Roadtrip

Right, I'm off to France and maybe Spain on the 20th August and my mate has yet to plan the route and places to stay and the missus is nagging that she needs to know asap!
Firstly apologies for taking the misses but she dont trust me to go away on my own lol!!!!
I'm going to take the eurotunnel to Calais, so if anyone has got some nice places to stay and routes to travel, I would be very grateful.
Not looking for 5* stuff, more B and B's that are bike friendly.
Going for about 10 days, and maybe staying near Alicante for couple of those.

Any suggestions will be welcome

cheers

headmuscle
:cheers

Headmuscle said:

Right, I'm off to France and maybe Spain on the 20th August and my mate has yet to plan the route and places to stay and the missus is nagging that she needs to know asap!
Firstly apologies for taking the misses but she dont trust me to go away on my own lol!!!!
I'm going to take the eurotunnel to Calais, so if anyone has got some nice places to stay and routes to travel, I would be very grateful.
Not looking for 5* stuff, more B and B's that are bike friendly.
Going for about 10 days, and maybe staying near Alicante for couple of those.

Any suggestions will be welcome

cheers

headmuscle
:cheers

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Check out this site, I've used it loads of times. You can select by map so just look at a route, work out the miles you will have/would like to cover and check that area for a Hotel, French Hotels are more like guest houses so don't expect anything to spectacular, however all the hotels I've used have been perfect...Used them with family and on biking trips

http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/recherch/index-ca.htm

windy

Thanks very much pal, will have a look.

Cheers

headmuscle

Just come back from a 10 day trip through France & Switzerland. The best thing to do is arrive at any town around 5pm, go straight to the centre of town park up and look for hotels. We found if you aim for 1 or 2 star ones you can pay between 50-70 euro for the room.

Cheaper options is the formula one's on the outskirts of town usually around 40 euro a night.

Best thing is to go with out a plan and just enjoy, as you don't want to be tied down with having to get to a certain destination every night then you wont enjoy the lovely roads and scenery.

Thanks wills9,

How was ur trip, bet it was a brill holiday. Just bought the puig screen so hope that helps on the long trip somewhat.
Got the ventura luggage on the bag and maybe a tankbag, but not sure yet?
yeah pretty sure we going to play it by ear, got a few places that I would like to visit, Girona, carcassonne, La Rochelle and rouen to name but a few.

How was the T on the trip? Loads of fuel stops, comfort etc?

Cheers pal

Carcassone is a great place to go, stay in the new town then walk up walled city for food etc.

The T was fine on a good day I'd get 110 miles before the light came on. Managed to do 150 miles on fumes on time as there was no petrol stations haha. Comfort wise it was great we were doing around 200-250 miles a day.

Headmuslce, there is a guy who has a farm down near Limoge, he is a Brit biker and has decked out this farm purley for bikers to stay on trips to the south of France etc. I will try to find his website and post it for you. He seems like a good guy, him and his wife fun it both bikers, and he runs an Italian bike as well.

Ah got it Tony and Wendy are the couple that run it this is the website
http://www.ridersrest.net
Give it a look see what you think. hope this could be of help.

Cheers njc 1000 r,

Having a look at we speak. Definately going to Carcassonne on way way down but not sure where to venture near Calais etc. Think I will go to Rouen and maybe reims as just vistited Reims and it very nice.

Any further suggestions Northern France would be great.

Cheers headmuscle

We came back through Nprthern France and stayed close to the D-Day landings. Very interesting places and a lot to see.

We stayed not far from Omaha Beach at Arromanches.

Also as AF1-windy suggested any of the Logis de france are all ok and can be forward booked via internet on a central booking site. The other chain in france I have found to be good are Campanille, good secure parking most of them all have a nice outside garden area to eat in the evening. They are great for flying stop overs , not expensive you pay for the room and not per person. The food is of the serve yourself buffet style and you can pig out if you want, plus steaks etc are all available. Worth a look, they are a good step up from the formula 1. I hate those I would never stay at one of those again got robbed in Dreux one night during a Formula 1 stay !
Headmuscle, how are you getting the T over to France ? Are you doing the tunnel or a ferry? I am thinking of the tunnel early next year and was wondering how they secure bike cause as we all know the side stands are not the best in the world !
Anyway I am jealous as hell, hope you have a great time, and remember to take plenty of pics to post on your return !

Eurotunnel.

If you have never used it on a bike.
There are no straps etc. what you do is ride in keeping over to the right - keep of the shiney cover in the middle - it's quite loose.
When you get to where you are parking in the train swing left so your front wheel jams up against the kerb. switch the bike off in gear and put it on its side stand. From then on you are stood next to it until you get off again so it's up to you to keep hold. I have been through the tunnel a good few times now with the T and whilst they wobble a bit on the stands neither of ours has ever fallen over.
It's pretty quick in all honesty, and there is a filling station on the Calais side - top up there.

Regards route planning - another hotel chain you can use is Ibis/Mercure - many have underground carparks which is a nice feeling, knowing your bike is safe, and that kitting up in the morning will be cool.

Calais - can be very "English" weather wise, if that's the case, jump on the peage and head south and get to the sun, it's a bit boring, but better than looking at clouds etc. all day. Troyes is worth a stop, Rhiems is ferkin expensive - go about 25k further south, can't remember the town, but nicer and cheaper.

Have a wander into the "Puys-des-Domes" area - fantastic roads, not as full-on as the Alps and very quiet. Some great little out of the way places to find.

Our usual plan is to wander aimlessly until about 16:00 and then start looking for towns/hotels etc. Some of our best memories are from the smallest (and cheapest) hotels.

