mileages each day, 200-250 sounds ok for the most part, apart from ride to Ardennes and ride from there to Alps, which will be seen as the high mileage days.
14-16 days in total. Hoping to budget within about £1500 in total.

Would like to not have to book anything in advance as I'll be watching weather forecasts nearer the time and will go hopefully when a reasonably settled period looks likely (July?), but will also be researching for stopping places (campsites/hotels etc) so I at least have some idea of where to head each evening, so as not to waste too much time looking for a place to overnight each day.

The Touring Europe thread I started earlier this year has been useful in thinking about this, but any further help/advice/comments would be very much appreciated from those who have been to these regions, now that I have a better idea of where/what/how I want to do it.

Cheers in advance

Nick.

[slimwilly]

Hi Nick, Happy Christmas,
On the way back through Switzerland we stumbled upon a b and b,,a local biker,,big Joe..the local gang leader,,good place, not too expensive.he says his is a base that you can tour 5 mountain passes using his place as a base,,it is a restaurant and bar too,,the only life in the town,,but not too expensive.
We spent more on food,,the most amazing beef steaks and sauces we have had,and the beer...
His  daughters bike was locked in a garage there as she was banned from riding for a year for speeding,,the police take the number plates off the bike.
 
You lock your bikes indoors,,four garages.

[slimwilly]

 
The garages
 
 
 
 

[cable tie]

If your heading to Austria you will not go wrong with this hotel. I was there this year.

http://www.weisseespitze.com/en/hotel-kaunertal/home.html

In easy reach of the stelvio and many more fantastic places, has its own underground garage where you can rent bikes as well.

Underground garage


Top of the Stelvio.



Up the Grossglockner.



Me, Dek, Jon pit, waiting to catch the train on the oppo side of the grossglockner back to zell.



Fond memories, can't wait to tour in 2014.

[ChristoT]

I'm doing the Madone this year on the 14th and 15th of August on the ZX. Company always appreciated!

[midden]

You up for possible extra company Nick? in the purely straight sense that is:)  Or you planning a one bike trip

[richfzs]

Glad to see your recommendation on the hotel, cable tie - I'm staying there in June '14,huzzah :-)

[Exupnut]

Cheers in advance

Nick

??????

What makes u think I'm gonna thank u ?

U swannin off to lands afar on an awesome bike that's been cured from flatulence in fine weather with all those wasps chasin u thinkin ur king wasp????

Sorry mate. I dont think "cheers" is the appropriate word at all. I'll be in a control office boohoo thinkin bout all those bikers rackin up sunny miles waaaaaaaaaaaaaa. I used to be a biker. Then I became a handlebar assistant and now apparently I'm training to be a cunt. Lol .....oh the life of a motorcyclist.

Slovakia is a great place to go as a base. Not coz my Slovakian girlfriend says so but from experience. Its cheap and central to get into Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia and even Boznia and Herzegovina are dooable in a day.  As for city's that would incorporate Bratislava, Budapest, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Maribor, Vienna, Salzberg and Prague. A good haul in a week for anyone on a blue bike :-)

[cable tie]

I'm doing the Madone this year on the 14th and 15th of August on the ZX. Company always appreciated!

Is that col de la Madone ! If so i was up there for a week in sept as well on another trip, weather was very nice but minus 2 on top of some cols.

I seem to always struggle to touch the floor !




Play time.




Rather cool looking DATSUN .


Annecy.

I'm likening the weather protection


My steed up one of the cols .


I hope everyone enjoys there touring adventures in 2014 .

[cable tie]

Glad to see your recommendation on the hotel, cable tie - I'm staying there in June '14,huzzah :-)

Its a fantastic hotel fella, and the rd upto it is like a little race track, there's some good riding to be had there.

Couple pics,

My room.


View from balcony.



Hope you enjoy Rich.

[ChristoT]

Cable tie, the Madone des Motards is a huge bike meet in Brittany. Up to 30,000 bikers turn up to it!

I'm hoping some English biker buddies from Uni will be joining me, and hopefully some Foccers will join too.

[gassitt]

Bastogne:-  Watch Band of Brothers before you go
Good campsite just south of town, easy walk to town lots of bars/eats on town square
Mardasson monument and museum a must see, plus Bois Jaques where you can still see the 101st PIR  foxholes

Vosges:-  like the Alps just lower and more compact
Good camping on south shore of lake at Gerardmer within easy reach of all the good stuff ( Ballons d`alsace, col de la Schlut etc)
Excellent hotel , Moto hotel Col de bussang (http://http://www.coldebussang.com/fr/accueil.htm) ( Tell Mark about  new bands/music hes not heard of and you might get a discount  )

Switzerland:-
Not as expensive as you may think
Andermatt is about the best and central for some of the famous passes ( Furka, Grimsel,St Gothard etc)

