Advice Please: Brugges to Italy trip

[jailon]

Hi all, on 9th June this year, myself, good lady and fellow biker are planning a trip to Italy on the trusty GS1200. The trip leaves Hull - Zeebrugge on tue 9/6/09 @1800. Arrive zeebrugge approx 0830 on 10/6/09.

We are planning to Italy, via Luxembourg & Germany. The return journey will go via Northern Italy, through France, via Dijon then back to Zeebrugge to catch the ferry home on the 18th.

If we can, we would rather take in the scenic routes instead of driving all the way on motorways. And through Austria, would like to take some of the passes.

We are planning to stay in formule one type hotels (no camping). Do we need to book these or just turn up???

So....... is 9 days enough? what shall we expect? any good routes to recommend. I understand about the bike paperwork, but what is this EU medical passport I need??

I suppose the good part is we don't have a destination, more like a 9 day ride out.....

The wife is really panicking as she thinks she'll be bored and get arse ache from being on the bike, and to be honest I'm getting a little twitchy as I have only done a Scotland trip and never rode into Europe through other countries.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Cheers,

 

[haydw]

I started small- trips in this country, then 4 days in France, then did a full two weeks on the continent. Believe you me, your Mrs will not be bored- its a whole different experience and lots more different things to see.

Dont worry- you will be fine when you get there.

 

[Deleted account LB]

You'll have no problems mate and dont worry too much on setting a final destination, see how far you get around half way then work out what you need to get back. You will see so much that you may want to stop and enjoy it. Oh and if you do get to Italy, get your race head on as they are all nuts. !!

Also be aware that most of Europe love bikes on the road, especially the French

 

[wessie]

My advice is to start early each day you are riding the bike. Get some miles under your belt before taking a break of a couple of hours to see something nice or have a relaxing lunch.

Do a few miles in the afternoon but plan on finding somewhere to stay by about 4pm. There's nothing worse than getting somewhere at 6.30pm and finding everything booked due to a conference or festival.

This will give you time to get cleaned up, have a snooze, visit a local point of interest and find somewhere to dine.

You won't find many Formel1 type hotels in Germany in Austria. These are pretty soul destroying when on holiday anyway. Located on motorway junctions and industrial estates. I'd rather pay an extra 10 Euros and stay in a town centre.

Instead look for "gausthaus, zimmer frei" signs. These are family run and usually perfectly acceptable, and a lot nicer than F1 portakabins.

A 9 day trip to include Northern Italy is possible whilst still having a relaxing time. 2 overnight stops en route will let you have 4 or 5 nights in a base in the Dolomites or Lake Garda. I'd choose Lake Garda and head for the northern end of the lake, certainly no further south than Malcesine or Limone.
Last time I went to Lake Garda I used the Hotel Limonaia in Limone. It was very good value and the views are stunning. Might be worth checking to see if you can get a decent rate. Tripadvisor reviews are variable: mostly depends on whether people got fleeced by a travel operator or booked independently at a sensible price. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...aia-Limone_sul_Garda_Lake_Garda_Lombardy.html

I suggest you take at least one day in the middle of the holiday as a bike free day. From Limone, catch a passenger ferry over to Malcesine and spend the day there wandering the cobbled alleyways, taking the cable car to Monte Baldo or just relaxing in the many bars and cafes.

 

[Wapping]

Wessie has it about right, for sure.

EU Medical card, you need one for you and one for your wife

You would be well advised to take out Travel insurance and European Breakdown cover (see many threads). It's a long way to push a motorbike with a broken leg.

Also take:

Spare key for the bike.

Original V5 doc.

Original Motor insurance cover note

Original MOT certificate (if applicable)

A basic bit of security for the bike. A disc / U-lock and / or a simple chain, will be fine. Use them. Your bike is no more likely to be stolen than in the UK; it is simply more inconvenient a thousand miles from home.

If you have a picture card driving licence, be sure to take the green counter-party document, too.

Credit / debit card(s) (tell your bank you are going overseas, to stop pesky phone calls). Keep them separate. That way if you lose one, you may not lose the other.

Some euro. ATM's are common and are now often 'free' for UK bank customers.

Mobile phone and charger / adaptor. Make sure it is set up for overseas roaming for voice, mailbox and text.

Some half decent maps.

Routes? Do a search on UKGSer. Yours is a popular destination and a common enough starting place. So there's lots of threads.

Tints and hips:

If you think 250 miles in a day is a long way in the UK, it's no shorter across the water.

You will be lucky to average 40 mph on minor roads, particularly if you stop for pictures / smoke breaks / tea and coffee every five minutes.

If you run short of time - or it is lashing down - get on a main road or motorway. It does not matter and may well save your marriage. A dead straight main road, running parallel to a motorway, is not necessarily the best route to take.

Take care. Have fun.

 

[jailon]

cheers all feeling a little more confident about it. Just need to work through where to go, where to stop and what to take. I've limited the Mrs to 1 pannier......I bet she could fill it 10 times over

No doubt I'll be back on here in another week asking more favours....

If anyone wishes to tag along, they are more than welcome.....a few foriegn beers and some good food shall do line the way.......

we will be sailing from hull to zeebrugge on Jun 9th 18:30 and returning jun 18th, arrive back in hull day after at 08:30

 

[John Armstrong]

Off to the Dolomites this year, so may be of some relevance

Also going to Zeebrugge and doing one long day to near Stuttgart, all motorways and about 6 hours on the bike. Then down past Memmingen on the autobahn to near Fussen.

Using the Oberjoch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberjoch_Pass
and Hantenjoch http://www.alpentourer.com/alpine_passes/tyrol/hahntennjoch/hahntennjoch.html
to bypas the Fern pass http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_Pass
then onto the Timmelsjoch http://www.timmelsjoch-hochalpenstrasse.at/en/home.html and down into Merano. Then an easy day across to the Dolomites and Cortina.

Route back will be via the Brenner pass and then the Fern bypass route to Ulm. Ulm to Trier. And then Trier to Zeebrugge again. Lots of autobahn, but that way, apart from the first day, there's time to see sites in the towns we get to.

We have "done" northern France a few times so for us, being able to see it from the autoroute / autobahn isn't a problem.

 

[jailon]

just had to cancel my trip to italy, have been renovating my house that just took too much money, everything I touched turned to dust..... am totally p*ss*d off

still taking my 2 weeks off in june and doing a bit of cheaper touring round the UK with the Mrs and a tent. Just need to get away on the bike, as we was planning this since september.

Anyone recommend any good places down to visit. Will be travelling from Leeds, so Wales could be good never been before so no idea what to expect....

Ah well, I suppose Italy and europe will still be there next year.....now wheres my bottle of beer

 

[Wapping]

Don't give up.

Have a look at: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145740

or

I also did a couple of days plan for something in France. A search will turn it up.

Edit: Here it is. http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130841

or

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112301

 

[earthmover]

Tough luck. Was looking forward to reading about your trip, as I'm hoping to get to Italy myself this year.
Mark