The Leserhosen run...

[theangrybeard]

So after intense negotiations with my sister regarding my attendance at her wedding, an agreement has finally been agreed; i will travel down from the North East of Scotland to East Kent to attend, on one proviso, i can attend in traditional Bavarian attire.

No, i have no family links to the region, other than random nights in the Hofbräu house and a desire to own a full Bavarian outfit since my first visit 12 years ago. Funnily enough i own no such clothing, but i have several weeks leave owing and a desire to travel through Europe on my GS.

So that leaves me with the question: where to go? I have made several trips through the alps previously and it is an area I love, but all have been by car. I have a couple of mates making a European bike trip in a couple of weeks, but they are more experienced than me and have less time, so other than meeting up I'll leave them to hammer across the autobahn, whilst i slowly make my way across back roads.

So my question to the forum is: where to go? 4 weeks, Amsterdam to Calais taking in a lederhosen fitting and enjoying some amazing roads. Where should i go? 150 miles a day is my max with every 4th day a chilled/there's no way i can ride today day. Any suggestions? I realise there are many threads, but what would you do? Noting this is my first long bike trip?

Suggestions would be appreciated, do your worst.

Cheers. Mark

 

[Arsey]

Four weeks,Amsterdam to Calais ? Should be doable. Have you sustained a blow to the head recently ?

 

[theangrybeard]

Sarcasm... a beautiful thing... going from, returning to... might even make the corner shop trip, but that's for another thread

 

[Wapping]

My suggestion:

Do a complete lap of Germany, including the Baltic coast, Berlin, Dresden, down to the south eastern corner on the Danube, into Austria / the Dolomites, across to Munich and then up past Schweinfurt before tacking left (north westwards) to Calais. It makes sense, as you’ll be starting in Holland, so just head towards Hamburg and away you go.

We did it (without the Austrian / Dolomites bit) two years ago in 21 days, without rushing. Your 28 days will be perfect.

Failing that, Greece and on to Istanbul.

 

[Nutty]

With that amount of time, you could ride through Germany, Austria, then into the Dolomites, completely avoiding motorways, then looping back up through Switzerland and back into Germany for your fancy dress fitting. With that much time on your hands, you absolutely HAVE to do the Dolomites.

Have a few days off, on one of the Italian lakes, and soak up the atmosphere. We stayed in Bardolino, on Lake Garda, which is a stones throw from the Dolomites. Chill there, then take a leisurely ride back north, and you’ll have a ball.

 

[Rasher]

Just get the book "Motorcycle Journeys though the Alps and Beyond" it has about 70 or so ride outs in the Alps covering the whole area, decide which ones you like the look of and ride them.

I have never had anywhere near this amount of time and have managed to choose 2-3 "bases" on each trip where we spend a couple of days looping around and then just join these places up using other great roads.

I would recommend a few nights in each of these locations;

* Arabba (Dolomites)

Hotel Al Forte or Hotel Evaldo - loads of great riding out of here so have at least 3 nights to give 2 full days riding out, but you could easily spend 4-5 days riding this area. Too many passes to list, you can easily ride 10 in a leisurely day, or 20+ Iron Butt style.

* Livigno (Italy - just) - Hotel La Montanina is good, and right opposite the brewery ;-) this is another spot with you can chuck together a few days riding out from including the Stelvio (and the much better Gavia which is next to it) plus ride outs around some great Swiss / Italian passes (Albula, Fluella, Bernina, Splugen, Julier, Maloja) in the MC Journeys book he chooses St Moritz, but Livigno is far cheaper (80p a litre for petrol)

* A Lake - Never stopped at one as they are busy and congested, but if I had several weeks to spare I would probably pull up somewhere nice and wander around for a couple of days to rest for a bit.

* Andermatt - The famous figure 8 here is good (Furka, Grimsel, Susten, St Gothard, Nufenen, plus the old cobbled Tremola)

* Bourg St Maurice - The 7 pass loop around Mont Blanc is a great day out.

* Route Des Grand Alps - My Favourite, just ride South from BSM all the way to the Med, if starting at BSM two days is enough, a stop at Barcelonnette gives you the opportunity to ride the many passes around there (Bonnette, Cayole, Allos, Larche, Sampeyre, Lombarde, Valberg and try to fit in the Gorge du Dulais)

Once there you could have a cooling dip in the sea and then you could come back via Gorge du Verdon and the Vercors before heading cross country back to Calais, you could also fit the Vosges, Black Forest, Luxembourg and Ardennes into your return journey, maybe not in any great depth, but beats the crap out of two long days on the motorway.

