I have my trip plans coming together and will be setting off on the 20th April for a 3 week initial venture off the continent of Europe for the first time. My draft route intentions are posted on my blog at:

www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/jedicoe

I would dearly love to hear suggestions from any of you out there with respect to the amount of time I am setting myself for the basic legs of this trip and for any not to miss places you think I should head for.

Adi

Refreshed plea with the text of my route now pasted below, sorry to anyone who suffered a slow loading page and gav up trying. I am hoping this is the reason for a lack of reply.

Monday 20th April - Ride to Portsmouth for Ferry departing 23.00
Tues - Le Havre to Northern Spain long day covering as many miles as possible
Wed - Another long day through Spain aiming to get within a few hours ride of Tarifa if possible
Thurs - Ferry to Tangier then head South
Fri - Following my nose South and East
Sat - Following my nose South and East
Sun - Following my nose South and East
Monday 27th April - Hopefully close enough to Dunes to camp
Tues - Moving WEST (mapped turned the correct way round now -thanks Tim)
Wed - Across the mountains to Marrakech
Thurs - Meet Jackki at airport and chill out in Marrakech
Fri - Ride out and back to Marrakech with Jackki on the back
Sat - Drop Jackki at the Airport then head towards Rabat
Sun - Use the faster roads heading North to within a few hours of Tangier
Monday 4th May - Ferry back to Tarifa and start the journey home
Tues - Spain
Wed - Spain / France
Thurs - France
Friday 8th May Ferry leaves Le Havre at 16.00

The basic balance of the trip is getting to Marocco as quickly as possible.
Taking my time then heading South using back roads and scenic routes recommended on the HUBB. Chilling for a few days in/around Marrakech and then heading back on faster/more direct routes.
This is exciting just writing this stuff - role on the 20th April.

Hi, what type of bike are you using, in preparation for specific and very useful advice that others will no doubt give? Linzi.

It's great when I need advice on how to even post a question properly I guess - thanks Linzi.

I will be riding my Suzuki VStrom 1000 and therefore not planning much/any off-road excursions. It is fitted with road tyres and a view on whether it would be worth changing these would be welcome along with any route guidance.

Try 43places.com for other peoples' comments of places they've visited. It CAN be of limited use. Linzi.

I'd consider for a trip out from Marrakech, south on 5501 to Asni through a gorge and pehaps further. Linzi.

Suggestion: change 'Tues - Moving East' to 'Tues - Moving West'

There's no point in changing tyres if you are keeping to tarmac.

Consider saving time and expenses by travelling with Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Santander on Sun 19 April and returning Santander to Plymouth on Thu 7 May. The return cost for motorcycle with rider plus a reserved reclining seat is just £190. Take an airbed and sleep on the floor of the recliner lounge.

When you compare the total cost of
- the Le Havre ferry,
- two nights accommodation,
- French Autoroute tolls (£60?)
- 1500 miles worth of high-speed petrol
- 1500 miles worth of tyre wear
- 1500 miles of contribution to servicing costs

you'll find the Santander ferry is maybe half the cost and you will arrive in Northern Spain relaxed.

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Next, is this a tour of Morocco by motorbike, or a motorbike ride that happens to be in Morocco? In other words, what's more important, covering lots of miles or stopping and seeing things?

What do you want?
- going where all the tourists go
- upmarket hotels
- discos and bars
- meeting locals in non-tourist spots
- hotels with character
- scenery and the natural planet
- imperial culture

Tim

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Tim

Thanks for the response, I guess the main answer is the trip is a bit of everything but I absolutely want to experience as much of the real Morocco as possible and with the exception of the weekend with my wife in Marrakech I will be happy to never see another tourist! I am trying to maximise the time getting to Marrakech to ensure that I have time to stop, meet people and appreciate what could be a unique opportunity. I visited Morocco as a student 20 years ago and loved just being there but was contained to the railway route and did not explore outside of the major towns.

Sorry about the East-West thing - muppet!

I looked long and hard at the Santander route but decided against it simply due to hard time constraints preventing me from leaving on the Sunday and needing to be back by the 9th May at the latest. If the sailings were on a different day I agree it would work much better but I had to set the departure date as Monday 20th or this trip may not even happen.

Hope the above gives a better flavour of what I am looking to get out of the trip.

Adi

Guess I should also mention that I will have camping gear with me to maintain flexibility. Not sure how much use it will get given your clear advice on the HUBB that there are plenty of affordable places to stay but I guess at least one night under the stars gaining a sense of the environment and locale would be desirable.