NeilF
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Thanks for sharing, Aidan. Some great pictures.
Italy and the western islands of the Mediterranean Sea
- Thread starter Aidan1150
- Start date
Thanks lads, I'm working away at it here. 
Wednesday morning and we’re on the move again. We thoroughly enjoyed our day and a half in the Iglesias area but it’s time to head north. We are booked on a 10am ferry to Corsica on Thursday morning and need to shorten the distance.
The roads through the hills were every bit as good as the coastal roads.
This sign made me think of home, Sligo and also Ardara in Co Donegal.
More lovely countryside
Our hotel for the night was in a very rural location indeed, but still had a pool and a separate cottage for us to stay in. It was three or four kilometres off the main road but with a view across to Corsica.
Tomorrow, another island. Corsica.
The roads through the hills were every bit as good as the coastal roads.
This sign made me think of home, Sligo and also Ardara in Co Donegal.
More lovely countryside
Our hotel for the night was in a very rural location indeed, but still had a pool and a separate cottage for us to stay in. It was three or four kilometres off the main road but with a view across to Corsica.
Tomorrow, another island. Corsica.
Humbug
Registered user
What a fantastic trip.
Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for sharing it.
A short ride of 20 miles or so on Thursday morning saw us arrive at Santa Teresa di Gallura for the ferry to Bonifacio in Corsica. The crossing takes just under an hour but you do need to have it pre-booked as it is quite busy.
The sailing was smooth and uneventful with the usual push to disembark the ship and exit the port.
There’s still a few pounds kicking about.
We left town in the direction of Ajaccio and on to the little seaside town of Porto where we had booked a hotel for the night.
The difference between Sicily and Sardinia and Corsica was more pronounced than I had imagined. It was apparent right away that you were in France. The quality of the roads and just the feel of the place was different than what we had had this past week and a half.
The little town of Porto. Lovely.
The sailing was smooth and uneventful with the usual push to disembark the ship and exit the port.
There’s still a few pounds kicking about.
We left town in the direction of Ajaccio and on to the little seaside town of Porto where we had booked a hotel for the night.
The difference between Sicily and Sardinia and Corsica was more pronounced than I had imagined. It was apparent right away that you were in France. The quality of the roads and just the feel of the place was different than what we had had this past week and a half.
The little town of Porto. Lovely.
Enjoying this Aidan! Cheers for taking the time to set up the presentation just in time for next years HUBB Eh Jochen ???? 
Now that had me confused until I had a look for information and found Linky if you want it all
Now that had me confused until I had a look for information and found Linky if you want it all
Enjoying this Aidan and it looks like a great route
Thanks Jay & Chris.
Friday was Mandy’s birthday so the plan today was to ride the coast as far as L’ile Rousse then over to find a jewellers in Bastia to purchase a suitable birthday present before riding to Macinaggio at the top of the Cap Corse for a couple of nights stay.
Just a couple of miles out of Porto we spotted a food truck in a shaded area beside the road so stopped for a late breakfast.
This was our view as we munched on our croissants. We could have sat all day.
On towards Calvi and we were riding roads that Le Tour de France had been on only a week ago.
The road from Bastia up to Macinaggio wasn’t too bad either
A couple of kir’s well enjoyed before the dinner. Happy days.
Just a couple of miles out of Porto we spotted a food truck in a shaded area beside the road so stopped for a late breakfast.
This was our view as we munched on our croissants. We could have sat all day.
On towards Calvi and we were riding roads that Le Tour de France had been on only a week ago.
The road from Bastia up to Macinaggio wasn’t too bad either
A couple of kir’s well enjoyed before the dinner. Happy days.
Great ride report Aidan
Bit concerned that we haven't seen a bridge or a barn yet...
Bit concerned that we haven't seen a bridge or a barn yet...
Kneeslider916
Registered user
Sardinian road suggestion.
I was in Sardinia a couple of weeks ago, second time in two years, and can thoroughly recommend the SS125 from Dorgali to Arbatax, 65km of mountain twistys with no straights longer than 300m and incredible views of 1000ft drops into the valley below. And the coffee is incredible as well !
