Hello Dan, hope you are well.

In 2005 I did a very similar trip to what your planning. I had passed my test in 2003 and bought myself a Suzuki SV650S. I quickly got fed up with the Sunday runs to the seaside and decided I wanted to do something a bit more adventurous without scaring the s*it out of myself altogether!

It so happenened that a few months earlier I had rekindled a friendship from many years previous with a couple who had since moved to Torrevieja, just south of Alicante. So to me that was the perfect first "big" trip and my planning started. I took a ferry from Rosslare to Roscoff in Brittany, then made my way down the west coast of France. I stopped off in Pontivy, La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Lourdes along the way. To say this part of France is beautiful would be a tremendous understatement, and the respect given to bikers on the road is nothing short of remarkable. I absolutely loved France. I then made my way across the Pyrenees and stayed in a very remote part of Northern Spain (can't remember the name of the village, but it was fabulous) for a couple of days. I then made my way down through central Spain before turning eastwards towards Alicante. I think that for me I did the trip perfectly, insofar as I avoided most of the tourist areas as I wanted to see the real people and places in France and Spain.

My accomodation was mostly hotels along the way. They were easy to find, offered secure parking for the bike and weren't at all expensive. Overall I had an absolute blast of a time. I loved every minute of it. I've been touring in Europe a few times since then and have always enjoyed it immensely, but that first trip will stay with me forever (partly for reasons that I can't mention here.....but it did involve 2 tasty French girls in the town of Poitiers!!). You'll have an amazing trip Dan, just get on with it and don't let the nerves get to you!!

Chris

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"Life is too short to drink cheap wine!"