Gentle touring - recommendations?
Discussion
Hi All,
I'm wating to take the bike away for a tour in probably the first week of September. Initially, I was thinking of an epic trip down to the south of France, do the Route Napoleon etc. but the more I think about it, the more I realise that as a holiday, I'd quite like a more gentle potter about!
Why should a bike holiday need to be an epic adventure after all? I've done parts the Alps, the Vosges, the Black Forest etc. and if I'm honest, muscling a bike around hairpin bends gets old. Going fast down the autobahn is grand, but also stressful.
So I'm thinking perhaps Brittany or the middle France (Morvan or Limousin?) would be nice for a bike holiday. I'm not a fan of busy touristy areas, but then this will be early September so nowhere should be too hectic.
Is anyone else similarly done with big adventure and can make a recommendation?
I'm wating to take the bike away for a tour in probably the first week of September. Initially, I was thinking of an epic trip down to the south of France, do the Route Napoleon etc. but the more I think about it, the more I realise that as a holiday, I'd quite like a more gentle potter about!
Why should a bike holiday need to be an epic adventure after all? I've done parts the Alps, the Vosges, the Black Forest etc. and if I'm honest, muscling a bike around hairpin bends gets old. Going fast down the autobahn is grand, but also stressful.
So I'm thinking perhaps Brittany or the middle France (Morvan or Limousin?) would be nice for a bike holiday. I'm not a fan of busy touristy areas, but then this will be early September so nowhere should be too hectic.
Is anyone else similarly done with big adventure and can make a recommendation?
Have you got something good for pottering about on? Not sure I'd want to on a sporty thing as it'll be less fun.
mid-France is pretty wonderful for that kind of trip - stay away from the autoroutes, just use the toll-free back-roads, get off when you're ready and head into the nearest little town for food/drink etc, use tripadvisor or booking.com as you go for accommmodation.
mid-France is pretty wonderful for that kind of trip - stay away from the autoroutes, just use the toll-free back-roads, get off when you're ready and head into the nearest little town for food/drink etc, use tripadvisor or booking.com as you go for accommmodation.
cliffords said:
I am doing Britany in September, as my first solo trip after lots of group trips where I quickly get to hate everyone I am travelling with.
I may post a route soon you can have a look. I have ridden there before with some lovely roads and destinations.
I crave solitude on trips! The day job is people-y enough.I may post a route soon you can have a look. I have ridden there before with some lovely roads and destinations.
I haven't been to Brittany before (well, no further west than Dinan) so would be very interested to see any routes you can share.
Krikkit said:
Have you got something good for pottering about on? Not sure I'd want to on a sporty thing as it'll be less fun.
I have a Ninja 650 and a Blackbird. Thinking I'd take the Ninja 650 (looks sporty, but is actually quite upright).Edited by Nyarlathotep on Friday 7th June 15:41
Profile says you're in the Isle of Man, so maybe you don't want to travel all the way down to the south of England in terrible traffic on rough roads ? How about ferry from Hull or Harwich to Hook of Holland ? I've been on the Harwich to Hook of Holland ferry many times and it leaves at 9pm, arrives at 7am in Holland so you're asleep the whole time and you ride off and are immediately in lovely Dutch scenery.
You can visit Amsterdam, Bruges in Belgium is a short ride away, you can also get into Germany quite quickly, or maybe a trip to North Holland and the Afsluitdijk.
You can visit Amsterdam, Bruges in Belgium is a short ride away, you can also get into Germany quite quickly, or maybe a trip to North Holland and the Afsluitdijk.
I just returned from a little euro tour last month.
I travelled solo and didn't book anything more than 24hrs in advance.
If solo you only have yourself to please and its quite liberating as I had no timescales or objectives. I quite literally told the wife I would see her in a week or two and I was going to follow my nose around Europe.
My routine became waking up, check weather look on map and think 'yeah' ill head there. Once stopped for lunch I would spen 15 mins on booking.com to sort that night's accommodation. Then off again.
It was really good and so different to riding in a group.
I travelled solo and didn't book anything more than 24hrs in advance.
If solo you only have yourself to please and its quite liberating as I had no timescales or objectives. I quite literally told the wife I would see her in a week or two and I was going to follow my nose around Europe.
My routine became waking up, check weather look on map and think 'yeah' ill head there. Once stopped for lunch I would spen 15 mins on booking.com to sort that night's accommodation. Then off again.
