Tour of bits of Europe.

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

With apologies to Wapping as I know this is the sort of thread he hates..........................

Having read some excellent RRs on here I'm tempted to do a long-ish, circular-ish trip next year via Calais heading to Turkey and coming back via Poland.
I'd like to take in as many countries as possible en-route, including Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia but ideally avoiding Austria (for football related reasons).
I'm happy to ride for 6-7 hours a day & use motorways to get as far as Slovenia. The 1st & last days of the trip will be spent getting from Dover back to Pookey Hollow and I'd like to have a few odd days off the bike. I'm a bimbler & gazer rather than a head down, get there type.
So here are my questions based on that very vague information (again with apologies to Richard):-
Are there any places that I must include in my route planning such as small towns, tourist sites, monuments etc. (I would like to see Mostar)? Are there any roads that I absolutely shouldn't miss and is 6 weeks a realistic timescale or am I being over ambitious? A very rough route on Google maps tells me this is about 6,000 miles which at an average of 175 miles per day will give me 6 or 7 days off.
Finally, what time of the year would one set off on a trip like this? I'm thinking mid May.

I fully expect to get lambasted by many for posting the thread but let's be honest I probably deserve it.

 

[Davey B]

I'd say 6 weeks was fine. A quick google and it is c 5000 miles round trip. If you did 2 big days to get 750 miles in...that leaves 40 days to do 4250 miles...so 20 x 200 mile days will give you 20 days off the bike. (i've never rideen that way but wish to...and would be looking at some of the cities for 2 or 3 nights then moving on)
Get reading trip reports from others who have ridden the area and see what appeals ?

Midday Express - Istanbul on the hoof

So I’ve done this already but will write it up as if live, trying to put on a day each day. I’ve posted lots of trips before on here prior to taking a sabbatical…………. Managed to get 4 weeks off and wanted to do something a bit different, I made it as far as Croatia during COVID, legally, so...

www.ukgser.com

Montenegro 2022

Hi all. I'm making another wee video series from a trip. This time Montenegro is the destination. Here's part 1. Cheers, Mike

www.ukgser.com

There'll be many more....or look on ADVRider...there'll be stuff on there

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Aye, TY. It's some of those trip reports that have whetted my appetite but I'll have a proper look over winter and make a few notes. I'm already wondering if I can tie it in with the Moto GP in Germany in mid June .

 

[Guru Gora]

Time scale is entirely achievable.

May would be a good time id suggest.

I did turkey in June Jul and if I had a choice Id have gone in May.

Routing, wow, millions of choices, Id make a list of "must do for me", then string a route along that takes them in.

Go flex, ride the weather windows, dont over plan, take plenty of Bel Vitas

PM if you want more details or a chat on phone.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Excellent, TY.

 

[Wapping]

Me? I quite like threads like this, as they involve something a bit more interesting to ponder on, than “Me and five mates, we want great roads to get to alps, leave this after….”

Time of year?

Late May’ish or early September. Of the two, I think I’d go for early September.

Things to see and do? I’d start by Googling ‘10 best things to see in xxxxx (insert name of each country)’. Then I’d map them out and see how many I could practicably do, within the time available and other constraints.

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Me? I quite like threads like this, as they involve something a bit more interesting to ponder on, than “Me and five mates, we want great roads to get to alps, leave this after….”

Time of year?

Late May’ish or early September. Of the two, I think I’d go for early September.

Things to see and do? I’d start by Googling ‘10 best things to see in xxxxx (insert name of each country)’. Then I’d map them out and see how many I could practicably do, within the time available and other constraint.

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense. I'm hoping to retire in the early autumn so should have plenty of time to put a rudimentary plan and itinerary together. As it's going to be just me it will be entirely flexible depending on the weather and what catches my eye along the way, as the others have also recommended.
Once again TY all for your help and advice.

 

[AndyB_11]

Ok, do you want to go over any mountain passes on your trip? If so then I’d suggest that May is probably a bit early, especially for the higher, more remote ones but once you’re into June you should be ok.

I really enjoy solo touring, especially when my plan doesn’t really extend beyond a departure and a return date because you can just look at the weather forecast for the next day and use that as your starting point every day, book hotels mid afternoon and if you fancy a day off use Wikipedia to find out more about anywhere you’re thinking of spending a bit more time in.

Enjoy the trip

 

[ymfb]

One tip I picked up from Shakeys unsupervised YouTube was to get a wall map and put in pins of all the places you want to see, then join up as many as you can with some string. In fact I’m going to start that when I get home.

Anyone got a poster sized map of Europe they don’t want ?

 

[Wapping]

What the jaunt looks like, in the 21st century’s equivalent of paper and string:




Even in this very crude version of the route, it’s easy to see that, if time was short (or other circumstances intervened) then the obvious ‘short cut’ is to move along the axis Romania / Hungary.

The OP’s guess of averaging about 170 miles a day, is probably achievable and realistic. By way of simple comparison, when I lapped Germany (roughly 3,700 miles) over 21 days, it’s the same average.

 

[fs996]

I'm curious as to what possible 'football' reason there can be for avoiding an entire country? In particular one such as Austria which has some amazing scenery and roads for us bikermates.

 

[Wapping]

The OP ‘collects’ football stadiums, which is a different way to see places. I can only assume that he has collected the Austrian full set, perhaps?

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

Thank you again everyone for some excellent tips & advice.
Yep, that's roughly the same as I'd seen on Google maps, TY Wapping.
Regarding dates, May is looking the more likely. This is based on the look I got from my wife when I told her I would be away for about 6 weeks next year. As we usually have our main holiday in September the thought of compounding the 6 weeks away from home news with 'when we're normally way together' is a step I daren't take.
It's her birthday on 8th May & we usually have a few days away then along with 2 weeks in the middle of July for our wedding anniversary which at least makes one decision for me in respect of the window of opportunity time-wise.

As for Austria Wapping is right in that I do like to see football grounds I've not been to but it's a little more complicated than that & is based on something that happened in a UEFA Cup match in 1984 combined with my ridiculous ability to hold a grudge.

Once again, TY all for your help I really appreciate it.

 

[Khulu]

Thank you again everyone for some excellent tips & advice.
Yep, that's roughly the same as I'd seen on Google maps, TY Wapping.
Regarding dates, May is looking the more likely. This is based on the look I got from my wife when I told her I would be away for about 6 weeks next year. As we usually have our main holiday in September the thought of compounding the 6 weeks away from home news with 'when we're normally way together' is a step I daren't take.
It's her birthday on 8th May & we usually have a few days away then along with 2 weeks in the middle of July for our wedding anniversary which at least makes one decision for me in respect of the window of opportunity time-wise.

As for Austria Wapping is right in that I do like to see football grounds I've not been to but it's a little more complicated than that & is based on something that happened in a UEFA Cup match in 1984 combined with my ridiculous ability to hold a grudge.

Once again, TY all for your help I really appreciate it.

I did similar last summer.(see my RR Assen MotoGP via Romania).
Take your originalV5C with you!