europe by bike

[dmitrij]

hi, i am planing a small tour of europe on my bmw f650 with my girlfriend in april, just have a few questions, if any one is able to help me out.

well the plan is to go from london, to brugge, then luxemburg, then ride into germany not particulary stopping any where ( well i give 3 days to cross germany as i want to take my time), then prague, bratislava, austria, litchenstein, italy, and then finaly into lyon france were we will end.

i have planned up to 14 days for all this, do you think this is a possibily, considering the fact that i want to do no more that 4-5 hours riding a day, which most would be on N roads or what ever they may be called, non motorway(with the exeption of the 1st day from london to brugge).

i also plan to camp as much as possible every where except prague and Bratislava, would it be hard to find campings site in the other countries? i mean are there sings post for camping sites ?

thanks a lot any feed back would be great.

p.s i am a university student so my budget is small, hence the camping, and avoiding any kind of toll roads unless need be.

[MarkLG]

You could do the trip in two weeks, but you'd need to be putting in some long days in the saddle. You're probably looking at around 3000 miles, so you need to be averaging over 200 miles per day, every day. No problem on N roads across France, but there's a lot more traffic in Germany, and even more in Northern Italy. When you hit the Alps on the run across Austria and Switzerland things will slow down a lot.
Travelling solo on a quick bike I'll look at doing upto 300 miles in an 8 hour day, staying on country roads, allowing for food, fuel and photo stops. Travelling 2up on an F650, doing 5 hours a day then 150-180 miles is more realistic. Throw in a few days off the bike for sightseeing and I think a target of 2000 miles is sensible.
For a biking holiday I'd concentrate on Austria, Switzerland and the Dolomites. To do Prague properly you need a few days exploring on foot - if you want to see the city then it's better to get a cheap flight in the winter and spend a few days there.

[dmitrij]

thanks there, i havent been travelling on the before so i just needed some advice really,

[Vaufi]

Another suggestion: Would it be possible to shift the trip into May? April-weather is rather cold and wet. May usually is much better, warmer, greener. Besides that, most of the campsites might still be closed in April.

Hans

[dmitrij]

that is a good point, however i am university student, and april is my only time off

[MarkLG]

I didn't take into account when you were travelling in my earlier reply.

If you must go in April you may be better heading down to the Med coast and maybe riding down towards Barcelona. I did the Spanish Pyrennes and France early May last year - Spain was fine, but once I got into mainland France the weather was pretty unpleasant, much the same as the UK.
The weather in the Alps will still be a bit cold - especially on the passes, where there will still be snow on some of the higher roads.
The coast will be quiet at this time of year, but most of the campsites should be open.

[nomar65]

If you want to follow the advice from MarkLG I can give you some nice routes near Barcelona and north of spain. The south of France is also a very nice place to go, full of very interesting places.

[dmitrij]

i take into acount what you say about the weather at that time of year, but the location is deffinate, this is due to my girlfriend deffinatly wanting to go to prague, so i am just hoping to avoid crap weather

[Anne from Belgium]

Hello Dmitrij,

I live in Belgium , about 200 km from Brugge, a placed called Andenne...
If you want a place to stay, for a few days, with a garage for your bike, take contact : schrijversanne@hotmail.com.

And have a good trip

Anne

PS : I always have One or Two spare-rooms in my house !

[Vaufi]

If it has to be Prague, I'd go straight for the Czeck Rep and on the return trip ride south of the Alps, i.e. Northern Italy, Southern France and up the west coast of France to catch the return ferry. Usually it's warmer down south.

Hans

[dmitrij]

Originally Posted by Anne from Belgium

Hello Dmitrij,

I live in Belgium , about 200 km from Brugge, a placed called Andenne...
If you want a place to stay, for a few days, with a garage for your bike, take contact : schrijversanne@hotmail.com.

And have a good trip

Anne

PS : I always have One or Two spare-rooms in my house !

thanks for the offer will deffinatly keep that in mind, i am just in the planning stages now

[clare_h]

That sounds like way too much ground to be covering in 14 days.

N Roads in france are ok, but the smaller ones are better for scenery food and riding fun. If you are planning on staying in camping sites in France, remember that there isn't usually one just where you happen to want to stop. There is always a detour needed, especially if you want to avoid the huge family entertainment sites. This slows things down.

[MarkLG]

Originally Posted by dmitrij

i take into acount what you say about the weather at that time of year, but the location is deffinate, this is due to my girlfriend deffinatly wanting to go to prague, so i am just hoping to avoid crap weather

If that's the case then you'll need to think about cutting back on your route somewhat. You could spend 2-3 days riding across to prague, then a couple of days in the city, before dropping straight down to Austria, Switzerland and back up through France. You'll be pushing it to get out to Brataslava, and to take in Northern Italy with the riding time your giving yourself. You might be able to do the mileage, but you wouldn't leave yourself any time off the bike.
When you're going through the Alps check how high the passes you'll be crossing are. At this time of your there will still be snow up there - the roads should have been cleared, but it's going to be very cold. Also be aware that some of the minor roads which don't get cleared may still be closed.

[dmitrij]

i havent really worked out the route at all yet, well only the route to prague, and from then i think i will just try my luck and just read the map as i go. i realise that the time is short but i dnt have a choise. i have planned about 7 days to get to prague, thena day there and then just head to lyon slowly at a rate of 4 hours a day, soshould be fine, i hope. i can also take the motorways as long as they are free

[MarkLG]

The motorways in France (autoroutes as they call them) are almost all toll roads. You'll probably find it nearly as quick to ride on the major N roads. They are a lot quiter than UK roads, and it's very easy to maintain quite high average speeds without using the motorways.