Bike Trip - Voges, Alps, Dolomites & Black Forest in 9 days
Discussion
Hi,
Thought I'd share details of our trip to Italy and back as it had some awesome roads that you might like to note down! We had 9 days set aside leaving the last Friday in June and wanted to get to the Dolomites as neither of us had been there before. Here we go:
Day 1:
I live in Kent so the channel crossing is a short hop for me but my pal lives in Cheshire so on the Friday he rode down to me and we caught a 3.30 Eurotunnel across to France and stayed in the IBIS in the centre of Saint Omer so we could rise early on Saturday and make for Epinal in the Voges region of France
Day 2:
It rained on and off all for what was a c300mile trip across country via Charville Meziers, Sedan and Verdun to Epinal, which is a sweet old town on the river. This wasn't a particularly interesting ride but it was all on N roads which are largely empty and fast and much less tiring than Motorway. The Voges region is a mecca for bikers as the scenery is epic, the roads great and with an interesting history which makes it appear more German than French. This picture is of the Col de la Schlucht which we ran over when leaving
Day 3:
This day was made up of two epic rides sandwiching a dull motorway schelp. We left Epinal on the scenic route via the Col de la Schlucht towards Colmar and through the Voges which was just a fabulous route lasting about 1.5 hours. Near Colmar we picked up the motorway all the way to Innertkirchen in Switzerland (having bought our 40SF motorway carnets). This was a very deliberate choice as we were looking forward to taking the Sustenpass up and over the Swiss Alps. What a ride! Sadly my pics aren't very good as by the time we hit the summit we were in the clouds, but the ride up is just awesome. Lots of switch backs but the road is wide enough to be a lot of fun but narrow enough to stop any heavy traffic. Started sunny and finished wet and cloudy at the top. But there was a fist pump when we got there. Magical. From the top it was a long ride down and then up again for our next overnight in Andermatt
Day 4:
Andermatt is a small ski resort. Very pretty with a river running through it and cow bells donging around the valley. The picture above shows us heading up the Oberalpass out of Andermatt and towards Chur. The road up is a little hairy as there are no edge barriers on most of it but also no sheer drops and by now you're on real smooth, sweepy roads surrounded by mountains and just insanely beautiful scenery. From Chur we took the road to Klosters and Davos and up over the Fluelapass and well up in to snow territory again, this time though it was clear at the top:
Coming down from the Fluelapass we headed for Bolzano where we intended to stay for 3 days in order to explore The Dolomites
Day 5:
Coming in to Bolzano had been HOT. It's quite a large town and we hit it at evening rush hour at 32 degrees and humid. Not ideal. That night involved finding beer quickly and the first decent looking restaurant we could find. And it was very nice. Pizza obvs! The next day (day 5) thunderstorms were predicted in the afternoon so we were up early and off on the Great Dolomites Road (a scenic road through the region) headed for the Passo Pordoi. To get there we first went up and over the Pass Carezza which itself was a great ride (except for the rider being carted off in an ambulance, leaving his battered GS in the trees). But the Passo Pordoi is simply biking heaven - 28 hairpins on a flowing, smooth road first through he woods and out above the tree-line to over 2,200 meters and gradually steepening switch backs:
As rain was forecast we made sure we were back in Bolzano by 2pm and found a bar in the beautiful central piazza we had missed the nigh before! Sure enough the storm hit. If you haven't seen an alpine thunderstorm before it is a sight to behold and very loud! Nice under a brolly with a few beers and your mate for company!
Day 6:
We had intended to stay a 3rd night in Bolzano but we decided to change our plan due to another forecast of rain (I don't mind rain we didn't fancy being on top of a mountain in a thunderstorm). We hit the motorway north through Austria and Switzerland towards Germany - destination Black Forest. At St. Anton the motorway was shut and we were diverted over the Arlbergpass - our 7th alpine pass - which was also a lovely ride, but as we came down from the summit the rain hit. Proper rain. We were still way over 1500m up and now in the middle of one of those Alpine storms. On with the Scott waterproofs (if you haven't got any, get them!!) and to continue. It was pretty hairy tbh. Rain was on the inside of my visor and bouncing about a foot back up off the road. It was ferocious and pretty scary when you're half way up a mountain! Anyway, we made it to Konstanz on (the absolutely immense) lake Obersee Bodensee for our overnight.
