Alps 2009 - let's do it

Magnum

Magnum

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I had the best motorcycling week of my life in August this year on my GSA riding 1500Km (940Miles) of stunning mountain roads and passes in Switzerland, Italy and France. A mate came over from the UK, hired a GS in Switzerland and we rode all the famous passes including the Gt St Bernard, Simplon, Maloja, Bernina, Albula, Oberalp, Furka, Grimsel, Brunig and Jaun. It was bloody awesome. We did it old skool - no motorways or sat nav and we went camping.

I'm going to do something similar next year except this time stay in hotels. I'd like to get a few like minded individuals together who fancy joining the fun in 2009. I'm English but live in Switzerland and having just done a similar trip am putting myself forward as the organiser of an event for next year. I'll act as a central point of contact, distribute information and book hotels to the group's requirements. You can either ride to Switzerland on your own bike or fly here as there's an excellent local dealer who hire GS's or any other BMW that I could arrange on your behalf.

It's a chance to ride some of the best roads in Europe with a local person to help organise things on your behalf whose done it before. If you are interested then please post below. All I want out of this is to enjoy some great biking with a few folk who feel the same :beerjug:
 
I'm very interested in what the rough costs would be. You *may* like the comfort of a massage and a spa bath followed by a 4 course gourmet meal at the end of every day, for all I know ;)


And a start/end location would be nice - or is it a circular trip from Basle, Geneva, Chamonix or somewhere similar
 
I live near Vevey on Lake Geneva - 1 hour from Geneva, 2 hrs from Zurich, but happy to meet anywhere the group would prefer.

Rough costs as you can imagine range from affordable to mental. Again, I'm just the co-ordinator so if the group wants affordable or 5 star I don't mind although my preference would be for somewhere decent.

Interlaken is quite close to the Grimsel and Furka pass area. Have a look at the spread of prices available for this time of year.

http://www.otel.com/hotels/interlaken.htm
 
The best time I've been is just after the passes open in early summer. And just stay up high to avoid the serious heat in the valleys.
 
have you any idea of a date yet that will affect my chances of going the later in the year the better for me
 
I've just read Paulbde's "Information for trip planners" post above so here's a starting point for discussion.

Provisional trip date: 11th-18th September 2009 (+positioning)

Is the trip is suitable for pillions? Yes, although some may want to "press on" so we could split into speed-matched groups if needed, meeting at hotel in evening

Does the trip include off road sections? Not specifically although this year I did ride down a short section of non-tarmac road near Stelvio

What accommodation are you using? Hotels. My preference is for decent but up for discussion

Trip summary: The focus for this trip is quality riding through the Swiss Alps with as many high altitude passes as possible. Will also venture into Italy, France and Austria depending on time. No motorways except for positioning). I won't be using GPS but that's up to the individual. Maps work fine :thumb

Need to firm up numbers by say March 2009 to guarantee hotels.

I'm working on a map that showed my route this year but again this is really just a starting point for discussion. I'll post it as soon as I can work out how best to create it.
 
Just had a play with Google Maps and retraced the route we took this August. For some reason Google doesn't like passes so we did take the Grand St Bernard Pass, not tunnel. I've also had to draw in the last 2 days including the awesome Furka and Grimsel pass route.

Here's the route we took.



Here's some detail.

Day 1 - 231Km
Vevey
Chamonix
Aosta
Grand St Bernard Pass
Verbier
Champsec

Day 2 - 124Km
Champsec
Martigny
Grand Dixence
Nax

Day 3 - 137Km
Nax
Sierre
Leuk
Visp
Tasch
Zermatt
Saas Fee

Day 4 - 231Km
Saas Fee
Simplon Pass
Santa Maria Maggiore
Cannobio
Locarno
Lugano
Mennagio
Dongo

Day 5 - 313Km
Dongo
Chiavenna
Maloja Pass
St Moritz
Bernina Pass
Livogno
Bormio
Stelvio Pass
Sta. Maria Val Mustair
Zernez
Albula Pass
Tiefencastel
Lenz

Day 6 - 220Km
Lenz
Chur
Flims
Disentis
Oberalp Pass
Andermatt
Furka Pass
Grimsel Pass
Meiringen
Brunig Pass
Wilderswil

Day 7 - 155Km
Wilderswil
Spiez
Eschi
Jaun Pass
Bulle
Chatel-Saint-Denis
Vevey

I'd do a few things differently next time but the riding was awesome. Fantastic roads and incredible scenery make for a truly memorable experience.

Life's too short :beerjug:
 
Looks fantastic:thumb2
I've done some of the passes in the Alps but not nearly enough,I don't have firm plans for next year but could be interested in this,put me down as a "definite maybe" and I'll confirm nearer the deadline ;)
 
Magnum.

I'm also very interested.

