London to Black Sea and Back - July/Aug 2019
I'm a Primary school teacher and planning to spend the 2019 summer holidays (late July till end of August) motorbiking from UK to the Black Sea and back on my Versys 650.
The route (hopefully attached) is semi flexible but the way out mainly follows the Danube river from South Western Germany through Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Romania (and maybe Istanbul). It detours a bit as there are places of interest I'd like to see on the way and roads I'd like to ride that are off the 'Danubian path' - particularly at the start where I'd like to duck down through Switzerland and on to Venice then back up to the river via Vienna and Salzburg.
Coming back is more southerly through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and then either up the Adriatic coast through Montenegro and Croatia or crossing over to Italy and doing Pompeii, Rome, Florence, Milan. Then Monaco, Marseille and home via Paris.
It's around 8,000km and planning on taking 30-40 days so not excessive riding (200-300km most days with stops for sightseeing). Probably mainly staying in cheap motels, homestays, AirBnB or caravan sites (I'm not a camper).
I'm more of a traveller than a biker (been riding 5 years but never done anything like this before). I'm pretty sedate and play by all the traffic rules and speed limits (but if you wanted to blat on ahead and wait for me to catch up that's fine - I'm happy just meeting up in the evenings and having some company around the breakfast table)! I'm not mechanically minded and although the bike will be well serviced before I leave I'm no good if anything breaks so if you're mechanically adept you'll be my best friend for life! Otherwise I'll be relying on local garages and European Breakdown Cover!)
Apart from all that I'm laid back and happy to go with the flow, English but also have Kiwi citizenship, 40 and love movies, 80's-90's music and learning stuff.
If you're interested in coming on all or part of the route with me let me know please - I'd really rather have some company as I'm apprehensive about doing it on my own!
Cheers
Graham
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