World of BMW Tours

[johnr]

Hi,

I'm thinking about taking a tour with World of BMW next year, particularly interested in the Western Balkans but haven't definitely made my mind up yet. Has anyone taken a WO BMW trip, can they be recommended? I know organising your own is probably more involving but having not been abroad on a bike for a while, I would prefer to travel with a group and then think about what I can myself in the future. So can anyone provide any recommendations for them, or not?

 

[squid]

A friend went on the short northern france one a few years ago and didn't like it.

He said they were just rushed from place to another.

Maybe the longer ones are better.

Your other option is to hook up with some tossers off here, try a post to see if anyone is going somewhere you fancy around the same time

 

[plasins]

I haven't used them myself as such, but I did duplicate most of their stops when I did my Baltic State tour. It is not that difficult to organise such a trip yourself.

Vic

 

[johnr]

I haven't used them myself as such, but I did duplicate most of their stops when I did my Baltic State tour. It is not that difficult to organise such a trip yourself.

Vic

Could you give me some tips, what was your route?

 

[david a hall]

can only speak on the moroccan trip,it was fab! back up was good,price was good, you could ride fast or slow,on your own in a group. the mileage is easily do able in a day, so no need to break your kneck.

 

[plasins]

The inter web is a wonderful tool. It took time. The way I did it was to work out where I wanted to go and the distance I/we wanted to travel, then reduce that distance by 20% if not using main roads. Ferries were the most important bookings. I did not do anything until they confirmed. Then worked around the route only booking the next stop only after the previous one had confirmed. Most hotels have the same-ish sites and layouts, if there is not an English page, you can guess what they are asking. I try to use cheap chain hotels - Etap, Villages, Fast Hotel etc as they have a set standard and they are the only way I can afford such trips - I am not going to camp! There is a great sense of achievement when you have completed the journey knowing you have done it yourself.
Please get in contact if ou would like any further help. Good luck.

Vic

 

[Gipsy]

Went to Slovenia with BMW tours about 4 years ago. Had a great time.

 

[JasonT]

Thumbs up for a great holiday ;-)

Hi,
... .Has anyone taken a WO BMW trip, can they be recommended? I know organising your own is probably more involving but having not been abroad on a bike for a while, I would prefer to travel with a group and then think about what I can myself in the future. ...

Well they provide a tour leader (doesn't guide every one everywhere everyday, so people tend to break into groups of 3/4 bikes) but does offer advice and main route suggestions ; 15 bikes or so turning up at decent hotels in the evening (.. and securing a much better rate than if you turned up on your tod); the back up of BMW if things do go wrong .... so yes I recommend them - there great holidays.

Ok - I only have a few weeks holiday every year and don't like to tent much after a long day in the saddle and if I had more time to wander on a tour or wanted to stay in cheaper places just by myself then I'd probable, well, just do it myself. But if you look at their routes (on maps.google.com!) and if they are going your way then you'd be hard pressed to do it for the same money (at the same hotels!).

... and I'm not alone - most of them seem to book up very quickly after the NEC show - when their tour book is released.

Then they can be good, great even, specially if you meet some like minded people and bikers who like to do the things you do....

Me? Off with WO BMW to Norway (again ) and Ireland next year

J

 

[Bigdave]

W of BMW Pyrenees trip

I did the September Pyrenees trip in 07 and had a really good time. It was my first m/cycle trip abroad and found it well organised and all the other travellers were a great bunch.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123093first

I have tried to post the link to my ride report. If it does not work you will find it in 'Off Road Events' its listed as 'world of bmw pyrenees trip'

I'm sure you will find something good to do in 08!

 

[PDiddy]

can only speak on the moroccan trip,it was fab! back up was good,price was good, you could ride fast or slow,on your own in a group. the mileage is easily do able in a day, so no need to break your kneck.

I was on the same tour with David, had a great time -

 

[Peter Pan]

Hi,

I'm thinking about taking a tour with World of BMW next year, particularly interested in the Western Balkans but haven't definitely made my mind up yet. Has anyone taken a WO BMW trip, can they be recommended? I know organising your own is probably more involving but having not been abroad on a bike for a while, I would prefer to travel with a group and then think about what I can myself in the future. So can anyone provide any recommendations for them, or not?

I've been with them a cuple of times, once to the Arctic Circle in Norway and once down south to Amalfi in Italy. Both trips were excellent.

Hotel accommodation was very good. My personal preference is to ride alone as that way I can stop whenever I like to take photo's, stop for coffee etc without feeling that I'm holding others up.

The beauty of using them to me is :
(1) that all the travel arrangements are sorted for you. All you have to do is ride from A-B each day
(2) you've got some great company to mix with and share experiences with once you rwach your hotel

The only downside is that there were one or two occasions when I found myself having to find somewhere and eating on my own because the trip organisier hadn't made the effort to 'book a table' at a selected restaurant and communicate to the rest of the group where he was eating. That resulted in others dispersing and finding their own place to dine which was a bit of a disappointment to me.

Other than that, I'd highly recommend them.

 

[Yellow Peril]

I have done a couple of trips with them and have mixed veiws, but one thing is for sure if you use the web, you can cut the cost with out cutting quality, I did Garmisch this year and saved 200 plus quid on BMW even with travelling by the more expensive ferry, stayed in some great 3/4 star hotels .

So do your research and away you go, but if your first trip away and you want riding company then BMW good way to start.

 

["H"]

went to morocco last year great time

 

[GS TRV]

do your own and save a fortune - it is an Adventure bike after all

 

[sven]

The Morocco tour seems reasonable value, but the others are extremely expensive IMHO. You could copy the itineraries and save maybe 40% of the cost.

 

[Peter Pan]

Maybe it's me, but I didn't get the impression the original thread was started because Johnr was looking for a cheap(er) holiday. He appeared to me to be trying to 'suss out' what people thought of World of BMW and whether we'd recommend them ......

 

[sven]

Maybe it's me, but I didn't get the impression the original thread was started because Johnr was looking for a cheap(er) holiday. He appeared to me to be trying to 'suss out' what people thought of World of BMW and whether we'd recommend them ......

The consensus of opinion seems to be that they're poor value for money, but I'm sure they're well organised with decent hotels if money's no object

 

[Peter Pan]

The consensus of opinion seems to be that they're poor value for money, but I'm sure they're well organised with decent hotels if money's no object

Mmm. It's all terribly subjective.

Sure on both the trips I went on, I could have done it for cheaper, but then I'd have to have organised it all myself and I'd find myself staying at 2 and 3 star hotels (or cheaper still if I'd wanted to camp) rather than 4 and 5 star.

To my mind you get what you pay for. For me, generally I do one big bike trip a year and typically cover between 3k - 4k miles over a two week period. The quality of the hotel and trip is therefore very important to me.

When I went to Italy, we stayed for 5 nightsat a 5 star hotel in Sorrento. While not every hotel we stayed at was as good as this one, here's a few pictures of the quality you get ..... This was my suite ....

 

[Loiq]

depends what you want from a trip, if you want it all layed on BM offer you a solution which at a price will offer you a trip of a life time if you fancy having a go and your not affraid to be outside by yourself. Then have it! and do your own trip. There's stacks of info on here about places to go, look at and stay.

I'd support my local neighbourhood adventure travel outfit cos deep down I don't think BMvv really need your money? Where as others who love what they do and run similar trips would love the chance to pitch for your dollar.

hope that makes sense am currently slurping red wine so if it's all cr4p sorry.

PS if you want some easy riding I might do a trip to German Polish border it's smart up there, loads of little roads, woods, nice food, drink and the place is empty...