Advice please

fatbob99

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Off to the Sachsenring moto GP this year and have got 4 days to get there so was thinking of trying to get to Austria for a go on the Grosslockner pass on the way back up to Germany , having never been there before
Have planned to take in Wiltz and St Gallen on the way down to Austria?
Being unfamiliar with this particular part of the world , google has thrown up various different routes from St Gallen to Grosslockner.
Just wanted to know if anyone had any experience or advice on any of the routes shown , though I would probably discount the St Moritz route.
Also have a couple of days after the race to get back to the port which I haven't really had a proper look at yet.
Thanks in advance
 
Two things spring to mind. Firstly, once you're in the stunning St Moritz area, you're really handy for the Stelvio Pass. Secondly, the Grossglockner Mountain High Road is a route rather than a destination.
 
Best left for a separate trip IMHO - way too far out of your way. Have you run it through Google Maps?

Plenty of other options surely - The Dams/lakes of the Sauerland, Goslar & the Harz, Thueringer Wald, Dresden & the Sachsische Schweiz or maybe into CZ/Prague ............ the list is endless.

Whatever, have a good trip.
 
I've been working on a trip that I'm doing next August and have put together the following route. Full disclaimer - I haven't ridden these routes, but have put them together based on help and info from others who have done so. But some of the info mightbe useful to you when deciding where to go. Folks on here will have plenty of experience on where to go, what to see etc.

We'll be coming down from the Black Forest area along the northern side of the Bodensee - one of the passes that was highly recommended to me was the Silvretta Pass between Partenen and Galtur on the 188. From there it's on towards Landeck then south on the 180 and SS40 to Prato allo Stelvio where we stop for the night. Overnighting close to the pass means we can get onto the Stelvio early before the traffic gets really bad. Then it's onto the Gavia Pass (wee photo stop at the Crucifix) and east on the SS42 and then south on the SS239 to Madonna Di Campiglio, where we have a rest day before heading into the Dolomites.

Here's a link to the route we'll take from Madonna Di Campiglio to Sottoguda - https://goo.gl/maps/CFDM4G16oR92

This takes in a good few of the local passes and is short enough to provide time to stop and see a few bits along the way...Info for this route came from ride reports on here and other forums and also some roads recommended by Italian biker websites. Our plan is to continue on into Slovenia and then to the Grossglockner pass, but with your schedule you might think about heading north towards Vipiteno and maybe catching the Timmeljosch pass on your way home. The particular towns we chose to overnight at were chosen based on distance from previous accommodation, availability on Booking.com and if they fit into the overall plan that we had.

HTH's

Seán.
 
Best left for a separate trip IMHO - way too far out of your way. Have you run it through Google Maps?

Plenty of other options surely - The Dams/lakes of the Sauerland, Goslar & the Harz, Thueringer Wald, Dresden & the Sachsische Schweiz or maybe into CZ/Prague ............ the list is endless.

+1 Plenty of great riding around St Moritz / Livigno, the Stelvio is the obvious one, but not as good (IMO) as many other Passes around there that could all be ridden over a couple of days:

Gavia
Albula
Fluella
Splugen
Bernina
Julier
Maloja
Umbrail

All well worth the seeking out and riding rather than a long ride on main roads just to ride the Grossglochner, which is a like a kind of "Disney does Alpine Passes" experience.
 
+1 Plenty of great riding around St Moritz / Livigno, the Stelvio is the obvious one, but not as good (IMO) as many other Passes around there that could all be ridden over a couple of days:

Gavia
Albula
Fluella
Splugen
Bernina
Julier
Maloja
Umbrail

All well worth the seeking out and riding rather than a long ride on main roads just to ride the Grossglochner, which is a like a kind of "Disney does Alpine Passes" experience.

That was my opinion , however having never been to Austria on the bike , its not based on any experience , will keep looking where else in Austria could be an alternative ?
Thx for the replies by the way
 
Direct from Calais to Sachsenring is +/-550 miles. If you're off motorways, that's two days just going straight there as the crow flies. Including time to get across England and over the Channel, that's probably the better part of two days even if you stick to the motorways. It's a long way away.

Calais to Austria is even further: Google Maps makes that more than 700 direct miles to Lienz (nearest city to the southern end of Grossglockner). And that is nearly 400 miles from the Sachsenring. So that's 1100 miles in four days. It's possible, but you'd have to do it almost entirely on motorways/main roads and it would be unbelievably dull (on which note, by the way, the B31 along the northern edge of Lake Constance/Bodensee is possibly Europe's most boring road and is always utterly rammed with traffic). Not even the Grossglockener – which is a great road if you've never been – would redeem such a vast amount of sitting on boring roads to get there.

I'd say going anywhere in Austria on the way to the Sachsenring in four days just isn't realistic. Not if you want to have a good ride. To give you an idea of the distances/times when getting off the most direct routes (what'll come up if you just type start and finish points into Google Maps), every organised tour heading to Austria or Bavaria I've seen allows three days to get there – some allow three and a half. Okay, tour companies sell routes that are fairly stress-free and easy even for steady riders, but they do minimise time on motorway and maximise time on good roads (nobody would pay for the routes otherwise). You can always do longer days… but they'll have to be a lot longer, or you'd have to give up on the good roads just to cover ground. And what's the point of that?

Far more realistic would be to plot a gently curving S-shaped route through the Ardennes and the Moselle, arcing through the wooded hills north of Frankfurt and dropping down towards Chemniz through the Harz Mountains, which are only about 150 miles from the circuit. That would let you put together four days of really good riding, with minimal time spent sitting on motorways, in traffic jams or on boring roads.
 