I recommend Alghero as well for a stop over, a lovely town with great restaurants.
I was in Sardinia a couple of weeks ago, second time in two years, and can thoroughly recommend the SS125 from Dorgali to Arbatax, 65km of mountain twistys with no straights longer than 300m and incredible views of 1000ft drops into the valley below. And the coffee is incredible as well !
I recommend Alghero as well for a stop over, a lovely town with great restaurants.
The bike wasn’t started at all on the Saturday. In fact I didn’t even see the bike that whole day. We had another relaxing day off the roads lounging about, taking care of mundane tasks like washing and generally just pottering about Macinaggio which is a typical Mediterranean seaside village.
Sunday was to be an early start though. Our ferry from Bastia was leaving at 8am which meant leaving our hotel at six for the fifty minute ride to the ferryport. The sun was just rising as we rode south.
Throwing shadows onto the rocks alongside the road
Our ferry docks, we load up and we’re away again.
I had booked a cabin on board because of the early start so it was good to get a few hours sleep as the ship made her way steadily to Nice, a five and a half hour voyage.
Sailing along the Cote d’Azur on our way to dock in Nice.
Leaving the port of Nice we hugged the coast as far as Antibes but it was too busy with traffic and too damned hot so we turned north towards the mountains through Grasse and on to Sisteron.
After we had passed Castellane it started to rain. Heavily. And by the time we reached Sisteron we were well soaked. It was the only time on the trip that I had regretted booking our accommodation online that morning. Had I not bothered we could have taken pot luck with a hotel along the road. Ah well, you live and learn.
Sunday was to be an early start though. Our ferry from Bastia was leaving at 8am which meant leaving our hotel at six for the fifty minute ride to the ferryport. The sun was just rising as we rode south.
Throwing shadows onto the rocks alongside the road
Our ferry docks, we load up and we’re away again.
I had booked a cabin on board because of the early start so it was good to get a few hours sleep as the ship made her way steadily to Nice, a five and a half hour voyage.
Sailing along the Cote d’Azur on our way to dock in Nice.
Leaving the port of Nice we hugged the coast as far as Antibes but it was too busy with traffic and too damned hot so we turned north towards the mountains through Grasse and on to Sisteron.
After we had passed Castellane it started to rain. Heavily. And by the time we reached Sisteron we were well soaked. It was the only time on the trip that I had regretted booking our accommodation online that morning. Had I not bothered we could have taken pot luck with a hotel along the road. Ah well, you live and learn.
chad
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Brilliant I'm sitting waiting for the plane at pathos airport reading these updates can't wait to get home and get the bike out
Keep it coming Aidan
Keep it coming Aidan
Deleted account 211025001
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I'm really enjoying reading this Aidan, ta for going to all the trouble of writting it up I'm considering a similar trip for next year so will show this to Amanda and see what she thinks 
Andres
I'm considering a similar trip for next year so will show this to Amanda and see what she thinks Andres
Thanks Chad and Andres.
After the storm which lasted most of the night we woke to bright sunshine on Monday morning. Normal service had been restored.
As with the rest of this trip the only real plan was to stay away from motorways as far as possible, not just because of the tolls, but because I hate the fecking things. Off through the alps we went in the direction of Grenoble and eventually Macon where we stopped for the night.
I had booked us into a Best Hotel, part of a cheap chain in France, on the edge of town in Macon and to be honest wasn’t expecting much from the on site restaurant but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of the food we were served all at a very reasonable price. You just never know.
As with the rest of this trip the only real plan was to stay away from motorways as far as possible, not just because of the tolls, but because I hate the fecking things. Off through the alps we went in the direction of Grenoble and eventually Macon where we stopped for the night.
I had booked us into a Best Hotel, part of a cheap chain in France, on the edge of town in Macon and to be honest wasn’t expecting much from the on site restaurant but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of the food we were served all at a very reasonable price. You just never know.
I didn’t take many photos as I rode up through France. For almost ten years I was in France nearly every week and would know it pretty well. I do like France, and the French too but I must admit that I wasn’t thinking of this ride report as I rode along.
