Hey all, I may have a chance off getting a week away the end of April, now where to go? Should I go France, Benelux, or go Ireland for Cookstown 100. I am used to going away for weeks at a time so haven't really been riding closer, any ideas where some good riding is to be had would be great, cheers.
Depends how far you want to go. France is a bit dear at the moment, so is Ireland, so I'd be heading east. If you want to stay fairly local, southern Belgium has some great roads, and of course the Eifel region of Germany is teeming with great rides. Both within a few hours of Calais.
The Black Forest, via the Vosges. Fantastic roads for motorcycling, lots to see. Can recommend Guesthouse Zur Krone in Denzligen about 5 miles out of Freiburg. Owners have a S2R 1000. Not sure how far from Norfolk but about 650 miles door to door from Bath. Usually stop a night on way over somewhere in France but come home in one shunt. Or can recommend place just outside of Pau, village called simacourbe, Bridget rides a M620, Keith a Valkyrie but loves Ducati's, used to have a Darmah. Very handy for Pyrenees which you can see from the house.
Thanks Figaro, thought about Belgium, some lovely cities there also, didnt know they had decent roads! Germany possible, been loads of times mainly to the ring though, so havent explored elsewhere, I think there is a great ride which follows the Rhine, might be worth looking at. I love Holland but no decent riding roads there, lived there for a while! Luxembourg is beautiful but have never ridden a bike there, well only transiting to go somewhere else!! Have to get Google maps fired up!!
Hey Phil, Scotland is a possibility, but, only a small but mind, home for me was the West Coast and also one hour north of Inverness, so I dont think there is one road I have never ridden!! I usually take some mates on a Scottish tour every June from Norfolk, it blows there minds!! Usually one is shaking in disbelief if they have never been before!!
You could always come to Brno with me in August Stevie. Bring an oxygen mask though, cos I won't be hanging around...
Well we are now mid-April. It is raining here, 6° and snowing at 900m, so you can rule out the Alps. All the passes will be closed. I would suggest the Ardeche region of France. Great food and wine, loads of back roads and should be warm and sunny (which is what you want at end of April). You can also hop over into deeper Provence. What's not to like?
Alas I would love too but August is a no-no for me, flat out busy with tourists!! October is the month I take off to go abroad, when on your way to Brno then you should take in the salt mines in Krakov, very impressive.
Whats not to like!! It is an amazing place, doesnt seem much until you walk into the square then you go Wow!! Auschwitz and Birkenau have to be visited also, wasnt what I expected to be honest, always wanted to see the place but felt oddly humbled by it all, the scale of what went on didnt really strike home till I actually visited. Never been to Brno, always fancied going for the GP!
I've seen a fair bit of eastern europe. The initial trip to Krakow came about when discussing a works christmas piss-up; normally we'd book a night out and hotel in London for the lads, but then we took on a polish lad and he said it would be cheaper to go to Poland for a weekend, so we did, and had a cracking time. Since then we've been to Budapest, Sofia, Riga and back to Krakow twice more, the last time by bike. Best bike trip I've been on was to Sachsenring, We did the journey in a day each way, which at 800 miles from my house was too much to be comfortable (especially on a ZXR750), but it meant we had more time to explore from our Chemnitz base, taking in Colditz, Dresden, Prague, etc. And because everything is cheaper in this part of Europe you can afford a few extravagances; we stayed in a very nice hotel that a lot of the teams were staying in, ended up having breakfast with Randy Mamola every morning... Southern France, Spain and Italy are biking mecca, but they're just too bloody expensive at the moment. Heading east is the way forward.
Absolutely +1 on this.....nowhere betters the Massif Central at this time of the year....fantastic roads, excellent food and wine, and comfy, inexpensive places to stay....
Overnight ferry from Plymouth/Portsmouth to Santander then play around Northern Spain for a week. Euro exchange rate isn't good but Spain is bl00dy cheap compared with France. You could do a Parador tour (historic Spanish buildings converted to Hotels like monasteries, chateaux (or the Spanish equiv) etc). Cool towns include Bilbao (suprisingly!) Gijon, Madrid...and the roads in between are cracking! Make sure you post what you did and how it was! Have fun!
Hi all, thanks for your suggestions, I ended up going to Bordeaux, Weather was absolutely minging, wet for 5 days solid, the Dordoigne is beautiful, the Multi ran like a beaut, all was well!! Pictures and small report are in the Multistrada forum, thanks again, cheers.