Day 7:
From Konstanz we headed across country on beautiful smooth, snaking roads with no traffic towards the south of the Black Forest. Heading north through the heart of the Forest via Triburg we headed towards Freudenstadt to pick up the legendary E500. People say it's the best driving road in western Europe. I'm not sure I agree with that, but it is off the charts fun! We were so lucky, we hit it at lunch time and strangely there was almost no traffic. The road snakes on huge sweepers up over the high mountains of the Forest. Very different from the Alpine passes and you can really get a rhythm going but all too soon it was over and we found ourselves in Baden Baden. From there it was cross country again to Verdun in France for our next overnight.
Day 8:
Verdun is a beautiful town (as you can see) set on a wide river but with a tragic history. Scene of one of the most destructive battles of WW1, hundreds of thousands of French and Germans died or were injured there. At the cemetery where my photo was taken there is a mausoleum built to house the bones of soldiers discovered on the battlefield. 8 out 10 killed at Verdun were killed by shell fire and so not many of the bones are in tact. The fragments have been recovered as the land has been cleared and farmed. Needless to say the bones all belong to unknown soldiers. There are 130,000 soldiers' bones in the mausoleum.
Leaving Verdun we made our way to Bethune for our final night. This was a full day's ride across country, again on N roads, 250+ miles on the French equivalent of B roads. No traffic in sight and great fun with massive views, big sweepers and no delays.
Day 9:
We stayed overnight in Bethune, another pretty town, with another pretty town square surrounded by bars and restaurants, selling Beer and food. We reminisced about our trip. We're both experienced bikers, me with over 40 years, but my friend said the Passo Pordoi was the most technical ride he'd every done. Contrast to the E500 which flows and swoops and the French N roads which offer great long straights and then bends through woods and hills. It was hot in France and Italy (30+ degrees) but chilly up on the mountains. We'd ridden through biblical storms but mainly seen dry weather. How we managed the Black Forest (and most other routes) with almost no traffic I don't know, but I'm very glad we did. We left Bethune quite early and caught a 10.30 train back to Folkestone. As soon as you hit the M20, you hit traffic and very poor motorway discipline. Night and day from our ride through France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. Took my friend 6 hours to go the 250 miles home on British motorways and we'd beaten that on French N roads!
It was quite a long way for 9 days, but an amazing trip. I ride a GS1200 and my friend a Ducati Multistrada V2S. His stood out for not being a GS when pretty much every other bike we saw (and there was a lot of them) was!! We use Sena Mesh comms in Shoei GT Airr II lids, which not only work really well but is also very easy to use and that has really changed the nature of a trip like this from the old days when you didn't speak except for when you stopped. A great experience and wondering where we'll go next!
