Loose plan for Eastern Europe this summer.
 

I've put a loose plan on paper for what I thought would be a decent summer bike trip, taking in a few of the places I've fancied visiting for a while. I would be looking to camp mostly, for cost reasons, and to be able to have very little booked, therefore leaving the options pretty much open to change/alter along the way. I would also not want to be doing ridiculous high mileage every day, and also avoiding motorways unless absolutely necessary.
The ( rough ) plan would be as follows. Suggestions welcome for interesting stop offs along the way.

Dover-Calais/Chunnel to Calais. Belgium, ( Ypres )- Germany- Poland ( Warsaw, Auschwitz )- Slovakia - Hungary - Romania ( Alps/Transfagarasen ) - Serbia - Montenegro - Croatia ( Dubrovnik ) - Slovenia - Italy ( Dolomites ) - France ( Monaco ) - Route Napolean OR Italian Alps ( Stelvio ) - Switzerland - Germany ( Black forest/Eiffel/Nurburgring ) - Home OR Normandy Beaches if poss !!

Was thinking of allowing a month, keeping at least one day a week for R&R, if not 2. That would depend on final route decision and mileages.

If anyone wants to, have a look on youtube for Znabb ( I think thats his name ). He did a trip including Serbia/Mont?Croatia on an old Honda CB.

Oh, I'll be riding an Africa Twin, not that it matters. I'm based on outskirts of London if anyones interested in chewing the fat.

Cheers !!

On the Polish bit don't bother with Warszawa, it's a concrete sprawl, either go north to Gdansk and then down to Oswiecim or head straight for southern Poland and take in Krakow whilst in the Oswiecim area.
Dubrovnik is a total tourist trap but still worth a day of your time, I think the Via Adriatica (coast road) up through Croatia is over-rated. Instead head up the coast as far as Neum and go into Bosnia, stop off at Mostar and then continue up the Nerretva gorge to Sarajevo. After Sarajevo bear north-west to re-enter Croatia at the Plitvice lakes. The Triglav national park in north-west Slovenia is well worth a day or two exploring.

I personally liked WArsaw, as every big city it has got its share of concrete but Old city is fantastic, it is a young , vibrant capital city. If you go there go to Restauracja "U Szwejka" , big portions and reasonable prices. Instead of Auschwitz I would go to Państwowe Muzeum na Majdanku, one of many camps in Poland. The unique thing is that Majdanek has three parkings on its ground, because it is quite big and for some visitors it would be quite a challenge to visit the place on foot. Parking 1 is near the front memorial where used to be a front gate to the camp. Parking 3 is near another memorial, next to gas chambers. The short road between both parking, wita barber wire on one side and camps buildings in a distance , was used by the prisoners who walked straight into gas chambers, this was their last mile. For me this was one of the highlights of last year trip, riding motorcycle between parking1 and 3. Unforgettable.
If you decide to go through east part of Poland you could also see Kazimierz Dolny :: Kazimierski Portal Internetowy : KAZIMIERZ DOLNY : noclegi, kazimierz, weekend, kwatery, hotele, pensjonaty
Full of charm, small city, Zamość and then head south towards mountains.
If you need any help regading polish part of the trip, let me know, I come from Poland but live in Liverpool . If I'm in Poland this summer I could host you, no problem. All the best

Eastern Europe
 

If my plans work out, I will arrive in Lithuania on June 19. Hopefully my motorbike will have arrived by then and I would like to do most of what you propose. I will end up in Spain as I'm planning on meeting some folks in Morocco in October.

I will be on a DR650 and while I have many k's of experience, most of it is on pavement.
Chris

Be good to get someone else on board for all or part of the trip.

Sounds like an interesting route, when are you planing on starting, as you don't mention dates and I have no idea when you guys up there get summer holidays.

I land back in France June 27, from Australia and am planning a similar route, although probably was going to be in a counter clockwise direction and also possible not heading up so high in to areas of Poland.

Your idea sounds tempting.

I'll need a few days to prep my bike for this years adventure. The bike is a Yamaha TDM850 and currently sits in a farm shed between Angers and Le Mans.

One of my main objectives this year is to at least get to Slovenia and check out the area around there.

I'll be camping all the way. Used a Therma-Rest sleeping mat past trips, and have read on the Hub many speak highly of the Xped brand, so have one arriving any day. Will sleep much better I hope and no more sore backs in the morning.

I'll also look at getting a new tent along the way when I see one I like.
Presently getting all my techy stuff organised. Trying the Zumo with Open Street Maps and making up new wire harnesses for the GPS cradle and USB power and such.

I take the national routes and avoid any toll roads. Did most of Route de Napolean last year, while weaving in and out of the French Alps and would be keen to do it again this year. Did the B500 up around the Black Forest area of Germany as well, it was miserable weather, not that interesting but the road was great fun, when dry.

I guess the biggest difference is that seems like you'll be wanting to do it in 4 weeks, whereas I'm sort of planing on 2 to 3 months. I like to check out all sorts of areas and stay a little longer that one night in any spot.

Depending on your time frame, maybe there might be a section we can meet up and enjoy a :scooter:and a few bier.
_____
Paul

Dates.
 

Funnily enough I have a ferry booked for June 28th, but am not bothered about missing it or changing it if needs be, so I'm not really fixed on any specific time right now. Good thing about these type of trips is as long as the bikes fit, and you have all your gear in place, you can go at the drop of a hat, so to speak.
I'm also trying to sell a Transalp at the moment, without great success, and the cash would be helpfull !!