Where????

[Yorky]

I've started thinking about next years touring holiday. Generally I only stop anywhere for 1 night and don't stop in one place for more than 2 night maximum. This time I'm thinking more of basing myself in one place for at least 5 nights and taking day trips from that base before moving onto somewhere else for another 4/5 nights. Total time away approx. 13/14 nights.

I'll be going in June, and would prefer somewhere dry(ish) and warm, so I guess that will point me in the France/Spain direction, definitely not North up into Norway area, and I know Germany can be iffy in June (I may do Germany in August).

I've done most of the popular destinations/routes and would prefer somewhere new, though I expect that will be hard to find. I prefer open flowing roads with decent scenery, as opposed to mountainous hairpins all the time, type roads.

So where to go???????

All suggestions appreciated.

[Copycat73]

you could do the Vosges .. or even the Eifel ... though someone else is organisin a trip there ... or they may not be .. 

any way Joachim Peiper not to be confused wit Robert Shaw 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Copycat73

[Pie man]

The Picos De Europa & The Pyrenees. I can't abide that ferry journey though. 

I like the Vosges and Palatine forests of Germany, easy to get to. Not sure what or where you would go with the other 5 days though 

[onesea]

My suggestion is listen to the above places and Scotland and Ireland.

 

Plan them all 

 

Don't book anywhere until the week before when you will have an idea of where the good weather will be.

 

 

[Steve_M]

We based ourselves just outside Zell Am See for a week back in 2014. It was probably a couple of days too many as we found ourselves covering the first few miles on each ride several times. Kinda tedious. However, as a location, it would probably provide you with the sort of roads you describe - and easy access to the Grossglockner (OK, it’s an expensive toll road and has hairpins but, what a road!).  I’m sure we barely scratched the surface of what the Tyrol has to offer - we intend to return. 

[Pie man]

 

Here are a couple of good bases 

Ihr Motorradhotel im Zillertal - Motorradhotel Sonnleiten (motorradhotel-zillertal.at)

Moto-Hotêl Col de Bussang - Welcome

 

and one of my favourites

 

Gasthaus zur Post | Klotten (hotelzurpost-klotten.de)

Edited December 1, 2022 by Pie man

[Yorky]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

@Copycat73, I did the Vosges in August of this year so that is a no, however I will put the Eifel area into the list of options.

@Pie man, I did the Picos and Pyrenees in 2021, so again that's a no, Vosges as above but the Palatine can go onto the options list. And thanks for the hotel suggestions

@onesea, Scotland, in June?? (did you miss the dry(ish) bit??) , never done Ireland though so thanks for that idea.

@Steve_M, Zell am See, now that sounds interesting. Looks like a good place to have as a base and easy access into Italy or Slovenia.

 

Once again, thanks all. I now have something to ponder over on these dark, crap nights.

[onesea]

1 hour ago, Yorky said:

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

@Copycat73

@Pie man

@onesea, Scotland, in June?? (did you miss the dry(ish) bit??) , never done Ireland though so thanks for that idea.

@Steve_M,

I learned from my mistakes x wife and I did France in August weather was terrible.  Gothard Pass  closed due to snow, the UK had heat wave.

 

Present partner and had planned France,  we did Scotland in April 2 weeks. No midges 1 day of rain blue skies all the way...

This was decided as we got some basics for the caravan, wine or whisky?  We bought wine and turned North... Came back with Whiskey.

 

My advice still - plan them all decide later.

 

Lesson learned - Choose carefully change, if your decision was not good. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by onesea

[Pie man]

1 hour ago, Yorky said:

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

@Steve_M, Zell am See, now that sounds interesting. Looks like a good place to have as a base and easy access into Italy or Slovenia.

 

Once again, thanks all. I now have something to ponder over on these dark, crap nights.

