Favourite Weekend rides in Europe
 

Have you got your "All time favorite rides" in Europe? Tight twisty alpine roads, maybe a cruisie ride through the vineyards of northern France, coastal road in Italy somewhere.... Come on don't keep it too much of a secret! let us know!
Thought this might be good thread. Keep things interesting " while planning the big trips" Maybe incorporate one or more rides mentioned below into a bigger ride.....:mchappy:

Without any doubt....
 

Asturias, northern Spain....
You·ll see!!!!
Love and peace,
Dan

Roads in the nurburgring/mosel/rhine area of n/west germany spring to mind.
Lovely sweeping twisties, no hassel, and lots of nice beer afterwards...:funmeteryes:

Have a look at the link at the bottom of this post - BestBikingroads.com all will be revealed :thumbup1:

I agree. The road between Wehr and Adenau is stunning. Makes the Lake District look like something that gets in the way of the M6. Followed a Ford Focus RS along there at a ridiculous speed for a fully loaded up bike. Was clearly just playing with me and showing me the lines through the corners. Saw quite a few bike accidents, mostly at hairpins on the road between Adenau and the Nordschliefe entrance. There's some great hairpin roads around Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues too.

Found some cracking twisties by accident between Kaiserlautern and Karlsruhe. Worth a look if you're heading down to the Black Forest. I believe the area is a kind of national park called Pfalzerwald and quite popular with local bikers.

Also have a look at http://www.climbbybike.com/
It's a similar kind of website targeted at cyclists but you get the idea.

Top 5 Weekend Routes in Europe
 

1. Southern part of Black Forest.... each and every road is great!! Germany
2. Route des Grand Alps (Geneva to Nice), the superlative of Alpine passes in one row. France
3. Dolomite Area. Mediteran feeling already, great roads, plenty of breathtaking views. Italy
4. Vosges, France. If you're into good food and wine, if you like the french lifestyle and if you enjoye twisting roads with lots of grip on asphalt, the Vosges will be your destination.
5. Don't tell ya. It's my backyard...

Can give you for all of the areas above a bunch of recommendations (if indeed you intend to go there)

Rossfeld Road
 

I was visiting the Eagles nest at Berchtesgaden in September 2007 and while in the parking area was directed to the Rossfeld Road by a German tour guide.

Basically a private road over a mountain. You pay 3 euros at the tollbooth at either end then just enjoy a 15 kilometre ride with every type of bend imaginable:funmeteryes:. Lots of bikers, one or two cars and the very rare coach.
The locals pay once then ride between the tolls several times. Cafe at top is a mecca for bikers with superb views.

From berchtesgaden follow signs to Obersalzberg then Rossfeld. Sorry no phots maybe someone else has some?


CHROME WONT GET YOU HOME

There's some great rides there guys! Cheers! Keep them coming!

I've just had a look at that road on Google Earth. I'm planning on heading that way in May/June '08. Definitely looks worth a visit.

How about voting on this?
 

Since there is some interest in the topic of this thread, surely there are also some views about this thread:-

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...od-stuff-30852

Laas to Grimsel
 

Laas to Grimsel... (And an Early Lunch in St.Moritz ) 200+ miles

Julierpass, St.Gotthardpass, Nufenenpass, Ofenpass, Grimselpass and Furkapass, truly truly awesome riding in superlative scenery. High mountain road after mountain road, hairpin after hairpin, it never ends. Awesum...

:thumbup1:

Route Napoleon - Grenoble to Grasse- Preferably in September after all the holiday makers have gone home.

D558 - Le Luc to St Tropez - Short, twisty, beautiful and with great places to eat en-route. Especially in La Garde-Freinet, just on the corner coming into the village.

N102 - Find it, it's fun.

And strange as it may sound: The motorway from Nice to Genova, great fun and stunning views.

Most of the Apline passes from Italy to anywhere else, sorry it's a bit vauge, but they are all stunning.

Massif Central
 

Anywhere in the Massif Central of France has been good for me.

It's got many, many roads off the proverbial beaten track and there is not too much traffic if you stay away from the obvious tourist attractions or the busy periods.
Take any road that links over the top of a mountain range from one valley to another - loads of choice from the map.

Bikes can ride to the top of this (see front page on this website),
Welcome to Camping Moto "Route 99"
but most other people have to go up there by shuttle bus from the car park at the bottom.

I was disappointed in the route Napoleon (N85?) but damned if I can remember why - maybe I should go back there!

Hi Dave,

Catch this one wrong and it's a procession of camper vans, buses, tourists etc etc, total hell, you really need to catch it out of "grockle" season.

My best memory of the N85 was "crusing :innocent:" into a corner in the twisties at about 120kmh (in a 90 zone) and having two bike cops coming belting round the corner on R1150RT's going the other way, pots grinding :eek3: and having enough time to give me the thumbs up:thumbup1:...... Cool guys.