It was really good and so different to riding in a group.
It really depends what you want from your trip. If you want to ride awesome roads with great bends and superb views then you will need to get further onto the continent and it won't really be a gentle trip.
If you want to see something interesting then there are loads of interesting ww1 and WW2 sites in the northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg area. It would be very easy to fill a week looking at such things with gentle runs along pleasant roads in between.
If you want to see something interesting then there are loads of interesting ww1 and WW2 sites in the northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg area. It would be very easy to fill a week looking at such things with gentle runs along pleasant roads in between.
I'm just back from a France trip with a couple of chums and like the OP, I'm not into massive daily distances.
We did Monday overnight to St Malo from Portsmouth.
Tuesday St Malo to Amboise in the Loire and used that as a three night base. Stunning scenery and plenty to see in a 100 mile radius from there.
Friday back up via Le Mans (24 hour race car scrutineering was a bonus) to Granville.
Saturday was full on D-Day stuff with the air show at Arromanches, then back up to Caen and overnight ferry back to Portsmouth.
Totally stress free, the weather was great and I let my Garmin choose the routes. The French seem to like/tolerate bikes much more than here which adds to the pleasure. We chose those ferries as one of the riders was coming down from Suffolk so had a trek to get to the South coast. St Malo ferry leaves at 8pm and the Caen one gets in at 7am so made it easier for him.
Wouldn't suit everyone but we had a great time.
We did Monday overnight to St Malo from Portsmouth.
Tuesday St Malo to Amboise in the Loire and used that as a three night base. Stunning scenery and plenty to see in a 100 mile radius from there.
Friday back up via Le Mans (24 hour race car scrutineering was a bonus) to Granville.
Saturday was full on D-Day stuff with the air show at Arromanches, then back up to Caen and overnight ferry back to Portsmouth.
Totally stress free, the weather was great and I let my Garmin choose the routes. The French seem to like/tolerate bikes much more than here which adds to the pleasure. We chose those ferries as one of the riders was coming down from Suffolk so had a trek to get to the South coast. St Malo ferry leaves at 8pm and the Caen one gets in at 7am so made it easier for him.
Wouldn't suit everyone but we had a great time.
Edited by LFB531 on Monday 10th June 12:12
Thank you for all the really useful responses to this. It's great to see that others are of a similar opinion.
So often we see impressive feats of endurance on the internet, but for me at least, I'm more interested in taking in the scenery and maybe eating some cake!
I'm quite taken with the idea of booking accommodation on the day and seeing where the weather and my mood takes me. Wouldn't do that with my wife, but for solo touring it should be entirely possible, especially out of the main season.
So often we see impressive feats of endurance on the internet, but for me at least, I'm more interested in taking in the scenery and maybe eating some cake!
I'm quite taken with the idea of booking accommodation on the day and seeing where the weather and my mood takes me. Wouldn't do that with my wife, but for solo touring it should be entirely possible, especially out of the main season.
Longy00000 said:
I just returned from a little euro tour last month.
I travelled solo and didn't book anything more than 24hrs in advance.
If solo you only have yourself to please and its quite liberating as I had no timescales or objectives. I quite literally told the wife I would see her in a week or two and I was going to follow my nose around Europe.
My routine became waking up, check weather look on map and think 'yeah' ill head there. Once stopped for lunch I would spen 15 mins on booking.com to sort that night's accommodation. Then off again.
It was really good and so different to riding in a group.
This ^I travelled solo and didn't book anything more than 24hrs in advance.
If solo you only have yourself to please and its quite liberating as I had no timescales or objectives. I quite literally told the wife I would see her in a week or two and I was going to follow my nose around Europe.
My routine became waking up, check weather look on map and think 'yeah' ill head there. Once stopped for lunch I would spen 15 mins on booking.com to sort that night's accommodation. Then off again.
It was really good and so different to riding in a group.
I love touring exactly this way
Heading to France at the weekend (on four wheels 
) and spending three nights in Brittany at the start. Last night we thought we'd check out what there is to do, and there's loads! We're staying at Carnac, planned for the standing stones, but I think we're in for three full on days of pottering along the roads and checking out a few of the many sights.
) and spending three nights in Brittany at the start. Last night we thought we'd check out what there is to do, and there's loads! We're staying at Carnac, planned for the standing stones, but I think we're in for three full on days of pottering along the roads and checking out a few of the many sights.Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff