1st two up tour of EU

[LochLaddie]

My wife is up for doing a EU tour next year, I have two questions:

- I would like to stay away from the school holidays and the hotter periods in the mainland. What would suggest early Jun or early Sep?

- I'm thinking max 600 mile radius from Amsterdam and my wife would like at least one 3 nighter stop, where would you recommend as a base?

 

[brut33]

Hartz Mountains, Ardennes. These are well within your range and if you push out a bit more you could make the Black Forrest and the Vosges Mountains easily within your plan.
There are lots of other places within your planned trip and I'm sure you'll get plenty more advice on here.

 

[Davey B]

Either June or September and I'll suggest a few nights in Luxenbourg and then move on to the Eifel area down as far as the Moselle Valley/Cochem in Germany.

 

[Wapping]

Roll on 2024.

Early September.

Amsterdam to Milan is about 600 miles

To Warsaw, about the same, give or take

To Malmo, a bit under

To Toulouse, a bit under

To Dublin (which is in the EU) a smidge over

Can you be a bit more specific, please

PS “At least one three nighter stop” is about as vague as it gets. Two, three-nighters? Three? Eight? In other words, how long do you anticipate being away between departing from Amsterdam and returning to Amsterdam? I guess you plan to finish up in Amsterdam again and not Cherbourg or Marseille?

 

[Traffic893]

You could have a look at Magellan motorcycle tours. They do self guided tours so may or may not cover what you are looking for.

 

[Doc]

As mentioned a nice ride down to the Black Forest, Easily spend a few nights there. Back up maybe Cochem.
You are going to do 600 miles ish in one day ?

 

[Arch Stanton]

Have good look around this site for some suggestions and RiDE magazine routes section has loads of routes, most with links to Google maps and GPX files to download.....X30 Rotterdam to Vipiteno for a starter??
Either of the date windows you suggest would be fine I reckon, depends where you go of course.
I've done several two up tours with my son & daughter now, you probably know the limits that you can cover each day comfortably. I find it's a fair bit less than if I was riding solo.
I quiet enjoy looking into places to go and always find a base for a few nights at least, this year we did five nights in Zell am See with 2 or 3 nights each side travelling to and from.

https://www.ride.co.uk/routes-1/ride-guide-to-europe-third-edition

 

[Arsey]

Something like this

Stay here in Bouillon. Great hotel with huge underground parking .

Stay here in Thannenkirch

 

[Wapping]

I really think we do need to hear from the OP as to quite what he has in mind, including telling us how long he plans the pair of them to be away and the daily mileages he has in mind. Not least as at least two days (three nights) out of his maybe five days (who knows how long) away will be spent standing still….. unless that is he goes for a ride-out from his three-nights base.

For a simple example, he could lap the whole outer edges of France and still (near enough) be within 600 miles of Amsterdam. The lap could include one (or more) three-night stops. He can’t do too much of the boot of Italy, as he can’t get beyond Milan. Likewise, Spain is out.

Sensibly, that leaves him with all of France, the Benelux countries, huge chunks of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic all of which are within his somewhat meaningless 600 mile radius of Amsterdam and are (to all intents and purposes) within the EU.

Over to you, OP before someone suggests the Millau bridge, via Warsaw.

 

[diplomaticdanny]

Did a taster with my wife, just 3 nights to see if it was a good idea to go for longer. We did Southampton to the tunnel, tunnel to Arras for the 1st night, Arras to Ghent for the 2nd & Ghent to Brugge for the 3rd & then home. Worked really well because we weren’t on the bike too long each day and the places we stayed were really nice. Want to do the Amalfi Coast but my wife will fly to Naples & fly back from Croatia to avoid the long boring days.

 

[LochLaddie]

Thanks for all the reply's, I've been away for the weekend thus the lack of responses.

As mentioned a nice ride down to the Black Forest, Easily spend a few nights there. Back up maybe Cochem.
You are going to do 600 miles ish in one day ?

Not intending 600 miles in one day but max distance from Amsterdam. Cochem is on my initial list of potentials.

I really think we do need to hear from the OP as to quite what he has in mind, including telling us how long he plans the pair of them to be away and the daily mileages he has in mind. Not least as at least two days (three nights) out of his maybe five days (who knows how long) away will be spent standing still….. unless that is he goes for a ride-out from his three-nights base.

For a simple example, he could lap the whole outer edges of France and still (near enough) be within 600 miles of Amsterdam. The lap could include one (or more) three-night stops. He can’t do too much of the boot of Italy, as he can’t get beyond Milan. Likewise, Spain is out.

Sensibly, that leaves him with all of France, the Benelux countries, huge chunks of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic all of which are within his somewhat meaningless 600 mile radius of Amsterdam and are (to all intents and purposes) within the EU.

