Have booked a week out of the office for the 1st week of May, and am heading off for a touring holiday in Germany & Austria. Booked the ferry crossings, just need to sort out the hotels now. Departing Dover early doors on the 1st after an overnight stop in the Premier Inn, Dover, and then heading to Verdun for our first stopover for one night. From there we're heading to Freiburg where we'll stay for two nights. We can easily explore the Swiss & Austrian alps as well as the southern German countryside. From there it's on to Salzburg for another 2 nights. Probably do a little sightseeing too as it's supposed to be a lovely City. After Salzburg it's onto Vienna. It's my 26th Wedding anniversary on the Thursday so we'll be treating ourselves to a really nice hotel for the 2 nights here. Again a little sightseeing on foot combined with a ride out or two. From Vienna we will start to head back home with a one night stopover in Augsburg, followed by another one night stay in Metz. On our way from Metz to Calais we intend to visit Ypres and the Menin Gate, where my wife has two of her relatives commemorated on the monument. After that it's onto the ferry for the short trip back to Dover, another stay in the Premier Inn, so we feel refreshed and fit to tackle the M25 & M4 on Monday morning on our way back home to Bristol. This will be our first decent trip abroad for a few years, and we're really looking forward to it. Have already started looking at what we need to get in advance. Thinking of a decent touring jacket as opposed to my leather jacket, and going to have some new Pirelli Angel GT tyres fitted.
Thanks, we intend do. Can't wait to get out onto some quiet roads, with some fantastic scenery. The wife's happy too as she's always wanted to go to Vienna. A win-win and the chance to buy some near gear too before we go.
Vienna and Salzberg are both very beautiful Cities. I've been there quite a bit in cars before I started riding and the roads will be great on a motorbike.
Yes, we've been reading up on both and planning on where we'd like to go in the limited time we have.
From Vienna take a little ride to Bratislava, (40m) then head up the motorway to Trencin, (60m) a lovely little town with a beautiful castle. Slovakia is super to ride. My favourite route is from Trencin north to Brno but that extends your loop somewhat, but feasable. Martin
Hi Johnny, yes I'm aware some of the higher passes can be closed. I've ridden across the Alps (France into Italy) in early May and whilst the road we took wasn't closed it was snowing at the top, and very cold too. We'll download an app (assume there is one for this kind of thing) as well as checking weather forecasts etc. To be honest if some roads are closed this adds to the fun of touring. We don't like taking the motorway everywhere, and like to explore the back roads as much as possible.
Hi Martin, yes Slovakia (and Slovakia too) are great counties for riding. Went through them both when I last toured in Europe. One piece of dual carriageway we used in Slovenia was brand new (they were still working on a section of it at the time). It ran all the way up to the Hungarian boarder. It was great as we didn't see a car for 40 minutes of riding...just like having your own race track. We stopped at a Shell petrol station and the owners were so surprised to see us they gave us free coffee, bread, ham & cheese after we filled the bike. That's why I like travelling in Europe so much. I'll check out the route you've suggested..we do like a good castle! If anyone else has some thoughts for places to visit along the way please let me know. The routes we are going to take aren't fixed, so as long as we arrive at the hotel by around 5pm. Any later and my wife tends to get a little restless, plus it's nice to have the time to sample the local beers at the end of a days riding.
have a great trip, i reckon the AngelST would really suit the ST handling,i never tried those on my ST,but have them on the mutley. Ride safe.
I much prefer leathers when riding abroad. By May you're gonna be hitting some hot weather, and textiles are just too sweaty for me. I just wear leathers and pack away some thin unlined waterproofs in case it gets wet or cold. Kevlar jeans come in handy when it gets hotter too.
Presume by Freiburg you mean Im Breisgau. If so, the Panorama hotel there is very nice and welcoming to bikes. (We stayed there several times in big bike parties). Good facilities (pool, sauna etc) but beware the restaurant prices can get serious. Mercure Hotel Panorama Freiburg. Book now! Free Wifi! If you are wanting at the other end of the spectrum, Pension Williams is close by and is a nice little place run by brit expats David and his missus Angela. Cheap, clean, close to the B500. Not much in the way of evening meals etc, where instead you need to go out into the village, but has an "honesty bar" with beers and crips/nuts/chocolate etc for when you come back at night after riding. I've stayed here 3 or 4 times over the years and always been more than happy with the place. Black Forest Hotel, Guest house
You can spot British bikers from miles away down here in the south of France, they are the ones clad in black leather and suffering badly with dehydration! Local bikers hardly ever use leather and I am sure that visiting bikers have noticed that the French cops ride in short sleeved shirts. I can be seen out in shorts and tee shirt throughout most of the summer, but we are all free to wear what we want. I once rode north for 90 minutes to visit a mate, in the morning. As I was wearing shorts I got a suntan on my right leg. Late afternoon I rode back home, south, only to find that the sun had moved and I got more suntan just on my right leg! Did look funny for a while. Just remember that local people are used to riding in the local weather and probably know best. I have heard all of the arguments for wearing leather, but also know the risks of overheating.
I don't see many people riding in shorts in Germany, maybe a few scooters around town, the vast majority are in leathers.
If you do head for Bratislava there is a wonderful cafe/chocolate shop that sells a huge variety of choccy treats, if memory's correct it was about 80 varied coffee an choc combo's with vodka, whisky, rum etc and was somewhere we headed every day we were there to try something different. It's a beautiful but small city but well worth a visit if you have the time.
You did say abroad (any country outside the UK), but now you say Germany. I lived in northern Germany for about 22 years and there were times, in the summer, when I rode in shorts on my BMW.
Good for you. Doesn't make you right, but good for you anyway. I've ridden in shorts in the UK; would I embark on a foreign tour in shorts..? No, I wouldn't. I said Germany because that's where the OP is going, and he asked for advice...
Neither have I but I've read a lot of good reviews on these tyres and think they would give me a much longer life than the Pirelli Diablo's I've had fitted for the last 10 years.
Yes, I have always worn a leather jacket zipped to a pair of leather touring style trousers which have knee and hip protection. I then have Hein Gericke waterproof jacket and trousers carried in my pannier (the wife has the same). My leather jacket and trousers are Dainese, but even with the thermal liner zipped into the jacket, on occasion I do sometimes feel the cold, and being a good fit there is little room underneath for too many layers. I usually have a base layer plus a fleece. I'm looking at a fabric jacket (will keep the leather trousers) as I'd like to see if this offers more flexibility. Some I've seen have several zip out layers, so would be waterproof and warm too and would stop the need to put on the waterproof jacket when it rains. It will probably be something from Dainese again as I'd need it to be compatible with the trousers, so that they can be zipped together easily. I've always like Dainese stuff, and use the store in Bristol where I've always had great service. I prefer to try things on before I buy too. I'll let you know what I decide on, but it could be I stick with what I have already.
