teerex51
The Italian Scallion
Let me apologize first of all for posting a huge amount of text. The idea is that some of you might find it useful for your own ride planning at some future stage.
If the Mods think it's too much copy, please delete it and I'll pass on the information to Skooter G by e-mail. No hard feelings
Southern German section
From Heidelberg, take a day trip down the Neckar River to Marbach and return to base.
Depart Heidelberg head south on the Autobahn but leave the A5 at Offenburg and ride the Black Forest backroads, to rejoin the freeway system at Staufen (you might want to overnight here. Check out the Goethe Hotel)).
Take the Autobahn through the Swiss border into Basel, then head SW on A1 to Geneva and on to Grenoble (France) on A41. You might want to spend the night in beautiful Grenoble.
Southern France section
From Grenoble to the French Riviera take the historic Route Napoleon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_Napol%C3%A9on), one of the best riding roads in Europe. At Castellane, take a detour and visit the Verdon Canyon.
You might want to end the day before hitting the seashore and choose to stay in Grasse, the perfume capital of France. Your SO will be thankful.
Pyrenees Loop
Here is where you head west on the French freeway system to Aix-en-Provence, Arles (worth an overnight stop) and Montpellier. Proceed to Perpignan and cross into Spain.
Exit the freeway fifteen minutes later at Figueres and head for Besalù. You’re at the eastern end of the Pyrenees. This is where you might want to insert an extension (1, 2 days) into Barcelona and back.
From Besalù ride on to Ripoll, then head north to Puigcerda and continue briefly through France until you reach Andorra at Pas de la Casa. (elevation 8,000 ft.). Ride through Andorra La Vella and into Spain again. Head for La Seu d’Urgell, Rialp, proceed north to Vielha and into France (Bagnéres de Luchon). By now, you’ve had a good taste of the Pyrenees and might want to head back east via Toulouse and Narbonne and the French coastal freeway you rode on earlier in your trip.
If you want to do more Pyrenees, from Vielha head south to Viuet, then west on N-260 though Noales, Castejon, Ainsa, Arresa. Here you can head north to Torla, where several hotel options are available on account of a national park being located where the road ends. Check out the Hotel Bujaruelo, with views on the majestic Monte Perdido.
South of Torla, you can rejoin the N-260 heading west to Biescas, then south to Sabinanigo and west again to Jaca As you head west to Pamplona, you’ll have several opportunities to cross into France and hit the freeways back to Narbonne and in the direction of Italy. If you do this, make sure you spend a half day in Carcassonne, the walled city, which you’ll find on your way east to Narbonne.
Head back to Grasse, where the whole Pyrenees sideshow started.
On to Italy section
From Grasse, take the A8 to Frejus, then hit the coast at St. Raphael and proceed east on D559. At Le Dramont you’ll see a US landing craft on the side of the road. That marks the spot where US troops landed on Aug. 15, 1944. Continue west on D559 through what is known as the Corniche de l’Esterel, one of the most beautiful coastal roads in Europe. (Avoid doing it on weekends).
Once in Cannes, follow the coast east and stop at any (or all) of the famous towns you come across (Antibes, Nice, Monaco).
At some stage, you’ll want to ride on. To leave the waterside congestion behind, take the A8 northeast and soon you’ll come to the exit to Sospel and Tende (D2566).
Here you’ll be carving canyons again climbing to reach the Italian border (I intentionally avoided the coastal border crossing).
After the mountain resort of Limone, you’ll find the town of Cuneo and soon you’ll be on a freeway headed north-east to Milan.
Milan as your regional hub
Milan is central to several amazing riding routes. Apart from the Alps and the Lakes, from there you can quickly reach La Spezia on the western coast of Italy and the famed Cinque Terre.
In Le Grazie, near Portovenere, I recommend Locanda Nardini, a no-frills establishment I’ve been staying at since the early Eighties. They only have 8 rooms, so a timely reservation is essential.
From Milan, as I said, you can plan one- or two-day sorties into the French and the Swiss Alps, or as far east as the Grossglockner in Austria.
You can plan a high-speed train sortie into Paris, or even riding the FJR there but the latter will eat up almost a week.
You can certainly also ride to the Ferrari Museum near Modena and be back in the evening, or make that part of your trip to Eastern Europe, so from Modena you continue north to the Brenner Pass and into Tyrol (Austria) to visit Neuschwannstein Castle, Salzburg, and points east.
Leaving Italy
As I said above, your best route for leaving Italy goes through the Brenner Pass. Once in Innsbruck (Austria), you can head north to Rosenheim (Germany) and visit Fuessen (Neuschwannstein Castle), which lies 2 hours to the west.
Back in Rosenheim, you can ride east to Salzburg in one hour, and Vienna in three more hours. (BTW, Hallstatt is 50 miles SE from Salzburg. You could make it a waypoint on your way to Vienna. Total ride time, just over 4 hours.
From Vienna, you can be in Prague in 3-4 hours (and if you have time, you can hit Budapest in less than 3).
I would recommend doing Budapest first. Then return to Vienna on your way to Prague.
In case you decide to go to Hungary, check out the Klebelsberg Kastély, an old stately home converted to hotel, and located in a quiet, leafy neighborhood 15 minutes from the city center.
If you don’t want to ride your bike into Budapest, it’s a 10 Euro ride by cab.
Back to Frankfurt
Prague to Frankfurt is a 5-hour ride. You might want to stop in Pilsen and make that your yearly pilgrimage to the Mecca of beer. Another place worth a visit is Nuremberg.