Cheers Stu

Hang on a minute. Someone's forgotten Norway - basically anywhere around the fjords will do the job. Much less traffic on the roads than Germany and France too. Fuel is expensive, good weather never guaranteed and the police make a fortune from speeding foreign bikers.

Seems to be a secret we British bikers don't really know about - plenty of Germans though. They know what they're doing - many had a slab of lagers on the back to get around the exorbitant beer prices.

Have to admit I have limited European biking experience - heading to the old Yugoslavia this summer on the new KTM. Will have to look carefully at the route to get there and back.

Great thread this one.

Matt

You had convinced me right up until....?

I was going to go there in September, you've put me off now.:( Oh well, weather proofs, and a gentle right wrist it is then.

A nice weekend ride in southern UK is the Cotswolds, the A44 & A40's are great roads. Especially Fish Hill.

There's some great posts there guys keep them coming!!!
 

I found this site;
Racingbike » 73km: Burgenroute (Tour 9941)

It says "Racing bike" - now i assume they're talking pedel power here but this route for example is listed on the German ADAC motorbike route maps. So there's many more good ones here. It's got down loads for your GPS and Google Earth.

I was just about to mention the roads in Auvergne when I saw that W/bt had done so. I fully agree with his post. The roads are quiet with great views and fantastic curves and bends.

The North West Highlands of Scotland are fantastic too - dont forget they're in Europe too. People often speak of "going to Europe " - forgetting that we in the UK are European, as the title of this thread shows. " Favourite weekend rides on the Continent " would be more accurate.

great thread
 

Hi All,

I find this thread really interesting, I am new to this site and have just bought a new transalp 650 (in late 2007) with the intention of exploring. I havent ridden much in the last ten years so i am currently regaining my confidence and skills.

There is plenty of inspiration on this thread.

Dont forget about mid wales aswell. You can cross the severn bridge from England and head up the A470 at Cardiff which pretty much takes you right up through Wales and through some great scenery. Finish this off with Snowdonia and a trip over to Anglesey and then you can head back across North Wales and into England somewhere around Cheshire :mchappy:.

Aside from this it is continental riding that really appeals to me and I am planning a trip down through France and into Spain for next summer (2009) but i would like to do something short later this summer, just to get a taste for it.

Cheers all

Lee

Caminando "dont forget they're in Europe too. People often speak of "going to Europe " - forgetting that we in the UK are European, as the title of this thread shows. " Favourite weekend rides on the Continent " would be more accurate."
Well for a international travel website " Favourite weekend rides on the Continent " might be a bit broad... being that there are seven such "continents" 6 of which are ridable..... ;)
you're not wrong though Cam. Though walkabout has mentioned the idea and usefulness of region based threads.... maybe someone should start one for Scot., Eng, Wales etc?

Why not the Belgian Ardennen and Luxemburg.

Why not ?.
This sounds great and is very close to the Uk so give us some road names or routes please as this area is extremely picturesque and must have some great roads,

Thanks
Lee

I concur with Dan! I'm living in northeast Portugal, near the spanish border. I produced this video about the trip I toke, last summer, from Portugal to the asturian spanish coast in a small 4 hp scooter :scooter: .

Cheers,
Jose'.

Great Video through some good and quiet roads, nice job.

Lee:funmeteryes:

Bflat... quite some trip there... You'll put many owners of big shiney bmw's to shame with trips like that! keep up the great videos too!

Steve

Wurzen Pass!
 

I command you all to ride over the Wurzen Pass that links Austria with Slovenia! It's a stunning drive, and I believe God intended the entire country of Slovenia to be a motorcycle theme park. It's high elevation, though (over 1,000 meters) so go in warm weather. I have a few pictures of my ride through in October. It's my favourite riding day of my 6 month journey from Europe to the Middle East and back.

(Follow the link below to see the pictures... I'm computer ignorant, though. I hope it works!)

Jeremy Kroeker. Writer. Wanderer.

Comparable with Canada?
 

Jeremy,

Looks good and I so admire your self portrait! (The link works OK therefore).

It is not an area that I have visited, so thanks for drawing out the finer points of this small country.
How do you think it all compares with, say, Rogers Pass, back there in your home country - somewhere between BC and Alberta from memory?

walkabout, well, it's tough to compare the rides. Rodgers Pass in BC, Canada, is fantastic... but there's always tons of traffic (when the roads are in shape for motorcycles) and the tarmac is not nearly as smooth. As such, I'd say the riding in Slovenia might be better... but, yeah, the scenery, the smell of pine trees, the sound of glacial rivers, the emerald lakes... sigh. Well, I'm on my way back now. I'll do the ride and compare with a fresh mind! But, if you live in Europe, go to Slovenia!