Over to you, OP before someone suggests the Millau bridge, via Warsaw.

Planning a two week tour, daily mileage likely circa 200 miles on none motorway roads, daily ride outs from the base locations. I have ruled out Italy and Spain. The radius is not meaningless it marks in scope out of scope locations.

Appreciate all the reply's these will help me to start planning options.

 

[Wapping]

I'm thinking max 600 mile radius from Amsterdam… The radius is not meaningless it marks in scope out of scope location……

The ‘in scope’ area of the EU, stretches from Malmo to Milan and from Warsaw to Toulouse, all being within a 600 mile radius of Amsterdam.

You have a fortnight, less the…..

at least one 3 nighter stop…..

which takes at least two days out or maybe four or six, depending on how many days of ‘at least’ you settle on.

Shall bods bank on 10 days on the move, avoiding motorways all the time?

Me? I’d go to France, via um…. Belgium and Luxembourg, perhaps? Or Germany. No, wait a minute, Prague is ‘in scope’. If not Salzburg. No, hang on….. Lausanne, would be good, though pricey.

What I think you might have overlooked is that a radius is a circle and a circle with a 600 miles radius of Amsterdam, brings with it a bloody big ‘in scope’ area of the EU…..

 

[Wapping]

Here are some of your possible day one 200 mile (no motorway) destinations, radiating out like the spikes on a wheel from Amsterdam. I only do this to show how tricky it is to suggest possible routes and destinations (hubs) within a 600 mile radius of Amsterdam, for a two week holiday, with possibly two separate two-day (three nighter) stops. There are loads of directions and places you could head for, as a 600 mile radius of Amsterdam embraces a massive area. Put simply, it is nearly the whole of the EU, excluding only the Nordic and eastern Baltic countries, Spain / Portugal, Italy, Slovaki, Hungary, Greece and Ireland.








For example, you could take the Valenciennes line, which brings you close to Cambrai, which is a popular jumping off spot for bods who have come down from Calais. From there, the eastern (down towards Dijon) or central part of France opens up, along with the Belgian Ardennes / Luxembourg and/or the western part of that area of Germany. In other words, you could do something like this, simply amending it to put your three-night stops in somewhere.

Ardennes, Vosges and Morvan tour

Bear with me dear readers due to a punishing home life and holiday schedule a month has passed since this particular trip ended so I may be a little light on detail but hope to get the essence of the trip across to you and hopefully the pics will help fill in the gaps......... The idea for the...

www.ukgser.com

You could also have a look at say, this thread:

Recommendations request - travel to north Italy and return

The amphitheatre at Verona is amazing. Lake Como is lovely but not cheap! Do you stay in Verona and if so would you recommend the hotel?

www.ukgser.com

With a bit of easy editing, it sort of matches what you might want to do.

Now it’s your turn…..

On the sometimes vague request of non-motorway roads, are you a couple who avoids ALL motorway like the plague? Or are you prepared to take some, in order to improve the overall quality your holiday? Come on, give the forum some ideas to help us to help you for your holiday.

It’s your holiday and your pillion’s first ‘EU trip’, within a 600 mile radius of Amsterdam. You know you, far better than we do. What is it that the pair of you really think you’d like to do next year? If north Holland and into Germany (maybe up to the Baltic coast) or even across to Berlin is not your idea of a good holiday, then knock out those spokes of the wheel. If the Ardennes / the western edge of Germany is something that appeals, let us know. If central and south western France or out to Normandy and Brittany is maybe something, then say so. If down to the Black Forest / Vosges is a good idea; tell us. We haven’t even touched on the Alps, which are reachable in three days at 200 miles a day on non-motorway roads. For example, Andermatt is a popular hub, which could work. Three days to get there on non-motorway roads, three to get back, four days there and four days spare to slot in somewhere. Of these four, I guess you might lose two of the four days, just getting from home to Amsterdam * and back to home again? This leaves two days spare.


* Unless that is, you live in or near Amsterdam. It’s a common fault on these pages that bods (eventually) tell us that they have X number of days available, but then frequently forget that they have forgotten to knock off the day(s) spent getting from their front door to the coast of mainland Europe and back again. Their 14 days available, rapidly becomes 12 and sometimes less.

 

[Posh Pete]

First, given the temperatures in summer an early or late hol makes a lot of sense. You should be able to get a better price on the ferry too. The ferry companies often offer deals early in the new year.

As said above, a two week trip at 200 miles ish a day and 600 miles out from Amdam, gives you a lot of scope. Why not have a look at the bike (and car) Trip Reports section of the site and look for places that take your fancy (and more importantly, that of your missus)? Then plan your trip accordingly and ask for further help here as the need arises?

