Trip Advice For 2019

Morning, that’s a lot of countries to hit in seven days without motorway miles, what kind of distance does it come to in total? I did Spain last year going from Bilbao to just south of Valencia and whilst I tried to include some nice roads to enjoy I found it takes too long to get any real distance if you are on the twisties in and out of towns etc. I did just shy of 500 miles in one day and most of it had to be motorway. Even with a comfort seat you know what your arse is for after that kind of distance
There’s a thread on here about Belgium and I’ll be adding to it later this year as me and three pals are staying in Ypres for a week and we plan to visit several WW1 sites but also finding some great roads to ride just for the hell of it. Good luck with your planning, no doubt someone will be along who’s been to where you’re hoping to get to.

 

to add to this, dependant on what time of year you are going will influence how readily available hotels are, pre booking is usually cheaper and you know youve got a warm bed at the end of your ride, theres nothing worse than being soaked and traipsing around looking for a place to stay, you might end up with a stable and a manger for a bed!!

 

I agree with Smilinjack you should plan on 200-300 miles a day max. Try plotting on one of the many map applications to get a view on what you can achieve in the 7 days that you have indicated you want to spend on the road. I see you are based in South Wales, so don't forget to allow a couple of days for riding for ferries or tunnel crossing.
Wessa

 

Got it a bit wrong on our first trip to France on the Trident. Stopped overnight just outside Canterbury to enable us to visit an old mate of mine from my college. Consequently we didn't get to Calais until around midday-ish. Destination was Hautepierre-le-Chatelet, between Besancon and Pontarlier near the Swiss border - over 430 miles (according to google maps!) away. Should have arrived around 4pm but eventually rolled up somewhere between 7pm and 8pm. Moral of the story is .... beware of that there France - she's bigger than you think!

 

Curved ball....... you should take the Plymouth- Santander ferry and do the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain then cross the Pyrenees into France and do the Gorges of the Tarne and then Gavarnie in the High Pyrenees before running back to Santander. You will conserve your energy for some fantastic routes and Britanny Ferries have a brochure from which you can book accommodation en route. Just avoid the French coast N of Biarritz. Endless boring pine forest. Buy a Michelin Atlas to route plan and note the distances. France is big.
Spanish Parador hotels are a bit special for hamburger money but loads of camping options too.

 

It takes longer than Google says it does.

 

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It is easy to forget just how big France and Germany are compared to the UK when planning routes on a map.
Worth using google maps as you go just to get an idea of time and distance.
I planned a leisurely ride down from Cherbourg to the middle of Brittany taking in many sites I thought would be interesting along the way. Time given by google? - 13 hours! Had a rethink.

 

A group of between 10 and 15 of us go abroad most years, we have done in the past France, Luxembourg, Belgium & Germany in one 5 day trip & another where we did the French Alps and crossed into Switzerland & Italy both of which involved quite a lot of riding!
Motorways (E routes) are best avoided, by far the most enjoyable routes in France are Nationals (N roads), however if you are on a short time frame & aiming for South of France or the Alps then you have to bite the bullet and use E routes.
Our group are now mostly in our mid fifties and early sixties so riding 500 miles plus a day is not an option, this year we are going down to Santander Spain from Portsmouth (24 hrs crossing) then spending a night there before taking the pretty route down to Jaca then onto Andorra for 4 nights before returning via Pamplona to the ferry, the thinking is from our base in Andorra we will head wherever the mood and weather takes us each day.

I agree that to make the trip a pleasant experience plan on no more than 300 miles a day and remember on most sports bikes you will be looking for fuel every 100-120 miles depending on how you ride, just get out there and enjoy!