Europe Tour - Taking Bikes in a Van?

[BobSaunders]

Volant said:

Sncf (?) the French railway company do autotrains.

Get to Paris (couple hundred miles from Calais)
Deposit bike.
Get drunk.
Get on passenger train.
Wake up on day two in any one of a dozen or so destinations in southern France.

Perhaps marginally more expensive than the fuel and tyre wear, but much quicker, much boozier, more fun, less hassle. Plus if you do a sleeper train, one less night accom to worry about.
I think we paid around £350 for bikes and people Paris-Narbonne and then a couple of weeks later Biarritz-Paris.

Be aware you will be on a different train than your bike. But I couldn't recommend it enough.

http://autotrain.uk.voyages-sncf.com/en/

[Willy Nilly]

Avoid motorways where possible and use the back roads instead, also make sure you take a regular break. I'd not think twice about going to the Alps on my CBR600.

http://www.globalmotorcycletours.co.uk/ take a look at this website, then give them a ring. Tom is a legend and will sort you out a good trip.

Edited by Willy Nilly on Wednesday 11th January 22:38

[Tall_Paul]

Killboy said:

Split up the trip to the Alps. We head nearly more fun on the roads to the Alps than in the alps itself. One way hit the B500 and Blackforest runs, and the other a massive B Road boogie through lovely bits of france. Sure, it adds 2 days or so each way, but well well worth it.

That's exactly what I'll be doing in August, I'm off 2 the Dolomites on my Tuono Factory - I'm only 30 minutes from the chunnel so day one will be a 7:50am train, then onto the French Autoroutes down to Baden-Baden and the overnight stop 25 miles south of Baden-Baden, 460 miles. The Autoroute means 30 euros in tolls but they're quick and empty.

Day 2 will be the rest of the B500 down to the Swiss border, then past Zurich and through Liechtenstein into Austria, 270 miles. Day 3 Into the Dolomites. You could quite easily be deep into the Alps by mid-day 2 if you headed for the swiss alps.

I've even worked out the fuel stops for the first day, with 140 mile tank range on motorways it's needed! With a full tank as I leave the house I'll only need 3 fuel stops for the 460 miles.

Edited by Tall_Paul on Thursday 12th January 00:13

[darkyoung1000]

More information on the Auto train here:
http://www.seat61.com/Motorail.htm

I've not taken it myself....but now I know about it, I'm likely to.
My record in a day was Rotterdam to Lake Balaton (about 850 miles)....on a naked
Flying would have been quicker and cheaper, but much less memorable, and hell did the beer taste good when I got there!
Very good tips on covering ground already given, especially on the music! Autobahn thrashes were actually fun! The only other thing I'd add would be to remember that you can't normally read a paper map in a tank bag when it's dark.... Unless you are prepared to stand by the side of the motorway reading and committing memory the next section because the Austrians don't believe in road signs, have a sat-nav as backup.
Cheers,
Tom

[black-k1]

Willy Nilly said:

Avoid motorways where possible and use the back roads instead, also make sure you take a regular break.

This very much depends on what you're doing, where you're going, how long you have and what type of bike/rider.

As the OP is going to the Alps and is crossing the channel at Calais, one days crap riding on motorways will get him to the Alps so the next day is straight onto great roads and smiles.

One day off motorway will still be on pretty crap roads (many arrow straight and with no undulation) but will leave at least a half day more of crap roads on the second day before things start to liven up.

From Calais to the Alps requires either a significant detour (that will add at least another day) or over 400 miles of flat, boring countryside. 450 miles in a day of mostly motorway is an easy ask (on our trip back from Italy in 2014 5 of the Old Gits did 600 motorway miles without issue) but over 300 miles of non-motorway becomes a bit of a slog.

I, like the majority of the Old Gits on this years trip to Provence, would much rather get past the boring bits as quickly and efficiently as possible so we can spend as much time as possible enjoying the nice roads, scenery and sunshine.

Each to their own!

[Bordtea]

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. As it turns out we now for various reasons can no longer use the van! Doh...

So looks like we shall be riding down or taking the autotrain as linked above. Has anyone had much experience of riding down to the Pyrenees? Portsmouth - Le Havre seems like a good ferry that would perhaps cut off 100 miles or so. Investigating all the options!

[black-k1]

Bordtea said:

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. As it turns out we now for various reasons can no longer use the van! Doh...

So looks like we shall be riding down or taking the autotrain as linked above. Has anyone had much experience of riding down to the Pyrenees? Portsmouth - Le Havre seems like a good ferry that would perhaps cut off 100 miles or so. Investigating all the options!

Overland - http://www.old-gits.org/write-up2010.htm

Overland and Ferry - http://www.old-gits.org/write-up2015.htm

[SteelerSE]

Bordtea said:

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. As it turns out we now for various reasons can no longer use the van! Doh...

So looks like we shall be riding down or taking the autotrain as linked above. Has anyone had much experience of riding down to the Pyrenees? Portsmouth - Le Havre seems like a good ferry that would perhaps cut off 100 miles or so. Investigating all the options!

The Portsmouth ferries are much more expensive than Calais. It dpeends on where you are in the UK as to what will work best.

I'm near Farnborough in N.Hampshire and while I hate the run down to Dover it's still easier than adding lots of miles on the other side.