 

[gspod]

In my experience September is a drier month with cooler temperatures in the evenings.
June has longer daylight hours but, in recent years, has been very hot.
If staying in hotels, I’d go for September

 

[Flintlock]

Destination Alps ( and some other places along the way) - Adventure Bike Rider Forum

adventurebikerider.com

We covered this route in 12 days (arriving in Roscoff) - it also included two nights in Morzine - so a day off - might assist you with your planning.

 

[LochLaddie]

@gspod I’m leaning towards September

@Flintlock I have bookmarked your trip for future reading. I am planning on the Hull - Amsterdam ferry so your starting point is much further into France but there may be some good places to consider, cheers

@Wapping firstly thanks for all the detail you have pulled together and for the interesting questions which will hone my options.

I live in Scotland so will need a day travel either side of the holiday.

I was hoping the EU experienced on this forum would suggest places they had been and would visit again, thus the open nature of the initial question. The massive area of EU I am considering is below.

Thanks for the forum trip links they are very interesting, one I have been following and noting where he would visit again or explore in more depth.

• are you a couple who avoids ALL motorway like the plague? - No
• are you prepared to take some (motorways), in order to improve the overall quality your holiday? - Yes
• What is it that the pair of you really think you’d like to do next year? - Right now I don’t want to fix plans I’m looking for ideas, though heat is a requirement as in Scotland it can be cool
• Normandy and Brittany - are of interest to me but I don’t read much of travellers going in that direction & I’m thinking this area will be cooler than I was hoping for
• Black Forest / Vosges interests me but my wife is not so keen so I would need to have some good locations to help sway her in that direction

Thanks for all the options, appreciated

 

[Wapping]

Thank you. Now we are cooking on gas,

The weather will be, what the weather will be. If you’d been in London last August, it hit the high 30’s. Today it was below the seasonal average and raining. Meanwhile, southern Europe has been on fire.

Normandy and Brittany are hugely popular tourist destinations, Brittany in particular. Normandy is very popular on these pages, but generally only because of the ‘Must do’ D-DAy beaches. If the landings had taken place at Calais, they’d be recommending there.

For the area you have carved out with the blue line, I think the Grey Haired Wombat’s holiday would suit you pretty well, without maybe the drop into Italy. Not least, you’ll see plenty of the EU. But hey, early days and at least we know a bit more about what you have in mind.

 

[Wapping]

I’m thinking this area [Normandy and Brittany] will be cooler than I was hoping for…… heat is a requirement as in Scotland it can be cool…..

This heat thing is an odd one. You are planning on travelling in what is effectively the northern side of Central Europe. The months of June and September represent (as they do here in the UK) the early and later parts of the key ‘hot’ months of July and August, the latter being - in most years - the hottest month of the year in the northern hemisphere. Is the weather more settled in September than June? Probably, yes.

Just how much ‘heat’ do you want? As a simple rule of thumb, the further south you go, the hotter the heat. For example, the Mediterranean coast of France and Italy, is (on average) hotter than the Black Forest or the Harz in Germany or, for that matter, Kent in England. If you want to all but guarantee ‘heat’, take a flight to Spain, Greece and the lower parts of Italy. There are lots of very good websites that show the historic weather data on an all but daily basis for just about anywhere on the face of the Earth. Will the weather be exactly like the historic data for the two weeks you have chosen? Who knows but you’ll find out when you go.

 

[Wapping]

Now let’s look at your holiday. It seems that your pillion has written off the Black Forest and Vosges, unless there are ‘Good locations’, whatever that means. For the sake of this exercise, let’s exclude them or domestic household harmony might not reign; an unhappy pillion, does not a great holiday make.

You want ‘heat’. I’d head to outer southern end of the 600 mile radius circle, ie. Provence in France.






Why? Well, it ticks all the boxes, not least as it is within 600 miles radius of Amsterdam and is, most definitely, in the EU.

A. It’s a very nice area. It has easy access to the Mediterranean, the iconic Mont Ventoux, attractive villages, deep gorges and (if you time it right) fields of lavender and sun flowers. Why do lots of people go there? For those very reasons.

B. The route down and back can pass through several of the ‘Must do’ areas of what you have described as ‘the EU’ most of which will come up as suggestions in this thread by way of answering your very broad question in post #1.. This means that you’ll get to see them and, who knows, you (or more importantly, your pillion) might want to go back to see them the year(s) after.

C. The weather should, on average, be very good when you get there, for the month(s) you have pencilled in.

Have a look at:

Explore Provence, One of France's Most Beloved Territories

Provence is one of the most beloved historic territories in France. Use this map of Provence cities to make the most of your visit.

www.tripsavvy.com

or just Google:

Provence

Provence scenery

Great things to see and do in Provence

or just about any words you like, either side of the word ‘Provence’

Then what?

If this sets your combined juices flowing, come back and we’ll tell you how to get there and, more importantly, how to come back….. and (hopefully) still be talking to each other.