BILBAO TO PYRENEES, ALPS HEAD BACK TO THE EURO TUNNEL

MAR.600

MAR.600

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Hi guys
travelling from Glasgow to portsmouth
Looking for lots of info for a road trip.
Bilbao onto the N-260 follow the road str thru.
Then head towards the alps then head nw
Back towards the tunnel.
20th June/july dates
If anyone point out other routes and accomodation
Bed and breakfast,hotels on route
Any information would be great.
looks like a 10 day trip.
If any anyone has satnav routes etc
Cheers
 
If your planning on doing the Alps and the Pyrenees from the UK over 10 days then accommodation will be no problem, as you will be on Motorways the whole time there will be plenty of naff characterless motels to stop at :thumb

My tip would be go East to the Alps or West to the Pico's and Pyrenees, the Pico's and Pyrenees could easily give you a weeks top riding, the Alps a month, rather than rushing around on Motorways to see 1% of each of them.

Why not spend you precious holiday days on mountain roads instead of motorways - these are much the same in Europe so you could save at least a grand by riding four hours each way up and down the M1 for ten days and sleeping in your own house.
 
Rasher said:
If your planning on doing the Alps and the Pyrenees from the UK over 10 days then accommodation will be no problem, as you will be on Motorways the whole time there will be plenty of naff characterless motels to stop at :thumb

My tip would be go East to the Alps or West to the Pico's and Pyrenees, the Pico's and Pyrenees could easily give you a weeks top riding, the Alps a month, rather than rushing around on Motorways to see 1% of each of them.

Why not spend you precious holiday days on mountain roads instead of motorways - these are much the same in Europe so you could save at least a grand by riding four hours each way up and down the M1 for ten days and sleeping in your own house.
Click to expand...

hi rasher

thanks for the info.
6-8 guys going on the trip.
we done picos and n/west spain. Leon,santaigo
which was great.
planning running along the n-260 ,poss up to Peyrepertuse france, Carcassonne ,upto gorge du tarn avoiding motorways
if it was to far to get to the alps etc
CHEERS
 
Rasher said:
If your planning on doing the Alps and the Pyrenees from the UK over 10 days then accommodation will be no problem, as you will be on Motorways the whole time there will be plenty of naff characterless motels to stop at :thumb

My tip would be go East to the Alps or West to the Pico's and Pyrenees, the Pico's and Pyrenees could easily give you a weeks top riding, the Alps a month, rather than rushing around on Motorways to see 1% of each of them.

Why not spend you precious holiday days on mountain roads instead of motorways - these are much the same in Europe so you could save at least a grand by riding four hours each way up and down the M1 for ten days and sleeping in your own house.
Click to expand...

Not in my experience. I led a tour of 8 people/6 bikes from Zeebrugge to the Pyrenees and Alps and back to Zeebrugge in 2007 and we barely touched a motorway:

Zeebrugge - Troyes - Limoges - Bagneres du Luchon (three nights) - Carcassonne - Le Put en Velay via Millau Bridge & Tarn Gorge - Briancon (very long day via Die & Col du Bonnette) - Annecy via Col du L'Iseron - Nancy - Zeebrugge

Lots of fantastic roads, scenery and photos stops :D The only dull bits were the long straight roads between Troyes and Limoges, which is why I'm doing a similar route this year, but starting off from Santander.
 
Some food for thought from my trip:

RDGASummer2012jpeg.jpg


http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?308016-Linking-the-Pyrenees-and-Alps&highlight=linking
 
sven said:
Not in my experience. I led a tour of 8 people/6 bikes from Zeebrugge to the Pyrenees and Alps and back to Zeebrugge in 2007 and we barely touched a motorway:

Zeebrugge - Troyes - Limoges - Bagneres du Luchon (three nights) - Carcassonne - Le Put en Velay via Millau Bridge & Tarn Gorge - Briancon (very long day via Die & Col du Bonnette) - Annecy via Col du L'Iseron - Nancy - Zeebrugge

