Cherbourg to Western Pyrenees

Deleted account Cooperman

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I'm thinking of doing the ride down through France with the main aim of getting into Spain to explore.

I don't want to bash down the French mways but then again don't want to detour too much as I want to spend more time in Spain.

What's the best scenic route whilst maintaining pace?
 
Its a LONG slog down to Spain and if you "want to spend more time in Spain" then you must use the Peages and make use of 130kph. Even then, it'll still feel like you're making little progress. If my aim was Spain. I'd take the ferry, which, for budgeting, will cost you a shocking circa £580 rtrn for you and a pillion with a cabin. Tunnel is approx £75 rtrn for rider and pillion.:nenau
 
The Michelin 726 map really is your best friend for this. Pick up the Bis routes. They may not all be cracking roads but they are designed to keep you off the motorways, whilst still getting you from A to B reasonably smoothly.

Don't be shy of looking at the RiDE routes, they have maybe some something.
 
Its a LONG slog down to Spain and if you "want to spend more time in Spain" then you must use the Peages and make use of 130kph. Even then, it'll still feel like you're making little progress. If my aim was Spain. I'd take the ferry, which, for budgeting, will cost you a shocking circa £580 rtrn for you and a pillion with a cabin. Tunnel is approx £75 rtrn for rider and pillion.:nenau

I'm planning this as a solo ride and would rather be riding than spending a stale night and day on the ferry.
 
The Michelin 726 map really is your best friend for this. Pick up the Bis routes. They may not all be cracking roads but they are designed to keep you off the motorways, whilst still getting you from A to B reasonably smoothly.

Don't be shy of looking at the RiDE routes, they have maybe some something.


Had a look at the RIDE routes but the applicable ones tend to explore areas as opposed to an efficient interesting north/south route.
 
Throwing the route in google Maps without highways or tolls there are various options around the 500 miles and 13 hour trip. Steady 2 days.

Using the mways its 550 miles and over 8 hours.
 
It's a fairly good (and certainly very quick) way of getting long distance estimates and general direction to travel, that's for sure. Try doing it in ViaMichelin, too. You can select several options in the Michelin app. Then trace the the suggested routes onto the 726 map. 250 miles a day on D and some N roads in France is certainly a pretty good estimate of a doable reasonably relaxed day. Job done.
 
Ferries booked. Decided on Portsmouth - St Malo and then to get more time in Spain Bilbao - Portsmouth.

La Rochelle looks like a stop on the way down.
 
Its a LONG slog down to Spain and if you "want to spend more time in Spain" then you must use the Peages and make use of 130kph. Even then, it'll still feel like you're making little progress. If my aim was Spain. I'd take the ferry, which, for budgeting, will cost you a shocking circa £580 rtrn for you and a pillion with a cabin. Tunnel is approx £75 rtrn for rider and pillion.:nenau

Factor in the best part of a rear tyre ( thats for me on the XR) the fuel and any tolls plus a night in a hotel and the ferry is the cheaper option.

I have done both and the ferry is the way to go every time
 
If it were me I'd mix it up a bit. St. Malo to Nantes is fairly dull and good to get out of the way using the most direct route (N/D 137 dual carraigeway). After Nantes stick with the D roads, give Bordeaux a wide berth but use to the motorway around Bayonne and Biarritz as the traffic in town is a nightmare. Saintes and Cognac are nice enough towns if you decide La Rochelle is a bit of a detour.
 
My only question is: why St Malo? Caen would make a more direct southerly route easier. You can get a long way south in a day from there. A mix of peage and good roads can get you down to the Limousin & from there another mixed day can get you to or even over the border (depending on how many hours you'll do & the balance of motorway/D-road in the route).

ETA +1 for Cognac. Lovely town
 
I agree with SimonW's comment about Caen over St Malo. I'll accept that St Malo is closer to the western Pyrenees by about 50 miles (under 10% of the likely total distance to be ridden, say an hour to 90 minutes riding time) but you are almost forced to take a potentially less interesting route, running all but parallel to the western seaboard of France. I guess that is why you chose La Rochelle for your single overnight stop?

Caen, though further in distance, lends itself to maybe a more eastern and better north to south route, broadly: Caen, Le Mans, Tours, Perigeuex, Bergerac, Pau.

Go back to your opening post's request:

I'm thinking of doing the ride down through France with the main aim of getting into Spain to explore.

I don't want to bash down the French mways but then again don't want to detour too much as I want to spend more time in Spain.

What's the best scenic route whilst maintaining pace?

You've already saved yourself a chunk of potentially dullish miles by dropping the Cherbourg idea. You won't detour too much (about 50 miles) starting from Caen instead of St Malo. The Caen start point lends itself to a more scenic potential.

Here's an idea for you. Download the ViaMichelin app. Ask it for Caen to say Pau, which is close enough to the western Pyrenees. Put the settings to motorbike, avoid tolls, avoid motorways, all in its 'Discovery' mode. You should see that the software makes two suggestions (a more western and a more eastern route) favouring the more eastern bias. That's broadly the way I'd go, accepting a slightly longer distance by road in exchange for 'better' roads and scenery.
 


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