North Spain & France

[nightflight]

I want to go with some friends this summer to North Spain, and come back through France, on motorbikes. The plan is to take the overnight ferry to Santander, have a couple of days in Spain, and then do the french bit. Can anyone who has done it recommend some good routes.

[Chris71]

Not yet. I was planning to do exactly the same thing and then signed up for a Drive Espana tour instead.

If you're going to DIY it I'd suggest starting by Googling Best Biking Roads. They've got loads listed. I was planning to do a sort of loop, running west to east along the French side of the Pyrenes, then crossing the border back into Spain and doing the return (east to west) in the Spanish foothills. Never been - I just opened up a Google Maps page and plotted the simplest route that joined up all the top rated roads on BBR.

[Yetski]

Try the N623 Santander to Burgos, that's a good start.

[G Man]

http://goo.gl/maps/mneE fill the dots in for your self

[RRS_Staffs]

Nothing to add other than I spent a great few days in Saint-Lary-Soulan last summer
Its a small town and not that developed from a tourist point of view

Despite that our hotel was functional and I ate at 2 of the best restaurants I have honestly ever been to (including being a Laaandoner for 10y) at UK gastropub prices rather than Michelin star prices - totally unexpected

We were on push bikes
Aspin and Tourmalet are rideable from St Lary
On a motorbike take your pick of dreamy mountain roads

Oh and BTW lots of the Pyrenean roads are pretty tight and narrow
If I was still a biker Id take something nippy rather than a Pan or a BMW RT

Enjoy!

[nightflight]

Thanks for all that. The planning starts soon!

[Wozy68]

nightflight said:

Thanks for all that. The planning starts soon!

My advice is stay well out of France and stick to Spain and come back on the Santandar or Bilbao crossing. France is a bikers and UK cars nightmare these days. Plus Spain is soooo much cheaper.

This is the first days route we have taken in the past and the whole riding trip lasts a week including crossings so about 5 days riding/driving. I now drive it and take the other lads bags. It works a treat.

Assuming the Ferry is not late.
From Santandar head towards Torrelavega then take the N623 South ...... some brillent roads after a while.
When you get to a lake on your right take a left turn on to the N232 signposted ONA ..... very fast road, beautiful roads and scenery (if you have time to look)
ONA is a fuel stop.
After ONA keep on the same road (N232) through Casalarreina all the way to Logrono, keep off the motorway DO Not get on it until you hit the Logrono bypass.

Leaving Logrono take the A12 motorway until Purente La Reina, then turn off this onto the NA6064 to Tiebas and from here the Na234 until it meets up with the A21.
Turn right onto this heading for Liedena.
At Liedena turn left onto the N240 (fantastic road following the edge of a lake)until arriving in Jaca for the first night.
Distance? Hmmm unsure but has to be 300 miles minimum but easily done and very very fast roads and stunning tarmac. (Mostly)

The next day we ride into the Pyrenees and stop for 3 nights in Viela. The roads around this area are amazing and you are right in the heart of the mountains. Brand new hotel and about 30 euros a night including breakfast. Hotels 10 miles away in France are 90 euros a night minimum.

On the way back to Santandar we stay over night at a 4star hotel in the business district of Logrono (about 60 Euro a night) ready for the last 150 mile trip back to the Ferry port for the 3PM crossing home.

We do about 2000 miles including getting to and from the ferry port in the UK back to the Midlands......

Great time, roll on May . Hope you also have a great time. You will love it. Just stay cool for the first 20 miles out of Santandar ...... there can be quite a few cop bikes around.

[4pot]

Yetski said:

Try the N623 Santander to Burgos, that's a good start.

Now that is a cracking piece of road! Drove it many, many times in a Mk11 Golf GT 16v in the late 90's.

Watch out for the civil guard, as there's been a massive crack down on speeding, especially in the last year.

[Zed 44]

[quote=Wozy68]

My advice is stay well out of France and stick to Spain and come back on the Santandar or Bilbao crossing. France is a bikers and UK cars nightmare these days. Plus Spain is soooo much cheaper.



We drove through France to Viano do Castello in northern Portugal last year and I have to agree with Wozy68, Spain was the best part, not withstanding Pau to Jaca.

[Chris71]

If you head to the north east of Spain then you have to do the GI-682 (between Lloret de Mar and Saint Feliu, on the coast north of Barcelona). Take a look on YouTube or Best Biking Roads and you'll see wehat I mean. It's a movie car chase type of road, the sort you never believe actually exist in real life!

