Hi everybody! I'm planning to do an UK tour on June or July with my Monster (looking for the better possible weather), and I was wondering if you could help me pointing me some "must see" places or even giving me some "where to stay" advices (with the must see places would be enough to make myself a proper route plan, but I'm not so confident about where to leave my bike during the night...). My whole trip is pending to be planned (both the how long and the route itself), so I'm kind of flexible to your opinions. To start somewhere, let's put some ideas over the table: I'll start taking the ferry boat in Santander, Spain, that will take me to Plymouth or Portsmouth (there are more day options to go to Portsmouth, so that will be probably the selected option). I'd like to visit Stonehenge, and then go North, trying not to mess with the big cities traffic jams. Regarding the duration, my bike is not the most comfortable one to do this kind of trips, so I think that a week and a half trip would be enough for my body. I think I should carry some extra fuel with me, as my s4r really "drinks" a lot (a full tank will never do more than 100 miles) and I don't want to find me stopping in every gas station I find in my way hehehe. It will be my first tour in the UK, I've been several times in London, but that's all, so again, any advice will be really welcome. If you need any other information from me to give me a proper advice please let me know. Thank you in advance!!
If you have 7-10 days and want to limit the time in the saddle whilst avoiding motorways you will probably miss the best bit - Scotland. From Plymouth / Portsmouth head for the Severn Bridge via Stonehenge, travel up through Wales, Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia, a quick tour of the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, York, Peak District then home. From the above you can tell I like hills and avoid the south east.
This one includes Scotland, but yep, I see too much motorways on it... Thank you very much John, I see lots of National Parks on this route so it can be an interesting one. It's around 1000 miles, which would mean 110 to 130 miles a day, that's also good, maybe not enough? I'm not a real traveler (I've never used the bike for tourism purposes), so I'm wondering if I could do even more distance per day... I'll take that into account, thanks!
What's your budget per night ? Live a few miles from Stonehenge so could probably recommend somewhere to stay and a nice route to get there from Portsmouth - Wales is fab and June is a good time to visit An easy days riding and sight seeing (maybe via some of the Wiltshire White Horses ) from Stonehenge will get you into mid Wales easily
Up the A3 from Portsmouth, you cross the A272. It's a lovely bit of road, heading West (towards West Meon) or East (towards Midhurst/Haywards Heath). If you are in the area and you want to enjoy a good ride as well as a sight-seeing tour, you could do worse I gather that there are other nice places in the UK, too
Well, I would say that I don't mind how's my place to stay but how it is for the bike. If you can point me to a secure-moto-park place I'm sure it will be perfect! Well, it's easy to include that part in the route, heading north on the A3 and then going to East and West Meon, Winchester, and Stonehenge. Thank you!! Ouch! That hurt me! I'm getting divorced right now... And I think this tour will help me to get the peace of mind I need!
Yeah, really nice places, I've just checked it, thanks! If you have in mind any other point of interest, not only routes, please let me know! And thank you all for your comments, this is what better feels about been a rider, the unselfish help you get from your "equals"!
As I said, check out the centre of historic England in York - where the Entire Roman Empire was governed from twice in it's 2000 year history. We have the Largest Gothic Cathedral in Western Europe in York Minster, the most picturesque of England's Country Houses in Castle Howard and the largest Monastery in Europe: Fountains Abbey, the best Ducati timing belts from ExactUK are also in York www.exactuk.com and also the largest motorcycle meet in the UK at Squires Café Bar attracting thousands every weekend in summer and most evenings too and of course, the best roads and scenery in England :Angelic: Just watch the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour De France for images of Yorkshire
Wow, lots of info there, thanks! That's a great question. I'd say the best British roads are my main goal, but in my way, if I can visit some of the best British sites it would be perfect!
Depends what sorts of things you want to see. Britain is blessed with plentiful historic castles, palaces, cathedrals, universities, museums, galleries, and monuments (of which Stonehenge is the oldest). This is what most visitors come to the UK to see. There are also rivers, lakes, forests, coastlines, and hills, although as landscapes go we frankly have nothing to rival the Alps or the Pyrenees - England is a green and pleasant land, not a mountainous one. As far as roads go, I am afraid a lot of our roads are inadequate, overcrowded, and infested with traps. Actually Brits mainly go to other European countries to find the most enjoyable riding roads.
If you decide to land at Plymouth you get the opportunity to head across Cornwall towards the fantastic North Coast & take in some amazing spots along the coast (Watergate bay, Padstow, Rock Beach etc) great roads into Nth Devon, Exmore and pick up the A30 back towards Exeter and then on to the A303 for Stonehenge visit. Any UK visit must include Devon & Cornwall albeit I'm a tad biased as I do live in the Sth West.
