Go Back   Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB > Planning, Trip > TRAVEL Hints and Tips
Beginners trip from UK? Beginners trip from UK?
Register FAQ Calendar Today's Posts
TRAVEL Hints and Tips Post your TIPS to travellers - all the interesting little tidbits you learned on the road about packing, where to get stuff, and how to cope with problems. Please make sure the subject describes the tip clearly!
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



Reply
Page 1 of 2 1 2
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 18 Apr 2008
Tenere Tom's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Leeds UK
Posts: 449
Beginners trip from UK?
Here's a question for all you seasoned RTW riders.

What would you recomend for a first time trip from the UK - just to see if the long trek is for you???

I'd love to do a trip round the coast of the Med. Something like UK - France, Spain/Portugal, Italy, etc,etc and back via Morocco and Gibraltar and back through Spain, France.

This isn't a trip for a beginner so I want to get some experience - not too far but still far enough.

Tom
__________________
Tom
I'm a country member...
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Moscow
Posts: 1,117
Leeds is a bit of a treck in itself for some of us!

Seriously, I like your Round the Med idea. I believe it is not fully possible with closed borders in some areas.

Set yourself a target.

What about following a coast line as closely as physically possible?

This ensures bad, loose or no tracks, beaches, remote areas etc. yet never too far from civilisation. Say Gib to Venice or Greece - that covers huge mileages, varied terrain and peoples (St Tropez 'folk' are as different from village fisherman around the Gulf of Taranto as you could get!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Salisbury, UK
Posts: 119
Wouldn't call myself seasoned but would recommend a trip I did a couple of years ago.
France etc. across the alps to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia (especially Sarajevo), southern Italy, Sicily, France and back home.
Places were different enough to be 'exotic', roads varied from good to non existent, after Slovenia English was minimal, food could be as adventurous as you liked, it was easy to get away from the well trodden routes and find something for yourself. Also, for a first trip insurance etc. is easy and borders are straighforward.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Tenere Tom's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Leeds UK
Posts: 449
I thought borders might be an issue - with the EU spreading further East there won't be many borders left!!!

Tom
__________________
Tom
I'm a country member...
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: West Yorkshire UK
Posts: 1,785
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony P View Post
Leeds is a bit of a treck in itself for some of us!

Seriously, I like your Round the Med idea. I believe it is not fully possible with closed borders in some areas.

Set yourself a target.

What about following a coast line as closely as physically possible?

This ensures bad, loose or no tracks, beaches, remote areas etc. yet never too far from civilisation. Say Gib to Venice or Greece - that covers huge mileages, varied terrain and peoples (St Tropez 'folk' are as different from village fisherman around the Gulf of Taranto as you could get!
Wouldn't reccomend Leeds, way too dodgy I know people in my local who can steal wheels and radios from MOVING cars

How about a loop round the Baltic? Did it in two weeks in 2004. You have a choice of all tarmac or bits of gravel and can either go through Russia for a bit of visa/border experience or get the ferry and stay 100% in EU/EFTA countries.

Andy
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 994
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie View Post
Wouldn't reccomend Leeds, way too dodgy I know people in my local who can steal wheels and radios from MOVING cars
No kidding, when I rode to Hull (via KZ) from Sheffield I left my bike chained to a fence in Turkmenistan for a week, it was fine. Got back to the UK and some theiving git tried to nick it then just torched it instead.

Don't worry about experience Tom, just get out there and go - even on a RTW by the time you have left the security of Europe you will probably have enough experience to make it the rest of the way
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Staffordshire. uk
Posts: 766
RTW, it's like rowing the Atlantic. The first two weeks are all the practice you need. Just go!

Seriously, Have a trip around Scandinavia for a few weeks. All the scenery you can eat and great camping. You can make it as adventurous as you like. Gravel roads, wild camping, swimming in lakes. A wonderful place.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 19 Apr 2008
Tenere Tom's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Leeds UK
Posts: 449
Hey you lot!!!

Leeds ain't that bad - actually it probably is and I've just got used to it

Tom
__________________
Tom
I'm a country member...
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 20 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,598
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenere Tom View Post
Here's a question for all you seasoned RTW riders.

What would you recomend for a first time trip from the UK - just to see if the long trek is for you???

I'd love to do a trip round the coast of the Med. Something like UK - France, Spain/Portugal, Italy, etc,etc and back via Morocco and Gibraltar and back through Spain, France.

This isn't a trip for a beginner so I want to get some experience - not too far but still far enough.

Tom
As a sampler, take a 5 day trip from plymouth to roscoff and back. use the time to circle brittany. Excellent uncluttered roads. stick to teh 'D' roads if possible, but there are no peages in brittany, all free.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 20 Apr 2008
Tenere Tom's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Leeds UK
Posts: 449
Apart from bike related stuff - what hazards are you likely to come across???
I don't want to sound green but are robberies and attacks uncommon???

Tom:confused1:
__________________
Tom
I'm a country member...
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 20 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 4,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenere Tom View Post
Apart from bike related stuff - what hazards are you likely to come across???
I don't want to sound green but are robberies and attacks uncommon???