Austria:-
Good campsite at Heiligenblut, close to Grossglockner so you can stay over go back and forth over the pass  all day then move on to

Gasthof Hochalmspitz,  ( http://www.hochalmspitze.com/)  english run, excellent ambiance,food and beer  and central for some of Austrias best roads ( Nochalm for one) and easy day runs out to Italy, Slovenia etc. Tell John and Ros,  Mark and Chrissie from Manchester sent ya

Weve been to all the places you mentioned several times over and you wont be disappointed.With 14/16 days youll be surprised how far you can get .We always stick to the rules of 250 miles/4PM  on transit days and weve managed Slovenia and back taking  in most of the good bits of Austria and the Dolomites as well in the time scale youre looking at without having any hard days .
Theres many more hotels/campsites but the hotels mentioned are two of the very best and well worth a visit just for the crack

Enjoy but remember you do it once and youll be hooked , weve been doing it for 20 years and still aint had enough

[Exupnut]

Enjoy but remember you do it once and youll be hooked , weve been doing it for 20 years and still aint had enough.

I agree.... I'm thinkin of buyin a frogman suit to spice it up a bit more lol

[Hedgetrimmer]

Hope everybody had a great Xmas day, I'll speak quietly cos the hangovers are likely quite severe this morning....oh wait, you're all still drinking right? 
Bill, funny you should say about a hotel next to 5 alpine passes, cos Ride magazine's recent supplement talks of the Hotel Hof & Post at Innertkirchen, on the junction of the Susten and Grimsel passes, and have a write up of doing those combined with the Furka, St Gottard and Neufenen passes. Good a place as any to head for?
I also now have a route from the Ardennes to the alps (or most of): Route des Cretes, through the Vosges, which I've had a couple of recommendations for. And I 've discovered that the new Battle of the Bulge (no not the one you're all going to be fighting post Xmas     ) museum opens in March next year, so that'll be a place to visit on the trip.
So all shaping up nicely.
Midden (John.....ah, Kev,.....nooooo, wait, I'll get it......Sue?     ), company very welcome, but with the following caveat: the Ardennes bit and then the route to the alps are non-negotiable. What I (we?) ride in the Alps is still pretty open, and up for discussion, except that Switzerland must be somewhere on there. Dolomites, Italian side, possible. And I might want to squeeze in a run to the Mont Blanc region, time permitting. If there are any bookings to be made, it'll be pretty last minute, so could end up doing the whole shebang by tent! Thinking about July at the mo, so plenty time left to sort out details. As usual before I do any camping trips, I will be mentally preparing to encounter 2 weeks of pissing rain and misery 
Exup: training to be a c**t? I thought you had degrees in the subject!    And don't expect anyone to have sympathy for you, you stinking rich capitalist swine. Come the revolution......
It'd be great to just take a month or more off and visit all the other places being suggested, but 16 days is all I can reasonably afford and not have to be too tight with the spending, and I gotta start this Euro-touring lark somewhere. All the guys who've done it before say, oh yeah that's where everyone heads for, try somewhere different, here, here or here. But I figure there's probably good reason people head to these places, and I've still yet to see them for myself. Hopefully, once I've got the first one under my belt, I'll then look at others for another time. The Adriatic coast and countries appeal to me, so maybe next time. So many places, so little time (and money).
Cable Tie, thanks for all the suggestions, and thanks for making me scroll through all those huge foccin photos every time I want to check on a reply!!    Seriously, it all looks fantastic, can't wait to see some of it for myself. Saving up for this is going well, haven't been out on the bike much recently, but hopefully it'll be worth it. Roll on summer!
Sorry Christo, Madone meet is not on my destination itinerary, but will have to do a France tour at some point, maybe in a couple of years. Got to cure the mountain fever first! (As said, possible flying visit to Mont Blanc/Chamonix etc on this trip).

Grateful to all those who have made suggestions so far, the hotels suggested I will make a list of, along with campsites, including suggestions on the earlier Touring Europe thread, so I'm not completely at a loss as to where to head for once on the road.

Suggestions and help coming in thick and fast as I type this!
Gassit, thanks, I've seen Band of Brothers countless times, and have read extensively regarding Hitler's operation Wacht am Rheine (Watch on the Rhine - named to mislead the allies that he was just keeping to defensive tactics whilst planning a last gasp major offensive to cut the allied forces in two by a drive to the Meuse and thence on to Antwerp. The 101st Airborne's heroic stand in and around Bastogne is just one part of a bigger picture, could probably easily spend the whole two weeks just on this part of my planned trip! Thanks for all the suggestions, will study up on those.

Oh, and does anyone know of a compact (book) guide to campsites and hotels for central Europe? And are Michelin maps still the maps of choice if not using electronic wizardry? Not sure I'll be able to afford GPS/Sat Nav before going, and I like maps cos you get greater context for wherever you're looking at, at a glance, and, well, I just like maps! 