If you get to Spain, beware that unlike France the accomodation can be hard to find on spec' - we use the Parador chain, but they are 4 star & you need to use an advance booking deal to get a good price. Also food in Spain isn't served in many bars or cafes until 8:30pm, so don't skip lunch or you'll be starving.

V60Paul said:

If you have never used it on a bike.
There are no straps etc. what you do is ride in keeping over to the right - keep of the shiney cover in the middle - it's quite loose.
When you get to where you are parking in the train swing left so your front wheel jams up against the kerb. switch the bike off in gear and put it on its side stand. From then on you are stood next to it until you get off again so it's up to you to keep hold. I have been through the tunnel a good few times now with the T and whilst they wobble a bit on the stands neither of ours has ever fallen over.
It's pretty quick in all honesty, and there is a filling station on the Calais side - top up there.

Regards route planning - another hotel chain you can use is Ibis/Mercure - many have underground carparks which is a nice feeling, knowing your bike is safe, and that kitting up in the morning will be cool.

Calais - can be very "English" weather wise, if that's the case, jump on the peage and head south and get to the sun, it's a bit boring, but better than looking at clouds etc. all day. Troyes is worth a stop, Rhiems is ferkin expensive - go about 25k further south, can't remember the town, but nicer and cheaper.

Have a wander into the "Puys-des-Domes" area - fantastic roads, not as full-on as the Alps and very quiet. Some great little out of the way places to find.

Our usual plan is to wander aimlessly until about 16:00 and then start looking for towns/hotels etc. Some of our best memories are from the smallest (and cheapest) hotels.

Yer dirty old git, I'll be telling your gert about the bragging....
:megaphone

If you get to Spain, beware that unlike France the accomodation can be hard to find on spec' - we use the Parador chain, but they are 4 star & you need to use an advance booking deal to get a good price. Also food in Spain isn't served in many bars or cafes until 8:30pm, so don't skip lunch or you'll be starving.

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Bloody'ell yer best tell araihead or there'll be a war.....

AF1-windy said:

Bloody'ell yer best tell araihead or there'll be a war.....

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Why - is Piehead planning on leaving county Durham for once? :eek

Cheers V60 Paul,

Going to go to Rouen 1st then of to Angers as meeting some more guys of the St Malo ferry. Just come back from France on the eurotunnel as managed to be in train car with a few bikers and they did a similar thing. Will definately be holding on, and thank god its only 35 mins or so.
Had a look at a few Mercure hotels and they seem like a good bet! Went to Reims and visited a couple of Champagne Houses, and yes they are bloody expensive but its a nice town with some good roads on route. Might just visit on the way?
Ta for all the advice I've got so far guys, its been a grt help.
Going to book the 1st hotel in Rouen and then play it by ear i think.
Just purchased a Tom Tom rider so hopefully that will help me a grt deal as getting the misses to map read in a car is bad enough let alone on the back of the T.......

Will post some pics on my return

headmuscle

Stop it. I'm jealous.

Not long back from Germany trip and TOM TOM Rider was brill. Got its head up its arse a few times but keep moving and it sorts itself out. At Cochem it told me I'd reached destination and I was 10 yds away from hotel! That'll do for me! Also can dial in petrol stations as points of interest - very worthwhile @ 30 mpg!!!!!

Blimmin Brummies always takin da mic.

Wacker, cheers for the vote of confidence on the TomTom rider. All I need to do is order the right one, as must have had a few to many beers the other nite and ordered the UK version lol!
Get the Europe version on Tuesday for trip on Thursday, fingers crossed?

How did you mount it on the T, suppose it would be the bar clamps on the left side? Any tips would be good so I'm not messing with it before I go?

Cheers

headmuscle

Headmuscle said:

Cheers V60 Paul,

Going to go to Rouen 1st then of to Angers as meeting some more guys of the St Malo ferry. Just come back from France on the eurotunnel as managed to be in train car with a few bikers and they did a similar thing. Will definately be holding on, and thank god its only 35 mins or so.
Had a look at a few Mercure hotels and they seem like a good bet! Went to Reims and visited a couple of Champagne Houses, and yes they are bloody expensive but its a nice town with some good roads on route. Might just visit on the way?
Ta for all the advice I've got so far guys, its been a grt help.
Going to book the 1st hotel in Rouen and then play it by ear i think.
Just purchased a Tom Tom rider so hopefully that will help me a grt deal as getting the misses to map read in a car is bad enough let alone on the back of the T.......

Will post some pics on my return

headmuscle

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Sounds like a good plan. Liz and I did France last year (Spain this year), final night was in the Mercure in Rheims, which is how I know it's ferkin expensive. Our meal cost more than the previous nights entire bill :bawling
Does have underground parking though.

Honestly - the bike will not fall over. :thumbup on the train, Liz has a Tunuo in Matt black, and it's more stable than my Tuoldo.

GPS is useful, but double check the route on a map before you set off over any distance, the Garmin on my bike is completely bonkers. This year it tried to take us up cobbled streets at about 1in3 slope with steps every few hundred yards. In previous trips it's had us riding up lanes with grass growing out of the centre etc. The programming has "fastest" and "shortest" as route plans. I want "sensible" no alleys, descents down goat tracks etc. The fuel finding is brilliant though, it allows you to stretch the length of each leg to the absolute max (that you dare), we were doing about 210k between fills, rather than the usual looking from 100 miles on, and stopping every 160k or so. A lot depends how you ride - in touring mode I can do 140+ miles to a tank, hooning it's only about 100.