routes in france/spain
 

i'm planning a trip next summer (2002) from the north west of france down the west coast of france, cross teh pyrennees to the south coast of spain near gibralter. i want to take in nantes, biarritz and madrid on the way and stay on the coast when in france but am easy otherwise about the specific route. has anyone any suggestions as to good routes? how long do you think this trip would take if time was no object and easy travelling was the order of the day? i'll probably stay in pensiones. cheers!

I ridden a similar route along the French atlantic coast and noted the following points .

1. Autoroutes are expensive but much faster than the Route Nationale . Same in Spain . Of course you don't see anything but hey !

2. France is big . Spain is not so small either .

I reckon you could ride France in one day , but that would be one long day . Just cruising on the RN took me two and a half days from Brittany to the Spanish border . It would prob be two or three gentle days more to Gibraltar .

The Pyrenees are curvy as heck and loads of fun but are very very busy in holiday season .

Do it !

Hi,

It's too much to mention, all the nice roads&places in France and Spain.

Just buy the michelin-map and follow the green marked roads.

Succes guaranteed.

Freek (Netherlands)

cheers, peeps. thanks for the info. any ideas as to what would be a good bike for a trip like this with a passenger (female!). i'd like not to spend a lot on it!! zenbiker

Well, thats a question with a very subjective answer . For long distance and cruising I myself would prefer something with a fairing and a shaft drive . Others eschew fairings on styling grounds alone . Naked bike - grunt grunt !! :-)

Main thing is you get a bike you can afford and not have to worry about it falling apart on you far from home . My advice is if you cannot accurately judge a bike's condition when you buy it ( and don't trust a dealer's word ) to enlist a friend with experience .

Also the net is full of tips on bikes in general as well as specific mailing lists for certain models e.g. beemers , triumphs .

Whatever you choose , you can do long trips on anything if you put your mind to it .

hello zenbiker,

best advice is to purchase the yellow michelin-maps, which come in the 200,000 scale. some regions in france are even covered lately by the green 1:100,000 scale ones.

if you happen to be in france in july, send me an email. will stay at my house at that time.

-=helmut=-


[This message has been edited by airhead (edited 22 January 2002).]

Hi ZenBiker:

I toured France last summer (2001) on my ST1100, and had a delightful time. My suggestions (some of which have already been made by others) are:

1) Avoid the autoroutes, except for times when you just want to 'cover miles', and stick to what the French call the départementale roads, which are the ones that are identified with a D in front of the road number. These are by far more enjoyable riding than either the autoroutes or the major highways. The major highways are identified with a N, for nationale, on the maps.

2) As Freek suggested, get Michelin maps, and give preference to the roads that are highlighted with green lines along the side of them. The green line indicates a particularly scenic or beautiful route. I have found that Michelin can be trusted when they indicate such a route.

3) I would not recommend that you buy the yellow Michelin maps. The information contained on these maps is perfect, exactly what you want, but you will go bankrupt purchasing all of the individual maps needed to navigate your route. Also, the maps themselves are quite big, and therefore a PITA to fold and fit on your tank bag.

Instead, I would recommend you purchase a Michelin Road Atlas of France, the atlas with the yellow cover. This contains the same information as the yellow covered road maps, but it only costs about € 25. You can then tear out the pages as you need them, and stuff the page you are using on the top of your tank bag.

Have a wonderful trip.

[This message has been edited by PanEuropean (edited 27 January 2002).]

get lost on small routes near the ocean and through the mountains :-)
marvellous people and contryside
quite safe
use lonely planet guide, michelin maps (why not) but a good travelling guide not necessarely a french one
avoid big routes, crowed etc ...

Hi,
ran very similar to the top of that route on a TDM850 last summer. It was perfect in every respect. For where we went see http://www.bath.ac.uk/~su6cycle
for my thoughts on the bike see http://www.bikesalesonthenet.co.uk
hope this is of help

dan

[This message has been edited by SC Dan 3 (edited 04 March 2002).]

[This message has been edited by SC Dan 3 (edited 04 March 2002).]

I did a similar tip a couple of years ago on an Afric Twin two up with female for 5 weeks. The bike was great fun in the twisty stuff and didn't suffer from altitiude problems. If you're feeling brave you can take it off road to - we did! The bike could do with a better seat but isn't too bad (me and the female are still together if that is anything to go by!)

In terms of a route just follow your nose and stay of the autoroutes or more major roads and you can't go wrong - you have the time of your life. Just take a Lonely Plant Guide so you know what is on offer when you get there. Enjoy

thanks again guys - this is a year on and the trip didn't happen last summer for various reasons, but is on for 2003.

i'm looking at a 900 diversion and a suzuki gsx750w (any comments?)

airhead - if you're still up for it - how do i find you?

zenbiker.

We have done Frane & Spain several times. The first time was on a KLR650 as pillion I can say it was the most uncomfortable trip I have ever had. We have done it since on a BMW R80/7. We took it standard the first time and it was great for pillion, really comfy, but not so good for riding with loads of luggage. 7 years on we still have this bike but have adapted it for long distance touring. I hope you know your pillion passenger very well, this sort of trip puts lots of strain on a relationship. Having said that we're still married and still touring.

Ally

hi zenbiker just to let you know i'll e/mail you tonight about the trip.

regards BOND

thanks for the thought, ally - i'll let you know - just dont tell her!

zenbiker

Seems to be quite a popular subject - and indeed France is very nice for touring around...

I wonder if anyone knows about rally-type versions of route descriptions for short tours in France? You know the type, 3 km crossroads turn left, 1.5 km turn right, straight on for 10 km, church on left side...

I once have followed this type of route description and I found it pretty relaxed driving since very often on a map you can't see everything nice to see, and you can rely on the positive experience of people before you.

I have been looking on the net for these types of route descriptions, but no luck so far. Anyone suggestions/tips/links on this?

Jef