Thought I'd share details of our trip to Italy and back as it had some awesome roads that you might like to note down! We had 9 days set aside leaving the last Friday in June and wanted to get to the Dolomites as neither of us had been there before. Here we go:
Day 1:
I live in Kent so the channel crossing is a short hop for me but my pal lives in Cheshire so on the Friday he rode down to me and we caught a 3.30 Eurotunnel across to France and stayed in the IBIS in the centre of Saint Omer so we could rise early on Saturday and make for Epinal in the Voges region of France
Day 2:
It rained on and off all for what was a c300mile trip across country via Charville Meziers, Sedan and Verdun to Epinal, which is a sweet old town on the river. This wasn't a particularly interesting ride but it was all on N roads which are largely empty and fast and much less tiring than Motorway. The Voges region is a mecca for bikers as the scenery is epic, the roads great and with an interesting history which makes it appear more German than French. This picture is of the Col de la Schlucht which we ran over when leaving
Day 3:
This day was made up of two epic rides sandwiching a dull motorway schelp. We left Epinal on the scenic route via the Col de la Schlucht towards Colmar and through the Voges which was just a fabulous route lasting about 1.5 hours. Near Colmar we picked up the motorway all the way to Innertkirchen in Switzerland (having bought our 40SF motorway carnets). This was a very deliberate choice as we were looking forward to taking the Sustenpass up and over the Swiss Alps. What a ride! Sadly my pics aren't very good as by the time we hit the summit we were in the clouds, but the ride up is just awesome. Lots of switch backs but the road is wide enough to be a lot of fun but narrow enough to stop any heavy traffic. Started sunny and finished wet and cloudy at the top. But there was a fist pump when we got there. Magical. From the top it was a long ride down and then up again for our next overnight in Andermatt
Day 4:
Andermatt is a small ski resort. Very pretty with a river running through it and cow bells donging around the valley. The picture above shows us heading up the Oberalpass out of Andermatt and towards Chur. The road up is a little hairy as there are no edge barriers on most of it but also no sheer drops and by now you're on real smooth, sweepy roads surrounded by mountains and just insanely beautiful scenery. From Chur we took the road to Klosters and Davos and up over the Fluelapass and well up in to snow territory again, this time though it was clear at the top:
Coming down from the Fluelapass we headed for Bolzano where we intended to stay for 3 days in order to explore The Dolomites
Day 5:
Coming in to Bolzano had been HOT. It's quite a large town and we hit it at evening rush hour at 32 degrees and humid. Not ideal. That night involved finding beer quickly and the first decent looking restaurant we could find. And it was very nice. Pizza obvs! The next day (day 5) thunderstorms were predicted in the afternoon so we were up early and off on the Great Dolomites Road (a scenic road through the region) headed for the Passo Pordoi. To get there we first went up and over the Pass Carezza which itself was a great ride (except for the rider being carted off in an ambulance, leaving his battered GS in the trees). But the Passo Pordoi is simply biking heaven - 28 hairpins on a flowing, smooth road first through he woods and out above the tree-line to over 2,200 meters and gradually steepening switch backs:
As rain was forecast we made sure we were back in Bolzano by 2pm and found a bar in the beautiful central piazza we had missed the nigh before! Sure enough the storm hit. If you haven't seen an alpine thunderstorm before it is a sight to behold and very loud! Nice under a brolly with a few beers and your mate for company!
Day 6:
We had intended to stay a 3rd night in Bolzano but we decided to change our plan due to another forecast of rain (I don't mind rain we didn't fancy being on top of a mountain in a thunderstorm). We hit the motorway north through Austria and Switzerland towards Germany - destination Black Forest. At St. Anton the motorway was shut and we were diverted over the Arlbergpass - our 7th alpine pass - which was also a lovely ride, but as we came down from the summit the rain hit. Proper rain. We were still way over 1500m up and now in the middle of one of those Alpine storms. On with the Scott waterproofs (if you haven't got any, get them!!) and to continue. It was pretty hairy tbh. Rain was on the inside of my visor and bouncing about a foot back up off the road. It was ferocious and pretty scary when you're half way up a mountain! Anyway, we made it to Konstanz on (the absolutely immense) lake Obersee Bodensee for our overnight.
Day 7:
From Konstanz we headed across country on beautiful smooth, snaking roads with no traffic towards the south of the Black Forest. Heading north through the heart of the Forest via Triburg we headed towards Freudenstadt to pick up the legendary E500. People say it's the best driving road in western Europe. I'm not sure I agree with that, but it is off the charts fun! We were so lucky, we hit it at lunch time and strangely there was almost no traffic. The road snakes on huge sweepers up over the high mountains of the Forest. Very different from the Alpine passes and you can really get a rhythm going but all too soon it was over and we found ourselves in Baden Baden. From there it was cross country again to Verdun in France for our next overnight.
