• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Motorcycle Touring in Europe

S

SF_STRS

Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
BMW GSA
I’m planning a moto tour in Europe sometime in late September, I was wondering if anyone out there in BARF-land has done it before and got any recommendations. The bigest company out there running tours seems to be Edelweiss " https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/ “. They have plenty of trip options all over Europe. I was thinking about a tour with lots of high mountian passes… Dolomites maybe. I’m planning on going 2 up with the wife so the thought was a guided tour with the baggage shuttle and a schedule to follow would be a good idea to keep things moving along, photos stops here, then meal stops in little towns along the way and a new hotel at the end of every day. Has anyone out there done this before? are there any other touring companies I should check out? Edelweiss looks good but it looks expensive too. Any places I need to see or place to avoid?
 
I’ve been to Italy and Greece recently with Adriatic Moto tours and going to the Balkans with them next month. I’ve been pleased with both trips. A couple trips with Beach’s, the alps and 8 years ago the IOM. Both companies provide garmins with 2 or 3 routes and advise that you call if you’re going to be late for dinner. I did a follow the leader tour in Hokkaido with MotoQuest and most of the time was okay. I’m a solo rider and tend to gravitate to someone with similar riding styles or go with people I find interesting, like why I’ve ridden with TWT! Still end up putting on some solo miles as I become acquainted with the country so I can appreciate the culture on my own.



www.adriaticmototours.com

Motorcycle Tours in Europe with Best Experience | AMT

We promise you the adventure of a lifetime! Join us on our motorcycle tours in Europe - in the Alps, along the Adriatic Coast, in the Balkans, Italy, Greece and in Southeast Asia.
www.adriaticmototours.com www.adriaticmototours.com

European Motorcycle & sport car Tours with Rob & Gretchen Beach

BMW Motorcycle and Sports Car tours of the European Alps, Central Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Norway, and other fantastic destinations.
www.bmca.com www.bmca.com
 
It’s worth it to spend the extra money if it makes your wife happy.
I’ll bet this is your idea and she’s going along with it so you want nice accommodations and a well planned journey.
 
Last edited:
greenmonster said:
It’s worth it to spend the extra money if it makes your wife happy.
I’ll bet this is your idea and she’s going along with it so you want nice accommodations and a well planned journey.
Click to expand...
exactly what I was thinking, if it was just me on vacation I’d do it a different way, probably just a solo self guided tour
 
bikewanker said:
I’ve been to Italy and Greece recently with Adriatic Moto tours and going to the Balkans with them next month. I’ve been pleased with both trips. A couple trips with Beach’s, the alps and 8 years ago the IOM. Both companies provide garmins with 2 or 3 routes and advise that you call if you’re going to be late for dinner. I did a follow the leader tour in Hokkaido with MotoQuest and most of the time was okay. I’m a solo rider and tend to gravitate to someone with similar riding styles or go with people I find interesting, like why I’ve ridden with TWT! Still end up putting on some solo miles as I become acquainted with the country so I can appreciate the culture on my own.



www.adriaticmototours.com

Motorcycle Tours in Europe with Best Experience | AMT

We promise you the adventure of a lifetime! Join us on our motorcycle tours in Europe - in the Alps, along the Adriatic Coast, in the Balkans, Italy, Greece and in Southeast Asia.
www.adriaticmototours.com www.adriaticmototours.com

European Motorcycle & sport car Tours with Rob & Gretchen Beach

BMW Motorcycle and Sports Car tours of the European Alps, Central Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Norway, and other fantastic destinations.
www.bmca.com www.bmca.com
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips Bikewanker, I’ll check out Adriatic Moto tours, MotoQuest & Beach. I mostly ride by myself too, thats where I find that realxing Zen state of mind but I wanted to try something a little different this time.
 
I have done 3 tours all with the wife on the back, see my Avatar. You are going the best time of the year. Note some pass may close for snow but may also open around noon. I waited for Fruka to open and had a great ride over the snow covered Alps. Must be ready for rain I have ridden in rain on every trip.

First trip 2017, did it all myself. Rented a RT at the BMW dealer in Basel Switzerland, note my daughter lived there for over 4 years. Rode for a week and booked rooms and decided where we were riding 2 days ahead of time. Shorter rides but we could stop and look at any place we saw. I would do this again.

Second trip 2019 was a self guided tour with "Ride with Us" a tour company in England. Rode a 2029 Ducati Multistrada. They gave us a daily route, bikes and the hotels set up for us. Not the most organized tour. We had 3 couples who all knew each other plus one ride who lived in England. Did ride the Chunnel to France. I would not recommend.