If Portsmouth is better for you then just avoid Cherbourg at all costs. An additional 45-60 mins of dull roads. And Le Havre has the bridge which is always good fun, though often the police are waiting for people coming off the ferry and wanting to stretch their 'legs'.

[shunt]

CQ8 said:

Never tried them but this seems a good option.

www.bikeshuttle.co.uk

We used these guys last year and booked them again for July. Perfect solution wake up in Geneva and your bike is outside the hotel after breakfast.

[Michael_B]

I wake up in Geneva most mornings with a choice of motorbikes... but that's because I (mostly) live here ;-)
Having ridden repeatedly around the Alps, Auvergne, Pyrenees, Dordogne, Piedmont, Corsica, etc, over the past 17 years from here (and the 10 years before that from the UK), I am definitely in the total-bike-no-van camp.
I/we take motorways for the first 2-3hrs then switch to minor roads. This means a gentle day to Nice, then a ferry next day to Corsica, similar to Bergerac/Carcassonne, then onto Spain, or similar to Turin and then onto Tuscany.
I also have a big old farmhouse in Burgundy (1hr south of Dijon) which serves as an overnight stop for UK friends on their to ski or mates on bikes travelling towards the Alps or further. It's our weekend/holiday place for the moment, but I'm tempted to start generally advertising and charging for it as retirement approaches. There's also some good riding around the Jura nearby, so could also be a base for biketourers who want more off the beaten track stuff than the usual Alpine routes.

[Andybow]

Bordtea said:

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. As it turns out we now for various reasons can no longer use the van! Doh...

So looks like we shall be riding down or taking the autotrain as linked above. Has anyone had much experience of riding down to the Pyrenees? Portsmouth - Le Havre seems like a good ferry that would perhaps cut off 100 miles or so. Investigating all the options!

If you're going straight to the Pyrenees it's a bit dull straight motorway all the way down past Bordeaux but there's some great roads just of the motorways which lead to the Pyrenees but obviously take longer, I've done it a few times that way

[creampuff]

Wedg1e said:

We've talked about it but our usual modus operandi is to get the Hull-Rotterdam ferry and write off Day 1 as a motorway thrash.
Our record for Day 1 was 575 miles.

That's lightweight. 600-700 miles including some twisties is easy if, ermmmmmm, you don't stop for toilet breaks.

[G Man]

Bordtea said:

Killboy said:

Split up the trip to the Alps. We head nearly more fun on the roads to the Alps than in the alps itself. One way hit the B500 and Blackforest runs, and the other a massive B Road boogie through lovely bits of france. Sure, it adds 2 days or so each way, but well well worth it.

You don't by any chance happen to have your route for the france bit do you? I think we'll probably go through the Black Forest on the way there but would be nice to come back through more scenic France.

Here is a crazy fast route to the Swiss Alps, Motorway to Reims and then fast A roads which were great fun to Mulhouse, including Biker hotels
https://drive.google.com/open?id=14GIMeOvO9GDvVMpE...

[Brummmie]

Just like people who go to the NEC bike show in cars, and get changed into leathers to parade around in kinda thing?

[BobSaunders]

Are you just using disc locks to secure the bikes or chains on the continent?

I'd hate the idea of having to carry chains..

[Michael_B]

Never bothered with chains alone on the KTM, just disc locks, but a few times with a mate on the KTM and me on the Ducati, I used an Abus chain to secure them together when in the South of France. Better than all that is to find a hotels with itheir own secure off-street or underground parking garage, quite common on the continent, and if using apps like booking.com easy to find out before setting off.

[toxgobbler]

creampuff said:

Wedg1e said:

We've talked about it but our usual modus operandi is to get the Hull-Rotterdam ferry and write off Day 1 as a motorway thrash.
Our record for Day 1 was 575 miles.

That's lightweight. 600-700 miles including some twisties is easy if, ermmmmmm, you don't stop for toilet breaks.

Just ensure passport in waterproof wallet or in jacket pocket .....

[Bordtea]

G Man said:

Here is a crazy fast route to the Swiss Alps, Motorway to Reims and then fast A roads which were great fun to Mulhouse, including Biker hotels
https://drive.google.com/open?id=14GIMeOvO9GDvVMpE...

That's really helpful, thank you!

BobSaunders said:

Are you just using disc locks to secure the bikes or chains on the continent?

I'd hate the idea of having to carry chains..

We usually take 1 long chain between 3/4 bikes then lock all the wheels together. Not the most secure admittedly but better than nothing, and probably better than 3/4 individual disk locks

[Wedg1e]

creampuff said:

That's lightweight. 600-700 miles including some twisties is easy if, ermmmmmm, you don't stop for toilet breaks.

We normally do take in lunch. And a few coffees. And then someone gets lost

[Wedg1e]

black-k1 said:

This very much depends on what you're doing, where you're going, how long you have and what type of bike/rider.

One day off motorway will still be on pretty crap roads ...

A few years back, Nursy and I went down to the south of France (Narbonne area) where we split the day between a couple of hours motorway/ couple of hours back roads. We found that at times on the N-roads we were making almost as much progress as on the Autoroute - nothing on the roads for mile after mile. Of course if PC Clouseau had been sat noshing a croissant behind a garlic bush we'd have been stuffed.
Most trips with the chaps, we avoid France like the plague. Holland can be a riot, especially when you're running late for a ferry...