If the Mods think it's too much copy, please delete it and I'll pass on the information to Skooter G by e-mail. No hard feelings
Southern German section
From Heidelberg, take a day trip down the Neckar River to Marbach and return to base.
Depart Heidelberg head south on the Autobahn but leave the A5 at Offenburg and ride the Black Forest backroads, to rejoin the freeway system at Staufen (you might want to overnight here. Check out the Goethe Hotel)).
Take the Autobahn through the Swiss border into Basel, then head SW on A1 to Geneva and on to Grenoble (France) on A41. You might want to spend the night in beautiful Grenoble.
Southern France section
From Grenoble to the French Riviera take the historic Route Napoleon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_Napol%C3%A9on), one of the best riding roads in Europe. At Castellane, take a detour and visit the Verdon Canyon.
You might want to end the day before hitting the seashore and choose to stay in Grasse, the perfume capital of France. Your SO will be thankful.
Pyrenees Loop
Here is where you head west on the French freeway system to Aix-en-Provence, Arles (worth an overnight stop) and Montpellier. Proceed to Perpignan and cross into Spain.
Exit the freeway fifteen minutes later at Figueres and head for Besalù. You’re at the eastern end of the Pyrenees. This is where you might want to insert an extension (1, 2 days) into Barcelona and back.
From Besalù ride on to Ripoll, then head north to Puigcerda and continue briefly through France until you reach Andorra at Pas de la Casa. (elevation 8,000 ft.). Ride through Andorra La Vella and into Spain again. Head for La Seu d’Urgell, Rialp, proceed north to Vielha and into France (Bagnéres de Luchon). By now, you’ve had a good taste of the Pyrenees and might want to head back east via Toulouse and Narbonne and the French coastal freeway you rode on earlier in your trip.
If you want to do more Pyrenees, from Vielha head south to Viuet, then west on N-260 though Noales, Castejon, Ainsa, Arresa. Here you can head north to Torla, where several hotel options are available on account of a national park being located where the road ends. Check out the Hotel Bujaruelo, with views on the majestic Monte Perdido.
South of Torla, you can rejoin the N-260 heading west to Biescas, then south to Sabinanigo and west again to Jaca As you head west to Pamplona, you’ll have several opportunities to cross into France and hit the freeways back to Narbonne and in the direction of Italy. If you do this, make sure you spend a half day in Carcassonne, the walled city, which you’ll find on your way east to Narbonne.
Head back to Grasse, where the whole Pyrenees sideshow started.
On to Italy section
From Grasse, take the A8 to Frejus, then hit the coast at St. Raphael and proceed east on D559. At Le Dramont you’ll see a US landing craft on the side of the road. That marks the spot where US troops landed on Aug. 15, 1944. Continue west on D559 through what is known as the Corniche de l’Esterel, one of the most beautiful coastal roads in Europe. (Avoid doing it on weekends).
Once in Cannes, follow the coast east and stop at any (or all) of the famous towns you come across (Antibes, Nice, Monaco).
At some stage, you’ll want to ride on. To leave the waterside congestion behind, take the A8 northeast and soon you’ll come to the exit to Sospel and Tende (D2566).
Here you’ll be carving canyons again climbing to reach the Italian border (I intentionally avoided the coastal border crossing).
After the mountain resort of Limone, you’ll find the town of Cuneo and soon you’ll be on a freeway headed north-east to Milan.
Milan as your regional hub
Milan is central to several amazing riding routes. Apart from the Alps and the Lakes, from there you can quickly reach La Spezia on the western coast of Italy and the famed Cinque Terre.
In Le Grazie, near Portovenere, I recommend Locanda Nardini, a no-frills establishment I’ve been staying at since the early Eighties. They only have 8 rooms, so a timely reservation is essential.
From Milan, as I said, you can plan one- or two-day sorties into the French and the Swiss Alps, or as far east as the Grossglockner in Austria.
You can plan a high-speed train sortie into Paris, or even riding the FJR there but the latter will eat up almost a week.
You can certainly also ride to the Ferrari Museum near Modena and be back in the evening, or make that part of your trip to Eastern Europe, so from Modena you continue north to the Brenner Pass and into Tyrol (Austria) to visit Neuschwannstein Castle, Salzburg, and points east.
Leaving Italy
As I said above, your best route for leaving Italy goes through the Brenner Pass. Once in Innsbruck (Austria), you can head north to Rosenheim (Germany) and visit Fuessen (Neuschwannstein Castle), which lies 2 hours to the west.
Back in Rosenheim, you can ride east to Salzburg in one hour, and Vienna in three more hours. (BTW, Hallstatt is 50 miles SE from Salzburg. You could make it a waypoint on your way to Vienna. Total ride time, just over 4 hours.
From Vienna, you can be in Prague in 3-4 hours (and if you have time, you can hit Budapest in less than 3).
I would recommend doing Budapest first. Then return to Vienna on your way to Prague.
In case you decide to go to Hungary, check out the Klebelsberg Kastély, an old stately home converted to hotel, and located in a quiet, leafy neighborhood 15 minutes from the city center.
If you don’t want to ride your bike into Budapest, it’s a 10 Euro ride by cab.
Back to Frankfurt
Prague to Frankfurt is a 5-hour ride. You might want to stop in Pilsen and make that your yearly pilgrimage to the Mecca of beer. Another place worth a visit is Nuremberg.
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