Third tour in 2024. Full guided tour with a van carrying our gear. "Lilli tours" this used to be Blue Ridge Tours. We did the Top of Europe tour. Rode a 2024 RT. Great roads and mixed hotels. From 5 star on a lake to why are we staying here. The wife did not like the long rides and getting to the hotel just before dinner. Note dinner is much later that in the states. Same 3 couples plus three other single riders and another couple. Interesting group and backgrounds. Tour guide was excelent and got us on some great back roads and stops.

Suggestions. Go with a tour that has higher rated hotels. Check the daily mileage, unless your wife likes to ride long days. Have you been to Europe? If not you should know some of the small differences. Make sure all your credit cards have a PIN number. Water in a restaurant is not free. Bread before a meal may also be extra. But the food may be some of the best you have ever had. Enjoy your trip, I have enjoyed all of mine even with some problems.

Rain

Trailer video of your 2024 trip. You can find other videos on my YouTube channel

May you have weather like this, and your wife be as happy.
IMG_0696.jpeg
 
You're very fortunate to have that kind of time so plan accordingly and have a great experience. The rest of us 5 days/week work slobs can only imagine.
 
Just an additional note. Google along whatever route you decide to ride. Search for Motorcycle, may add race, museum or attraction to your search. We were within 50 miles of the Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum, and did not know about it until we were home when it burned. You may find a stop you want to do.
 
I'm going to chime in as the contrarian. I did my first moto tour in Europe following an event there (the Centopassi). The event had a route and a road book, and they carried our luggage to the first hotel. After that I was on my own. That was in 2006. I've been back 9 more times, and will be back again in this summer. When I realized how much I liked touring in Europe, I shipped a bike there in 2011 using Stefan Knopf. BTW, he does tours as well as shipping.

In the ten tours I've done, I've organized events (EuroBARF), organized tours with friends, and designed and led tours for Transformative Journeys, and here's the part where I'll be contrary: I see no reason for ME to use a touring company. YMMV.

Instead, get a copy of John Hermann's Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Beyond. It can identify areas, routes, and even lodging and dining choices, plus it gives all sorts of inside scoop on lots of places. Get some good Michelin maps to see what else is close by, then build yourself some routes. For my taste, I book some stuff in advance, particularly in busier areas, and I leave some nights open so that I can be more flexible and spontaneous in my route choices.

I've not done the big tours, but I've encountered more than a handful. In some cases, they were quite obvious. They were often slow, and some riders were clearly way out of their depth. Getting luggage carried can be a plus, or you can pack lighter. Having a guide when you're lost, or there's a mechanical issue can be reassuring, but I've always managed to either sort it out or get help. In fact, for me that heightens the experience.

In June, I'll be heading back, riding from the north of England to the Chunnel (actually a fun experience), then across France to Grenoble where we'll pick up the Route du Napoleon (my buddies want to ride it, I've ridden it before and I get why people like it) to get to the Riviera before heading into the Maritime and Haute Alps, then back up through Eastern France and the Vosges to get to the Black Forest and beyond.

Enjoy!271997_243473575672809_3962992_o.jpg280247_243474952339338_6278312_o.jpg1026275_607750095911820_1124239791_o.jpgcol du galibier 2006.jpgwelcometoengland.jpgyourstruly1.jpgIMG-20220907-WA0002.jpgP1040450.JPGwinding welsh road.JPG
 
bikeama said:
I have done 3 tours all with the wife on the back, see my Avatar. You are going the best time of the year. Note some pass may close for snow but may also open around noon. I waited for Fruka to open and had a great ride over the snow covered Alps. Must be ready for rain I have ridden in rain on every trip.

First trip 2017, did it all myself. Rented a RT at the BMW dealer in Basel Switzerland, note my daughter lived there for over 4 years. Rode for a week and booked rooms and decided where we were riding 2 days ahead of time. Shorter rides but we could stop and look at any place we saw. I would do this again.

Second trip 2019 was a self guided tour with "Ride with Us" a tour company in England. Rode a 2029 Ducati Multistrada. They gave us a daily route, bikes and the hotels set up for us. Not the most organized tour. We had 3 couples who all knew each other plus one ride who lived in England. Did ride the Chunnel to France. I would not recommend.