Nick.

[richfzs]

, well, I just like maps! 

Nick.

Maps is foccin ace

[cable tie]

Glad to see your recommendation on the hotel, cable tie - I'm staying there in June '14,huzzah :-)

Yeah hopefully ill also be there in June 14 as well with a couple of bods off the foccer forum.

Nick... Sorry for the rather large pics bud, I blame tapatalk or the fact I'm now feeling wine and beer make you queer.

Dave

[Phil]

    I just like maps! 

 

 

Maps here, a hotel owner gave me an A3 sized map of the country.
I downsized them to upoad, but if they dont print off clearly let me know and I'll send you a copy by email.

http://imageshack.com/a/img818/6020/6o8p.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img689/3753/gni3.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img12/5169/0rs4.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img34/1740/yc62.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img202/9343/8j71.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img51/8921/0pln.jpg

Luxembourg is a great little country for biking. Monschau is very nice and worth a visit on the way down. Most hotels on the continent are biker friendly and will offer a garage for the bike without the need to ask.

http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,8529.msg84063.html#msg84063

A recommended full days ride he gave me scribbled on the map here;

http://goo.gl/maps/9SgjE

After there to Switzerland or Austria sounds a great trip. Voges and Black Forest are on the route too.

[slimwilly]

The town we stayed at and are still in contact with was Goldau, between lake Zug and lake Luzerne. we did stop to price up a few near Luzerne and boy were they expensive,,like 200 euros each.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Got a copy of this on the way, has been recommended, hopefully it'll be of some help!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorcycle-Journeys-Through-Alps-Beyond/dp/1884313388/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

[flyboy]

 Hi

last year we did 4500+miles across Europe in a little over a month on the trusty 04 Fazer  ,starting out in Rotterdam  then down to the  Dolomites  across France &  Spain into Morocco (no sat nav help in Morc  but they only have 10 roads so its  back to a map )  then  back up through Spain to Bilbao   . I bought one of the cheapo Chinese sat navs of eBay for about£30 . We used   lots of back roads and  it didn't miss a turn.also took a small note book computer loaded with auto route ,bike manuals, insurance an all sorts of other junk it was very handy for  booking hotel rooms at sort notice I'd recommend booking .com   got some really good deals with them
 

[Hedgetrimmer]

Yes, that's the 2nd recommendation I've had for booking.com. Just need to figure out what kind of system to take, hence Electronic Wizardry thread. I'm still really planning to use mostly campsites, but if the weather doesn't work out too well, this kind of thing could be handy. A month - jealous! I might be able to extend to 3 weeks if the saving continues to go well, but not counting on it.

[flyboy]

 We  went last week in August 2013  an most of September and the weather was fantastic, warm but not silly hot only a couple of wet days all holiday .Also the summer rush is over and lots of vacancies available in b&bs, but if your camping geting a last minute  pitch  shouldn't be a problem even in high season
your idea of not booking anything in advance is I think the best move . I wish I'd done that we had booked a few places in advance for the first 10-12 days, and it put a bit of pressure  on us to be at a certain point at a certain date. The the rest of the holiday was  done on the fly and it was a great feeling to sit and have a beer in the evening and decide what to do tomorrow shall we ride 200 miles or have a shed load of beer an lig on beach all day  easy decision some days.
 

[Mattsplat]

My 2 cents...

Your heading to the European tourist traps, try to go in September when the passes are all open and the kids have gone back to school. Youll find avaliablity goes up and the prices go down, alot!

Bang for buck though I'd head to Czech, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and then into Austria doing the loop back.

Ive done Europe and tbh, it costs too much, You could go to India, Cambodia or Vietnam for a month for less money........and yes, that includes a bike!

[Hedgetrimmer]

My 2 cents...

Your heading to the European tourist traps, try to go in September when the passes are all open and the kids have gone back to school. Youll find avaliablity goes up and the prices go down, alot!

Yes, I'm starting to think that may be wiser, but don't know if I can hold out til then 

Bang for buck though I'd head to Czech, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and then into Austria doing the loop back.

Ive done Europe and tbh, it costs too much, You could go to India, Cambodia or Vietnam for a month for less money........and yes, that includes a bike!

I refer the gentleman to the reply I gave earlier.....gotta start somewhere etc etc. Czech, Slovakia etc for a future trip perhaps.

I can't go to hot/humid places for medical reasons, much as I'd love to see some of those places. Just not an option. 

[Mattsplat]

I can't go to hot/humid places for medical reasons, much as I'd love to see some of those places. Just not an option. 
[/quote]

Im the same, I have really bad hyperhydrosis and I suffer in far away places but Im 'living the dream' while my spine lets me. Chronic degenerative disc disease and many spinal operations later has made me re-assess my priorities and pushed me into getting stuck into my 'bucket list' 

Arctic circle in 2015 and South America in 2016 and the list is mostly complete