We stayed in Thumersbach which is just the opposite side of the lake from Zell am See. It was a cheaper option. Haus Strasser (unsure if still there) and Pension Claudia, we also ate at Hubertus Kellar which was an experience 

[John Metcalfe]

On 29/11/2022 at 17:21, Yorky said:

I've started thinking about next years touring holiday. Generally I only stop anywhere for 1 night and don't stop in one place for more than 2 night maximum. This time I'm thinking more of basing myself in one place for at least 5 nights and taking day trips from that base before moving onto somewhere else for another 4/5 nights. Total time away approx. 13/14 nights.

I'll be going in June, and would prefer somewhere dry(ish) and warm, so I guess that will point me in the France/Spain direction, definitely not North up into Norway area, and I know Germany can be iffy in June (I may do Germany in August).

I've done most of the popular destinations/routes and would prefer somewhere new, though I expect that will be hard to find. I prefer open flowing roads with decent scenery, as opposed to mountainous hairpins all the time, type roads.

So where to go???????

All suggestions appreciated.

If you want dry and warm you could try over here in Tunisia as in May/June the temps are around the mid 30's and it's certainly dry here. The scenery is pretty good too with coastal roads along with inland towards the desert areas. Plus we have the added bonus of the Star Wars set in the south.

Just to give you an idea of the weather here it's currently averaging 24/25 during the day and around 13/14 at night, not bad for December.

[MikeHorton]

2 hours ago, John Metcalfe said:

If you want dry and warm you could try over here in Tunisia as in May/June the temps are around the mid 30's and it's certainly dry here. The scenery is pretty good too with coastal roads along with inland towards the desert areas. Plus we have the added bonus of the Star Wars set in the south.

Just to give you an idea of the weather here it's currently averaging 24/25 during the day and around 13/14 at night, not bad for December.

We had our honeymoon in Sousse great place and people 

[Gerontious]

Anywhere north of the Alps can be very dodgy in June. lots of rain is always possible. problem is mostly the atmosphere is right on the cusp of winter and summer. warm air pushing north from the med meets cold air over the alps and leads to rain. sometimes a lot of rain.  There are no guarantees. it might be lovely it might be awful.

 

south of the Alps and all change.

 

I would head for the south of France. the pre-alps South of Lyon. so, less of the mountain passes.. much more in the way of sweepers. with some proper twists thrown in if you want that sort of thing. weather turns.. head further south. but avoid the coast as it can be a nightmare.

Maybe seek out and ride the Balcony roads or head for Verdon.  Then head south and west to the region that has Millau at its centre. If you were to use that as a base it puts so much at your fingertips and you are much less likely to lose days due to rain.

 

 

[John Metcalfe]

8 hours ago, MikeHorton said:

We had our honeymoon in Sousse great place and people 

We're in Hammamet, halfway between Sousse & Tunis so ideally placed for getting around.

We've had house here since October 2015 and finally mover here lock stock n barrel in June 2021 selling up in the UK.

We made decision due to the chinese flu outbreak as the missus was over here working anyway and I was furloughed for most of time so we were running 2 houses, 1 in UK & 1 here and still surviving easily, so selling up wasn't as hard as we'd thought it would be.

We've now had 18 months of "retirement", including a couple of "holidays" touring around Italy and loving it.

We have now decided to join up with a couple of our Tunisian friends and open a cafe/cocktail bar, which if all goes to plan should be opening in next week or so. It will be a bike/biker friendly place with plenty of secure/safe off road parking and located close to the beach so everyone welcome if over here.

 

[MikeHorton]

18 minutes ago, John Metcalfe said:

We're in Hammamet, halfway between Sousse & Tunis so ideally placed for getting around.

We've had house here since October 2015 and finally mover here lock stock n barrel in June 2021 selling up in the UK.

We made decision due to the chinese flu outbreak as the missus was over here working anyway and I was furloughed for most of time so we were running 2 houses, 1 in UK & 1 here and still surviving easily, so selling up wasn't as hard as we'd thought it would be.

We've now had 18 months of "retirement", including a couple of "holidays" touring around Italy and loving it.

