I’m currently on a 10 day trip from the UK to the Italian lakes. Thought i’d keep a track of day-to-day riding, favourite Roads, scenery etc.
Day 1
A motorway day to get from Home to Bonn for the nights stop over. A fairly uneventful day, leaving home at 3.30am to catch the 6.20am Eurotunnel.
The weather was hot - 25 degrees from 8am, and soon reached 30-32 for teh remainder of the day.
I arrived at my campsite circaa 2pm, and had time to rest for an hour until reception had opened. It was a very busy site, and one where the pitches were crammed in next to each other - tents & motorhomes alike. Akin to some sort of shanty town, but less drugs. The local village had some good options for food, drink and shopping essentials which was useful.
Unfortunately the shanty town people were not those with an awareness of being a PITA when it came to being noisy all night long until the early hours.
Whilst the facilites of the site was good, i’d not stay again due to the cramped pitches & noisy neighbours.
Day 2
Day 2 was the start of riding on good roads and aiming to make my way down to the Austrian/Swiss/Lichtenstien border. As with all things that don’t quite go to plan, the XT &/or MRA track i planned did not quite piece together. So ended up using parts of the route i had planned, and using the ‘adventurous’ routing of the XT’s capability. Lots of good roads were ridden and i certainly found a favourite on the B48, with mile after mile of left, right corners with smooth roads & very little traffic. Being in the shade of the trees and hillside it was noticeably cooler than the 30+ degrees out in the direct sunlight.
My initial stopover for the night was Lindau, but this fell through and i found another campsite in Schluchsee on the B500. Turned out to be a cracking site with plenty of room for camping (for which it was quiet), situated on a beautiful lake & had an onsite restaurant which delivered a good meal at the end of a long day.
Day 3
This was the final day of travel to my ultimate destination for the next 4 days, Lake Maggiore. I planned the route in the morning and decided to traverse Switzerland from North to South, trying to avoid motorways where possible. Whilst i heard of/knew about all the mountain passes i’d not tried to add them to the route, but simply planned it where i saw a road that looked like fun. Low and behold i ended up including the Furka, Gotthard, Guttannen & Grimsel. All of which were great fun to ride and the scenery was spectacular mile after mile. The wether was glorious all day long, sitting at 30 degrees mostly and half that at the mountain top passes.
Finally arrived at my accommodation at 6.30PM, ready for some food and to settle in. I certainly need a more chilled day after 3 x 10 hour days & 1000 miles of riding.
Day 4 (current one)
Rain is the order of the day. I decided to have a break off the Bike today and stay local, get some food in and decide what to do in the coming days. Plus i need to consider my trip back too - plan some routes for a scenic & fun way back up through France.
Day 1
A motorway day to get from Home to Bonn for the nights stop over. A fairly uneventful day, leaving home at 3.30am to catch the 6.20am Eurotunnel.
The weather was hot - 25 degrees from 8am, and soon reached 30-32 for teh remainder of the day.
I arrived at my campsite circaa 2pm, and had time to rest for an hour until reception had opened. It was a very busy site, and one where the pitches were crammed in next to each other - tents & motorhomes alike. Akin to some sort of shanty town, but less drugs. The local village had some good options for food, drink and shopping essentials which was useful.
Unfortunately the shanty town people were not those with an awareness of being a PITA when it came to being noisy all night long until the early hours.
Whilst the facilites of the site was good, i’d not stay again due to the cramped pitches & noisy neighbours.
Day 2
Day 2 was the start of riding on good roads and aiming to make my way down to the Austrian/Swiss/Lichtenstien border. As with all things that don’t quite go to plan, the XT &/or MRA track i planned did not quite piece together. So ended up using parts of the route i had planned, and using the ‘adventurous’ routing of the XT’s capability. Lots of good roads were ridden and i certainly found a favourite on the B48, with mile after mile of left, right corners with smooth roads & very little traffic. Being in the shade of the trees and hillside it was noticeably cooler than the 30+ degrees out in the direct sunlight.
My initial stopover for the night was Lindau, but this fell through and i found another campsite in Schluchsee on the B500. Turned out to be a cracking site with plenty of room for camping (for which it was quiet), situated on a beautiful lake & had an onsite restaurant which delivered a good meal at the end of a long day.
Day 3
This was the final day of travel to my ultimate destination for the next 4 days, Lake Maggiore. I planned the route in the morning and decided to traverse Switzerland from North to South, trying to avoid motorways where possible. Whilst i heard of/knew about all the mountain passes i’d not tried to add them to the route, but simply planned it where i saw a road that looked like fun. Low and behold i ended up including the Furka, Gotthard, Guttannen & Grimsel. All of which were great fun to ride and the scenery was spectacular mile after mile. The wether was glorious all day long, sitting at 30 degrees mostly and half that at the mountain top passes.
Finally arrived at my accommodation at 6.30PM, ready for some food and to settle in. I certainly need a more chilled day after 3 x 10 hour days & 1000 miles of riding.
Day 4 (current one)
Rain is the order of the day. I decided to have a break off the Bike today and stay local, get some food in and decide what to do in the coming days. Plus i need to consider my trip back too - plan some routes for a scenic & fun way back up through France.
