France/Belgium/Germany - 5 days - advice needed!

[Apex]

Hi

AS above really. Off for 5 days to NE France Belgium and NW Germany with a mate. No plans made, just booked the tunnel. These areas look the greenest/most interesting on a map.

If you have some road, place and accommodation recommendations I'd love to have them!

Don't mind doing a visit to WW cemetery but want to make the most of riding and visiting interesting towns, villages and scenery really. First trip to these areas on a bike.

If you think I'm off to the wrong areas then do say, I won't be offended. Only thing is we don't want to spend days (only got 5) getting to and from Austria/Switzerland for example.

No bad idea's I suspect so look forward to your advice. If you've already got routes that could be shared that would be brilliant too!

Many thanks

Chris

 

[wessie]

Sounds like you have a good plan - the Eiffel region in Germany and the Ardennes that is spread across France, Belgium & Luxembourg are excellent areas for a 5 day trip.

If you haven't already done it, get some maps with a decent scale such as the Michelin 1:200000 orange maps of France & the similar ones for Germany.

Personally, I would plan a route on Day 1 to take me to a destination and stay somewhere for for a minimum of 3 nights so you can do day trips without luggage. Maybe an overnight stop somewhere on the way out & back home. I'm not a fan of packing up each day to move on and the area you are travelling to is fairly small.

Trier in the Moselle or Bouillon in the Ardennes make good bases. Charlesville Mezieres was surprisingly good too for a large industrial place. Just use booking.com to find somewhere that suits your budget.

 

[Zx9man]

Chris when do you plan on doing this trip ?

 

[Apex]

Thanks for this. Was thinking to tour around with luggage (only five days so jeans, trainers and toothbrush stuff). I've got 'special' pants with silver in them... Apparently they never need cleaning

Good tip re maps.

 

[Zx9man]

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/S...2!1d-3.8349976!2d43.4677177!2m1!2b1!3e0?hl=en

this is a nice little 5 day trip not the one you have planned but its got sun lol

 

[Apex]

Hi. Depends on weather but soon hopefully. Bought flexi tickets as it's a bit of a treat if you get me, so don't want to waste it on 5 days of rain.

 

[Apex]

That was the plan. Santander. But we only have five days tops and you lose 24hrs on the boat so we decided northern France etc. Good idea though.

 

[Zx9man]

try this then
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/S...41dd7684bf67:0x842d4c6179852f0b!1m0!3e0?hl=en

personal thought I have lots of time ie 17 days a/l left

 

[Zx9man]

Oradour-sur-Glane

very centre of France

 

[Zx9man]

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/4...0ee9640!2m2!1d-1.151139!2d46.160329!3e0?hl=en

is this the sort off trip

 

[sven]

The Ardennes and Eifel region offers some great riding and interesting old towns, castles and museums. I'd head towards Bastogne, then across northern Luxembourg to the Nurburgring. Then base yourself in Cochem on the Mosel or Boppard on the Rhine.

The technical museums in Speyer and especially Sinsheim are superb, Heidelburg is very pretty in the centre, Burg Eltz in the Mosel is beautiful.....I could go on, but I love the area

I found the ride across northern France to Oradour-sur-Glane very dull and the south western side of France didn't become interesting until about 50 miles south and heading into the lovely Dordogne region. I'd stick to Normandy with your time constraints, especially if you're interested in WW2

 

[Apex]

The Ardennes and Eifel region offers some great riding and interesting old towns, castles and museums. I'd head towards Bastogne, then across northern Luxembourg to the Nurburgring. Then base yourself in Cochem on the Mosel or Boppard on the Rhine.

The technical museums in Speyer and especially Sinsheim are superb, Heidelburg is very pretty in the centre, Burg Eltz in the Mosel is beautiful.....I could go on, but I love the area

I found the ride across northern France to Oradour-sur-Glane very dull and the south western side of France didn't become interesting until about 50 miles south and heading into the lovely Dordogne region. I'd stick to Normandy with your time constraints, especially if you're interested in WW2

These are great suggestions. Thank you.

I like the sound of heading through Belgium to Cochem. Nurburgring. Spa. Rivers. Pretty towns and villages. Even sounds like the weather's going to be with us.

So that's where we'll go. Have any suggestions for must see places within a day's ride of Cochem?

Calais - Belgium route or go North Eastern France route?

 

[wessie]

These are great suggestions. Thank you.

I like the sound of heading through Belgium to Cochem. Nurburgring. Spa. Rivers. Pretty towns and villages. Even sounds like the weather's going to be with us.

So that's where we'll go. Have any suggestions for must see places within a day's ride of Cochem?

Calais - Belgium route or go North Eastern France route?

I usually head towards Lille - free autoroute to Lille then head southeast on minor roads.