We have now decided to join up with a couple of our Tunisian friends and open a cafe/cocktail bar, which if all goes to plan should be opening in next week or so. It will be a bike/biker friendly place with plenty of secure/safe off road parking and located close to the beach so everyone welcome if over here.

 

Sounds like a great venture hope it all goes well 

[fastbob]

On 29/11/2022 at 18:56, Copycat73 said:

you could do the Vosges .. or even the Eifel ... though someone else is organisin a trip there ... or they may not be .. 

any way Joachim Peiper not to be confused wit Robert Shaw 

 

 

 

One of the most inaccurate war films ever . 

[Bender]

5 minutes ago, fastbob said:

One of the most inaccurate war films ever . 

More inaccurate than star wars 

[Copycat73]

17 hours ago, fastbob said:

One of the most inaccurate war films ever . 

the world is full of half truths and lies.. but we spent a pleasant day ridin round the locations .... and the food was good from the eateries/cafes ....  

[Yorky]

On 06/12/2022 at 06:04, John Metcalfe said:

If you want dry and warm you could try over here in Tunisia as in May/June the temps are around the mid 30's and it's certainly dry here. The scenery is pretty good too with coastal roads along with inland towards the desert areas. Plus we have the added bonus of the Star Wars set in the south.

Just to give you an idea of the weather here it's currently averaging 24/25 during the day and around 13/14 at night, not bad for December.

 

Hi John, thanks for that idea, must admit I hadn't even thought about North Africa. I've had a quick Google and unfortunately I think that having to take another ferry on the trip will make it quite an expensive route, but the idea will be stored away, who knows??

At the moment I'm leaning towards Croatia or Romania, just trying to find what each one has to offer and whether I can cobble some decent rides if based in one place for a few days.

I reckon each one would be a 3 day ride down from Rotterdam, so that's 6 days of the trip accounted for. Now I've just got to work out a few circular routes from wherever I use as a base and probably a couple of bike free days.

[John Metcalfe]

23 hours ago, Yorky said:

 

Hi John, thanks for that idea, must admit I hadn't even thought about North Africa. I've had a quick Google and unfortunately I think that having to take another ferry on the trip will make it quite an expensive route, but the idea will be stored away, who knows??

At the moment I'm leaning towards Croatia or Romania, just trying to find what each one has to offer and whether I can cobble some decent rides if based in one place for a few days.

I reckon each one would be a 3 day ride down from Rotterdam, so that's 6 days of the trip accounted for. Now I've just got to work out a few circular routes from wherever I use as a base and probably a couple of bike free days.

We moved over here fully in June of last year after already having a house here since 2015. We then returned back to the UK in that October to collect the bike to bring it over.

We left Pontefract on the Wednesday morning and headed for the tunnel having booked for the 12:30 train. We traveled from the tunnel terminal french side onto Siossons for our first overnight stop, a total of around 450 miles. Next day we left Soissions at around 12:00 after visiting the war memorial there to pay our respects to my great uncle who was killed there in 1918 and made for Lyon for our next overnight stop and the dreaded PCR test the following morning that was required within 48hrs of departing on to Tunisia. Our final days ride was from Lyon to Genoa for our final night before catching the ferry over here the following morning. 24hrs later we landed in Tunisia and onward to home. We covered around 1500 miles in the 3 days from initial departure from Pontefract to arriving in Genoa.

You mention you are looking at Croatia or Romania, we've been thinking about Croatia also, but we have the advantage of been a little closer than you. we can literally nip over to Sicily (10hrs) then across Sicily (2-3hrs) onto the Italian mainland and over to either Bari or Ancona and then the ferry to Croatia. All of which, if we catch the overnight ferry from here can be done in the day

We did 12 days in Italy in May this year covering around 2000 miles starting from Civitavecchia near Rome across to Rimini for 2 days and then down that coast to San salvo before cutting back across to Pompei. Then on down that coast, including round the Amalfi Coast road dow to the toe for the ferry to Sicily. That crossing takes less than 30 minutes and the across Sicily to Palermo before catching the ferry back here. I put a list of the hotels we used in another post, all of which are bike/biker friendly.

