London to Dolomites
 

Hello i wonder if some fellow rider can help us, me and my brother planning to visit Dolomites via Furka Pass (Switzerland) in May we both are traveling on a separate bike both have Transalps 750 we never rode bike out of Uk it will be our first time to Europe if you guys help us to make a route from London to Dolomites and return avoiding motorways like B roads will highly appreciate.
many Thanks

What sort of riding so you generally prefer? (ie. pootling back roads, "making progress", or ...?)

How much time do you have to make your trip?

Do you want to make stops along the way at interesting things, or just get there?

I go down that way a lot (last time was last week), although slightly to the west of where you're heading for. First thing you'll need if you're going to do the real back roads is a decent sat nav. Certainly up in the northern parts of France you'll end up either going round in circles or stopping every five minutes if you don't. Back in Sept I must have been down every farm track around Amiens (too west for your route) when my nav idea didn't work.

Without being too prescriptive about what roads you ought to take one of my summer routes goes from Calais (either boat to tunnel) to a first overnight stop in Maubeuge (near the Belgian border and roughly about 150 miles). Next day I aim to get down to Besancon via the Ardennes (about 300 miles). You might want to aim slightly further east than that if you're heading for the Furka pass.

If it's your first time out of the UK bear in mind that both the tunnel and the Calais ferry route you straight onto the motorway. It's not hard to get off of it but your first experience of France will be a (free) section of autoroute. Take it easy until you get the hang of doing everything backwards. It's much easier to ride on the right on a bike than it is in a car though.

Thank you for your reply we are not pro just Gravel mainly road but prefer B or back road not motorway we have around 9 days like to make stops along interesting things
thanks again

backofbeyond thank you for your reply yes its my first time on a motorbike trip out of UK i do have Garmin Xt will highly appreciate if any of you can share their trip

Hi,

Although high summer is not the best time to ride in Europe because of too much traffic, your plan to go in May maybe a bit too early. Take a look at this link and you will see that the Furka pass often doesn´t open before end of May or even in June.
https://alpen-paesse.ch/en/alpenpaesse/furkapass/

Thank you so much i didnt know about that

Youre welcome. Happy to help.

In north eastern France between Nancy and Mulhouse you will find the Vosges ¨mountains¨ there are probably some nice roads to drive on your way south. Some people like to visit Colmar or Eguisheim.

Yes, I hadn’t pick up the May part. Most of the high passes that are not essential link roads will still be snowed in during May. The ski season doesn’t finish until the end of April and in a snowy year (which it is so far in the Alps) it can be another six weeks - so mid June - before some of the higher ones are open. May is my least favourite month in the Alps as it’s meltwater and slush everywhere.

backofbeyond thank you for your reply we've change the timing now we are planing to go in August, would you be kind enough to to share the route or advice from Calais which way we should go we like scenic route
Thanks

Regarding Europe in the summer, I found back roads in France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany were generally much quieter than any time of year in the southeast of the UK.

In France I found that setting my old Garmin to tertiary roads (ie. not motorway, not A roads, not "B" roads) gave pleasant quiet twisties quite a lot. Didn't work so well in the other countries listed since the parts I was going through were generally flat and TBH quite dull road-wise, but then I was going to visit family and not touring. For good things to check out, generally I just did an internet search for places I was close to, so in France got to see cheese being made, a chateau that Marie Antonette used to summer in, some old carved stones, and stayed a couple of nights at a horse farm ... not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it, lol

Generally what works for me is not having a plan and just sorting out the next night's accommodation the same day.

Good luck with your trip and if you do have any concerns about riding on the right hand side of the road (I actually prefer it on the bikes) I was given a great suggestion many years ago: "If you drive on the right between home and the ferry port, when (if) you reach France you'll find it much easier than it is at home :wink3:

Hi Rider5, the from Furkapass to Dolomites there are many, but many great roads to try, check out my selfmade google maps map with the best roads in the alps in my opinion. The blue points are for sporty riding, the yellow ones are narrower, less well-known gems often next to a cliff side with great views.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...0787523293&z=7

Hope it helps you plan your perfect road trip

@rider5 that trip to the Dolomites through Switzerland sounds epic! A few thoughts - in August you'll likely hit more traffic but the weather should be great. Coming from Calais, I'd take the scenic D937 towards Rouen, then hop on the D675 towards Nancy for a taste of French countryside. The Vosges mountains like someone mentioned are beautiful.

I would pick up the route above but miss out most of the Calais - Rouen section - I would catch the Newhaven - Dieppe ferry with DFDS and pick up the route from there - the routes out of Calais are quite boring and flat to my mind. Also on the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry DFDS gives me a 20% discount on the fares (including cabin) if I phone up and book as I am over 60 (the discount is not available on line).