Need advice, about routes in Europe.
 

Hello everyone, my name is Abdul I'm from Saudi Arabia and this is my first post, I've heard you guys are very helpful and can help me with route planning.

Anyways, here is the plan...
I'm planning to ship my bike (R1200GSa) to Athens Greece in July. And I'm ending my trip at Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The overall time I have is about 6 weeks, so I was wondering what are the best and most beautiful routes to take.
I don't mind camping for a few nights since I'll have my camping equipment with me.
If you guys can give me a route that is safe, beautiful and all the countries I'll be crossing would be Schengen countries, so i won't be hassled with visa's and border checks.
Also if there are any hotels that are biker friendly and such, so i can meet wonderful people and such.

Any information or advise you can provide would be much appreciated,
Thank you very much!
Ride safe!
:mchappy:

Hello Abdul

It all depends on what you like to see (nature, cities, culture, ...) and how much you'd like to ride per week. I'll give you some tips below and a suggested route with a focus on beautiful nature and curvy roads.

* As you'll be landing in Athens and Greece borders no other Schengen countries (https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/sch...ountries-list/), you'll have to take a ferry to Italy

* A good source for scenic routes are Michelin maps: https://www.viamichelin.com/web/Maps. If you follow the curvy roads that are lined with a green color you can't really go wrong.

* If you've got 6 weeks of travel (formalities at (air)ports excluded) you're looking at a 6000-7500km route if you do 200-250km per riding day and take two rest days per week. On good mountainous roads with good riding skills, expect a 40-45km/h overall average.

* Motorcycle-friendly hotels can be found here (in German): https://www.tourenfahrer.de/motorrad...eitung-garmin/ or more specifically as a GPX-file or GPI-file for a navigation device: https://www.tourenfahrer.de/fileadmi...otels_2017.gpx and https://www.tourenfahrer.de/fileadmi...otels-2016.gpi

* There will be plenty of campsites along this route (although I don't have any experience with camping in southern Italy and Greece).

* In order to save time, I really recommend bringing a GPS-based navigation device and load it with the proper maps. The European road network is very dense and this way you'll spend less time on searching for roads and lodging. If you don't want to spend money on preloaded maps of Europe, I recommend Open Street Maps and a good tool to get them on your GPS. For Garmin, check out Free worldwide Garmin maps from OpenStreetMap and OSM2Garmin GUI. Of course, you could use a smartphone with maps (e.g. with the app Maps.me or OsmAnd through F-Droid) but make sure it's mounted sturdily and the cable is not moving about in the socket as you ride on rougher roads.

* I've attached an image of the coarse route that I would take. You can find a ZIPped GPX-file for navigators and mapping programs here: Athens to Rotterdam, suggested route – roadtales.ch . I recommend refining the route using the Michelin maps mentioned above. The route takes you from Athens to ancient Olympia, then via the west coast of Greece to Igoumenitsa, where you can take a ferry to e.g. Brindisi. After visiting the Amalfi coast near Napoli, follow Italy's mountainous spine to Siena and Firenze/Florence. Continue to Cinque Terre and Liguria. Visit the Gorges du Verdon in France and continue north through the French Alps. Follow the Alps with 2700m+ passes along the French/Italian border to Switzerland. Make sure not to leave out the higher passes in central Switzerland. Avoid riding these on weekends in July or August as they will be very busy. Although it is entirely your decision, take it easy on speeding in Switzerland. For example, a measured speed of 105km/h or more in an 80 km/h zone outside of city limits will probably get you your license revoked with disastrous effects for your trip and bank account. From Switzerland, follow the Alps to the Dolomites in northern Italy (same advice here about riding on weekends in the vacation months of July and August). Cross Austria and ride the German Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to the French Alsace and Vosges mountain ranges. Visit the German Rheinland Pfalz and Eifel regions before you arrive to the Ardennes in Belgium. Continue to the cities of Gent and/or Brugge. Visit the Dutch storm surge barriers at the west coast of the Netherlands before you arrive in Rotterdam. Amsterdam is worth a visit, potentially after you've shipped your bike back home.

* If you have any more questions, let me know.

Enjoy!

Cheers
Mark

Mark,
Thanks for the great help! I still do have a couple of questions please.
I was thinking to go to Rotterdam the other way around (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czech, Germany, Netherlands)
Since I've already been to Italy and Switzerland, this route I get to see more countries and cultures.
Regarding the visa I checked I can enter Bulgaria and Romania with my current schengen visa. According to this site
EU Immigration Portal - Short-stay visa - European Commission

So if you can give me some tips about this route, that would be great.

And regarding your question, I do prefer nature and curvy routes, but I don't mind going to beautiful cities every once in a while.

Thank you very very much for your help, I really do appreciate it a lot!!

Abdul

Do you have multiple entry on this visa?
Would be nice to just drive up to Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia. Lots of beautiful nature and also some cultural stuff. But I can understand the visa hassle.

Yes, I do have multiple entry schengen visa.
Can I enter those countries you mentioned with a schengen visa?
And what would you recommend?

I don't know this, as a European citizen you are free to travel within Shengen, and those countries simply allow you in.
But with a Shengen Visa and Saudi Arabian passport, I don't know.
Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania are not Shengen countries.

It would just be a nice route. Those countries (especially Albania) don't have the nice roads or safe driving that the rest of (Western) Europe have, but they still have nice things to see. Driving the coastal road completely up would already be lots of fun, but of course there is a lot to see when going into the country.

I've done some research, and no I can't enter those countries without a visa.
So I think I'll stick with my original plan (Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and so on...)

So I would appreciate a lot if you can give me any route tips and advice, especially if you know any biker friendly places.
Thanks

Abdul

Note: Bulgaria and Romania are not part of Schengen. At the airport you definitely go through passport control. Have a look if you need visas for those two. (Freedom of movement for citizens of the countries themselves does not mean zero border checks - compare to the UK.)