[Yorky]

If I may ask, why did you use the chunnel and not the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam?

I have used the chunnel a number of times and once you get to Folkestone it is a great way to cross the channel. Like you I live/lived in Yorkshire and it is about a 270 mile trip from home to Folkstone, and not a very nice journey, so I am tending to go back to my old ways of crossing from Hull. I know it may cost a little bit more, but by the time you take in the fuel to get to/from Folkstone it's not a massive difference. It is however a dilemma that I always go through befor making the decision.

As for Croatia, have you managed to suss out anywhere that would be a good base with decent different routes for 4 or 5 rideouts?, as said I am only in the exploring stage but it's always nice to have suggestions/ideas from others.

[John Metcalfe]

2 hours ago, Yorky said:

If I may ask, why did you use the chunnel and not the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam?

I have used the chunnel a number of times and once you get to Folkestone it is a great way to cross the channel. Like you I live/lived in Yorkshire and it is about a 270 mile trip from home to Folkstone, and not a very nice journey, so I am tending to go back to my old ways of crossing from Hull. I know it may cost a little bit more, but by the time you take in the fuel to get to/from Folkstone it's not a massive difference. It is however a dilemma that I always go through befor making the decision.

As for Croatia, have you managed to suss out anywhere that would be a good base with decent different routes for 4 or 5 rideouts?, as said I am only in the exploring stage but it's always nice to have suggestions/ideas from others.

We used chunnel and not Hull-Rotterdam ferry due to timings of getting into and out of UK due to chinese flu restrictions both in UK and Europe meaning that the ferry didn't fit in. We literally landed at Manchester on the Monday evening, picked up by our son, dropped us at Ferrybridge services Travelodge, collected bike from storage on Tuesday, sorted everything out regarding bike etc and left at 06:00 on the Wednesday morning and on the chunnel by 12:30 and into France just after 13:00. 

Regarding Croatia and places we still looking around etc. There's a couple of you tube channels (TeaPot One, and a Bulgarian called Pavlin who's YT channel is Motorcyle Adventures) that I've been following for a while and they've done Croatia and judging by their videos to visit everywhere even just for a couple of hours would take weeks/months lol. There's also a few others on YT that travel Croatia on a motorbike. I've picked out a few places that we'll defo be visiting. One is a disused airfield that has a hanger into the mountainside, the runway is still accessible to ride on and there's some abandoned aircraft scattered about.  There's a couple of National Parks worth visiting also.

We're looking at going either end of April into early May or later in May. Current plan is to allow 4 days travelling through Italy (2 each way) and around 10 days in Croatia plus the ferries to and from Tunisia to Sicily/Italy.

[Yorky]

Ah, now I understand the chunnel

As I said in the op I normally don't spend more than 2 nights in any one place but I was thinking that this time I may try and base myself somewhere and then just do circular day rides, however this obviously limits the places that you can visit so that may have to be re-thought.

I'll take a look at the You Tube channels and see if any particular places jump out

[Ian Frog]

I am also considering Croatia next year possibly Aug/Sep and would be very interested in any information you come up with.

My personal alternative would be a Santander into Pyranees tour so my options at this stage are open.

Cheers

Ian

[MikeHorton]

Lovely place. Personally I love trogir not far from Split and much nicer. Ive stopped in a little place called Okrug Gornji just a little out of trogir nice little village with 4 or 5 great restaurants. Plenty of privately owned places you can rent. Place we stopped at had a pool and the family lived on the lower floor self catering local shops were good. Sea was crystal clear nice beach to swim and couple of decent beach bars. The local wine rukatac is cheap and a German guy we chatted to in a restaurant assured us it gives no hangover as no sulphites and he was right

[MikeHorton]

View from the beach which was quiet early mornings