Pas de Calais

chrisjk

Well-known member
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
2,050
Reaction score
6
Location
NW Kent, England
For many folk, this bit of France is somewhere to be traversed asap on the way to somewhere more interesting. However, if you live an hour from the Folkestone terminal as I do and have an unexpected couple of days to spend riding, it's actually a very nice area for gentle bimbles and the occasional bit of more spirited riding on surprisingly twisty roads in a nice mix of countryside. I went with a friend and we based ourselves at Montreuil in the Coq Hôtel - lovely name and a nice litte boutique hotel in the centre of town with a small courtyard (closed at night) for the bikes. The bedrooms have recently been renovated and are very good indeed and the €12 breakfast is excellent and very good value. Montreuil is not exciting at night and if that is what you are after, Le Touquet would perhaps be a better bet.

For routes, we rode essentially 2 1/2 routes (Saturday, Sunday and half of Monday)of around 150-200 miles each I devised, based partly on the Petit Futé France à Moto book and partly on the Michelin 100 Virées book but I also used the Kurviger app on my phone which is a really great app for finding and navigating nice biking roads.

I reckon there are several more day's worth of riding in the area before it becomes repetitive and of course if wartime relics and sites are your thing, there is plenty of that.
 
That looks good, have you tried downloading a route from Kurviger to a Garmin sat nav?

I no longer use Garmins - having had at least half a dozen, I have come to appreciate the benefits a smartphone offers over and above those of a dedicated satnav. Having said that, You can export Kurviger routes in a number of ways that include regular gpx files which you can put on a Garmin like any other.

Just bear in mind that Kurviger uses Open Street maps rather than Garmin's maps so there may be differences here and there. Generally in the areas I ride, I find that Open Street maps are more detailed than Garmin maps these days. Also of course, it's possible to use Open Street maps on Garmin units and they are what I use when occasionally I do mount my 590.
 


Back
Top Bottom