Europe route / distance advise
 

Hello, I am finally putting the wheels in motion for a trip I have wanted to do for a very long time & will be shipping my bike from Australia to the UK in late May 2016 for a 4 month tour of Europe. I am researching info on great B roads and WW11 points of interest.
Roads like the Transfagarasan, Stelvio, Grimsel,Furka,Atlantic road,Trollstigan,Falzareg,etc ,
WW 11 Sites& areas such as Normandy, Auschwitz, Eagles nest, Etc. & Gallipoli as well ( I'm Australian )
The map attached shows a basic outline , the actual routes are underway in basecamp in sections by country
Do you guys think this trip is doable in 4 months without racing around , keeping in mind I really want to spend a few weeks exploring the French, Swiss,Italian alps....any info would be very much appreciated

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Hi Simo,

Not really an answer to your questions, but for accommodation in e.g. UK, Belgium and Netherlands, you might check out:

Camp in my Garden

It's like couch surfing, but you camp in people's gardens (for almost nothing).
Anyway, I'll be happy to accommodate you in Holland bier!

Happy travels,

Gee

Given the 100 year WW I remembrance events that are organized all over Europe and especially along the old front lines I would try to focus a bit more on WW I sites.
Along your route especially Gallipoli in Turkey (with a large memorial for commonwealth and especially Australian casualties), Verdun and the Somme valley in France and Flanders fields in Belgium are of interest.

You could take all of these in and still include the WW II sites in e.g. Normandy.

Four months seems reasonable. I'd add roads in the Pyrenees, Dolomites and the Route des Grande Alpes to your route, give a wider berth to the Eastern Ukraine/Russian border area and consider a ferry directly from France to Ireland, doing whatever I wanted in the UK after that. The Atlantic Road gets interesting further North of your route but there's a lot of great sights on it as it is.

John Hermann's book on Alpine Routes would be a valuable investment for you.

Merhaba,
According to the map,some best colors of turkey seems outside..This is generally once in a life journey so I guess will be good to have your Turkey route as detailed below.Here goes my personal idea..

Nothing interesting in blacksea coastline except sumela monastry in trabzon..boring traffic ,many small towns and traffic lights..better take the road to south from samsun...Also ankara,being a capital city,is also boring and nothing interesting except some big museums..
After making georgia gate to samsun..
1-Samsun (fish restaurants) çorum (capital of hittites)ankara, aksaray (salt lake) cappadocia
2-Cappadocia,konya (center of sufism and mevlana),egridir lake.(old turkish natural life)
3-eğridir denizli,pamukkale(cotton castle! hot springs spa.)
4-Pamukkale-selçuk.(ephesus and st.mary hill here)
5-Selçuk,izmir,ayvalık,asos,babakale.(westernmost point of main asia continent and get your certificate by the headman of the vilage, Mr.Mustafa..nice small seaside village)
6-Asos,troy,çanakkale,galipoli.
7-gallipoli istanbul by the seaside.
8-9- mınımum 2 days to discover istanbul.
10-İstanbul-edirne-kapıkule gate.(just 2-3 hours)

tips..:
1-gas is most expensive here.now about 2 usd.per liter..many campsites and free camping areas availabe on this route..Salt lake,gallipoli anzac bay,etc.
2-several bikers festivals available in some cities during summer months and its a good opportunity for free entertainment,camping, and overall getting to know locals and the country better..Below are the photos for 2015-festival schedule and asia certificate..( I believe will be a good memory)

All the best.

looks like a nice route to me! give us a shout when you hit the uk, i'm around i'll be able to put you in in Devon & possibly Liverpool too. Good luck with it fella:D

Hello Gee

Thank you, i had never heard of camp in my garden. It looks a good idea and is noted . Your offer is kind & generous and as my trip is still a long way away I will re post this thread as the time gets closer. if you are around I may just take you up on it.

cheers Phil

Hello duibhceK,

Yes agreed, I have marked as a waypoint the Town of Albert in France where there is apparently a good museum regarding the Somme and western front battle fields. Thank you...i will gather more as time goes on. I no doubt will be exploring around the Gallipoli area, I am sure it will be quite surreal.