Really with 4 weeks there are so many options, above is just what I might want to do with a month in the Alps, everyone here will have other ideas.

I would suggest about 150 miles per day in the Alps is about right (Typically @5 hours in the saddle) any more than 200 can be a bit of a slog, especially if it is particularly cold / wet / or even hot. Cross country (non mountains) 200 is fairly easy and motorways can see 400+ mile days. Use Google maps to get an idea of times for riding routes, we always manage to beat these in good conditions, just factor in extra stop time if you like to stop for breath-taking views / to take pictures / buy pass stickers or cannot ride past a nice looking refuge at the side of the road.

 

[Khulu]

Just get the book "Motorcycle Journeys though the Alps and Beyond" it has about 70 or so ride outs in the Alps covering the whole area, decide which ones you like the look of and ride them.

I have never had anywhere near this amount of time and have managed to choose 2-3 "bases" on each trip where we spend a couple of days looping around and then just join these places up using other great roads.

I would recommend a few nights in each of these locations;

* Arabba (Dolomites)

Hotel Al Forte or Hotel Evaldo - loads of great riding out of here so have at least 3 nights to give 2 full days riding out, but you could easily spend 4-5 days riding this area. Too many passes to list, you can easily ride 10 in a leisurely day, or 20+ Iron Butt style.

* Livigno (Italy - just) - Hotel La Montanina is good, and right opposite the brewery ;-) this is another spot with you can chuck together a few days riding out from including the Stelvio (and the much better Gavia which is next to it) plus ride outs around some great Swiss / Italian passes (Albula, Fluella, Bernina, Splugen, Julier, Maloja) in the MC Journeys book he chooses St Moritz, but Livigno is far cheaper (80p a litre for petrol)

* A Lake - Never stopped at one as they are busy and congested, but if I had several weeks to spare I would probably pull up somewhere nice and wander around for a couple of days to rest for a bit.

* Andermatt - The famous figure 8 here is good (Furka, Grimsel, Susten, St Gothard, Nufenen, plus the old cobbled Tremola)

* Bourg St Maurice - The 7 pass loop around Mont Blanc is a great day out.

* Route Des Grand Alps - My Favourite, just ride South from BSM all the way to the Med, if starting at BSM two days is enough, a stop at Barcelonnette gives you the opportunity to ride the many passes around there (Bonnette, Cayole, Allos, Larche, Sampeyre, Lombarde, Valberg and try to fit in the Gorge du Dulais)

Once there you could have a cooling dip in the sea and then you could come back via Gorge du Verdon and the Vercors before heading cross country back to Calais, you could also fit the Vosges, Black Forest, Luxembourg and Ardennes into your return journey, maybe not in any great depth, but beats the crap out of two long days on the motorway.

Really with 4 weeks there are so many options, above is just what I might want to do with a month in the Alps, everyone here will have other ideas.

I would suggest about 150 miles per day in the Alps is about right (Typically @5 hours in the saddle) any more than 200 can be a bit of a slog, especially if it is particularly cold / wet / or even hot. Cross country (non mountains) 200 is fairly easy and motorways can see 400+ mile days. Use Google maps to get an idea of times for riding routes, we always manage to beat these in good conditions, just factor in extra stop time if you like to stop for breath-taking views / to take pictures / buy pass stickers or cannot ride past a nice looking refuge at the side of the road.

I fully agree with all that was said above!

Andermatt is great or you could stay at Interlaken or Meirengen or Innerkirchen.
I've also stayed in La Montanina, Livigno (a few times) and it's a great overnight stop spot ( a good night in the brewery / restaurant).
In Arabba I've stayed at the Pordoi gasthaus and it was fine (cheaper than the Evaldo I believe) and has secure parking in the basement.

4 weeks - I'm jealous. Have a great trip.

 

[Engineer]

Are Leserhosen the poor mans version of Lederhosen?

 

[theangrybeard]

Are Leserhosen the poor mans version of Lederhosen?

I'm gonna say that was a Freudian slip... or this case Fraudian...

Some great replies coming in guys, thanks for your input, will check that book Rasher.

So first things first, a route from Amsterdam South? Prefer to go on back roads, but have done that before and been held up to an insane degree, any sugestions?

 

[Wapping]

Simple:

1. Put Amsterdam and you end destination into Kurviger (see several threads) and see what that spits out

2. Go to the RiDE website and look at their multiple suggestions on how to do things

3. Look at several threads and posts on UKGSer, many addressing the ride between the North Sea ports and the Alps

In short, instead of seeking to amuse with tales of weddings and dressing up as a member of the Hitler Youth, start to do some work.

