How to get to Tuscany....

Wapping

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
78,764
Reaction score
3,525
Location
Wapping, London
Cut from another thread about hotels:

While on the subject of travel, would you take a train/ferry crossing to northern France, ride 3-4 days to Tuscany stay a week in Tuscany and ride 3-4 days back, or

would you take a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander , ride 2 days through Pyrenees, South of France and into Italy stay a week and do same return journey to Santander?
Return ferry cost (Portsmouth-Santander-Portsmouth) at the moment is circa £700 for two bikes and a cabin each way.

EV


1. Whether I fancied the Spanish route over the French route, or visa-versa? That might well be dictated by whether there was somewhere I particularly wanted to see enroute between either. If there is, I’d probably take the opportunity of going that way, rather than save it for another year

2. If you don’t like ferries (or if the sea crossing forecast looks as rough as hell) don’t take the Spanish ferry route

There is no right and wrong. Many bods’ replies will be driven by the geography of where they live. Some will not ride to Folkestone or Calais if you paid them. I wouldn’t ride to Hull (ever) and can’t see a lot of point in not crossing via the Kent ports.... unless I particularly wanted to go to the western side of France or Spain... but I live in central London.

In short, it’s YOUR holiday. Do what YOU want to do.

PS Go out one way, come back the other. Problem solved.
 
Thank you Wapping. I live in south Herts and both crossing options are just as far as each other. My main concern is weather in northern France at the end of September. Will it be warm and sunny or will it be cold and wet? My wife will be doing such a trip for a very first time and her whom I worry about mostly. Once we are in Southern half of France/Italy it will be warmer and in turn less stressful for her.
I might consider return journey via Spanish ports back to UK as mid October in northern France can be a horrible place to ride.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Santander to Tuscany in two days? No. You wouldn’t see any of the mountains in that time-frame. It’d just be a massively tough slog on motorways. Even allowing three days would involve a lot of pretty hard, dull riding and very little time to explore the mountains, regardless of whether you rode the French or Spanish side. I’d allow three days (well, 2.5 as you’re off the ferry at lunchtime) from Santander to Carcassonne or Barcelona if riding in the Pyrenees, rather than riding past them. That’s a reasonably brisk schedule, but it would still get you only about a third of the way to Tuscany.

UK to Tuscany in three days is probably mostly motorway too - not entirely, perhaps, but probably 50% of each day would need to be major roads. That’s actually not a bad ratio for the distance to cover. Give it a fourth day and you could probably do three-quarters of the trip on more pleasant roads.

ETA Motorail is one good suggestion. The other one is the Bikeshuttle to Geneva. Probably saves only one day but does cut out all the Northern France bit you want to avoid, so you’re straight into the Alps. I’ve used it and it is good... though if it were my trip, I’d take four days, get off the A26 motorway at Cambrai and enjoy a bit of cross-country France. Loads of good roads on the way to Tuscany.
 
The weather at the end of September / in October in northern France? About the same as is here in SE England. You’ll be fine.

I’d be more worried about storms in the Bay of Biscay in mid or late October.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/France/temperature-october.php

We've crossed the Bay a few times; in Late April; for Jerez, mid season for Catalunua; and sept; for Estoril; and never had a bad crossing; we could just have been lucky tho; saying that; there is no other crossing where you could follow a large pod of Dolphins frolicking around your ship; it made for a very memorable trip.:beerjug:
 
We've crossed the Bay a few times; in Late April; for Jerez, mid season for Catalunua; and sept; for Estoril; and never had a bad crossing; we could just have been lucky tho; saying that; there is no other crossing where you could follow a large pod of Dolphins frolicking around your ship; it made for a very memorable trip.:beerjug:

Yes, I am considering a return journey via Santander, will give us time to relax, have nap here and there, watch and observe sea life, eat drink as and when and be back home in just two hours after leaving ferry at Portsmouth. Sounds like a good way to end our holiday trip.
 
Santander to Tuscany in two days? No. You wouldn’t see any of the mountains in that time-frame. It’d just be a massively tough slog on motorways. Even allowing three days would involve a lot of pretty hard, dull riding and very little time to explore the mountains, regardless of whether you rode the French or Spanish side. I’d allow three days (well, 2.5 as you’re off the ferry at lunchtime) from Santander to Carcassonne or Barcelona if riding in the Pyrenees, rather than riding past them. That’s a reasonably brisk schedule, but it would still get you only about a third of the way to Tuscany.

UK to Tuscany in three days is probably mostly motorway too - not entirely, perhaps, but probably 50% of each day would need to be major roads. That’s actually not a bad ratio for the distance to cover. Give it a fourth day and you could probably do three-quarters of the trip on more pleasant roads.

ETA Motorail is one good suggestion. The other one is the Bikeshuttle to Geneva. Probably saves only one day but does cut out all the Northern France bit you want to avoid, so you’re straight into the Alps. I’ve used it and it is good... though if it were my trip, I’d take four days, get off the A26 motorway at Cambrai and enjoy a bit of cross-country France. Loads of good roads on the way to Tuscany.

I am allowing 4 days to get there via France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and into Italy. 4-5 days return journey to Portsmouth via Santander. I think it is achievable. Motorail will not run on the Italian side this year.
 
I am allowing 4 days to get there via France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and into Italy. 4-5 days return journey to Portsmouth via Santander. I think it is achievable. Motorail will not run on the Italian side this year.

As already said, don’t ride your bike from Santander to Tuscany unless you have a week or more to do it as it will be an unpleasant slog through some great countryside.

If you know better then don’t ask the question in the first place....
 
Change of plan now, leaving and coming back via Folkestone/Calais now, as sailing from Santander is full on the date we wanted to leave.

So journey over to Florence will take 4 days via usual route, consisting of France, Belgium, Switzerland, and into Italy via Bernina Pass (was there two years ago, loved it!), entering Italy via Terano.

On the way back we are to take 6 days to get back via coastal route towards Monaco and then head north via Route de Grand Alpes towards Geneva and then onto Dijon and cross country towards Calais to catch a train for 5:20pm. I just hope that mountain passes via RDGA will still remain open in a second week of October. It is sure to be cold up the top at that time of the year.

If anybody has got suggestions for things to stop and see, etc, let us know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Back
Top Bottom