Polecat (and in way Dave, too) make a good point.
I am pretty familiar with looking at maps and the geography of much of western Europe, knowing that to go from A to B to C via D will probably take X hours on minor roads and Y hours (or maybe less) on motorways. I am also lucky enough to be confident enough to 'risk it' in a privately owned hotel where the owner may well not speak English... well, I don't speak Italian or Hungarian, so we have plenty in common. Nor do I buy into the 'biker friendly' ethic. Most hoteliers, pubs, shops and restaurants will be more than happy to serve anyone providing they (their customers) are at least vaguely polite. Yes, you (and they) will make mistakes but nobody will die as a consequence, thankfully.
But, there is little wrong in taking in a bit of help, too. On my last 'Wander' we visited Normandy, somewhere I am not overtly familiar with never having visited the W2 sites there. Yes. I know where they are, can work out how to get there and back, find and book two hotels plucked at random off the internet and make a reasonable stab at it all. I could also map out all the likely things to see and knew that the Bayeux tapestry was a worth a detour. But, I made a simple mistake (putting a gun battery in the wrong town, muddling it up with a monument to the Commando Brigade) and was indebted to one of the party with some good suggestions on other things to see that I would have missed. So, we - all of us on the 'Wander' - I hope gained something and had a half decent time, which is all anyone really wants.
To agree though with Dave, in a way. From Calais to Nice is about 700 miles through a civilised western European country. That is the same distance from London to the far north tip of Scotland. Most bods would be quite happy to plan their own route from London to Inverness to take one or two or three or more days..... but seem to get into a flat panic when the Channel gets in the way or the language is not English as it is spoke (i.e.. it's all in foreign). The other thing many bods forget is the purpose of why they are going somewhere.... getting somehow lost in more and more convoluted ways to either avoid anything that is too 'foreign' (and therefore unsafe) or travel down every tiny by-way without even a basic map.... forgetting that their trusted Google mapped PC will be sitting in their living room, when they are soaking wet (or boiling) in St Claude de Lost.... staring at a road sign 'in foreign, mate'.
I am pretty familiar with looking at maps and the geography of much of western Europe, knowing that to go from A to B to C via D will probably take X hours on minor roads and Y hours (or maybe less) on motorways. I am also lucky enough to be confident enough to 'risk it' in a privately owned hotel where the owner may well not speak English... well, I don't speak Italian or Hungarian, so we have plenty in common. Nor do I buy into the 'biker friendly' ethic. Most hoteliers, pubs, shops and restaurants will be more than happy to serve anyone providing they (their customers) are at least vaguely polite. Yes, you (and they) will make mistakes but nobody will die as a consequence, thankfully.
But, there is little wrong in taking in a bit of help, too. On my last 'Wander' we visited Normandy, somewhere I am not overtly familiar with never having visited the W2 sites there. Yes. I know where they are, can work out how to get there and back, find and book two hotels plucked at random off the internet and make a reasonable stab at it all. I could also map out all the likely things to see and knew that the Bayeux tapestry was a worth a detour. But, I made a simple mistake (putting a gun battery in the wrong town, muddling it up with a monument to the Commando Brigade) and was indebted to one of the party with some good suggestions on other things to see that I would have missed. So, we - all of us on the 'Wander' - I hope gained something and had a half decent time, which is all anyone really wants.
To agree though with Dave, in a way. From Calais to Nice is about 700 miles through a civilised western European country. That is the same distance from London to the far north tip of Scotland. Most bods would be quite happy to plan their own route from London to Inverness to take one or two or three or more days..... but seem to get into a flat panic when the Channel gets in the way or the language is not English as it is spoke (i.e.. it's all in foreign). The other thing many bods forget is the purpose of why they are going somewhere.... getting somehow lost in more and more convoluted ways to either avoid anything that is too 'foreign' (and therefore unsafe) or travel down every tiny by-way without even a basic map.... forgetting that their trusted Google mapped PC will be sitting in their living room, when they are soaking wet (or boiling) in St Claude de Lost.... staring at a road sign 'in foreign, mate'.
