First of all apologies to mein kameraden for being a bit late with this post, espec Ronnie, Liam (now of 1200gs fame), PW Cymru, Neil, Rian, Joe, meine Brüder et al
Well on then, … me and Herr Klinger decided to visit a few sites in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. This is just a few photos and pics of the trip, emphasis on pics as opposed to narrative.
We traveled from Belfast to Stranraer then on to ‘cutemorej’s place in Selkirk where we enjoyed home made soup de maison. I have to say I was more than pleasantly surprised by the road from Moffat to Selkirk! Bit of an untold secret.
We arrived at Newcastle Ferry Terminal DFDS late afternoon Friday and boarded The Queen of Scandinavia.
After a painless all be it crowded ‘tie down’ for the bikes
I checked out my cabin. Pretty roomy for moi, think it was a cabin for 4
We enjoyed a superb buffet meal and some entertainment on what turned out to be a very smooth crossing to Ijmuiden. We visited Arnhem and then took the A3 south to the start of the Romatischer Strasse in Northern Bavaria
Having studied the map I decided to avoid Wurzburg as it was a major city and try instead to find accommodation in a place called Tauberbishofsheim. This was at the start of the Romantic road but looked smaller and from the maps at any rate and with what little I could glean from the web appeared to be quite picturesque… it was, some piccys. We stayed here at the Badischer Hof 45euros single with breakfast with Matthias Derr und Familie
Matthias had an Guzzi which he had owned for 30 years his family had owned and run the Hotel for 170 years. He made sure our bikes were safely parked in his garage before we all turned in for the night.
This was abend essen courtesy of Matthais (Filet Steak)
OK on to pics of Tauberbishofsheim, here we go …
Next morning we headed off early in dry weather for Garmisch Partenkirchen on the Romantischer Strasse.
I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the Romantischer Strasse, it certainly had very scenic stretches but there were also many stretches of unscenic A road.
Garmisch Partenkirchen and the surrounding area however surpassed my expectations… can’t wait to return.
Stayed in the Hotel Bavaria Very quaint traditional family run hotel. Again covered parking out back for bikes.
Its not often Herr Klinger gets so close to a beautiful Fraulein but he surpassed himself this time. Garmisch really has everything for the marauding GSer!
OK folks enough words we did the Zugspitze, highest mountain in Germany and Neuschwanstein Castle. Some pics …
After all that mountain climbing we felt we were entitled to a little food so we treated ourselves to this load!
Spotted this lovely little cabrio parked on the street in Garmisch.
Those Garmisch boys like their toys!
Couple of Street shots,
Sunday evening Bavarian Family in traditional dress,
Neuschwanstein
Well after 2 entertaining days at Garmisch we headed to Brechtesgaden along the Deutsches Alpine route.
This was a great ride almost all of the way with ace roads and great scenery. On arriving in the centre of Brechtesgaden Genny (GPS) announced “arriving at destination on left”. I looked left and saw this hotel. Watzmann
Thinking you’ll do me, I walked in and spoke to Heinrich the owner and got two rooms for 30 euro each B & B. Heinrich was quick to tell us about the Kehlstein Haus and most important the Rossfeld Strasse. He was most insistent that we try this ultimate biking road as he described it… he wasn’t wrong! Some pics;
The map below shows the route which can be traveled in a circular fashion going either way. We went through Oberau to the top and back down towards Obersalzburg.
This is the view from the top, the Kehlstein Haus can be seen more or less just above the baldy head.
OK we went from Obersalzburg in the coach to the Kehlstein carpark, this road was an amazing bit of engineering built by 2500 stressed Austrians in about 13 months.
Enough words here are some of the pics.
The tunnel in to Der Fuhrers lift
The lift,
Serious door hinge
Lift entrance
Roof … Austrian stone masons handiwork
Lunch on the terrace
Wee flower on the Kehlstein
Took some pics of Brechtesgaden for your dissection including the memorial to all the local soldiers killed in two world wars.
After a very comfortable night in the Watzmann we headed south into Austria as we wanted to do some of the famous passes we heard so much about.
This was the route we took from Brechtesgaden to Moos in Italy.
The first 3 pics are the Grossglockner Pass and if you haven’t done it yet I would recommend you do it before you get much older.
This is the beautiful village of Heiligenblut Just below the mighty Grossglockner.
The following 3 pics are of the Timmelsjoch my favourite pass of the trip. The road and views were simply awesome, as usual the photos dont do it justice.
From the top we descended into Italy to stay in a quaint little town called Moos. We were joined here by some biking kameraden from Berlin and had a good nights crack with them.
From Moos we wanted to travel over the Stelvio, Oberalp, Brenner and meet Bro 3 on top of the Furkha in Switzerland. From here we wanted to do the Grimsel finishing up in Grindelwald for the night. Here’s the pics starting with the Stelvio
The arrival of Herr Klinger at the top of the Stelvio bottom left.
The other warty side of the Stelvio
The Oberalp Pass heading towards Andermatt.
The top of the Furkha Pass Switzerland.
Looking down the Furkha and up towards the Grimsel.
Looking back up towards the Furkha glacier from the wee Kirk at the bottom.
From here we traveled to Grindelwald and booked in on spec to this humble abode … the Hotel Alte Post 60 Swiss Francs B & B.
Just across the road was the Cafe C und M
where we had to endure such hardships as this,
and this,
Its tuff this motorcycle touring lark!
Needless to say we had a comfortable night here and traveled north next day through the Black Forest to Simmerath in the Eifel region of NW Germany for one last overnight before catching the ferry at Ijmuiden again.
This was the Post Hotel Simmerath, 24 euros spotlessly clean and a good wholesome breakfast to boot.
Wee pic in the breakfast room.
