What would you guys and girls do with a week?
 

Hi all,

Very general this but here goes.

My wife is going to New York with the girls, which gives me a free weeks Holiday. Lucky me!

I am based in the UK, I have a fully serviced BMW 1150 GS with a new set of tyres and a bit of spare cash. I have a week off work anytime during November and want to go out on the bike.

Where would you guys and girls go?

I have thought about a quick blast down to Madrid and back but would like the thought of having something specific to do. Even if that is just a recommended road or town that I must visit.

I did Geneva in June.

Thanks
Dean.

How about riding down to Sicily, go to Palermo, have a snack at the Ristorante Beati Paoli, turn around, take the southern coast to Siracusa, take a picture of some of the temples there, and then back home? A nice ride, and gives you a sense of purpose. I know I would do this if I had a week off right now...

Enjoy, whatever you decide.

Yeah that's a good one.

If you have a heated vest and a tough constitution, this is a great time to see the northern lights.

Directions: go to Norway, go north until Norway ends.

Simon

Hi Dean:

Welcome to Horizons Unlimited.

If I were you, I would have a close look at the ferry services that operate from the south of England to Northern Spain. See what kind of time you would have available in Iberia if you took a ferry down and back - I think the ferry trip is about 30 to 36 hours.

If the timing looks OK, then consider hopping on one of those, and spending 5 days riding around Northwest Spain, or perhaps even Northern Portugal. Both of those places are quite fascinating, you don't really need to plan an itinerary for 5 days, and both places are fairly inexpensive as well.

Michael

Take the ferry that goes to Bilbao (one of them takes 24 hours only) then blast your way in perfect condition motorways down to Granada. Spend a day there to visit the magnificent Alhambra (Moorish palaces) and in the evening go to the "Gypsy" hill for superb view of the Palaces and a jug of superb sangria + free tapas (Granada is best place to drink Sangria!) !
Next day ride to Cordoba (about 2 hours ride), visit the Juderia (old Jewish town) and the Great Mosque (oldest in Europe - and most of arab world!) spend the evening going from bar to bar drinking wine and eatings tapas. Next day ride to Seville (the capital of Andalucia) worth spending 2 days there. Visit the palace, the cathedral, the old town, the Parque where they filmed 30 second of Star wars episode 2 then in the evening just do like the locals, go from bar to bar drinking and eating and talking rubbish to anyone!

What about Corsica or Sardinia?

The ferry takes one night from Genoa, Nice or some other cities on the coast, and there you find a wonderful mediterranean enviroment without the summer crowd...

Hi,
If you do what Maria suggests, make sure you visit Ronda as well...some great roads around there and good views etc.

If I had a week I'd probably choose between one of these short breaks:

(1) Ferry from Dover, across to France, visit Belgium, Germany (Rhine & Mosel valleys) and Luxembourg.
(2) Ferry to Bilbao or Santander and spend a week in North or Southern Spain. This would depend on weather at the time.
(3) Ferry to Spain, head South and cross from Algeciras into Morocco. Again this depends on weather and you wouldn't have time to sight see in Spain. You'd get maybe Monday - Friday in Morocco possibly?

I don't know what the road conditions are like in Northern Europe in November, but I like the idea of a visit to Norway (as suggested by Simon Kennedy)...

hth,
Have fun & good luck,
Simon

Thanks for the advice.

I will be sailing from Portsmouth to Bilbao. This will only give me 4 days riding in Spain but I only have a week off work. I haven't decided what to do when I'm there but at least I know I'm going.

Alternatively, I could of sailed to Calais and had six days riding but 2 of those would be riding from Calais to Spain and back!!

Cheers.