All the gear... no idea

Wushuplayer

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Hi guys,

I have 10 days off from this Friday, I've never been to Europe by bike. I'm planning to take the Eurotunnel, but that's about as far as I've got! Can someone please recommend me a route that involves the Ardennes, I'll probably do a mixture of camping and B&Bs/hostels.

Thanking you in advance.
 
turn left out of the tunnel, head to Dunkirk on the motorway, then Lille and onto Mons. No tolls. At Mons head south east to Givet. Stay here or any other town along the River Meuse nearby such as Dinant. Twat about for a few days on local roads then head to Vianden as in post #2. Dick about around there. If you want a mid trip break off the bike, stay a couple of nights in Trier and have a day wandering about on foot, necking a few Weissbier, or if you are one of those rufty tufty, tattooed bikers like Doc, rosé wine.
 
wessie said:
turn left out of the tunnel, head to Dunkirk on the motorway, then Lille and onto Mons. No tolls. At Mons head south east to Givet. Stay here or any other town along the River Meuse nearby such as Dinant. Twat about for a few days on local roads then head to Vianden as in post #2. Dick about around there. If you want a mid trip break off the bike, stay a couple of nights in Trier and have a day wandering about on foot, necking a few Weissbier, or if you are one of those rufty tufty, tattooed bikers like Doc, rosé wine.
Click to expand...

No tattoos. Mummy won't let me have one.;)
 
You have 10 days holiday.

From London, it will take you a day to get to the Ardennes and (assuming you stay there) a day to come back. That leaves you a full eight days. Today is Tuesday, you depart on Friday…. Let’s see what we can do to help you.

1. Do you have a GPS device or, at least a map? If you don’t have a map….. get one, even if you do have a GPS.

2. There are lots of posts and threads in this section about the Ardennes and / or going into Germany or France from the Ardennes region.

3. These posts will give you the fastest and hopefully easiest start: https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...reat-roads-mate-GPS-files-got-a-route-mate-……

In it I have gathered together lots of the posts into one place. Tap around in it, you can’t break it. Note, some of the posts I created some time ago, which means that some of the links might not work as the third parties do not keep their websites maintained. Of these, you might well find this one very useful: https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...including-GPX-downloads?p=6230809#post6230809 but only if you have a GPS. That being said, there is enough there and in other sections to keep you busy for half a year’s worth of holidays, let alone 10 days.

Better still perhaps (especially as time is short) go to the RiDE magazine’s website, where you’ll find more ideas on jaunts into Europe than you can shake a stick at.

https://www.ride.co.uk/routes

These will give you instant holidays.

Richard
 
 
Instant guide on how to get to the Ardennes from Calais, assuming the timings work, which will depend on when you roll into Calais….

Train to Calais

Motorway south to junction 8, Cambrai. Stop somewhere after Cambrai for a coffee.

Cambrai, via N and D roads to Chimay, right on the border between France and Belgium. Stop for lunch.

Chimay to Givet. You are now in the Ardennes and the world is your lobster….. Stop and look at a map whilst you lick an ice cream by the river…..
 
wessie said:
turn left out of the tunnel, head to Dunkirk on the motorway, then Lille and onto Mons. No tolls. At Mons head south east to Givet. Stay here or any other town along the River Meuse nearby such as Dinant. Twat about for a few days on local roads then head to Vianden as in post #2. Dick about around there. If you want a mid trip break off the bike, stay a couple of nights in Trier and have a day wandering about on foot, necking a few Weissbier, or if you are one of those rufty tufty, tattooed bikers like Doc, rosé wine.
Click to expand...

+1 for Trier, a nice town with loads of history.
 
Trier is indeed a nice town.

What’s more you don’t have to be a genius to see that you can get there and / or use it as a possible base for a couple of days, using no more than the maps in the ADAC site listed above.

41c278800c1852f17725db5ecf1d25fe.png


dff8a8bebf13a97572883d9333e05ddb.png
 
One tip, as you have not been abroad before.

Maps can make areas (indeed entire countries) look quite small. In short, places are further apart than you might think and going from A to D via B and C might not be five minutes. For example, the ADAC maps above make the area look small (and to be fair they are not huge) but they are far from tiny. The area of the Ardennes (where you plan on spending up to eight days) and shown on the map is roughly 11,000 square km. That is twice the area of Norfolk or roughly the same size as the whole of Yorkshire.

41c278800c1852f17725db5ecf1d25fe.png



You’ll get used to this.

To get a rough (or very accurate) idea pump places into Google Maps and look at the distances.
 
Leaving aside the challenges or joys of travelling around Merseyside…..

OP, unless you want to spend eight days hooning around on your awesome lonesome, you might want things to do and see? The best way to find what interests YOU (as opposed to hairy arsed bikers on this site, who just want to see WW2 stuff *) is to Google something like ‘10 best things to do in the Ardennes’. Then surf around and take your pick.

As regards possible camping? There’s lots of campsites, often along the sides of the many rivers. Just a word to the wise: We are just entering into the holiday season and the Dutch, Belgians, French and Germans love camping….. You can fill in the rest. That being said, these two app’s might well be useful:

929a6b0558c53854d9b26d18c392ff1a.png




* of which there is lots, the Ardennes being prime Battle of the Bulge real estate.
 
I think the OP should consider going left after the tunnel with the intention of aiming towards the Nordcap.
 
Bem said:
I think the OP should consider going left after the tunnel with the intention of aiming towards the Nordcap.
Click to expand...

And if he really wants to go to the Ardennes, what information can you help him with?
 
thanks for all the info guys, I will start sifting through it tonight! I have a Garmin, I am terrible with paper maps but if you think it is a must then who am I to argue?

Any suggestions for the route back?
 
Excellent. Let us know what you settle on, please.

Not least, let the forum know how you get on with the whole 10 days, please. You are not the first ‘Foreign virgin’ on this website and you sure as hell won’t be the last.
 
Alight so far I have:

Calais
Dunkirk
Lille
Mons (do the 5 days in Wallonia tour)
Trier and Eifel on the loop back to Mons.

Does that seem comfortable for a newbie? I'm not too fussed about the 'ring' tbh, more into nature and scenery.
I downloaded those Apps you suggested. So you reckon it's best to book these camp sites before I go or like a day in advance?

Cheers!
 
Booking in advance gives you, if nothing else, certainty on where you’ll end the day. Camping takes time or at least longer than checking in and out of a hotel takes. It’s very much up to you. Some will say “Wing it, mate” but they won’t be with you if you find yourself at 9 pm with no campsite.

PS I am no big fan of Dunkirk / Lille / Mons but hey, each to their own. I suggested the motorway to Cambrai, simply to get you started on your jaunt and to settle into riding abroad. You can skip the motorway and do it all on D roads if you like but that might well depend on when you arrive in France and how you trundle along.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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