Having just done the Routes Des Grandes Alpes/Route Napoleon almost the same week this year,I was thinking about doing the Stelvio etc next year.

I want to go back and ride Route Napoelon but will prob do it earlier in year which would leave this trip as a definite maybe in Sept.

So put me on your list and when you have more details get back to me.

Nice-ish hotels suits me fine as I don't do camping anymore and don't bother with el cheapo chain hotels-it's a holiday after all !!!
 
Magnum said:
I did the trip in August and it was bloody hot - up to 34C in Italy. Would suggest July or September might be a tad cooler.
Click to expand...

september sounds good for me 100 EURO a day for food and hotel plus fuel ok
put me down as in just need to check moto gp /sbk meets :clap
 
how about a start/finish point thats more central, eg Luzern for the people that are riding over? unless of course people are planning to rent bikes from ur local dealer?


idea sounds good 2 me otherwise
 
swissrob said:
how about a start/finish point thats more central, eg Luzern for the people that are riding over? unless of course people are planning to rent bikes from ur local dealer?

idea sounds good 2 me otherwise
Click to expand...
Nice one :)

There are a number of advantages starting from the east of Lake Geneva.

One of the most efficient routes from the UK is via Besancon, Pontarlier and then across the FR/CH border at Vallorbe with the lake just 47km away (Montreux is 71km). You are right that once in Swizerland Luzern is more central but you gotta get there and it's 100km from the FR/CH border near Basel.

Next it's where I live :D but seriously if I'm organising this it makes sense to start the trip on familiar territory and that could come in handy for those needing goods and services after their trip from the UK. The local dealer does hire bikes and the GS my mate hired was brand new, but I have no connection to them and actually bought both my Beemers from another dealer in Valais.

I'm also right next to the mountains so the scenery is already good from the moment we leave.

People who are up for it so far:-

haga lout
2 wheel humvee
Arsey
swissrob
me

If you should/shouldn't be in the list please say so. Not looking for commitment at this stage, just serious interest :thumb
 
Magnum said:
Nice one :)



One of the most efficient routes from the UK is via Besancon, Pontarlier and then across the FR/CH border at Vallorbe with the lake just 47km away (Montreux is 71km). You are right that once in Swizerland Luzern is more central but you gotta get there and it's 100km from the FR/CH border near Basel.
Click to expand...



that makes sense then.
 
Money's tight here - €100 a day full board would just about pass SWMBO, but if it's €100 plus dinner plus fuel plus this plus that then it almost certainly wont, so I guess I'm out.....

Have fun though - I did a load of those passes in the early 90's on an XJ600 and would love to go back.... I wonder if the road surfaces still change dramatically as you pass from one country to another???
 
100 euro plus fuel per day was just a estimate of what i can stick to one side never done that part of the world so dont no costings if it can be done cheaper so much the better magnums the man in the know as he lives over there
 
Here's some info passed onto me by a friend who took part in a similar trip in Switzerland this year.
All hotels are 3 or 4* - budget around 100 Francs (half for double rooms) + lunch and dinner = 150 Francs per day if you don't drink too much!
Click to expand...
At the moment you get around 1.94 Francs for £1.

Those estimates won't be far off - maybe a bit light - but if you don't drink too much may be the Achilles heel :beer:

Fuel is around 1.86 Francs a litre right now so about 96p.
 
Magnum said:
Here's some info passed onto me by a friend who took part in a similar trip in Switzerland this year.

At the moment you get around 1.94 Francs for £1.

Those estimates won't be far off - maybe a bit light - but if you don't drink too much may be the Achilles heel :beer:

Fuel is around 1.86 Francs a litre right now so about 96p.
Click to expand...

thanks magnum will need a single room unless someone shares a room? down side i snore after a few beers:beerjug::beerjug:
 
Here are a few real prices for hotels in St Moritz. This is likely to be one of the pricier destinations. I've picked an arrival date of 14th Sept '09 leaving next day.

St Moritz Single Room/Double Room Prices
Kempinski Grand Hotel ***** 302/563 CHF (no breakfast)
La Margna Swiss Quality Hotel **** 153/275 CHF (inc breakfast)
Hauser Swiss Quality Hotel *** 102/203 CHF (inc breakfast)

By way of comparison this is what you would pay in Davos

Davos Single Room/Double Room Prices
Steigenberger Belvédère Hotel ***** 165/330 CHF (inc breakfast)
Central Swiss Quality Sporthotel **** 125/214 CHF (inc breakfast)
Best Western Hotel Bahnhof Terminus *** 113/196 CHF (no breakfast)

Most but not all of the overnight stops are likely to be in the more affordable destinations. On that basis I think 4* is a reasonable standard to aim for. Of critical importance though is the availability of good wine and beer :beerjug:
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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