We stopped at a Flunch restaurant at a shopping centre on Tuesday and went into the supermarket next door to get a few bits and peices. I did like their wine section. From where I’m taking the photo to the far back wall is all reds. The whites had a similar aisle next to this.
My kind of shopping.
We stopped at a Flunch restaurant at a shopping centre on Tuesday and went into the supermarket next door to get a few bits and peices. I did like their wine section. From where I’m taking the photo to the far back wall is all reds. The whites had a similar aisle next to this.
My kind of shopping.
We had gone as far as Moussy, near Epernay on Tuesday then on Wednesday set off for St Omer to be near to Calais for a ferry on Thursday morning. As we rode along the D3 towards Chateau Thierry we could see a huge monument on a hill overlooking the town so had to go investigate.
Turns out it is a memorial to American and French soldiers who fell in the Great War.
Mandy had never visited any of the cemeteries in the Somme so we stopped at two on our way. The beautiful French church and cemetery at Rancourt.
And the British memorial and cemetery at Cabaret Rouge in the same area
There are dozens of these cemeteries scattered all over northern France and it’s the numbers of little crosses that are almost incomprehensible.
Finally, we arrive in St Omer, or last night on the continent.
England tomorrow.
Turns out it is a memorial to American and French soldiers who fell in the Great War.
Mandy had never visited any of the cemeteries in the Somme so we stopped at two on our way. The beautiful French church and cemetery at Rancourt.
And the British memorial and cemetery at Cabaret Rouge in the same area
There are dozens of these cemeteries scattered all over northern France and it’s the numbers of little crosses that are almost incomprehensible.
Finally, we arrive in St Omer, or last night on the continent.
England tomorrow.
Thursday morning and it was a short ride to Calais for the boat to Dover and on over to Hungerford in Berkshire where we were staying the night with our friend Ash.
On Friday we set off for North Wales to spend our last night away with friends Tim & Ange having called in at Shrewsbury for tea on the way up. Thanks Paul.
An hour to the ferry on Saturday morning, a two and a half hour sailing and another ninety minutes saw us home almost three weeks after we flew out.
After a trip like this I like to look back and see if I’d do anything differently. Apart from loading the maps onto the GPS I don’t think I would but even at that it didn’t make any real difference to our holiday at all. In fact maybe we took roads we wouldn’t have done and stopped at places we might have missed. Who knows?
We were on the road for 20 days and apart from the GPS mistake the only thing that went wrong was that the display screen on the back of my camera failed. I continued to use it but couldn’t see what I was snapping. Many of the pics above were taken that way.
There’s no point in getting too stressed about things. I didn’t take the paper part of my drivers licence with me, nor the registration documents for the bike, nor a copy of my insurance, nothing in fact apart from our passports. And nothing happened. No one died or anything.
Shipping the bike out was a great job and is something that I will look at for again. Probably for Nordkapp 2015. Bring it on.
Thanks for reading.
On Friday we set off for North Wales to spend our last night away with friends Tim & Ange having called in at Shrewsbury for tea on the way up. Thanks Paul.
An hour to the ferry on Saturday morning, a two and a half hour sailing and another ninety minutes saw us home almost three weeks after we flew out.
After a trip like this I like to look back and see if I’d do anything differently. Apart from loading the maps onto the GPS I don’t think I would but even at that it didn’t make any real difference to our holiday at all. In fact maybe we took roads we wouldn’t have done and stopped at places we might have missed. Who knows?
We were on the road for 20 days and apart from the GPS mistake the only thing that went wrong was that the display screen on the back of my camera failed. I continued to use it but couldn’t see what I was snapping. Many of the pics above were taken that way.
There’s no point in getting too stressed about things. I didn’t take the paper part of my drivers licence with me, nor the registration documents for the bike, nor a copy of my insurance, nothing in fact apart from our passports. And nothing happened. No one died or anything.
Shipping the bike out was a great job and is something that I will look at for again. Probably for Nordkapp 2015. Bring it on.
Thanks for reading.
Brilliant report
Thanks for posting
Thanks for posting
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