Route advice Geneva to Nice and on to Corsica

dancerdave

dancerdave

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Heading here with 2 mates at the start of August and have 3 days to get from Geneva to the ferry in Nice and then to Bastia and 4 days on Corsica. Any routes/ must see places or recommendations for BnB's would be very welcome. I'm aware of Route Napoleon but that's about it.
 
Route Des Grande Alpes :thumb Route Napoleon is over rated and not a patch on Route Des Grande Alpes
Dave
 
+1

Though it depends on the type of riding you prefer,

RN is fast sweepers - plus you can detour to Gorge Verdon and have some fun.
RGA is gnarly hairpins with dramatic drops - but the views warrant a photo every 5 seconds
 
+1 for the RDGA.
The obvious stop over is Briancon, I can recommend the hotel plein sud as its where I stayed last July, its slightly on the edge of Briançon in serre-chevalier but the pool is a welcome relief at the end of the day.
It was a surprise to find the area quiet even though it was July
The Ibis in the centre of Briancon is close to Mc D`s, shops, bars and restaurants.
However neither of these have the secure garages most tossers desire. But parking outside them isn`t a problem.
Then from Briancon its a long day down the RDGA to Menton, with various hotels recommended by all inc Hôtel Club Vacanciel, Hotel Alexandra, the Ibis Menton or if your on a budget the YHA hostel in the centre of Nice (HI hostels Les Camélias) is 1/2 mile from the ferry terminal & I`ve parked my bike in the garden outside the door. however the organisation is shocking, even though I pre-booked, they lost my booking, gave me beds on 3 different dorms, (even though they where either female dorms or full) before I found the right dorm

As for Corsica for a base I and others can recommend the hotel Corsica in Porto its close to the Cols & passes, there`s a garage for the bikes, great pool, and within 5mins walk to the beach, bars, & restaurants. in the south I can recommend in Porto Pollo The Hotel Eucalyptus and in Bastia the Hotel Posta Vecchia 5-10 mins from the ferry, 2-3mins from shops, bars and restaurants, they have secure garage at the bottom of the ramp
 
Peirre O`Bollox said:
+1 for the RDGA.
The obvious stop over is Briancon, I can recommend the hotel plein sud as its where I stayed last July, its slightly on the edge of Briançon in serre-chevalier but the pool is a welcome relief at the end of the day.
It was a surprise to find the area quiet even though it was July
The Ibis in the centre of Briancon is close to Mc D`s, shops, bars and restaurants.
However neither of these have the secure garages most tossers desire. But parking outside them isn`t a problem.
Then from Briancon its a long day down the RDGA to Menton, with various hotels recommended by all inc Hôtel Club Vacanciel, Hotel Alexandra, the Ibis Menton or if your on a budget the YHA hostel in the centre of Nice (HI hostels Les Camélias) is 1/2 mile from the ferry terminal & I`ve parked my bike in the garden outside the door. however the organisation is shocking, even though I pre-booked, they lost my booking, gave me beds on 3 different dorms, (even though they where either female dorms or full) before I found the right dorm

As for Corsica for a base I and others can recommend the hotel Corsica in Porto its close to the Cols & passes, there`s a garage for the bikes, great pool, and within 5mins walk to the beach, bars, & restaurants. in the south I can recommend in Porto Pollo The Hotel Eucalyptus and in Bastia the Hotel Posta Vecchia 5-10 mins from the ferry, 2-3mins from shops, bars and restaurants, they have secure garage at the bottom of the ramp
Click to expand...

Thanks. that's the info I was hoping to get. On a budget of about 50 euros a night so I'll check these out.
 
Hotel Azteca in Barcellonette. Or Grande Hotel in same town.

Al
 
Have a look at:

http://www.grande-traversee-alpes.com/en/route-des-grandes-alpes/useful-information/accomodation

If a place suits someone on a pushbike it will suit a bod on a motorbike, that's a certainty.

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...inc-lyon--/la-route-des-grandes-_2864590.html

A good report on how to do the RGA and all the rest, here: https://gpsrepublic.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/2011-alpine-and-pyrenees-tour-day-1-2/ You have to follow the links to read about each day, so it requires a bit of effort and definitely a map.