+1 Plenty of great riding around St Moritz / Livigno, the Stelvio is the obvious one, but not as good (IMO) as many other Passes around there that could all be ridden over a couple of days:

Gavia
Albula
Fluella
Splugen
Bernina
Julier
Maloja
Umbrail

All well worth the seeking out and riding rather than a long ride on main roads just to ride the Grossglochner, which is a like a kind of "Disney does Alpine Passes" experience.

I'll second the above recommendations.
I've stayed in Livigno a couple of times - good restaurant that has it's own brewery in the front window!
 
Direct from Calais to Sachsenring is +/-550 miles. If you're off motorways, that's two days just going straight there as the crow flies. Including time to get across England and over the Channel, that's probably the better part of two days even if you stick to the motorways. It's a long way away.

Calais to Austria is even further: Google Maps makes that more than 700 direct miles to Lienz (nearest city to the southern end of Grossglockner). And that is nearly 400 miles from the Sachsenring. So that's 1100 miles in four days. It's possible, but you'd have to do it almost entirely on motorways/main roads and it would be unbelievably dull (on which note, by the way, the B31 along the northern edge of Lake Constance/Bodensee is possibly Europe's most boring road and is always utterly rammed with traffic). Not even the Grossglockener – which is a great road if you've never been – would redeem such a vast amount of sitting on boring roads to get there.

I'd say going anywhere in Austria on the way to the Sachsenring in four days just isn't realistic. Not if you want to have a good ride. To give you an idea of the distances/times when getting off the most direct routes (what'll come up if you just type start and finish points into Google Maps), every organised tour heading to Austria or Bavaria I've seen allows three days to get there – some allow three and a half. Okay, tour companies sell routes that are fairly stress-free and easy even for steady riders, but they do minimise time on motorway and maximise time on good roads (nobody would pay for the routes otherwise). You can always do longer days… but they'll have to be a lot longer, or you'd have to give up on the good roads just to cover ground. And what's the point of that?

Far more realistic would be to plot a gently curving S-shaped route through the Ardennes and the Moselle, arcing through the wooded hills north of Frankfurt and dropping down towards Chemniz through the Harz Mountains, which are only about 150 miles from the circuit. That would let you put together four days of really good riding, with minimal time spent sitting on motorways, in traffic jams or on boring roads.


Thanks for the input Simon , I am used to long days , though I’m not sure about the others .
We normally do cover about 2000 miles Ina week as well as watching the racing
Will discuss with the others
Thanks again
 
Rasher seems to have summed it up.

This bit good;
 

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I would defo avoid going Merano, Bolzano direction. Hot, busy and missing out some great roads.
 
If I were going from Calais to the Sachsen Ring in four days, avoiding motorways, I wouldn’t go via Austria, no matter how good the Austrian roads are.

The roads and passes of Austria will not vanish in our lifetime. Save them for another day.
 
Good as the Grossglockner is, I wouldn't make that kind of detour to ride it.
Plenty of other interesting roads on a more logical route.
 
Good as the Grossglockner is, I wouldn't make that kind of detour to ride it.
Plenty of other interesting roads on a more logical route.

Think we've reached this decision , so thanks for the input.
So then any suggestions from Wiltz to the circuit ?:blast
 
I'll second the above recommendations.
I've stayed in Livigno a couple of times - good restaurant that has it's own brewery in the front window!

Yes, it is the hihest brewery in Europe, decent food and unlimited free Monkey Nuts!

Hotel La Montanina opposite is really good, and right next to the Night Club you can enter by taking a slide into a basement, what more could you want?
 
Yes, it is the hihest brewery in Europe, decent food and unlimited free Monkey Nuts! and right next to the Night Club you can enter by taking a slide into a basement, what more could you want?

Oh, I can answer my own question - a softer landing at the bottom, people my age don't bounce so well.
 
I'd be looking at something like:
Day 1 UK to Wiltz
Day 2 Wiltz > Bitburg > Boppard/Koblenz > Siegen >Warstein (home of the brewery)
Day 3 Warstein > Hoxter > Goslar... then play in the Harz for the afternoon, stopping maybe in Nordhausen after doing the Kyffhauser
Day 4 Either a bit more of the Harz before looping out to the east through Wittenburg, turning back past Colditz and bypassing Leipzig or heading south to Bad Lobenstein or even Beyreuth and then crossing through the corner of Czecho on the way to the circuit.
 
Yes, it is the hihest brewery in Europe, decent food and unlimited free Monkey Nuts!

Hotel La Montanina opposite is really good, and right next to the Night Club you can enter by taking a slide into a basement, what more could you want?

That's the hotel I've stayed in twice!
 
I'd be looking at something like:
Day 1 UK to Wiltz
Day 2 Wiltz > Bitburg > Boppard/Koblenz > Siegen >Warstein (home of the brewery)
Day 3 Warstein > Hoxter > Goslar... then play in the Harz for the afternoon, stopping maybe in Nordhausen after doing the Kyffhauser
Day 4 Either a bit more of the Harz before looping out to the east through Wittenburg, turning back past Colditz and bypassing Leipzig or heading south to Bad Lobenstein or even Beyreuth and then crossing through the corner of Czecho on the way to the circuit.

Thanks Simon ,
Incidentally are you the chap that would’ve been on the S1000RR forum , 7-8 years ago ?
 
Thanks Simon ,
Incidentally are you the chap that would’ve been on the S1000RR forum , 7-8 years ago ?

No, never had an RR or been on that forum. Fun things, but I like my licence too much to have one long term
 


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