 

[jully@fr]

Hy Chris,
as I've been born in Alsace at the German border, may I suggest you to drive trough that part of France till the Swiss border and back driving alternatively on the Rhine Valley roads and on the Vosges mountains and sometimes on the German side through the Black Forest. In Alsace there are many middle age villages.
If it is a bit to far for your travel this time, think about it for another trip.
I would be glad to help you or any other person interested for a trip around there.
I wish you "de bonnes vacances"

 

[waynem325]

Have you gone already?
I did a 5 day weekend to Cochem last year with a couple of friends and can send you the route there and back if required? (I didnt plan the route so only have screen prints of Google maps)
Use Booking.com for accommodation.
The local roads in that area are some of the best i have ever seen, and of course the Nurburgring isn't too far away!
It took us about 12 hours to get there and about 13 to get back. With less fuel stops and less faffing it should take a lot less (I was on a Ducati 848 with a tank range of 100 miles). On our journey home it started raining in Belgium and didn't stop until Guildford! It didn't spoil the trip though and I'd love to do it again.

 

[bowser]

Lo mate are you camping or hosteling?

have a look at these sites

http://www.mobikehotel.com/moto/europe-map.php?lang=en
http://www.tourenfahrer-partner-region.de/index.php?id=43

can recommend this hotel
http://www.mobikehotel.com/moto/motorhotels-1.php?lang=en&htl=157
Logis Hotel Gourmet & Relax de la Sure Rest. "Comte Godefroy"

If you need a camp site this is a cracking one, we have stayed there several times and a nice location to tour out from.
http://www.motorcamping-littlecreek.com/index.php?lang=en



Pick your own roads but if your intersted in a route we did.

day 1 calais - dunkirk - lille - mons - charleroi - stopped overnight in Dinant.

day 2 Dinant - bastogne - through luxembourg towards metz and then through the Arden stopped over night

day 3 up to Rudesheim and stopped over night

day 4 Rudesheim to Trier (black gate) up to camping little creek near Bittburg,

day 5 Bitburg to brussels waterloo site bit of lunch and then back to calais and home for tea toast and tiffin

 

[Apex]

Hi all.

Yes, back Sunday night. Amazing trip. Just got better and better.

The route we took:

Calias-Dunkirk-Lille-Charleroi-Mons-Namur-Dinant. Stopped at a Gite with a Donkey sanctuary (€15 each for a double bed with shower X2! Cheap as chips, comfortable bed, no breakfast though).

Next day: Dinant-Hamoir (via back roads)-Trois ponts-Spa Francorchamps circuit. Stayed overnight here: Chabres d'hotes La Petite Suisse. Tel: 0470.083613 [email protected]. Amazing. She cooked us a steak dinner with wine for €15. Breakfast included (just fab) for €40 each for our own double room. Amazing shower! Food is off the farm.

Next day: Malmedy-Nurburgring. Lunch. Circuit closed :-( Opened at 6pm but we were long gone. Nurburgring-Ulmen-Cochem. Stayed Cochem - bit of a panic as Friday night and most places we called in to were booked out. Went down a very unpromising side road and found a great place - Hotel Winneburg. Shared double bed in ok room, can't remember the price but reasonable and we ate in the restaurant (fresh trout straight from the pool outside, as fresh as its gets). Before dinner we rode a section of the Mosel road South, crossed over and came back on the other side.

Blue skies and sunshine all the way up to this point of the trip. The roads from Namur all the way to Cochem were simply breathtaking. Spoilt forever now.

Saturday morning we rode the Cochem valley south as far as Alf-route 49-Wittlich-up the 50 to Landsheid-at this point I discovered the 'curvy road' setting on the Nav 5, WOW! We used this to Bittburg and the route it took us on was sublime, village to village, middle of nowhere, awesome road quality. Bittburg-Vianden on the 50-up the 10 to Marnach, sublime (awful last couple of miles though)-E421-7-N68 to Trois Ponts. At this point it started to lash with rain so we had an hours coffee, booked the Hilton in Brussels (a mistake, if it happened again I wouldn't go all the way into a centre only to have to find our way back out again the following day).

Sunday: Brussels to Bruges, lunch, Bruges to Calias in the pouring rain! Street guard kit almost perfect. Sidi boots perfect. Neotec perfect (I'm a convert to flip lid). Dover-Cheltenham, dodged the rain, all good.

The highs:
not booking accommodation. Although a little stressful until sorted, we always found a place to stop and I really think it added to our mini adventure.
The roads, endless good roads. Epic.
The GS of course. Despite a faulty quick shifter and constantly flashing warning light every time the tyre lost 0.1bar!
Ace weather. 22* High.

The lows:
The rain on the journey home. But even that added something to the experience.

I'll post a couple of photos. Many thanks for all your helpful input. Hooked now.

 

[Apex]

Photos

A couple of pics. Near Cochem, Spa and Nurburgring.