Thinking of going from South East UK to Greece and back in a week this summer. Will be sticking to motorways where possible. Is this too much for a newbie?

Isn't it a couple of thousand miles one way to Athens? That's a lot of riding for a week to go there and back.

You'd be much better off picking a closer destination or only riding one way and having someone ride your bike back. That way you can pick the more interesting route and not just the fastest.

I should have added that I plan to go via Ancona in Italy in 2 days with 1 night's stop in Switzerland (probably Basel) and take the overnight ferry across to Igoumenitsa in Greece. This will mean a couple of 500 mile days on motorways through France, Switzerland and Italy. Once in Igoumenitsa it is a 200/250 mile ride to Thessalonika which is where I am headed.

What's the point?

Just ride around the M25 continuously to put the miles on your odo and tell your mates you went to Greece and back.

They'll never know the difference and nor will you.

Doc - you make a good point. The reason I am thinking of doing this route is that I don't have a huge amount of time. In addition I have minimal experience on a bike let alone touring so I thought it would be better to stick to the main roads for my first tour. I am planning to surprise my family who will be holidaying near Thessalonika and stay with them for a couple of days. I will probably take a bit of a detour through the Alps on my way back depending on how things are going. I guess all I am asking is, is this a stupid thing to do for someone with minimal experience?

Really it would be a bit stupid even for an experienced rider, how many days in your week? If you want to surprise your family, assuming they would appreciate the surprise, I would go by plane. I watched a youtube clip today by an experienced rider who said that a 300mile max per day is really enough. Is overland travelling all about racing there and back then telling your mates at the pub, yes I've done that one,? I think not.

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Yes.

Cheaper to fly to Greece, rent a scooter, surprise your family, relax for a few days and fly back.

On the other hand, if you are young and need some stress in your life and don't mind riding all day every day on the freeways have at it. I've done crazier things that make me smile when I think about it.

Best,
John Downs

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South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831076

Do it, let us know if you survive and when you're back, let us know how far you ACTUALLY got

If you do UK <-> Greece in 1 week, then you will almost certainly qualify for the IronButt hall of fame: www.ironbutt.com

If you would rather enjoy yourself, then spend time on little roads touring western europe and avoid the motorways! Can't get much better than France IMHO.

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Assuming you do venture onto the continent (no reason not to) do remember about the Priority a Droit. It is NOT just in France, but in most of Europe as far as I can see. Certainly, you have to be careful in Germany with that rule in 30km and also in some 50km/h zones.

The other question we should ask is, do you already have experience driving a motor car, or have you just passed your driving test for the bike? If so, are you limited on power of the bike engine, etc. as you would be if you had just passed the test in Germany (unless you are older).

Experience driving a car certainly helps as you will have acquired some knowledge of Road Craft, etc.

Grey Beard

If you do venture over to northern France the only advice I would give would be to use a petrol station on "your" side of the road.
That way you'll be facing the right way to rejoin the road on the correct side.
Bon voyage.

A few days in Northern France without massive targets sounds a good idea. I reckon do it now, while you are still thinking conciously about your riding. If you get a lot more UK experience things will become "automatic", you'll have to fight the "automatic" instinct on your first trip abroad and force yourself to do things "backwards" i.e. pulling out on the correct side of the road, checking over your shoulder and in the mirrors.

For what it's worth, if you still fancy a ride across the channel, then I'd second the suggestions here about northern France.

Take the coast road south-west from Calais, Wissant, Boulogne, Etaples and so on. If you like beaches they're lots of them.
If you like quirky sights, somewhere along there (don't remember where) there's the remains of the channel tunnel that Napolean started to dig.
And endless little pensions to stay in.
Not normally crowded but I don't think I've ever been there in the school holidays, so wouldn't know about that time of year.

Also don't forget, the French police are pretty hot these days on speeding, and often the start of a speed limit is the sign giving the name of the village, not a number inside a red circle.

Or maybe the coast road NE to Ostend, Bruges and Gent. Bruges is one of the nicest towns in Europe and you get the best chips in the world there. And many would say the best as well.
And in my experience, if your French isn't much good like mine, the Belgians are more forgiving than the French towards English attempts at the language.

A little anecdote I'll always remember: looking for somewhere for lunch in a little French town, saw a pavement cafe and decided to do the French thing, ride my bike onto the pavement and park it right next to a vacant table.
But decided at the last minute there wasn't enough room between the two tables and went to park in the kerb.
Too late! The waiter had already seen my first intent and nipped over, and pulled a table right out of the way to leave plenty of room next to the table I first aimed for!

That sums up that France/Belgium region for me.
Much better than 25 laps of the M25, even if you stop off at Box Hill every lap....

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town