teerex51
The Italian Scallion
In a few weeks from now we'll start on our major road trip this year. We've planned this since the inception of our Italian Forum last year and it looks like it'll be a winner.
The Pyrenees mountain range is the natural boundary separating SW France from the Iberian peninsula. It's a beautiful scenery with lots of twisty roads and relatively little traffic.
Because we only have 8 days, we plan on arriving in Spain by ship from the Italian port of Genoa. We've booked accommodation on a large cruise-ferry and we'll sure enjoy the 20 hour boat ride to Southern Spain.
From Barcelona (our port of disembarkation) we'll head NW in the direction of the mountain range (on the map it virtually coincides with the yellow national border between Spain and France).
(please disregard the numbers on the map)
We will then follow the foothills of the Pyrenees reaching the famous Spanish city of Pamplona. (That's where they let the bulls run free through the citry streets...
). From there we'll reach the Atlantic coast and cross into France, heading for the resort town of Biarritz, near Bayonne.
From Biarritz, we'll head on down the other side of the mountain range (this time favoring higher elevations) and we'll leave the main roads for the twisties, following the contours of the Pyrenees Eastern reaches.
These roads rank among the best mountain routes in Europe, without the heavy traffic you are bound to encounter when riding the Dolomites or the Swiss Alps.
We'll then head SE to the Mediterranean shore and the beautiful Camargue coastal flats, to head inland again and hit the Rhone River valley and the historical city of Orange.
From Orange, our itinerary will take us due east to the city of Toulon and the famed Cote d'Azur, with its red-rock formations and beautiful roads. The plan is to avoid riding there on a weekend, since these heavenly roads turn into hell overnight.
Our hometown, Milan, is only a few hundred kilometers away and we have a choice between following the coast to the Italian border (see map) or heading North from Cannes, while still in the heart of the Cote d'Azur, and hitting the majestic Alpine passes that separate Italy from France, which lie roughly 60 miles SW of the city of Turin.
This is an open invitation for some of you guys to join us. We're leaving on June 30 and returning on July 8.
You might want to join a group of FJR riders who know their way around Europe... . If you end up renting another type of bike (typically a Beemer) you're still welcome. We'll just have to wait for you...
Stef
The Pyrenees mountain range is the natural boundary separating SW France from the Iberian peninsula. It's a beautiful scenery with lots of twisty roads and relatively little traffic.
Because we only have 8 days, we plan on arriving in Spain by ship from the Italian port of Genoa. We've booked accommodation on a large cruise-ferry and we'll sure enjoy the 20 hour boat ride to Southern Spain.
From Barcelona (our port of disembarkation) we'll head NW in the direction of the mountain range (on the map it virtually coincides with the yellow national border between Spain and France).
(please disregard the numbers on the map)
We will then follow the foothills of the Pyrenees reaching the famous Spanish city of Pamplona. (That's where they let the bulls run free through the citry streets...
). From there we'll reach the Atlantic coast and cross into France, heading for the resort town of Biarritz, near Bayonne.From Biarritz, we'll head on down the other side of the mountain range (this time favoring higher elevations) and we'll leave the main roads for the twisties, following the contours of the Pyrenees Eastern reaches.
These roads rank among the best mountain routes in Europe, without the heavy traffic you are bound to encounter when riding the Dolomites or the Swiss Alps.
We'll then head SE to the Mediterranean shore and the beautiful Camargue coastal flats, to head inland again and hit the Rhone River valley and the historical city of Orange.
From Orange, our itinerary will take us due east to the city of Toulon and the famed Cote d'Azur, with its red-rock formations and beautiful roads. The plan is to avoid riding there on a weekend, since these heavenly roads turn into hell overnight.
Our hometown, Milan, is only a few hundred kilometers away and we have a choice between following the coast to the Italian border (see map) or heading North from Cannes, while still in the heart of the Cote d'Azur, and hitting the majestic Alpine passes that separate Italy from France, which lie roughly 60 miles SW of the city of Turin.
This is an open invitation for some of you guys to join us. We're leaving on June 30 and returning on July 8.
You might want to join a group of FJR riders who know their way around Europe...
. If you end up renting another type of bike (typically a Beemer) you're still welcome. We'll just have to wait for you...Stef
Last edited by a moderator:
