Late September Wander 2014 Malta, Austria and the Adriatic coast PROVISIONAL ONLY

Wapping

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Following on from John’s invitation for bods to join him on a short break on the Adriatic and / or stay at his family run hotel in Malta, Austria http://www.hochalmspitze.com/

Here’s an outline idea for a possible Wander in late September 2014. Very provisional dates, subject to John’s plans / hotel(s) availability, 2014 going OK etc. etc.

Depart by Chunnel the early evening of Thursday 18 September (to stay in St Omer, possibly) or an early train on Friday morning, 19 September

Three days to get to Malta, taking a sensible mixture of half decent roads rather than too much motorway

Arriving Malta, the late afternoon / early evening of Sunday 21 September

Three full days with John in Malta. There are certainly enogh roads to ride in or around the area to make it worthwhile.

Depart for the Adriatic with John, early morning Thursday 25 September, with a day to get there.

Return to Malta on (maybe?) the evening of Monday the 29th September

Three days to come back, probably via a different route if sensible, arriving at Calais for the late afternoon / early evening of Thursday 02 October for a train back to the UK.

An alternative might be to not return with John via Malta but come back to Calais a different way over four days perhaps, still aiming for Calais on 02 October.

Another alternative might be to extend the trip at either one end or the other (the weather is generally good in early October and the light is still not bad) to take in some other things? If so, tacking something on the end to come back on say Sunday 05 October or maybe longer might be a go’er, too.

Number of bikes? This very much depends on room availability, John’s own plans and the logistics of moving a gaggle of bikes along at a reasonable pace. Three days there to Malta and back certainly needn’t be a race but it’s still a decent schlep if we are to take some interesting roads. Let’s say five or six, pillions welcome.

Suitable for? Anyone who can ride a motorbike, I guess. I definitely try to run my Wanders at a pace that makes them interesting but not so much that anyone needs to feel pressured to keep up… That’s how accidents happen. I will plot up some possible routes but anyone or everyone is free to do their own thing. The only thing I would ask is that if anyone is travelling down / returning on different dates (for instance if they planned to go over earlier or come back later) they look after their own hotel bookings; it’s often tricky enough to juggle my own, without having to factor in other bods diverse plans.

Anything else? The idea of the jaunt is to get to Malta reasonably quickly and return reasonably quickly; Malta and the Adriatic are the destinations to have in mind. Flower pressing can wait until we are there.

Richard

Flag up any interest here please, no PM's. First come, first served, also indicatiing if you are solo and / or if you are happy to share a room.
 
A very rough hack out of a possible route down to Malta.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...me&mrsp=9&sz=8&via=2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10&t=m&z=8

Take no notice of the actual roads. It's just to get a rough feel of the direction.


If next September is anything like this one we will be very busy up until about the 20th and then on have plenty of availability. As Wapping says there is plenty here to keep you occupied and we give a local tourist card which means that wonderful roads like the Nockalmstrasse are free for our guests. As for the journey, 3 days should be ample, I had a quick look at the rough route.
The road along the top of the Bodensee is best avoided I think, lots of towns, speed restrictions and hardly a sight of the lake. From Bischofshofen to us take the B99 rather than the A10 autobahn (unless you are running really late) saves the 10 euro toll for the twin tunnels and is a great road anyway.

Hope to see a few of you next year,

John
 
Hello Richard,
Initially I had to re-read this post, not a normal Wander week-ender that is for sure! So for next year ? Well Pauline and I would like to put our names on this one, lets see how it runs.

Thanks
dxtans
 
The road along the top of the Bodensee is best avoided I think, lots of towns, speed restrictions and hardly a sight of the lake. From Bischofshofen to us take the B99 rather than the A10 autobahn (unless you are running really late) saves the 10 euro toll for the twin tunnels and is a great road anyway.

Thanks for the tips :thumb2

It was just a rough hack out to give bods an idea of the distance, where Malta is etc. etc. I have no intentention of going too close to the lake's edge *, though I do know quite a good pizza / ice cream place, right next to a Shell petrol station.

The route down will probably be roughly Calais, Verdun, Colmar / Black Forest, Malta on a sort of diagonal. I am tempted by the three day down idea, if only because it is a sort of holiday getting there.




* Few busy roads bordered by a big lake are great news. Difficult to escape, unless one learns to ride a bike on water with a degree of considerable skill.
 
Deliciously tempting plan Richard,:clap please put me on the list, I would like to bring Debbie but I fear its too many miles for her, lets see if I can persuade her.

Cheers for now.
 
Excellent.

Let's look at the daily mileages; the total (minimum) distance A to B I can't do much about, short of shrinking the earth.

Sensibly, we could (maybe) work out assorted routes, all ending up in the same places each evening, some 'easier' on the backside than others.
 
That sounds like fun....:)

If things pan out, a place for Mr&Mrs CC please... :thumb2
 
Runners and riders....

Wapping

dxtans and Mrs dxtans

paintman (and maybe Mrs paintman, who can tell?)

Coolcarbon & Mrs Coolcarbon

Kev B

iand46

That's six bikes, which means it's a go'er as it stands. Let's see how 2013 and into early 2014 pans out, then go from there. I would certainly like to do the trip, for sure. In the meantime, I will have a look at some possible hotels and / or at some alternative routes.

John, I will contact you separately via PM or email about rooms etc.

Richard
 
Sounds promising

Just to add that the usual thing is for Ros to take the car rather than ride pillion. Our chef, Vernon, is also coming in the car this year as he has yet to pass his bike test, who knows he may get there by next summer! Anyway the point is there will be a couple of seats in the car should anyone want a break from being a pillion. Also we have had several ladies fly in to joint groups who have ridden down-just a thought.

John
 
It will be what it will be :D

I have been twice before, around the same time. 25c in the valleys and flecks of snow on the very highest passes.

All in all late September and early October is a nice time to go. :thumb2
 
whats weather likely to be around that time of year john:confused:

Usually September early October is the most stable period for weather here. It can still be very warm but very hot weather is unlikely. Perfect for biking I think with highs around 25 to 27 C All of the high roads, including the Grossglockner will be open until late October. Yes it can be cool on the tops but then again our guests who did the Grossglockner yesterday reported 6 C at the top and that is the middle of August with around 30 C here in the valley.

In Croatia it should be a little warmer, last year in Rovinj we had 28 to 30 c every day. The year before we went in mid October for a week, lowest midday temp was 22 C, most days it was near 28!

It's my humble opinion that late September/early October is one of the best times to visit Croatia. The crowds have gone (don't forget that Croatia has been a major tourist destination for most of Northern Europe for many years now) and with the crowds has gone the high summer heat.

John
 
Richard please put me down for this, single rooms for me, dont mind sharing but my snoring is such that being deaf as a post would be a pre requisite for any room mate.
:thumb
 
Seven bikes - eight bods - maybe nine

Wapping

dxtans and Mrs dxtans

paintman (and maybe Mrs paintman, who can tell?)

Coolcarbon & Mrs Coolcarbon

Kev B

iand46

Pablo1

I will close the list now as I have a couple that may be interested off another site.
 
This sounds interesting

If you are building a reserve list
I would like to apply

Single room where possible
one man ..one bike..no pillion
 


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