Evening all my girlfriend and I are due to go away on the bike leaving UK 12th October. We were planing on lake como taking 2 days to get there riding over the alps but having spoken to a couple of people they have suggested alps could be crap weather wise of course it could also be absolutely fine but just wondering if anybody could recommend anywhere else as a destination. We want somewhere as a base ideally scenic and some places to visit would be nice........ Historic cities, monuments etc etc Any suggestions appreciated.
Route Napoleon down through France maybe and get down to the coast, maybe Monaco then head across to como if that's still your intention.
spain portugal for sure, was in the south seville, granada, jerez last october 35 degrees and silent roads loved it so much am going to do it again this yr
Every year I used to go the Bol d'Or at le Castellet south of France near Toulon. That used to be mid-September. Generally, the weather was great, but I was amazed at the amount of times the following week was a total washout. Sometimes, the weather would set in for days. The South of France still felt like summer, but Switzerland (which is only the latitude of Lyon, so still quite far south) felt very autumnal. There is also a phenomenon of a huge amount of rain and frequently landslides in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino at about this time. Ticino is the only canton south of the Alps and would have similar weather to Como. Of course, all this may be changing over the years with global warming, but I don't think it is, esp. re rain south of the Alps. So my advice would be Spain, but you may get some rain going down through France to get there, or you hop on the Santander ferry. Having said all that, it could be glorious. You just never know.
Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Gonna stick to lake como and worst case will have to alter route to get there. Will post pics upon our return.
I'm sure you'll have a great time. Northern france can be boring so might be worth just getting on the motorway at least until Reims and cross country from there. Whatever you decide you'll heve an adventure, and as you said, if you plan flexibly you can always change plan en route to make the most of the weather.
Early morning Dover to Calais ferry then straight down to Beaune or Dijon for 1st night. Then Route Napolean through Alps to Toulon or Nice or Cannes for 2nd night. Next day catch the ferry to Ajaccio or Bastia on Corsica and spend a good 4 or 5 days touring this amazing place. Scenery and roads are incredible as the weather should still be good at that time of year. I did it last year on my Multi with the MSL organised tour and had a hoot! It was marred only by grounding the exhaust cat on a sleeping policeman outside a hotel in Toulon and then spending the whole day at a Duc dealership getting the thing repaired!
