Alps-where to go/what to see

[Lord Vader]

Looking for a bit of advice on what to see and where to go in the alps.The idea would be coming down France(route Napoleon) into Italy, Austria and then somewhere into southern Germany.*So anyone know of any decent campsites, cheap b&b, cool roads and even cooler passes. Obviously we will do the Stelvio but where else?If you got pics even better

Cheers Pete

 

[Wapping]

When are you looking to go to the 'cooler' passes. If it's into November, I can virtually guarantee they will be as cool as you might want.


PS Have you looked at any of the trip reports, suggestions, books, websites and whatever host of other bumph posted by the likes of Rasher? If not, why not? Go on, make yourself busy, it's your holiday not ours.

 

[Pablo1]

Looking for a bit of advice on what to see and where to go in the alps.The idea would be coming down France(route Napoleon) into Italy, Austria and then somewhere into southern Germany.*So anyone know of any decent campsites, cheap b&b, cool roads and even cooler passes. Obviously we will do the Stelvio but where else?If you got pics even better

Cheers Pete

Really need more information ie.
what time of year
what type of roads you like best
how long have you got

this year we took in czech republik and austria and had some superb roads before heading through italy (pretty crap really) and back up the route napoleon through switzerland and up the b500 in the blackforest, if you have mapsource you can pm me and i'll send you the routes with some commentry on accommodation (dont do camping).
Alternatively theres a decent website here worth a look
http://www.bestbikingroads.com/

 

[Rasher]

This could take a while for you, I would start with reviews from this hallowed site, including mine - but there are many others:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247181

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247181

Then grab a copy of the excellent "Motorcycle Journey's Through The Alps and Beyond" - should keep you busy for a few winter Sunday's.

Also grab a logon at:-

www.alpineroads.com once you have a better idea of what you really want to do and where you really want to go, and of course ask more questions here.

Route Napoleon Sucks IMO, Route De Grand Alps is far better, unless your in a car / camper van, or on a Harley D)

Note the Alps is an odd L-Shape that has fallen forward 90 degree's, RN will take you to the south of France by the Italian Border, but getting to Austria via Italy in any sort of direct fashion means not taking Alpine roads.

To go from the South of France to Austria via the Alps involves working your way North a bit along the French Italian border (RDGA again) until you reach Switzerland where you can run along the spine of the Alps to Austria.

RDGA is about 2 days each way, and it is a full day of boring motorway to get to the start of it, and at least another two days back from Austria, that's 7 days if you don't mind packing up and moving on every day.

Personally I would do a smaller section, if you want to do the Stelvio then tie it in with a couple of other places, see my 2010 trip where I did mainly Switzerland stopping near Mont Blanc, Andermatt and Livigno (Stelvio)

You could also visit the Stelvio region and the Dolomites, or if you really fancy Austria the Grossglochner is where you wanna go:-

http://www.grossglockner.at/en/

And the Stelvio is sort of on the way.

Next year I am heading that way stopping at Andermatt and probably Bormio followed by a few nights in the Dolomites and a few more in Austria and then will return via a couple of nights in the Black Forest - that will be a fortnight trip.

Try to allow ten days for any Alpine trip (any less than six and I would say go somewhere closer to home) and don't forget the Alps is bigger than the entire UK mainland, with about 400 passes and would need about 8 weeks solid riding to cover all the good bits so your not gonna do it all in a week - and you don't have too, you could get a weeks great riding from a single base.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

alpineroads.com is a good place to start.

 

[sven]

RDGA is about 2 days each way, and it is a full day of boring motorway to get to the start of it, and at least another two days back from Austria, that's 7 days if you don't mind packing up and moving on every day.

Or allow two days to get to Annecy with an overnight in Nancy or Strasbourg and head there via the Routes des Cretes in the Vosges - no need to touch the motorway once away from the Channel ports

The Grossglockner is the daddy though and Austria is very cheap compared to France and Switzerland

 

[Roberto]

alpineroads.com is a good place to start.

+1 I do like the Alpineroads site.

Alternatively, why don't you just use the force?

 

[Peirre O`Bollox]

Go on, make yourself busy, it's your holiday not ours.

I agree, even if the OP can find a pre-planned route that was configured by someone else, no doubt they will still have to put a lot more work into it to make it it more suitable for them.

In my case I took Rivendell`s "tour de corse" mapsource route and tweeked it infinately adding a few more passes, and dozens of extra waypoints to smooth out any error, using the book & using mapsource & streetview I was able to virtually walk the whole route at ground level checking that no mistakes where made, such as waypoints placed on the wrong side of the road, or junction. Then I tweeked the accomodation & ferries to suit my needs. But doing this still took me many hours and its still not ideal.
In July 2013 I intend to go back and do it again, but I`ve already started to re-tweek the route, changing sections & taking out small parts, swopping accomodation, and altering the departure port for the ferry to Corsica from Nice to Savona, I may also add extra days & an extra rest day, as I found the scedule a little hard work some days. Trying to achieve 200+ miles a day along the RGA can be hard work if you incounter road closures and have to divert an extra 150 miles.
At the moment I`m waiting until the 24th Oct to find out when the dates for the Tour de france are anounced, so I will know where it will be and when, so I can amend the dates so I can avoid the road closures on the RGA and on Corsica (where the race is starting) I may also take out the Stelvio, as many think its over rated, and there are better passes to ride

 

[Dr Bones]

I've just come back from doing a solo trip Netherlands -> Germany -> Switzerland -> France -> UK.

I found that just about everything outside the cities in Switzerland was good riding. Even some of the motorways are challenging!

If you are going into Germany then the B500 Black Forest Road is excellent.

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...wurttemberg-/b500--baden-baden--_25254c1.html

Have a look on the rest of that site it'll give you plenty of ideas. I can recommend the Gotthard and Oberalp passes in Switzerland, but beware, it was minus 4, with snow and ice on the passes back in the middle of September. In fact the Susten Pass was closed due to snow.

 

[blazedani]

alpineroads.com is a good place to start.

Looks interesting
Thanks for the link!