cheers Phil

Hello Wildman

Ok.... well reasonable will do me. Yes I have quite a lot of roads plotted around the Dolomites & some around the Pyrenees, I will work on a few more.
Point taken on the wide berth Ukraine/Russian border...I would like to enter the Arctic Circle though realistically its a long way up there. I think I may turn at Kristiansund and head south east, you never know. i may just give it a go.. I am waiting for a delivery of more Michelin maps and Toby Ballentines "western Europe motorcycle journeys"..i have now added John Hermanns book as well...Thank you he seems like a "King of the Alps" Man

cheers Phil

No, as long as you dont just want to stick to the highway and race around you will need more time. Not taking the (because of toll expensive and bouring strait) highways but nice winding roads will slow you down to 50 km/h average speed. There are many villages, many speed cameras and many red traffic lights. I still prefere to ride the wonderfull country side in Swiss etc but this way 300 km nice winding mountains in the Alps means 6 hours of riding without a break. The russian boarder etc will also take time. In the East Ukraine there is war at the moment and the roads in Romania (not the new highway) are very bad.

If you take the highway you can do your trip easily and can say youf done it but you will miss the best parts.

Insted of shiping i would buy a bike in Europa and sell it. Cheaper.

Enjoy it, Tobi

Hello Mehmet Zeki Avar

Thank you for the local knowledge regarding Turkey. I t is very much appreciated I now have it in my routes as an option.. 3000 kms from border to border....
Yes fuel is expensive over there I see... About $1.25 AUD per litre here....getting to know the locals is a big part of the trip to me....

Cheers Phil

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Hello Nick_ish
Thanks mate... A long way off, but yes will give a shout....if you are around.....

Cheers Phil

Hello Tobi
thank you for your honest opinion....it is noted..... I want to start the trip in the UK and have searched bike prices over there. Yes good value indeed...I have talked to a few people that are willing to help out. There seems to be an issue with green card.. I have emailed 4 insurance companies known to this site and the closest I've got to what I need is they will insure me for Europe but not the country I buy the bike in. EG...Bennets won't insure me..canfieldpayne will insure me if the bike is in a UK residents name and I am a nominated rider...not really happy with buying a bike in someone else's name....Alessie will insure for Europe but not UK, so I will have to source UK insurance else where....BUT will insure me completely if I ship my own bike from Australia... I may have luck with Carole Nash...who wants more details from me...I could by for example a 660 tenere over there for say £4-5000 $8-10000 AUD...and sell when I am done ..... Or ship my bike both ways including customs, port fees and storage for $ 5000 AUD..... Advantage of my bike is its all set up and I know it+ I love riding it....

Attachment 14648 correct me if I am wrong ... I think theres not a lot in it price wise if you take into
account the lower resale of the UK bike upon return plus I would be trying to sell it
towards end of the riding season...But a big thing is i am not
putting 30,000 kms on my own bike.....I see your valid point...

The main thing is your opinion is I would run out of time in 4 months on B roads....IF I had to cut a section out it would either be Norway or Russia'''If I cut out Norway I could head east from Netherlands through to Estonia . If I cut out Russia I could head south from Lithuania.....and still enter Turkey from the west.....??????

Hi,

Well for the bike i would have bought a Honda Transalp 650 for just 2000 Euro in Europa, register and insure it on a friends name (resident) and ride the EU with it (not Russia and Turkey) and when you bring it back to your friend he will return you 1000 of your deposit and then sell the bike for 1500 so he will earn 500 for helping you and you will have a cheap bike.

Anyway to ride inside of the EU is very easy once you have the Shengen visa so if i would skip russia and ride Norway and Poland to stay inside of Shengen.
Romania is not part of Shengen but part of EU. Complicate.

The so calles *stans around the black sea are not very easy when it comes to visa as well but to ride down the coast from Austria, Slowenia, Kroatia down to Greece (Albania ist not EU) or ride down Italy to skip Albania and take the ferry to Greece you can ride to Turkey (not EU) as well.

Visa stuff allways makes traveling very hard. Otherwise it would also be great to take the ferry from Italy to Tunesie or from France to Marocco as well. With a German passport I dont need a Visa for this but have no idea about Australien Passports...

Enjoy it, Tobi