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Europe in late August and September 2004
We are from Canada travelling to Europe in late August 2004 for a month. instead of shipping our M/bike this time we are renting out of Apeldoorn Holland. Heading down through Cologne, the Rhine to Heidelberg, then east thru to Rothenburg, the Romantik road south to Herrsching, To Salzburg, Krems, where we want to bicycle the Danube, and then into Vienna. From there to the Cinque Terre region of Italy and back up thru Switzerland, France to see the Canadian contributions to WWII and finally thru Brugge and back to Apeldoorn.
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated, including routes places to stay or avoid, and TIPS. One question is tips on finding safe parking for the M/C. I notice in some messages that Pension/Gasthof owners often extend parking in their garage however what about when pulling off in a City to sightsee. Is there M/C parking designated?? Last time we travelled Europe was in a car and I didn't pay much attention to that stuff. Any help appreciated, and we'd love to return the favor on western Canada, my speciality is the Rockies. ------------------ Brian & Sandra Smith To be old and wise you first had to be young and foolish |
Sounds like a great trip!
RE Places to stay - my favorite hotel ever is Katja and Jens Hotel Klostersee Am Priel 3 85560 Ebersberg Telefon 08092-82850 Fax 08092-828550 Internet: http://www.klostersee.de Truly awesome food, and you get to sit in the dining room and look at the latest Benelli Tre's, MV's, Ducatis etc parked around the room... Safe parking beside the owners collection of Ducati's. 30km or so east of Munich. Tell them I sent you. Safe parking for bikes is usually not a problem, they are MUCH more motorcycle conscious - and pro-motorcycle - than North America. Naturally a good lock is a good idea, but generally the hotel will find you somewhere safe. If not, the next one down will. Often the town is small and it's safe to park on the street. Have a great trip! ------------------ Grant Johnson Seek, and ye shall find. ------------------------ One world, Two wheels. www.HorizonsUnlimited.com |
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Freek's note reminds me to suggest you contact the HU Communities - they would all LOVE to meet you. That's why they're in the Community - to meet foreign travellers.
------------------ Grant Johnson Seek, and ye shall find. ------------------------ One world, Two wheels. www.HorizonsUnlimited.com |
Hi,
sounds great. The Romantic Road actually carries on to Fuessen near the Austrian border. There around you will find the famous castles of King Ludwig II. What about Munich, or d'you intend to skip it? Then you could travel on the bavarian side of the Alps to Salzburg or just south of the austrian border. In both cases I would suggest to visit Berchtesgaden and Koenigssee in the southwestern corner of Bavaria, before crossing to Salzburg. Returning from Vienna and heading for Cinque Terre I would suggest to cross the Alps via the Gross Glockner Hochalpenstrasse from Bruck to Lienz, winding up to over 2.500m amidst superb mountain landscape. From Lienz to Italy via Staller Sattel pass (slightly WNW from Lienz (via Huben). Through the Dolomites westwards. Furtheron in northern Italy don't miss the Stilfser Joch pass west of Merano. If you have any questions, just send me an email. All this is my favorite M/C area. :-) Regards, Hans |
Thanks so much for the replies already.
Freek, you're like me, live in a small place that's not on all maps. Thanks for the invite, but we won't be taking our own bedding this time round! But maybe you'll come knocking on our door in Canada. Where is Balkbrug close to? Grant, great suggestions, and I did both join the Calgary community, and query several communities re: our trip. It sounds like the Hotel Klostersee is great! Vaufi: Thanks for the excellent route info around Munich and the Alps. We will take in Berchtesgarden and Konigsee. We are bypassing Munich as we've both been there before and are looking for places to go we haven;t seen before. Like Dachau. I've been there twice before and my wife once, but the saying been there done that is true. We also have been to Fussen, Innsbruck and the wonderful castles. One memorable night looking out from our Gasthoff balcony to the lights of Neuschewanstein Castle.Priceless. Since you know this area so well, we are planning to come down the Romantik road to Landsberg then over to Herrsching by way of Ammersee. We understand there is a hike to a monastery and excellent beer there. Are there some good roads to ride in that area that would connect us from there to Konigsee area and can you recommend some reasonable accomodation in the Herrsching area or is it a tourist spot?? After Salzburg we plan to go to Hallstadt and then on to Vienna and Krems by way of Wildalpen route. Looking for good accomodation in Vienna. Returning to Italy we will go by the Grossglocknerstrasse. I understand it is a toll road. In Italy we have heard good things about the Passo di Sella route between Cortina D'Ampezzo and Bolzano. Have you travelled this? You know, planning is half of the fun, and having such a great website for references and information is spectacular. Many thanks to Grant and Susan for their efforts in this regard. I'm only sorry that this trip, scheduled just after our son's wedding, will cause us to miss the HU rally in Revelstoke BC in September. I had been looking forward to that one having missed the 2003 one and heard it was great Hope it will still be there in 2005! ------------------ Brian & Sandra Smith To be old and wise you first had to be young and foolish |