If you're in that area there's another just inland called something like the GI-553 from memory that's also very good in places. If you're heading across to/from the west then the A127 is very good in places (although quite ordinary in others).

If you're further south the N403 is very good in places - quite fast, though, unlikely the above which are very twisty.

Quite frustratingly - given we just motorway'd it - some of the other people on the trip we were on discovered an awesome road running through the mountains an hour or so south of Bilbao - I wonder if that was the N623 mentioned above?

[rsv gone!]

France is great for bikers. Just make sure you're avoiding the autoroutes. Generally, Jean Public love bikes and dive to the gutter to let you pass. Plenty of warning for speed traps which, TBH, are mainly in and around the ports (or on the N138!!).

Unless you're on the Eastern side of France, the roads aren't as interesting as Northern Spain. And the North Western area of France is very flat and 'farmy'.

Depending on time, my advice would be
Ferry to Bilbao/Santander
make your way through the Pyrenees
head over the Millau Viaduct and then head East before heading North.

If you have plenty of time then go to Grasse and follow Route Napoleon through to Gap. That South-Eastern corner of France is biking heaven.

[Chris71]

rsv gone! said:

Ferry to Bilbao/Santander

Coincidentally, this is the reason I ended up going to Spain in the first place. With a bit of research, you can roll off the ferry and be on world class roads within an hour. Admittedly I haven't gone far off the beaten track in northern France - so this may be wrong - but my assumption was that a trip to alps would entail hours and hours of boring motorway before you got to the good bit. With ferries straight to Santander you can have your feet up right until the boat docks, almost within sight of the Pyrenees.

[Yetski]

Chris71 said:

Coincidentally, this is the reason I ended up going to Spain in the first place. With a bit of research, you can roll off the ferry and be on world class roads within an hour. Admittedly I haven't gone far off the beaten track in northern France - so this may be wrong - but my assumption was that a trip to alps would entail hours and hours of boring motorway before you got to the good bit. With ferries straight to Santander you can have your feet up right until the boat docks, almost within sight of the Pyrenees.

I think Chris has hit the nail on the head here, I'm doing it again in 4 weeks, can't wait

[skodamanpat]

Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Beyond by John Hermann as a few routes in, over the Pyrenees and into southern France. Brilliant little tomb if you are looking for exciting routes in Europe.

[dcb]

Chris71 said:

- but my assumption was that a trip to alps would entail hours and hours of boring motorway before you got to the good bit.

It's a little as 3-4 hours and 220 miles from Calais to
the good bit.

The derestricted autobahn near Aachen.

It's a joy to drive from then on, except for occasional
traffic jams.

[Chris71]

dcb said:

It's 3-4 hours

That was kind of my point! It's about 20 minutes from Santander to the twisties.

[dcb]

Chris71 said:

That was kind of my point! It's about 20 minutes from Santander to the twisties.

Doh - and about 12 hours from England to Spain by ferry.

Somehow, 2 hours by ferry from Dover to Calais and 2-3 hours
from Calais to Aachen seems to me to be a *lot* less
than 12 hours from England to Spain by ferry + 20 minutes
to get to the twisties.

Crikey, I can have done any speed I want for hundreds
of miles, been up over 9000 feet on the Stelvio
and still had time for a few cool Weizenbeers back
in Innsbruck before you've even docked in Spain.

Each to their own, of course. Does that part of
N Spain still have the terrorist tax ?

[rsv gone!]

An hour and a half of motorways and you can dodge the boring bit of France. Then head into Belgium. Check out the last sections of roads. They are properly twisty and fast.

http://goo.gl/maps/ryNw

[Chris71]

dcb said:

Each to their own.

Exactly. For me, it began as curiosity as to where in Europe you could get to good roads with the least amount of motorway travel - the time and cost to get there are valid points, but not ones that really figured in that consideration!

In the case of the trip I actually did, though, it was a social thing as well as a hoon, so it did suit it rather well. At the point when I could have been swearing at the commuters on the Brussels Ring Road, had I ventured to Germany, I was relaxing in a plush bar on the ferry with a bunch of like minded petrolheads and a nice cold beer. It does take 23 hours to get to Spain that way, but it's 23 hours in the bar, at the cinema, doing some work in the cabin or just putting your feet up with a good book, so it has its own advantages.

Although I would recommend any TVR owners leave the car in gear otherwise you could have a rather sleepless night when the boat starts to pitch a bit more at 3am and you imagine your car going backwards and forwards like the ball bearings in a Newton's cradle...