Tom:confused1:
Tom,
Once you get out of Leeds you'll be fine!


Seriously, no idea what you are doing about accommodation: in France, a lot of the hotels have good lockup facilities for bikes and are aware of local possibilities for crime.
__________________
Dave
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 20 Apr 2008
Tim Cullis's Avatar
Super Moderator
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: London and Granada Altiplano
Posts: 3,122
To see whether you can hack a long trek your checkout trip ideally needs to be

- out of your comfort zone
- with a language you don't know
- with road signs in a different script (Arabic, cyrillic, greek)
- a radically different culture
- without ready access to a dealer network
- where getting spares to you would be challenging

France, Spain/Portugal, Italy hit maybe only one, or at the most two, of the above.

You really need to be out of the EU.

Central Turkey, far Eastern Europe, or Morocco/Western Sahara (especially if you don't speak French) would meet most of the points.
__________________
"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)
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 20 Apr 2008
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 4,343
Wink UK is OK
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Cullis View Post
- out of your comfort zone
- with a language you don't know
- with road signs in a different script (Arabic, cyrillic, greek)
- a radically different culture
- without ready access to a dealer network
- where getting spares to you would be challenging

.
Tim,
Wales pushes most of those buttons! Bits of Bradford also, and it is just along the road from Leeds - perfect.
__________________
Dave
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 21 Apr 2008
Alexlebrit's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: West London
Posts: 920
If you want a quick trip then I'd go the Plymouth - Roscoff route too, tour round Brittany (Iw ould say that I live here), but then down the Atlantic coast of France, over the Pyrenees and into Spain, then get the ferry back from Santander to Plymouth and home. OK so it's all still in Europe but it'll give you variations in geography and climate (it's pouring here in Northern Brittany for instance but a friend who lives 40kms south of me has just told me they're sat in the garden in the sun in shorts).

You could of course even make it some form of pilgimage and make St John de Compostella your destination, that way there's a real sense of it being a "trip" and I think they even give you a pilgims' badge when you get there.

Accomodation could vary from b&b "chambre d'hôtes" in France or campsites or cheap overnight hotels like Formule 1 or wildcamping, or couch-surfing.
__________________
Happiness has 125 cc
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 21 Apr 2008
Tenere Tom's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
  
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Leeds UK
Posts: 449
Thanks for all your suggestions and ideas.

I'm sure that when I get on the road to where ever it will all fall into place.
I quite fancy doing a bit of camping and a little wild cooking (maybe in the style of the Hairy Bikers). Like most of you I don't want to be going to tourist hotspots - quite the opposite, meeting local people in their own enviornment and trying the local cuisine. Even as close as France or Spain I'm sure there are plenty of treats to be had and many miles of rewarding roads.

Tom
__________________
Tom
I'm a country member...
Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 1 of 2 1 2

« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Morocco for beginners Kingjeff North Africa 17 19 Sep 2007 15:24
Fun of trip planning vs. trip itself fatboyfraser Route Planning 9 16 Aug 2006 17:50
First trip! lap of the US jimbokeeno North America 7 13 Dec 2005 02:23
ME Trip ozhanu Middle East 12 25 Aug 2005 23:10
Beginners help with GPS&laptop radek Navigation - Maps, Compass, GPS 4 11 Apr 2004 23:06

 
 

Announcements

Thinking about traveling? Not sure about the whole thing? Watch the HU Achievable Dream Video Trailers and then get ALL the information you need to get inspired and learn how to travel anywhere in the world!

Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's the list of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.

Next HU Eventscalendar

ALL Dates subject to change.

2025 Confirmed Events:

  • Virginia: April 24-27 2025
  • Queensland is back! May 2-4 2025
  • Germany Summer: May 29-June 1 2025
  • CanWest: July 10-13 2025
  • Switzerland: Date TBC
  • Ecuador: Date TBC
  • Romania: Date TBC
  • Austria: Sept. 11-14
  • California: September 18-21
  • France: September 19-21 2025
  • Germany Autumn: Oct 30-Nov 2 2025

Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!

Questions about an event? Ask here

See all event details

 
World's most listened to Adventure Motorbike Show!
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...

Adventurous Bikers – We've got all your Hygiene & Protection needs SORTED! Powdered Hair & Body Wash, Moisturising Cream Insect Repellent, and Moisturising Cream Sunscreen SPF50. ESSENTIAL | CONVENIENT | FUNCTIONAL.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)



Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance.

Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.

Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.

Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!


 

What others say about HU...

"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia

"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK

"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia

"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA

"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada

"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa

"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia

"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany

Lots more comments here!



Five books by Graham Field!

Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook

"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.



Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!

Your ad could be here, on EVERY page of the HUBB, or the whole website, or as many as you like!

New to Horizons Unlimited?

New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!

Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.

Susan and Grant Johnson Read more about Grant & Susan's story

Membership - help keep us going!

Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.

You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:55.

Contact Us - Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers Website - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top