Third tour in 2024. Full guided tour with a van carrying our gear. "Lilli tours" this used to be Blue Ridge Tours. We did the Top of Europe tour. Rode a 2024 RT. Great roads and mixed hotels. From 5 star on a lake to why are we staying here. The wife did not like the long rides and getting to the hotel just before dinner. Note dinner is much later that in the states. Same 3 couples plus three other single riders and another couple. Interesting group and backgrounds. Tour guide was excelent and got us on some great back roads and stops.

Suggestions. Go with a tour that has higher rated hotels. Check the daily mileage, unless your wife likes to ride long days. Have you been to Europe? If not you should know some of the small differences. Make sure all your credit cards have a PIN number. Water in a restaurant is not free. Bread before a meal may also be extra. But the food may be some of the best you have ever had. Enjoy your trip, I have enjoyed all of mine even with some problems.

Rain

Trailer video of your 2024 trip. You can find other videos on my YouTube channel

May you have weather like this, and your wife be as happy.
View attachment 592560
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips bikeama, and that rainstorm must have been a joy to ride in... a good story to tell now but it must have sucked at the time.
 
flying_hun said:
I'm going to chime in as the contrarian. I did my first moto tour in Europe following an event there (the Centopassi). The event had a route and a road book, and they carried our luggage to the first hotel. After that I was on my own. That was in 2006. I've been back 9 more times, and will be back again in this summer. When I realized how much I liked touring in Europe, I shipped a bike there in 2011 using Stefan Knopf. BTW, he does tours as well as shipping.

In the ten tours I've done, I've organized events (EuroBARF), organized tours with friends, and designed and led tours for Transformative Journeys, and here's the part where I'll be contrary: I see no reason for ME to use a touring company. YMMV.

Instead, get a copy of John Hermann's Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Beyond. It can identify areas, routes, and even lodging and dining choices, plus it gives all sorts of inside scoop on lots of places. Get some good Michelin maps to see what else is close by, then build yourself some routes. For my taste, I book some stuff in advance, particularly in busier areas, and I leave some nights open so that I can be more flexible and spontaneous in my route choices.

I've not done the big tours, but I've encountered more than a handful. In some cases, they were quite obvious. They were often slow, and some riders were clearly way out of their depth. Getting luggage carried can be a plus, or you can pack lighter. Having a guide when you're lost, or there's a mechanical issue can be reassuring, but I've always managed to either sort it out or get help. In fact, for me that heightens the experience.

In June, I'll be heading back, riding from the north of England to the Chunnel (actually a fun experience), then across France to Grenoble where we'll pick up the Route du Napoleon (my buddies want to ride it, I've ridden it before and I get why people like it) to get to the Riviera before heading into the Maritime and Haute Alps, then back up through Eastern France and the Vosges to get to the Black Forest and beyond.

Enjoy!View attachment 592584View attachment 592585View attachment 592586View attachment 592587View attachment 592588View attachment 592589View attachment 592590View attachment 592591View attachment 592592
Click to expand...
Great photos flying_hun, If I ever do another European tour on my own then I'd bring almost nothing but a backpack and my riding gear, rent a bike with a GPS and see all the high mountain passes and ride all the miles I could. However since I need to keep my better half happy too then I need to have the follow van bringing our luggage along and we have to do some things off the bike to keep her from going crazy. I'm going to roll the dice with one of these touring companies pretty quickly and cross my fingers that things go well. I wish I planned this 6 months ago, things are getting booked up
 
I did my first Euro riding tour/trip last July with two buddies. One of them found this company in Europe who will help you design the trip based on your interests, and then create an itinerary with recommended hotels and full GPS routes. https://www.motovibes.de/
They offer both self-guided and led tour options. We did self-guided and it worked fine - no need for a guide in Europe if you have your hotels sorted out and routes pre-planned.

Our emphasis was running passes in the Alps and Dolomites, so we ended up with a 10-day itinerary that had 60 passes on it. We got it set up so that we’d spend 2-3 nights per hotel, rather than ‘breaking camp’ every morning and moving. That worked really well (after years of doing this I’ve learned it’s better to stay at least two nights before moving on).

We flew into Munich, got a hotel near the BMW dealership, and the next day picked up our bikes from the rental agency https://www.bike-travel-service.de/ inside the BMW flagship dealership in Munich. (I actually spent a couple of nights in Munich to give myself a chance to acclimatize).

Trip was awesome. I used OSMand on my iPhone and uploaded the GPX files to it. We were all on BMW F800GS’s and they were great. They came with top box and side cases.
IMG_6701.jpegIMG_6592.jpegIMG_6660.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top