 

[theangrybeard]

Simple:

1. Put Amsterdam and you end destination into Kurviger (see several threads) and see what that spits out

2. Go to the RiDE website and look at their multiple suggestions on how to do things

3. Look at several threads and posts on UKGSer, many addressing the ride between the North Sea ports and the Alps

In short, instead of seeking to amuse with tales of weddings and dressing up as a member of the Hitler Youth, start to do some work.

This is a very good point, I forget this isn't a forum or discussion group of any kind. Any sort of humour/stories are not allowed and we must all just sit in silence and use the place like a library where persons such as yourself come along and hit any form of conversation with a big finger on the lips shhhhh... quiet

There is some great stuff on here and the internet as a whole, but having been a traveller/blogger/reviewer for years I know the best way to plan a trip is by seeking comments/suggestions from others and then linking all the information together to plan the best trip. Is that so wrong?

And as far as labelling a traditional form of local dress with a fascist youth organisation... you really should of been brought up better.

Anyway, back to adventures, thanks for the useful comments, keep them coming, i'm working on a plan!

 

[Wapping]

Suggestions would be appreciated, do your worst.

OK....

You are looking for no less than a month’s worth of great ‘No motorway, no more than 150 miles a day routes, Amsterdam to the Alps and back to Calais, along with days off and the purchase of ridiculous kecks’, all for your holiday. That’s not a discussion, it’s a request, which - if someone is to do it properly and all but guarantee you a decent holiday - requires some considerable effort; effort which you’ll need to match from your side.

Stop being so fecking sensitive. The Kurviger https://kurviger.de suggestion will work, if you can be arsed to try it.

Sample only, created in under five seconds on a iPhone in the street, such is the enthusiasm to support you:

Yup, you’ll need a half decent map to pull the route around a bit and a decent dollop of imagination to picture where a maximum of 150 miles in any one day (avoiding motorways but without too many insanity inducing back roads) will leave you. But as a seasoned traveller / blogger and reporter, you’ll whistle through that bit in a jiffy.

RiDE have a great ‘Do the Alps’ special. https://www.ride.co.uk/routes-1/ride-guide-to-the-alps Have a look at the trip reports on similar jaunts, there’s even requests for suggestions - and answers on - what routes to take from the North Sea to the Alps and back again to Calais. Some go in the opposite direction, so just turn them around...... And, by no means least, if you can’t take a joke about your shorts, grow some.

PS If in the past you’ve been held up to an insane degree by taking the back route roads, avoid them this time.... or try a decent psychiatrist.

PPS Mark, or should I call you ‘marktheviledude’ as you like to style yourself, nice complaint to the janitor about ‘disrespect to traditional local dress’ or some such twaddle Clothing which, by your own admission you have no cultural link to whatsoever; instead wishing to hold a gun to your sister’s head as a pre-requisite of you attending her wedding.

Here’s something you can practice for the reception. Your big feet will no doubt complete the spectacle:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2LEAiGDw220" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Tarka]

you really should of been brought up better.

Should have.

And talking of "should have", maybe you should have made use of all those years of being a traveller/blogger/reviewer in order to think and act for yourself rather than making such a daft post and asking such daft questions.

 

[ChasMill]

You are a better man than me, Nasher. If that twat had made a formal complaint about me to the janitor, the last thing I would be doing would be helping him.

 

[theangrybeard]

Some awesome standards going on here, great work guys... a bit of jovial banter and a request to have others make suggestions shot down by a bullying few.

Thanks to all the advice, including your original post Wapping, to avoid this descending further I'll finish it there, I guess if anyone else wants to help out, PM me.

 

[Wapping]

You’ll need to buy your leather shorts or you’ll not be gracing your sister’s happy day:

https://www.tripsavvy.com/where-to-buy-lederhosen-in-munich-1520175

 

[Noddy]

Sorry to be late on parade but I have a clothing update. We stayed with some Bavarian friends in Augsburg last year and were invited to a few Oompah band gatherings, our hosts insisted that we had to fit in so we agreed. We were taken to a local supermarket and kitted out the same as them for not many Euros.
The name of the store might be farmiliar to most of you. Aldi. Believe his Brother also stocks similar lines in his Lidl stores.

 

[Wapping]

Top tip there from Noddy. This is a great site.

 

[Mongoose]

C and A also carry decent lederhosen for around 110 euros. You might even be able to order them online. Tried a set on in Munich. They're surprisingly comfortable and quite flattering. Loved the idea of buying some but couldn't see me wearing them much in sunny Lancashire.

It'd be rude not to post pictures of your good self at the wedding!