Our own Rasher's take on the whole thing, here: http://www.alpineroads.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1562

As it's a tour company, this site does not list the hotels. However, with a bit of imagination (and a map) you could recreate it and at least work out which towns they stop in. http://www.globalmotorcycletours.co.uk/french_swiss_alps.html

All of those links and ideas turned up by Googling 'route de grande alpes motorcycle hotels'..... Now it's your turn. Seriously, nobody knows where YOU want to be each night. All the bods listing their hotels found them somehow; if you use their hotels you'll be forced down their itinerary. A lot of the fun is working out your own routes.... Post up your great finds (and the not so great ones) when you're back, please.
 
dancerdave said:
Thanks. that's the info I was hoping to get. On a budget of about 50 euros a night so I'll check these out.
Click to expand...
you may have to break the budget, the Plein Sud was €55 pn. on Corsica (July 2013) the hotel Corsica was €67pn garage FOC, the Posta Vecchia was €55 + €5-10 for garage, the Eucalyptus was €100+ pn which I got the day before the prices went up (high season), but as a nessesary evil I booked it so I could split the southern section up, IF you intend to venture to the south of the island, it would be wise not to attempt to run from the north/centre and loop round back up in the same day, its better to have a base for a few days (ie: Porto) to explore the top half, then ride down to Bonifacio or Porto Pollo, before heading north. I found that any ride out in excess of 160 miles was a long day.
As an example: Despite mapsource`s optimistic calculations, running up through the centre Porto Pollo to Bastia took 9hrs+ (162 miles) running up Col De St.Eustache, Col de la Vaccia, Col du Sorba, Col De Bellagranajo, Corte, Ponte Leccia, lento, Col de bigorno, Murato, Olletta, Saint Florent, Patrimonio, over Col De Teghime, and down into Bastia. Photos and flower pressing where kept to a minimum. The only 2 passes I didn`t ride over while on Corsica where Col de Bavella, and Col De Maggiore.

I still have the mapsource file for my trip down the RDGA, Corsica, italy and beyond, which I`ve upload it to dropbox for you to use https://www.dropbox.com/s/jpsxuy04trjqmcq/Corsica 2013 - Final.gdb
 
That's brilliant. I'm thinking now of staying one night in the north 2 nights in Porto and then back up to Bastia as we have the early ferry to get back to Nice. As you say it's easy to over estimate what you can do with map source.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 
RdGA: In Briancon I normally stay in the Hotel Vauban. On the edge of town, quiet, garage, still an easy stroll into the main town centre and good value. That's if doing it in two-days. A more relaxed schedule would be to stop in Bourg St Maurice (Hotel Arolla or the Petit Auberge) and then in Barcelonette (Hotel le Grand) and taking three days to do the RdGA.

In Corsica, definitely do the full coastal lap of Cap Corse from Bastia - a fantastic road. The main coastal road along the west coast down to Porto is not to be missed. In the southern/central area, the D420 to Zonza is amazing – bear with the rough early stages where they're still upgrading it – and the D268 (Col de Bavella) is also superb. The D59/D268/D368 loop from Ponte Vecchio is also outstanding.
 
An afterthought... for a preplanned run down RdGA, click here... http://www.ride.co.uk/Tour-2013/

It may be too slow for you, as it's five days - mostly avoiding motorways. Also, it sticks to the classic route - doing Col de la Cayolle. Many people opt to miss that and do Col de la Bonnette instead, to tick the highest-road-that's-not-a-dead-end box, though I'd say that's a mistake as it also means missing out the passes between Guillaumes and St Etienne. But it's an option
 
Okay. Got my route sorted and also the Corsica hotels. Heading south down RdGA with first night in Bourg St Maurice or Les Alps, 2nd night in Barcelonette and 3rd in Menton. On to the ferry at Nice and stay in Bastia that night (Hotel Posta Vecchia). On to Porto (2 nights at Hotel Corsica) and then back up to Bastia (Posta Vecchia again) for the early ferry back to Nice. Back via the Route Napoleon staying at Gap and then back to Geneva where the bikes get loaded back onto the lorry. Thanks for the help guys :thumby:
 
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