Lots of fantastic roads, scenery and photos stops :D The only dull bits were the long straight roads between Troyes and Limoges, which is why I'm doing a similar route this year, but starting off from Santander.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info.
we done the picos and most of northern spain , last june and never touched a motorway.
The roads were to die for ,not like potholes in our city of glasgow.
cheers
 
I have also done a similar route but drove down through France to meet up with other travellers who had taken the ferry to Bilbao.
Spent two weeks with them in the Picos and when they went back home I headed East along the Pyrenees stopping at Torla and onto Andorra, then across the South of France to go up Mt. Ventoux.

From there it was on to Bardoneccia to the Stella Alpina Rally, which is on the second Sunday in July every year, and up the the highest Col in the Italian alps, Col de Sommeiller. I managed just short of 3000 Mtr.

From there it was across to the Italain lakes, up through Austria and Germany and back home.:flag
 
MAR.600 said:
Hi guys
travelling from Glasgow to portsmouth
20th June/july dates
If anyone point out other routes and accomodation
If any anyone has satnav routes etc
Cheers
Click to expand...

If you are travelling back up any of the RDGA, then I stayed at these places -
In Sospel - Hotel des E'trangers http://www.sospel.net/ parking under the hotel - locked.

In Guillestre - http://www.catinat-fleuri.com/ with covered parking

In Bourg st Maurice - http://www.hotel-arolla.fr/topic/index.html - smaller hotel, also with covered parking

In Annecy - Hotel des Marquisats http://www.marquisats.com/ plenty of parking space well off the main road.

On the road north, I stay at Pont a Mousson http://www.bagatelle-hotel.com/ usually heading to Amsterdam for the ferry. private parking locked at night.
 
Depends on how many miles/hours you can do a day. I'd say it's possible – assuming that 10 days means 10 days from getting off the ferry in Spain to getting back to Dover/Folkestone/Hull

Personally, if you're doing the N260 I'd take it all the way to the coast and take that coastal road into France OR cross the Pyrenees earlier (col du pierre st Martin perhaps) and do the Aubisque/Soulor/Tourmalet/Aspin run before heading over to Foix and down to Peyrepeteuse. From there it's easily possible to head through Millau/Tarn region, over Mont Ventoux and along the Gorge de Verdon to pick up either Route Napoleon north or head deeper into the Mercantor and up through the Alps.

It'll be a tough ride, but it's more than do-able. In fact, I did it last year (more or less - but I started in Caen and still did the lap in 10 days). If you go to the RiDE website, there's a host of routes you could adapt/use - in the Guide To France there's a 14-day tour of France that you could pick up in the French Pyrenees, or in the main Routes page there are a series of "routes to Millau" - one goes through the Pyrenees, one through the Alps and you could put those together.

10 days to do the lot including time of ferries AND getting back to Scotland... there's going to be some VERY long days...
 
Just some comments.

While the N260 is good... REALLY good is a zig-zag route over the Pyrenees into France.... back into Spain, repeat.. lots of awesome twisty passes.

When coming home from Spain this summer, a mate and I decided that rather than motorwaying straight home, we'd run NE to the Alps, (full day of Mway from Valencia with a bit of a diversion along the coast at the boarder).. Spent part of the day in awesome mountain passes.. then Mway up to Northern France... Headed into NL on little roads... lunch at Mastricht, then Mway home...

Broke up what would have been a very long (Mway only) trip home. Hundreds of KMS longer, but much better than riding the flat roads knowing that it doesn't end till you get home...

Al...
 
I`m looking at doing something similar but on my way down the UK dropping down thru Wales to get some of those gem like roads :D I`ve been down to the Dolomites from Zeebrugge a few times and fancying a change so will be keeping an interested eye on this thread for any ideas that come up :D

Tip if you`re booking a ferry, I did it from my local travel agents and said I`d be willing to share a cabin, I travel on my own, and it saved me £120 return than doing it online :thumb thats a lot of petrol :comfort
 
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