Hi there,
Herrsching with the monastra Kloster Andechs is a good idea for a hike - no bike, since the beer is very good. There are quite a few tourists around, not many foreigners though. This means you will probably stay there for the night and carry on to Ebersberg later on. Now, this is not far to travel, so you could make a loop from Herrsching to Garmisch and south of the Mount Zugspitze and return to Bavaria via Seefeld, Mittenwald, Sylvenstein lake, Achenpass, Tegernsee and up to Ebersberg. Carrying on to Koenigssee I would sidle along first north of the motorway and from Lake Chiemsee south of the A8 to Koenigsee. Make a boat trip on the Koenigsee to St. Bartholomae and Obersee. Very rewarding! Crossing to Salzburg try to pick out the short-cut from Berchtesgaden to Hallein, of possible using the Rossfeldstrasse. Grossglockner means toll. :-( None-the-less beautiful! From Lienz the shortes route to Cortina D'Ampezzo is directly to Toblach. If you've got time to spare make a detour via Huben, Staller Sattel pass to Toblach. The Sella route is absolutely perfect. Very popular. Since I'm living just south of Munic I've done all of this. Normally I'd have invited you for a stopover, but I shall be in Romania at that time. Riding the Carpathians :-)) So, enjoy your trip. If you need any additional info - no probs. Regards, Hans |
Generally, travelling along the Rhine is not that great. It's a major traffic route. The gorge is pretty, however. Depending on how much time you've got I suggest you either take the motorway, except for the gorge bit, or from Köln go West a little into the Eifel mountains and then make your way South, popping into the gorge, but generally staying in the hilly backcountry West of the Rhine.
I'm saying this cause I lived near the gorge and I used to avoid the Rhine roads like the plague. Too built up and too much traffic. The other, smaller river valleys are much more fun, but they aren't going the direction you want to go. If you go for route two you will cross the Mosel valley, which is just magic (except on fine weekends). Cinque Terre is also magic, but unfortunately very well known by now. Avoid on a weekend. The walking track along the coast now co$ts. It's the only place where I've ever been in a human trafic jam on a walking track! Another place that I've really loved in Italy is the road from Locarno (or Lugano, can't remember) West passing through Cento Valli. A timy road that crosses from Switzerland into Italy. There are quite a few pretty side valleys to explore. Some of the villages in the mountains are accessible only by cable car. I could easily spend a week here... ------------------ Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise, Peter. |
Thanks Beddhist for your suggestions. Yeah I'm concerned about the Cinque Terre region because I have heard of the crowds. We were considering this area instead of staying for a few days in the Nice, France area but we may re-consider.
When I looked up where you live I'nm sure you can suggest a lot of beautiful ways to cross France from there to Colmar and eventually into Paris. We will then be going to to Dieppe. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Is there an area that we could replace the Cinque Terre with that isn't so crowded?? Quote:
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You're welcome.
Personally, I wouldn't miss CT if I was there on a weekday, crowds or no. Nowadays you can drive close to the villages and park there. Other than that access is by train. For suggestions about going North from here take a look at the other thread in this forum, where I have given some hints about going South. You just do it in reverse. ;-) The region here where we live is fantastic for biking. My sig isn't just empty talk, it simply is one of the best areas for biking I have been to. Just stay clear of the coast and the big cities. If you do pass thru here drop us a line and we can have a cuppa together and show you some of the interesting stuff on a detailed map. We'll be away ourselves July and the first half of August, though. Any more questions just fire way. ------------------ Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise, Peter. |
Hi Guys, since I will be in Canada and Alaska when u are in Europe, I cannot help u personally, but I lived in Munich for some years, and did parts of ur trip. Here are some infos. If u are around Munich, try to cross the border to Austria around a lake called "Plansee". Very nice small roads and good camping there. If u are going into Munich, write me an email, I give u contacts for parking, overnight stay and Sightseeing support. If u are going to Italy take the old road from Innsbruck to Bolzano over the so called Brenner, not the Highway (HW is toll road). IN Sterzing, go right over the mountains (so called Jaufenpass). From there u can go to Lago di Garda and then into direction of Cinque terre. If u can make it go from Milano to alessandria and from there to Varzi, then take country road 45 to Bobbio and down to La Spezia. Right behind La Spezia take the coast road and u can directly make it to the small villages of Cinque terre. we did it in Sept. and it was ok, but of course crowded. we parked the bikes fully packed int he roads there and nothing happened. Just in larger cities u have to be a little more careful. If u need more info about hostels, so called Gasthof and Biker places to stay, go to a gas station and buy the "Reise and Motorrad" or Motorrad Magazin. U will find a lot of hotels and Ads in there. If u need more details, write me questions u need to know.
have a good trip Martin |
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