Touring in the alps

[TRIGGERHAPPY]

Driving down to the alps in the end of july. Me and a friend who also drives a -08 gtr.
17 days ca 5000 miles. Have planned a route,but we will follow the sun so we will change plans as we go.
It will be absolutly fantastic,the only down side are going trough all of germany by the autobahn. fast but boring.
Input from alps experts are very welcome.

[Rusty]

Crikey ..... ... that's about 300 miles a day every day !! Have fun 

[TRIGGERHAPPY]

Yes I know. Maybe we are over our heads,but the two first days are just for getting down to the alps.
Howling down Norway in to Sweden ferry over to Germany. And autobahn down to austria.
The gtr are able to eat miles like no bike I have owned before. But the weather will be a important factor.
If it's pooring down,the speed will drop a lot. Crossing everything we got and hoping for blue skies and sun all the way.

[Rusty]

Everything crossed for you too ... As you say of all the bikes out there the Gtr will simply scoff the miles ......... easy ! 

[Mogster]

300 miles a day on a mix of Duel cabbidge ways and back roads isn't too hard, tis just a case of 'getting on with it'...

me an Smarty have a system where we go for it in the morning when we are fresh.....we'll usually do around the 200 mark by about 1pm... then that leaves us the afternoon to muck about having coffee's and exploring interesting roads...

I usually try to plan the route to suit. 

[TRIGGERHAPPY]

This is exactly our plan to,get a early start and really use the day to enjoy the driving. With out any stress. I belive it also will be easier to find rooms if we get to the destinations no later than 3-4pm. But i reckon it can be cold early in the morning high up in the mountains. Even in july.  Starting no later than 8am will be a good plan I think. Not to many miles for the temperature starts to rise. And still early enough cover many miles during the day.

[frenchbiker]

My only input is the riding time per day, if you are in twisty roads, hairpin area, 300 miles a day is way too much. Just limit yourself to 6 hours a day, and you will still be exhausted. Average speed in Alps is very low. On hwy you can log as much as you want but it gets boring...

[TRIGGERHAPPY]

There will be pauses during the riding,for taking pictures,drinking coffe and just for sigh-seeing.
I know hairpin driving is hard and can be realy slow riding,even worse in rain. Did get blisters in my hands touring
the norwegian mountains last year. We just have to see,and adjust our time driving so wo don't get to tired.
As I said earlier,we can change plans as we go. I think it will be just fantastic anyway,only big problem are if the rain are pooring down day after day. Thats no fun.

[Mogster]

when i plan a route, we have usually have 2 ways to go...
1.. this is the way we'd like to go, as long as the weather and riding conditions are good.
2.. and the alt route, which is close by and is the 'get me to the Hotel A-sap' route...

[TRIGGERHAPPY]

Very smart. Will do that. I use the viamichelin site to find routes and hotels. Easy to find hotels if we change routes.
Or trapped in bad weather.

[sebastian]

hello

i plan a trip for 28 june to 7 july in alps,austria,switzerland and italy,and i made booking for every day in strategic location:

kaprun - grosscklokner pass
langenfeld - stelvio pass,reschenpass,umbrail pass,ofenpass,davos

tiefencastle - oberalppass,nufenpass,grimselpass,sustenpass
                   - st moritz,paso di gavia,paso del tonale


for more information you can use:

http://www.louis.de/_308045e6758d9122df2ff21c953329a68e/index.php?topic=tourentipps
http://www.moho.info/service/mobikehotels-p31.html

ther are a lot of maps who can be downloaded
for my tour i use viamichelin and google maps.

i wish you goodluck and a good wheather

have a nice day

[Mogster]

Coooor imagine my delight when i compared the routes I had done fer me holiday with the routes reccomended above.... I seem to have managed to take in all the relivent ones 

[Nok12rs]

If you get to the extreme south-eastern end of Switzerland, the Furkka Pass (yes I know) between CH and Italy is stunning.

Simplon is ok ish.  I have not been over the col of the Grand St Bernard because each time (4) that I have crossed, it dropped a monsoon so I chickened out and took the tunnel.

Riding up to any of the ski resorts can be brill: Nendaz, Cran-Montana for example.

Have a brill time.