"The Alps" covers a lot of ground. Much of that ground gets expensive, but there are often cheaper options--camping, some hostels, a few cheaper hotels and roadhouses. Guess it also depends on what you consider "cheap."

Riding until interrupted by dark (or blizzards), then looking for a bed on an emergency basis, I paid as much as 100 euros a few times. But I'm a notoriously bad planner. If you want to save money, you'll do a better job of it than that. And far more often I rolled into little villages in France, Italy or especially Slovenia and down through the various Slavic republics and found pubs renting rooms for 30 euros or less. That was off-season and four or five years ago, but I don't imagine there's been much inflationary pressure since then.

I never saw anything remotely affordable in Monaco (or the other wee little principalities) or Switzerland, but maybe I should've looked harder. Remember that "the Alps" extend all the way down through Albania, so greater specificity in questions will probably pay off in the form of useful answers.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Thanks Mark for your reply, 'cos we're on a scoot and only have a couple of weeks we'll probably only get as far as the centre-ish of the Alps if that makes sense, I forgot to say we're travelling from Glasgow so its 2 days either way just to Dover and back. If its extortionate or the weather's pish we can't exactly make a run for the coast so we'll be stuck with wherever we head to so hoping a bit of planning can save a bit of hassle. The southern parts of the Alps and especially Slovenia etc is out of our reach on this one. If it looks like its not happening is the south-west of Germany nice, could that be an escape route to a land of cost-effective beds and ?

I agree with mark, stay out of switzerland of you want to do keep cost down. I would go to the french alps if i was you. Go from chamonix then to albertville south through the french alps to gap. Use the small ways and stay away from the highway. You can find cheap places to stay if you stay out the touristic hotspots. In the mountain region you will find "Chalets" on top of the mountain passes, these are restaurants/hostels for hikers. These are normaly very cheap 10-15euro per person, but you need something to sleep in, sleepingbag etc.. You can also use the "Gites de France" it is a book you order online, it is the french version of Bed and Breackfast. There are also tons of campingplaces, they oftent have bangalows for rent, but there you will need a sleepingbag to. Otherwise is there many small hotels in nearly every small vilage in france, price starting at 30-40euro.


Have a nice tour

__________________
Christian

Hi

Cheap food a la supermarkets, Mc donalds etc can easily be found but beds are expensive so i would take a tent and ask farmers for permission to camp.

Enjoy it

+1
If the OP can narrow down their ideas and decide roughly their route, their daily budget and accomodation needs.
More specific answers can be provided. Homework is the key, so I`d suggest the OP gets hold of a copy of "motorcycle Journeys through the Alps & more" to aid their route planning.
looking at: tripadvisor, airbnb, hostelling international, hostel hero, & many of the other accomodation websites is a start

Personnally I`ll be in the "Alps" in June/July, riding down the RDGA, over to Corsica, and across to Italy & up towards the Italian alps, then through Switzerland. Most of my accomodation is pre-booked already. Which I know will tie me to being in a certain location at the end of the day, but thats my preference. I`m using a mixture of Logis hotels, YHA hostels, B&B`s, gasthaus & holiday hotels, but no camping. my budget for food & accomodation per day is around €50, but some of the accomdation (YHA`s) is cheaper at €18 p/n, and some of the more luxurious places are way over my budget, but it averages out.

The OP also needs to be aware that once in the alps the distance they will travel per day will significantly drop, as they may only cover 30 mile an hour riding over the passes, so planning 200 mile rides per day may not be a good idea, unless they want to spend many hours in the saddle. The route the tour de france takes may clash with their planning too, as road closures are put in place on parts of the RDGA the days the tour passes through

__________________
I accept no responsibility for swearing, drinking, motorcycle riding or your pregnant teenage daughter.

hi paul
here is what you need:Hotel guide: Search and find hotels in England, Europe and world-wide: hotel-ami.co.uk
the alps specially austria is dirt cheap compared to what they charge you in the uk.
plus you get real food for your money.
bit more expensive but excellent riding the area switzerland,france,italy which is upper savoy in english and the food just excellent.
have fun
all the best geri

[QUOTE=Peirre O`Bollox;415134]
If the OP can narrow down their ideas and decide roughly their route, their daily budget and accomodation needs.
More specific answers can be provided. Homework is the key, so I`d suggest the OP gets hold of a copy of "motorcycle Journeys through the Alps & more............

The OP also needs to be aware.............



lol, dude your writing style makes you sound like the serial killer in
Silence of The Lambs......... "It rubs the lotion on its body....."


hehehe, cheers for all the info though folks. As I said I've been to "The Alps" a few times before but had heard that recently prices had rocketed.
My fear was riding through terrible weather all day and then when we're cold, tired and hungry, the only digs we can find is gonna stiff us for £200 for a night in a room that resembles Anne Frank's attic. If that happened two or three nights that'd be the money for the whole trip gone.
We'll be taking camping gear for sure but we'd like to get a comfy bed wherever possible.
I've also used plenty of hostels in Scotland and Europe and while some of them are brilliant, 'cos we're travelling as a couple we'd be hoping for a bit of privacy for some boom boom so a bed in a dorm wouldn't be first choice.
As for route planning and having an idea of where we're going........
we'll be on a scooter so might not make it past the Lake District...!!
Scooter travel and forward planning don't exactly go together but thats the way we like it.
Anyway thanks again for the info, keep it coming and ride safe.

I visited Anne Frank's attic a few months ago and believe me I've stayed in £200 / night hotels that were much worse - one in Brooklyn comes to mind straight away!

Where did you hear that alpine prices had rocketed? We have a flat in the French alps so I suppose we're kind of "demi-resident" and yes, like everywhere else, prices have gone up over the years but probably no more than they have here in the UK. You might get that sort of impression if you've bought your lunchtime baguette et brie from a supermarket one day and a small shop in the mountains the next.

Our French local one man and his dog shop is probably 50% more expensive than LeClerc's in Grenoble but that reflects the reality of having to haul his stock a mile up a mountain and the shopkeeper knows perfectly well I'm not going to drive 20 miles down into the valley and back to save €0.20 on my baguette.

In your position.....
I would change my destination to the Spainish Pyrenees.
Overnight ferry to Santander on towards Pamplona then pick up the N240/260 towards the Med until its time to head back.
Spain is cheaper than most other european countries. Lots of campsites and nice hotels along this route.
Dont forget a little luxury helps!
Paradores Spain - Spanish Paradors - Parador hotels - Spanish hotels - Spain hotels

Seajay

I've already looked into that option and the ferry from England to Spain was working out at well over £600 so that was that decision made.

BOB, cheers for the input, it's friends that have been skiing that were talking about the prices being so high and thats why i was wondering are these costs kinda relative to ski resorts and seasons.
The info i'm getting from here seems to be relatively positive so happy days.

If you want soemthing specific to do I would say the Route Des Grande Alps is well worth it. Starting from Evian in the North it runs to the South to near Nice over some of the highest passes in the Alps, it's awesoome. There are plently of campsites enroute. I did it a few years ago and absolutely loved it and was able to do it relatively inexpensively using campsites and cheap hotels.
We travelled down avoiding the motorways and it was a lovely run through the French countryside. We used a lot of Formula one hotels. Basic but cheap and clean, unlike a lot of far more expensive french hotels! Camping is ok but it's nice to have a hotel every now and then!

Even in Evian, which is switzerland, we were able to find a campsite near the start of the route and feasted on take away pizza!

Boom Boom after days of riding a scooter, I love an optimist