Day 8:
Verdun is a beautiful town (as you can see) set on a wide river but with a tragic history. Scene of one of the most destructive battles of WW1, hundreds of thousands of French and Germans died or were injured there. At the cemetery where my photo was taken there is a mausoleum built to house the bones of soldiers discovered on the battlefield. 8 out 10 killed at Verdun were killed by shell fire and so not many of the bones are in tact. The fragments have been recovered as the land has been cleared and farmed. Needless to say the bones all belong to unknown soldiers. There are 130,000 soldiers' bones in the mausoleum.
Leaving Verdun we made our way to Bethune for our final night. This was a full day's ride across country, again on N roads, 250+ miles on the French equivalent of B roads. No traffic in sight and great fun with massive views, big sweepers and no delays.
Day 9:
We stayed overnight in Bethune, another pretty town, with another pretty town square surrounded by bars and restaurants, selling Beer and food. We reminisced about our trip. We're both experienced bikers, me with over 40 years, but my friend said the Passo Pordoi was the most technical ride he'd every done. Contrast to the E500 which flows and swoops and the French N roads which offer great long straights and then bends through woods and hills. It was hot in France and Italy (30+ degrees) but chilly up on the mountains. We'd ridden through biblical storms but mainly seen dry weather. How we managed the Black Forest (and most other routes) with almost no traffic I don't know, but I'm very glad we did. We left Bethune quite early and caught a 10.30 train back to Folkestone. As soon as you hit the M20, you hit traffic and very poor motorway discipline. Night and day from our ride through France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. Took my friend 6 hours to go the 250 miles home on British motorways and we'd beaten that on French N roads!
It was quite a long way for 9 days, but an amazing trip. I ride a GS1200 and my friend a Ducati Multistrada V2S. His stood out for not being a GS when pretty much every other bike we saw (and there was a lot of them) was!! We use Sena Mesh comms in Shoei GT Airr II lids, which not only work really well but is also very easy to use and that has really changed the nature of a trip like this from the old days when you didn't speak except for when you stopped. A great experience and wondering where we'll go next!
Great write up and looked like an excellent trip!
I returned from the Dolomites last month so know how good the passes are there (especially the Pordoi) and how bad the weather can get as we had rain / thunder for the 1st 3 days of the trip. I recognise some of the other passes you posted from when I toured the Alps a few year ago.
Did you manage to do the Jaufenpass in Bolzano? Fantastic road
I returned from the Dolomites last month so know how good the passes are there (especially the Pordoi) and how bad the weather can get as we had rain / thunder for the 1st 3 days of the trip. I recognise some of the other passes you posted from when I toured the Alps a few year ago.
Did you manage to do the Jaufenpass in Bolzano? Fantastic road
STe_rsv4 said:
Great write up and looked like an excellent trip!
I returned from the Dolomites last month so know how good the passes are there (especially the Pordoi) and how bad the weather can get as we had rain / thunder for the 1st 3 days of the trip. I recognise some of the other passes you posted from when I toured the Alps a few year ago.
Did you manage to do the Jaufenpass in Bolzano? Fantastic road
No, it was on the list, but we scarpered early to avoid more rain. Shame! I returned from the Dolomites last month so know how good the passes are there (especially the Pordoi) and how bad the weather can get as we had rain / thunder for the 1st 3 days of the trip. I recognise some of the other passes you posted from when I toured the Alps a few year ago.
Did you manage to do the Jaufenpass in Bolzano? Fantastic road
BananaFama said:
Thanks for sharing this , I was in Italy shortly before you were and agree ,HOT , I also experienced a big storm on the A22 Autostrada ,in a car , with massive light show then epic rainfall .
Did you record your total mileage ?
Yes, from Kent (I live in Sevenoaks, so c40 miles to the tunnel) is was just over 1800 miles. For my friend up in Cheshire, he did just over 2300!Did you record your total mileage ?
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