Planning for a big trip.... when do you start

[Mogster]

Look towards 250 to 300 miles a day, don't book hotels unless you are sure you can make them, Etaps are easy to find, cheap and as much bread and jam and coffee as you can stuff fer 3 euros.
A mix of autoroute and back roads makes a nice ride, you get the balance of making good time and also having a laugh on the twistys.

A good start might be to head towards here http://ridersrest.eu/default.aspx I've had a couple of mates go here and they reccomend it highly, tis a nice easy ride down to Limouges from  le harve or any of the ports on that side.

[Nok12rs]

Think I'm getting itchy feet from all this talk of touring into Europe. Any pointers for a continental touring virgin? 
I was wondering what sort of distances you looked to cover on a daily basis so that you could take in a bit of scenery rather than just getting from A to B each day.
What would be a good starter trip for a week to maybe ten days? I fancy cutting through a few countries heading for Germany or Austria, but think that might be pushing it for time/distance.

Currently planning a big one but in the light of various events this year, I took a short "shakedown" trip with a mate who is also a Eurotour jungfrau.

Before I retired, time for bike tours was limited and therefore the trips tended to fall into : 1. Getting there; blasting down to, say Avignon (or taking the car train overnight from Calais) and then 2. Gentle touring; stopping., sightseeing, staying at the same B&B for a couple of nights and riding out to special places on twisty routes.

Nowadays, I like it all be a tour, I plan circuitous routes through places and parts of countries I have never visited. 

Why not start with a short one such as :

The Shakedown Tour

France 15-18 May 2012

15 May: London-Calais-Boulogne-Abbeville-Rouen. 238 miles.   (50% on Peage)
              Heavy showers/strong winds/occasional dry, sunny spells.
              Stayed at: Chambres Avec Vue, Dominique Gogny,
              22 Rue Henault, Mont St Aignan. Tel: 02 35 70 26 95.
              Evening meal: marvellous Belgian fish casserole at great local bistro
             
16 May: Rouen-Evreux-Chartres-Le Mans-Saumur. 264 miles.  Mostly N and D
              Sunny, warm and dry.
              Stayed at: Pascal & Olivier Schvirtz, 225 Rue Du Chateau,
                               49260 Sanziers/Vaudelnay. (In a yurt!) Tel 02 41 59 12 95.
              Evening meal:superb lamb cooked by Pascal


17 May: Loire Valley Run.  All on D roads following the Loire
              Saumur-Tours-Amboise-Blois-Sully Sur Loire. 161 miles.
              Dry. Overcast. Afternoon sun. Occasional light showers.
Lots of stops, visited the towns, sat on terraces and watched the world go by. All very relaxed and yet still covered 161 miles
              Stayed at: Hotel Burgevin.
              Evening meal: superb beef served by waitress in a hurry who won us over with extra dauphinoise.


18 May: Sully Sur Loire-London. 370 miles.   75% Peage
               Mostly dry and overcast with occasional showers.
Tooled around the countryside visiting small towns. After Lunch, put the hammer (a little bit) down and headed for the train.

Arrived SW London at about 2030 feeling (and I am a creaky old bugger) quite relaxed and happy.

Our big tourers really do eat miles, when called upon, in comfort, but for me, minimise the motorway riding.

Good luck and great tours to you all.  Last one off.....close the door.

[routemaster]

It depends on many things but I suppose the most important is that it is a holiday and therefore you want to enjoy yourself. So what do you fancy doing and where do fancy going?

For me and from experience I prefer to use one place as a base and tour around each day rather than go from one place to the next day after day. Having a base to tour from means that if the weather does turn bad at least you don't have to get on the bike and have to travel to the next place - which happened to a few of us a couple of years in Germany when he had several days of torrential rain and its no fun riding in the wet on motorways rather then taking the scenic route as originally planned. Also having a base to tour from means you can unload all of your gear.

In terms of distances per day - a good starting point would be

   
• Covering long distances just to get there then 250-300 miles
• Easy flowing roads with open bends then 180-200 miles a day
• Tight technical twisties then around 90-120 miles a day

There is no point in wearing yourself out so take fairly frequent comfort breaks.

A week would be a good place to start as you can get to some very good places in a day and then have a good few days touring around before making the return leg.

We have all probably done long distance stints from time to time ie 300-400miles at time or even more but when touring you have to remember you are riding day in day out and unless you are used to to it you will become tired and coming back to the first point its a holiday and therefore you want to enjoy yourself.

Just my thoughts no doubt others will chip in with theirs.

Steve

Think I'm getting itchy feet from all this talk of touring into Europe. Any pointers for a continental touring virgin? 
I was wondering what sort of distances you looked to cover on a daily basis so that you could take in a bit of scenery rather than just getting from A to B each day.

What would be a good starter trip for a week to maybe ten days? I fancy cutting through a few countries heading for Germany or Austria, but think that might be pushing it for time/distance.

[Mogster]

We have all probably done long distance stints from time to time ie 300-400miles at time or even more but when touring you have to remember you are riding day in day out and unless you are used to to it you will become tired and coming back to the first point its a holiday and therefore you want to enjoy yourself.

Steve

Yeah... back in the day..the Bol D'or.... get off the ferry at calais (pre tunnel days) at 7am Friday morning already fired up on coffee and proplus...
Gixxers at the ready and 12 hours later we are at Circuit Paul Ricard, 680 odd miles..... party for 2 days.... stay just long enough to see who wins.... then back to Calais 12 hours later  ...oh to be young and stoopid again lol

[Nok12rs]

Routemaster Steve is right;  It is good to have a base and ride out daily.  In the late nineties we stayed at Le Lavandu,  and did day rides to places like the French Grand Canyon: Verdon Gorge.  etc loads of possibilities. 

Time being of the essence, we would take the overnight Car train  ( two bikes charged as one car)  to Avignon and spend the day meandering through Provence to the coast and our base.

Whatever you do, it's all great so happy riding.

[ChrisB]

We are off to Scotland again in mid June for a week, staying at 3 different locations travelling up the west side as far as Loch Awe and down the east side taking in the A7 which I have done many times in the cage when working but never by bike. As far as packing underwear, er indoors can't understand the theory of underpant changing: day 1, wear normally. Day 2, turn back to front. Day 3, turn inside out rightway round. Day 4, turn back to front. Day 5, throw then at the wall, if they fall on the floor go back to day 1. If they stick to the wall, bin them and find a clean pair. Ouch my head!

[shaggs147]

Cheers for the replies guys, think I'll get the map out and have a good study of all of what Europe has to offer.
I'm used to doing 600 plus miles over a weekend, travelling down to Plymouth and back, that was the reason for getting the GTR in the first place - you just don't feel the mileage, so that shouldn't be an issue.
One of the best holidays I ever had was when we flew over to a mate's wedding in Lyon, then hired a big Merc off the cuff, and travelled around the French mountains to the likes of Chamonix.
We looked like a gang of scally wags in a stolen car  it was great.
We saw so much on that holiday that you would never see by going on a plane etc.
If it was that good by car, then going on the bike must be truly awsome! 
I guess its all a question of balance, you want to pack as much as you can in, without making it a chore by the end of the trip. It makes sense to just book hotels as you go, then if you fancy a chill day and a few beers, then thats not a problem.
Hope you all have a great time ..... ya jammy