Well now that I’ve put you all to sleep I guess I’d better turn in too. Hope you enjoyed some of the pics anyway.
Well on then, … me and Herr Klinger decided to visit a few sites in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. This is just a few photos and pics of the trip, emphasis on pics as opposed to narrative.
We traveled from Belfast to Stranraer then on to ‘cutemorej’s place in Selkirk where we enjoyed home made soup de maison. I have to say I was more than pleasantly surprised by the road from Moffat to Selkirk! Bit of an untold secret.
We arrived at Newcastle Ferry Terminal DFDS late afternoon Friday and boarded The Queen of Scandinavia.
After a painless all be it crowded ‘tie down’ for the bikes
I checked out my cabin. Pretty roomy for moi, think it was a cabin for 4
We enjoyed a superb buffet meal and some entertainment on what turned out to be a very smooth crossing to Ijmuiden. We visited Arnhem and then took the A3 south to the start of the Romatischer Strasse in Northern Bavaria
Having studied the map I decided to avoid Wurzburg as it was a major city and try instead to find accommodation in a place called Tauberbishofsheim. This was at the start of the Romantic road but looked smaller and from the maps at any rate and with what little I could glean from the web appeared to be quite picturesque… it was, some piccys. We stayed here at the Badischer Hof 45euros single with breakfast with Matthias Derr und Familie
Matthias had an Guzzi which he had owned for 30 years his family had owned and run the Hotel for 170 years. He made sure our bikes were safely parked in his garage before we all turned in for the night.
This was abend essen courtesy of Matthais (Filet Steak)
OK on to pics of Tauberbishofsheim, here we go …
Next morning we headed off early in dry weather for Garmisch Partenkirchen on the Romantischer Strasse.
I have to say that I was a little disappointed with the Romantischer Strasse, it certainly had very scenic stretches but there were also many stretches of unscenic A road.
Garmisch Partenkirchen and the surrounding area however surpassed my expectations… can’t wait to return.
Stayed in the Hotel Bavaria Very quaint traditional family run hotel. Again covered parking out back for bikes.
Its not often Herr Klinger gets so close to a beautiful Fraulein but he surpassed himself this time. Garmisch really has everything for the marauding GSer!
OK folks enough words we did the Zugspitze, highest mountain in Germany and Neuschwanstein Castle. Some pics …
After all that mountain climbing we felt we were entitled to a little food so we treated ourselves to this load!
Spotted this lovely little cabrio parked on the street in Garmisch.
Those Garmisch boys like their toys!
Couple of Street shots,
Sunday evening Bavarian Family in traditional dress,
Neuschwanstein
Well after 2 entertaining days at Garmisch we headed to Brechtesgaden along the Deutsches Alpine route.
This was a great ride almost all of the way with ace roads and great scenery. On arriving in the centre of Brechtesgaden Genny (GPS) announced “arriving at destination on left”. I looked left and saw this hotel. Watzmann
Thinking you’ll do me, I walked in and spoke to Heinrich the owner and got two rooms for 30 euro each B & B. Heinrich was quick to tell us about the Kehlstein Haus and most important the Rossfeld Strasse. He was most insistent that we try this ultimate biking road as he described it… he wasn’t wrong! Some pics;
The map below shows the route which can be traveled in a circular fashion going either way. We went through Oberau to the top and back down towards Obersalzburg.
This is the view from the top, the Kehlstein Haus can be seen more or less just above the baldy head.
OK we went from Obersalzburg in the coach to the Kehlstein carpark, this road was an amazing bit of engineering built by 2500 stressed Austrians in about 13 months.
Enough words here are some of the pics.
The tunnel in to Der Fuhrers lift
The lift,
Serious door hinge
Lift entrance
Roof … Austrian stone masons handiwork
Lunch on the terrace
Wee flower on the Kehlstein
Took some pics of Brechtesgaden for your dissection including the memorial to all the local soldiers killed in two world wars.
After a very comfortable night in the Watzmann we headed south into Austria as we wanted to do some of the famous passes we heard so much about.
This was the route we took from Brechtesgaden to Moos in Italy.
The first 3 pics are the Grossglockner Pass and if you haven’t done it yet I would recommend you do it before you get much older.
This is the beautiful village of Heiligenblut Just below the mighty Grossglockner.
The following 3 pics are of the Timmelsjoch my favourite pass of the trip. The road and views were simply awesome, as usual the photos dont do it justice.
From the top we descended into Italy to stay in a quaint little town called Moos. We were joined here by some biking kameraden from Berlin and had a good nights crack with them.
From Moos we wanted to travel over the Stelvio, Oberalp, Brenner and meet Bro 3 on top of the Furkha in Switzerland. From here we wanted to do the Grimsel finishing up in Grindelwald for the night. Here’s the pics starting with the Stelvio
The arrival of Herr Klinger at the top of the Stelvio bottom left.
The other warty side of the Stelvio
The Oberalp Pass heading towards Andermatt.
The top of the Furkha Pass Switzerland.
Looking down the Furkha and up towards the Grimsel.
Looking back up towards the Furkha glacier from the wee Kirk at the bottom.
From here we traveled to Grindelwald and booked in on spec to this humble abode … the Hotel Alte Post 60 Swiss Francs B & B.
Just across the road was the Cafe C und M
where we had to endure such hardships as this,
and this,
Its tuff this motorcycle touring lark!
Needless to say we had a comfortable night here and traveled north next day through the Black Forest to Simmerath in the Eifel region of NW Germany for one last overnight before catching the ferry at Ijmuiden again.
This was the Post Hotel Simmerath, 24 euros spotlessly clean and a good wholesome breakfast to boot.
Wee pic in the breakfast room.
Well now that I’ve put you all to sleep I guess I’d better turn in too. Hope you enjoyed some of the pics anyway.
