South Of France Region.

Discussion in 'Touring' started by P4ULG, May 16, 2014.

  1. Hey guys.

    Myself and a mate are planning a 7-10 trip in the south of France / Italy / Switzerland / Germany / Austria regions in August. Still flexible on how many days right now.
    As we are in Glasgow we have decided to ship out our bikes to Nice and back with flybikefly and got cheap flights . For the price of it combined it makes sense rather than the tedious motorway trek there and the wear and tear on the bikes by the time we get to where we want to be.

    Anyone got routes and places to stay in that neck of the woods? We are flexible in where we are going to be honest and plan to do around 6 hours driving per day with plenty of stops etc to take up the rest of our time.


    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. You're spoilt for choice down there, so many great roads. But one that sticks out for me is the D911 from Millau heading west past Rodez. This is a road for big sportsbikes and a chance to test your bottle, it's utterly empty and fookin' fast - 130mph knee-down fast:upyeah:
     
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  3. done the same road truly epic
     
  4. N85 heading out of Grasse (route Napoleon). Fast, big long corners, stop and look back over the med for great views.
    Gorge de Verdon, do both sides.
    D955 ( superb race track, I mean road ...) past lac de Castillon and links on to N202.
    Col de Mont Cenis is worth fitting in if heading North.
    If heading in to Switzerland then the Grand and Petite St Bernard passes are the way to go from Bourge St Maurice.
    Switzerland to Austria would suggest Fluela pass heading from Davos, then aim for Landeck.
    Austria, I would do the Timmelsjoch. Also got the Stelvio pass. Rude not to if in the area.
    So many great roads, not enough time...
    I cant remember all the passes enroute through Switzerland, but basically aim for Martigny, Brig, Andermatt, Chur then Davos.
    Stayed in Merano last year in Northern Italy and that was well placed for some superb Dolomites roads, including picking up the Timmelsjoch when we headed back North.
     
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  5. I agree with JBiker that the Route Napoleon and Fluela Pass are awesome roads. One of my best ever biking days was the former on the way back from WDW 2012, and I did the Fluela on 4 wheels in a scooby a few years back- much preferred it, with its flowing bends, to the congested, cyclist and motorhome infested hairpins of the Stelvio. Grand St Bernard was the first time I enjoyed a more gnarly hairpinny mountain road - on the way in to Italy for WDW 2012 my head was in the right place for a chilled out meander over the Alps.
     
  6. Stelvio over rated tbh, so many better ones. (heading up from south, Bormio side better imo)
    Just a 'bucket list' road due to reputation ;)
     
  7. Not sure if you will be nr it but the D902 from Cluses to Thonon en Bains. Cracking road.
     
  8. This fast bikes video was shot in south of France on road from frejus to menton(N7 I think) which they always stated as one of there favorites.Road looks fantastic and also I have a great video of them riding ducati sps on the ardeche mountain road.Stunning road and scenery but don't make a mistake as its a long way down if you go over the barrier on ardeche road.

     
    #8 matt#corse, May 25, 2014
    Last edited: May 25, 2014
  9. Yep, the Ardeche gorge is a must. Stop at the cafe in Thueyts for a cuppa.
     
  10. Well that's the basics all sorted. Hotels and DRAFT routes.
    Taken a bit of time but the best software we found to use was Tyre. So much easier than basecamp and user friendly when amending routes.
    Note sure if I can share routes on forum, Total of near 1500 miles over the 10 days.
    I'll start taking some of the above routes and see if they tie in with our overnight destinations.
    Main points are, Monaco, Route Napoleon, Route De Grande Alps, Stelvio Pass, Lake Como & plenty of other passes.
    Really looking forward to it now,
     
  11. Probably a bit late, then, to mention how great the Ardeche is. Full of twisty roads with little traffic. Also the Cevennes. Feel miles from anywhere (you are, pretty much. I ran out of petrol on the top of a mountain. Hmmm).

    I've mentioned it a million times before (I'm exaggerating, aren't I?) but the book you need to read is this: Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Corsica: Amazon.co.uk: John Hermann: Books

    Then you won't need to ask anyone any questions. I have followed much of its advice over the years.
     
  12. did the book forget to mention filling up?
     
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  13. I shall be in Chinaillon this time next week as a base for our adventures. Looking forward to another trip along the N5 through the Juras to Gex (Fr) on our way there. Fast sweeping bends. Love it.
     
  14. I'd just bought the 907ie and hadn't found out what its tank range was yet. Went away with the wife for a long weekend, and all our luggage was in a mahoosive tank bag, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa which totally obscured all but the very top of the clocks. Couldn't see the fuel gauge or odometer, changed gear by ear and roughly divined our speed. By the time I realised we were low on fuel, there wasn't a garage in sight...
     
  15. nay luck.:smile:
     
  16. It was foggy too, and cars I tried to flag down were all diesel (as they are in France), or they were convinced I'd just stopped for a pee.
    Eventually, about 4 bikes came by who were from my neighbourhood in Switzerland (what were the chances, eh?). They managed to siphon some petrol from a GSXR 1100, after removing its tank. There was all sorts of complicated gubbins that made this very tricky. Then then escorted me to a service station to make sure I didn't run out again and refused to accept any payement for their petrol, time and effort.
    Old school biking, about 1994.

    So I did have some luck in the end.
     
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  17. We are heading to Auvergne next month just planning out route down from Cherbourg , in no rush so going scenic when past Le Mans
     
  18. Boo!
     
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  19. It's the run to Le Mans that'll bore you rigid...
     
  20. Doesn't take long though :). And the promise of a bottle of red and a plate of cheese at the end helps
     
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