where to go? open to suggestion
 

i'm planning a trip at the end of next year (2005), perhaps for six months (july - december). i'll be riding a trophy 900 - so it's not really an off-road type experience i'm after.

here's some questions for you experienced tourers...

starting and ending in london - where's the best trip?

how long would it take to get to kilamanjaro? (is it a good place to visit - i've heard it is. i do fancy africa - but is at all safe?)

what's the sort of distance that you can comfortably cover in six months while leaving time and space to really take in the places you visit, culture, etc? (i was thinking averaging 100 miles per day.)

what about money (that will be an issue), planning, other considerations?

i know the answer to some of these questions is personal preference, but i'd appreciate your personal views.

cheers!

zenbiker.

Can you give an idea of the the sort of direction or places that appeal to you?

Average of 100 miles per day by road is not a lot?

You could cover most of Europes sights in six months by road quite easily. What takes your fancy: mountains, cities, coastline or bit of everything? Bit more info appreciated.

Steve

steve,

fair comments. i guess i'm only just beginning to think about it.

i do want to get out of europe. i know that 100 mils per day is not loads - and maybe it's too small a target - but the idea was that it would leave time for staying places for time to look and take them in. i'd be interested in knowing what others have found to be best. i'm not travelling just for the sake of making the distance but to see what's there.

i have been thinking about africa - or eastern europe and beyond (is russia interesting to ride in?).

as for terrain, i'd be very happy in mountains or by the sae - i need open spaces - the bigger and more open the better.

what do you think? (thanks for the interest!)

zenbiker

Hi Zenbiker
I'm off to Poland and Slovakia in May i will let you know what it is like
Regards Gaz

We have recently begun organizing our trips on a base camp principal... we take a good strong starting day, maybe 3-600K to a destination, or a central location, and then set up a temporary base camp from which we explore the surroundings in more detail, then move on. Initailly we had problems seeing everything and making enough distance per day to make the next waypoint, so this seemed like a more relaxed approach. You can still put major miles on, but youre are not rushing. This has now worked succesfully in Germany, Chili, NorthEast and SouthWest USA. We average about 1000-1500k in 7 days, by staying 2 nights at each waypoint. (maybe Three if it is a really great spot. One day for travel, one day for looking around at where we are. I dont know if this is helpful, but it's approach helped guide us to form some kind of itinerary. Six Months sounds Absolutely Fabulous. Can I come?

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1990BMWR100GSPD

Im sorry to double post, but i just re-read yours and thought: Trip ends in December, youre thinking, so you might want to think of minimizing your time in Europe's winter.

Jason

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1990BMWR100GSPD

hi guys!

gaz, i have recently started to think about a trip to romania, through germany and hungary this summer - a shorter one of, maybe, eight weeks or so. i'd be interested in any comments you have about that part of the world (well... eastern europe anyway). have a good trip. let us know how things go!

btw, try http://www.autotransinfo.ru/tc.php for road routes and distances in europe. i thought it was useful. :-)

jzone, yes, i think that's the way - it's mnore or less what i did on my shorter trip (3 weeks) last summer in spain and france. i just think i tried to do too much mileage in the time (2600 miles 21 days).

yes, you can come! (either this or next year) but you're in the states aren't you? if you're in the london area at any time, let me know and we'll have a beer!

simon

[This message has been edited by zenbiker (edited 19 January 2004).]