heading to france for the first time

[stumac]

please help im heading on a run by myself in july for a week 2 days boat 5 full days on the road and i do not have a clue where to begin.to be very brief i want to head east from cherbourg in to switzerland out of the alps through italy and back home
i think my best bet is to head for morges in switzerland,ride round the lake and head south through the alps and coming out in italy near where the 3 countries meet(somewhere around courmayeur)
has anyone any routes or experiences of this run and do you think it is doable with the time ive got.
i dont mind riding motorways just to get through france if time is tight.

 

[Invicta Moto]

Cherbourg to Switzerland and Italy, and back in 5 days on the road and see something along the way? Seems like a lot of miles in a short time for a first timer to France etc.

 

[stumac]

1314 miles to be exact.262 miles a day.
anything i want to see i want to see from the saddle,im going for the run rather that holidaying,ive done them sort of miles round scotland in 5 days but with my lack of knowlage of what the roads are like in france im not sure if this is possable.although as i say i dont mind getting of the baot at hittind the motorwat just to get to the alps fast and then maybe on the way home taking scenic routes,as for italy going by the map i will just be skimming through.

 

[Wapping]

Am I getting a strange feeling of deja-vu?

Trip thingy

It's much the same as going to the Pyrenees. It's only time and distance.

Cherbourg to Morges, via motorway, is 540 miles. Depending on what time your boat docks, how many breaks you want (and for how long) and on what time you want to stop, you can ride that in a day. If you want to meander, you can do it in two, easily.

Morges to Courmayeur is, by motorway, 100 miles. Easy.

Courmayeur back to Cherbourg, again by motorway, is 600 miles. Again, doable in a day.

So a round trip on motorways of 1,250 odd miles in five days = 250 miles average per day. Easy.

Add perhaps 25% to a 1/3 if you lob in scenic roads, gives say 1,500 miles = 300 (much slower) miles a day.

The area around and between Annecy and Briancon might be easier. But if I were starting at Cherbourg, I would probably head towards the western side of France (the square block I suggested in the other thread) or you are just burning valuable time and fossil fuel crossing France on the diagonal.

 

[stumac]

yes w its me again im driving myself crazy as to where to go,spent the last 2 days on google earth and its only confused me more.im starting to think,get off the boat point the bike in any direction for 21/2 days turn 180 deg and do the same.

 

[Wapping]

99% of the roads in France are fine, much the same as in the UK. It is a (some may say, THE) civilised nation in Europe.

The country is, near enough, twice the size of UK with the same population, most of whom live in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and a handful of other major cities. So, France is, for large parts 'empty'. Most of the motorways are toll roads, so get ready with your credit card. The viaMichelin website will calculate your toll charges and fuel for any given journey.

 

[garfield]

My only word of caution speaking as a newbie to riding seriously in France for the first time last year and going all the way to Switzerland in broadly the same time as you are allowing yourself, is that you'll be knackered. It's a hell of a big country and riding on your own is a little bit harder, not insurmountable but harder. You'll have fun, I love France and the French, it's a beautiful place.....

here's the link to my own trip....good luck.....

 

[Wapping]

yes w its me again im driving myself crazy as to where to go,spent the last 2 days on google earth and its only confused me more.im starting to think,get off the boat point the bike in any direction for 21/2 days turn 180 deg and do the same.

You are trying too hard, I think.

Forget Google earth for a minute. The back of the moon looks good on that.

Get the 726 map.

Look at the scale.

Put the point of a compass on Cherbourg.

Find a place 100 road miles away and draw a circle, centred on Cherbourg, swinging through the 100 mile point.

Now draw another 200 miles away, again centred on Cherbourg.

Repeat three more times = 500 miles.

That will give you an idea of where is what and what is where.

Riding 200 miles on French lesser (D) roads will take you probably a fair bit longer than it does at home.

Riding 200 miles on French major (N) roads or motorways will take you probably a bit longer than it does at home. Not because they are not fast (they are) but because you do not know where you are going.

You have five days away. It's a holiday. We did Calais to Morocco in two and a half but it was a flog. So you could do that but I wouldn't recommend it. If you think 250 miles is a long way in a day at home, it's no shorter (or longer) across the Channel. Cut your cloth accordingly.

Get yourself the 726 map and draw the circles. Look for those green Bis roads. If you go down the west side (the bits I told you about) you will go along some great roads, I promise. You will end up in the 'ac' region of France, Figeac, Bergerac etc It's great scenery and has super campsites, often set in what were old volcanic hills. Big rivers, hills, views, good camping, caves to go in, strange places like Domme, perched on a hill.

Save the Alps for another time... They won't erode before the next Ice Age.

 

[Deleted account LB]

Got from St Malo to Annecy in a day which was a long ride !!!. The next day I did Annecy lake, into Switzerland, Grand St Bernard Pass over to Arosta then Petit St Bernard Pass and Back to Annecy in a day also (256 miles)

The following day from Annecy back upto Bourge as I was heading for the WSB at Magny Cours.

Milage is doable but what I have learnt from doing about 10 trips now around Europe is either take at least a 3rd off the daily milage you plan on doing each day or stay in one place for a couple of nights and use the time to do a bit of exploring, bikes are also far more fun without 1/2 ton of gear strapped to them !

If you do want to plan big miles have a backup plan, if the weather is awful, you will not want to do the miles so always have an alternative route in mind.

Oh and France really is bloody huge !!

 

[Wapping]

Got from St Malo to Annecy in a day which was a long ride !!!. The next day I did Annecy lake, into Switzerland, Grand St Bernard Pass over to Arosta then Petit St Bernard Pass and Back to Annecy in a day also (256 miles)

Milage is doable but what I have learnt from doing about 10 trips now around Europe is either take at least a 3rd off the daily milage you plan on doing each day or stay in one place for a couple of nights and use the time to do a bit of exploring, bikes are also far more fun without 1/2 ton of gear strapped to them !

If you do want to plan big miles have a backup plan, if the weather is awful, you will not want to do the miles so always have an alternative route in mind.

Oh and France really is bloody huge !!

See, it's that Annecy place I mentioned, along with the hint about the size of France and time / mileages (see other thread). You are building no slack into your plan at all and will probably flog yourself half to death to see a mountain range which will be there next year, too. It's a holiday, not a marathon.

 

[Deleted account LB]

You are trying too hard, I think.


Get yourself the 726 map and draw the circles. Look for those green Bis roads. If you go down the west side (the bits I told you about) you will go along some great roads, I promise. You will end up in the 'ac' region of France, Figeac, Bergerac etc It's great scenery and has super campsites, often set in what were old volcanic hills. Big rivers, hills, views, good camping, caves to go in, strange places like Domme, perched on a hill.

Save the Alps for another time... They won't erode before the next Ice Age.

I have been to the Figeac area three times now and will be going back again this year for a four day break with a mate on a BLade.

We will travel from St Malo to Figeac area on day one which is 470 miles using the Peage. Its boring and costs but it covers the miles. We then spend 2 nights at www.bikerslot.com which I have used three times now. One day we will do the Bridge, Gorge du Tarn and then day 2 will be used to go into the Volcanoes and do a few cols. You can get up to 1500 mtrs easily here, when I went last April the locals were sking past us.

Day four will be the long trek back to the ferry.

To do the alps as well I would have allowed another 5 days on top of this to really enjoy em.

Im with Wappin on this one