First Time Tour
 

Hey there,

Am planning to go on a two week tour of europe in the first two weeks of August. This will be not only my first time abroad on a motorbike but I am also doing it solo.

My thoughts are to cross into The Netherlands, down into Belguim, across to Germany down through Black Forest, over the Swiss Alps, arround the Italian Lakes, along the Med coast to Nice, up past Geneva to Ardennes then take the Tunnel home to the UK.

For most of it am going to saunter along with no hurry and camp when it gets dark. The return across France will probably be done quite quickly as I have penty of experience of France and want to see new places. Just wondering if anyone had any recommendations about motorbike friendly campsites anywhere along the route. Have found a few so far but you can never have enough options :D

Awwr man, wanna take me along? :mchappy:

Baume les madame has a nice easy going campsite, camp d'ille if I remember correctly. I used several through the black forest - muchos good riding to be had. Try and end up in Tittisee as its simply gorgeous there. where possible, avoid bodensee to get into austria as its a chocker road and not that nice to ride on when your eyes are stinging from diesel fumes..

Moto BOTC motorcycle campsites have a look here, i have found a nice hotel in Bavaria on this site we are going to use in 3 weeks time

Did a similar trip a couple of weeks ago, taking the Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry.

On the way into Germany, I stayed at Campingplatz Marienburg at Punderich on the Mosel. I stayed here on the way back too. Ride into Punderich, down to the river and you can't miss it. There's nothing there to see or do in particular but it's a nice place to chill out and the lad who runs the site/bar is good crack and speaks excellent English. 10 euro's per night. Tell him Craig with the green Kawasaki sent you.

In the Black Forest, try Campingplatz, Camping, Natur, Freudenstadt, Schwarzwald.
Also 10 euro's per night and they seem to get a few bikers. Spent my last night there talking bikes until quarter past ridiculous with 2 lads from London (Mick and John, GS Adventure and K1100LT) who've stayed there every year for about 20 years. If you do stay in this area, don't forget to ride the B500 Schwarzwaldhochstrasse that runs from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt.

Totally agree about avoiding the Bodensee/Konstanz area, though the alpine road heading from Lindau to Fussen, Reutte and the Fern Pass is awesome.

I'd stay away from the more touristy areas of the Italian lakes, such as Riva del Garda and Sirmione. Riva used to be one of my favourite places, now just overun with coach trips.

He's right. Never been turned away from a campsite or even a hotel for that matter, in mainland Europe because of the bike so finding somewhere "motorcycle friendly" isn't really an problem.

I did find a couple of so-called campsites (Satnav POI file downloaded from the 'net) that were caravans/motorhomes only but they're in the minority. If you like the look of the place, stay there. If you don't, move on as you'll easily find another.

Man sounds like a nice trip. I did something similar a couple of years back. We went from calais towards Koblenz/blackforest area for the nurinburgring then travelled up to holland and to igium (Ferry above amsterdam) to get the ferry to newcastle. All of it was cracker. Great roads and plenty of stuff to do.

Im also planning another trip for next year that is going from Roscoff (NW of france) down to Bordeaux across to millau, nice, lake garda, stuttgart, koblenz (for the ring again, im addicted), Namur, Calais up through england to home. Going to be visiting the millau bridge, gorge du tarn, stelvio pass, the ring and a few other bits and bobs.:scooter:

Hey guys, thanks for the knowledge - suppose experience is what its all about eh. :thumbup1: I can't imagine myself doing anything but touring for the next few years as I've just spent most of my money on the bike itself :rofl:

Nomadic1 - love to take you with but then it wouldn't really be solo....though you could just follow me and we could mysteriously end up at the same accommodation each night :tongue_smilie:

garyfzs1000, craig76 and Hayastani - thanks for the help, was asking because I've had some problems in Wales and Scotland with campsite owners saying that I'd be to noisy for them. Like I was some kind of hoo-ray turning up to deliberatly make problems, but you've put my mind at rest thanks.
maxwell123455 - you do realise I'm taking notes right :innocent:

The Black Forest is nowhere near Koblenz or the Nürburgring. The northern end of the Black Forest is in the Karlsruhe area and spreads down south from there. Karlsruhe lies about 200km south of Koblenz. The Nürburgring is situated in an area called Eifel.

Both the Eifel area and the Black Forest are fantastic for motorbikes.

When in the Eifel, do a tour on the old Nürburgring "Nordschleife" racetrack (ca. € 10).

O well maybe i got that bit wrong, well we travelled through a massive forest for a good couple of hours with nearly nothing at all apart from trees, and corners and the odd town would come up here and there. (I was told it was the black forest by someone)

There are great roads out round that direction and i cant wait to be back out there on a bike:scooter:

Just in case you're looking for it on a map, the correct spelling is Ijmuiden and the route is run by DFDS Seaways. Book early enough and you'll get it for around £100-110 each way. Avoid the weekends, not just for cheaper fares but so you don't have to share the boat with chavs on their way to spend their benefits in Amsterdam.

Also, there's a lot of forestry land in this area, right from the Dutch border heading south so maxwell could be talking about anywhere really. The Black Forest itself is a day's ride from Koblenz, if you're staying off the autobahns and I'd take a ride down the Mosel anyway if I was in the area.

I agree. The Nurburgring is a must see if you're in the Eifel. I think a single lap ticket is 21 euro's now, cheaper if you buy a 4 or 8-lap ticket. Avoid weekends and check there's a public session on the date's you visit as it isn't open all the time. Don't ignore the regular public roads in the area either.

Destination Germany - Scenic Routes - German Motorbike Route - The original German Motorbike Route

Touring Europe.....
 

....and here especially the Germany - Austria area. I have to agree, get to Fuessen, see Neuschwanstein castle and then via Reutte to Austria. Lots of great roads, nice turns, would love to go there NOW!!!! What you also might want to consider is taking the so-called Romantic Road which takes you from Fuessen all the way to Wuerzburg - lots of old towns, great food!! And concerning camping - there won't be any problem - I am sure. "Us" Europeans just like the bikers......!! As I said, wish I could join you, but it would be a pretty long ride from Japan.

Wishing you lots of fun, safe riding and maybe see you some day somewhere out on the road

Hey Guys,

I know its been a while but just thought i'd come on and say thanks for the advice - the trip was brilliant :D !!

Ended up camping my way through belguim, germany, switzerland, italy, france and spain for about two and a half weeks - hotels where necissary -bbbrrrrr-

-Josh-