10 day trip of europe.

[adrian74]

Evening folks, i bought a v-strom 650 a few months back with the idea of doing a trip of Europe next summer, i've allready been to Ireland on it a couple of times and i class the bike as the very best i have ever owned.
Now for the Europe part, my plan is to travel from Callais to Belgium (Bastogne), thru luxemburg to Germany (black forest), to Switzerland (alps), to northern Italy (Turin), to France again (millau viaduct), to Andorra, to Spain (Santander) for the ferry back to Plymouth.
Im estimating this trip to take 10 days from Callais to Santander including 2 days off for sightseeing, im not planning to use motorways or toll roads (except for millau viaduct) and would like to keep my milleage down to about 200 to 250 miles per day.
Being a total newbie to long distance travel im wondering does this sound feasable or am i being very naive with my planning?
Any hints comments or suggestions would be very welcome folks.
Thanks in advance.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by adrian74

Evening folks, i bought a v-strom 650 a few months back with the idea of doing a trip of Europe next summer, i've allready been to Ireland on it a couple of times and i class the bike as the very best i have ever owned.
Now for the Europe part, my plan is to travel from Callais to Belgium (Bastogne), thru luxemburg to Germany (black forest), to Switzerland (alps), to northern Italy (Turin), to France again (millau viaduct), to Andorra, to Spain (Santander) for the ferry back to Plymouth.
Im estimating this trip to take 10 days from Callais to Santander including 2 days off for sightseeing, im not planning to use motorways or toll roads (except for millau viaduct) and would like to keep my milleage down to about 200 to 250 miles per day.
Being a total newbie to long distance travel im wondering does this sound feasable or am i being very naive with my planning?
Any hints comments or suggestions would be very welcome folks.
Thanks in advance.

IMO it is doable - I was afraid as I read that you would say you plan to ride back to the UK!
However, you will not have a lot of time for sight-seeing along the way. You will value those 2 days dedicated to "tourism".

You may have to accept diverting onto motorways in order to make some distance to your next location - this could depend on the time of year and the general traffic combined with the twistyness of the roads that you choose to ride.

Cheers,

[haggis]

Im planning a similar trip from Calais down through Alps to South France, along med coast to Malaga in Spain then travelling via Santander to plymouth.

I did the Alps tour last year as an organised event via a company in UK. We drove down through various places away from Autoroutes etc. We passed through various mountain passes before stopping at Menton for a day. That portion took 6 days about 200-250 per day. We had a day off before driving north a bit more direct.

This time I want to go the same way but travel through southern France to Spain.

Might even get to go to Morocco for a couple of days. Will let you know more when its planned - hopefully.Still working on route so any suggestions & points of interest along the way woul be apreciated also.

Regards
Steven

[Flyingdoctor]

If the Autoroute goes direct to where you want to be, use it. The tolls aren't extortionate and it gives you more time riding the good stuff.

Taken from the D41

It's a very impressive structure.

[adrian74]

Thanks for the replys everyone.
Walkabout, i see your point about having to use the motorways to make up some time, and i expect i will have to use them maybe from Turin to the Millau viaduct, otherwise in your opinion is 200-250 miles per day on European a roads a hard slog or fairly easy?
Stevenkirk that trip you took last year is very similiar to what im planning at the moment, makes me want to go right now, especially seeing that pic of the viaduct that flying doctor posted, i saw it for the first time on an episode of Top Gear last year, it looked amazing.
Im taking the v-strom to Ireland again on Sunday for 4 days, hopefully the weather will stay fine!

[Hustler]

Adrian,
Now I realise that we all have different ideas of what an optimum mileage day is but in case it helps I did a couple of leisurely bimbles around France last year, one a bit under a week and the other a few days over and I averaged around 180 miles a day.
I found it quite leisurely, which it was, and it left me sufficient time to take in a race meeting one day and some time around war grave sites on another day. Plenty of time for sightseeing in fact.
I also managed to arrive at my destination around tea time each day because that's what I wanted to do.
Anyway, enjoy it whatever you do and hope your weather stays dry this weekend.

[wile e]

That bridge shot is stunning. Where exactly on the D41 is that?

[Flyingdoctor]

I've done 500 mile days on occasion. It's not out of the question as a one off to get to the ferry. If you've only got 10 days you have to consider a few big 'uns. 250 miles a day is easy if you're riding all day with a stop for lunch. If you want to park up somewhere for 4 hours to sightsee then it will be less. IMHO having looked on the map to go east to Switzerland and then west to the pyrenees is more than 2500 miles. 3 weeks no problem 10 days ? Make it easy for yourself and save some for next year.

[Flyingdoctor]

Wile e, without trying to sound trite it's exactly where the D41 goes under the bridge !

[wile e]

Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor

Wile e, without trying to sound trite it's exactly where the D41 goes under the bridge !

Ok, apparently I need to rephrase my above question.

That bridge shot is stunning. As an ignorant American I am having difficulty in understanding how the autoroutes are set up in Europe and have no idea of how to locate that exact location. I would love to include that location in my upcoming European motorcycling travels if someone could help me out in locating it. Thanks for any help I can receive.

[haggis]

I have zillions of pictures from my tour last year, I even made a DVD, not quite long way round and Im not as pretty but I enjoyed it. Anyway here's one of the many passes we went through.

[wile e]

I have found a D41 in Nord, France but it appears to only run through farmland and smaller towns. I can't seem to locate that bridge on google maps satellite view.

[haggis]

Have a look here:
Millau Viaduct - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Flyingdoctor]

Wile e, It was a cheap joke and I apologise. The D roads are quite small back roads and you will need a reasonable map to see them. The Viaduct is on the A75/E11 autoroute where it crosses the N992. The D41 runs parallel to it 1/2 a mile to the north. I hope you can find it on Google Earth with these roads.

[wile e]

Originally Posted by Flyingdoctor

Wile e, It was a cheap joke and I apologise. The D roads are quite small back roads and you will need a reasonable map to see them. The Viaduct is on the A75/E11 autoroute where it crosses the N992. The D41 runs parallel to it 1/2 a mile to the north. I hope you can find it on Google Earth with these roads.

No worries, my lack of knowledge on the roads in Europe make me an easy mark. Thanks for the information, I'll see if I can find it.