Route Napoleon - 5 day thrash or 7 day bimble, courtesy of RiDE

When you pile off the ferry (I assume in Holland) on day one, where do you zoom to for your first overnight stop?

From Ijmuiden to Epinal is a good first day for me, IBIS Centre Ville next to the river , private parking and handy for eating in the town square (Place des Vosges).
 
When you pile off the ferry (I assume in Holland) on day one, where do you zoom to for your first overnight stop?

One of the joys of our trips is that first night. We have used Troyes many times as it is such a beautiful town (and convenient for us coming from Calais) Epinal was another nice stopover one year and we often end up in a smaller village in a smaller establishment - and all have been excellent. The Ardennes and Luxembourg are also useful, Bouillon is probably my favourite, Bastigne works OK - as would many other towns in the region.

Two Wheel Moorings near Verdun is another regular stop on the way out / back, and coming back we prefer a bit closer to home for an easier last day, Reims works well for us, this year we used Ypres as we wanted to visit the Menin Gate....

...so many places and so little Holiday / Dosh
 
You can do Calais to Troyes easily for day one without touching a motorway.... and it’s not all boring roads. Not as dull as a
motorway anyway. Bastogne and Epinal, too.
 
With your "Little Black Notebook" to hand Richard, I reckon you could find an enjoyable route anywhere south of Calais.
 
I do a regular trip in march down that way, with a day at the sea side,
This coming trip ste maxime on st tropez bay, with 11 riding days,
It will be hull zeebrugge both ways , first stop Troyes,
Then depending on the weather head through avalon, le puy en valay area, millau, gorges du tarn, over to aurillac, then around mt Ventaux, sisteron, gorges du verdon, grenoble area,
Mostly d roads no motorway except the lille bit, averaged 1 day of rain each trip,
Roamer
 
A nice route down there, to run through Provence. Try it in mid-August.... you’ll wish it was peeing down :D
 
You can do Calais to Troyes easily for day one without touching a motorway....

Indeed, but not "Home" to Troyes for us when it takes 3 hours to get to Folkestone, to arrive 30 minutes early for a crossing that typically runs 30-60 minutes late and then the frogs have the clocks set an hour in advance, so leaving home at 6:00am will typically have us pulling out in Calais at around 12:00 local time.

If I lived much closer to the Tunnel I would be doing a lot more weekends away, or maybe a bit less motorway on the 1st / last day, by the time we are at Calais we have endured about 2.5 hours of A40 / M40 / M25 / M20, for us the "Holiday" really starts as we pull in at the 1st Hotel. I see it as no different to any other Holiday, if we fly somewhere it is a load of hassle driving to the Airport and taking a flight.

If I lived really close to the crossing I would probably pop over on the Friday evening and just run an hour or so out of Calais and then be on the road early Saturday, probably would not really need to use much motorway then.

I find I can handle a bit more motorway after a nights kip, but my general rule is to be off the Motorway by lunch time of day two, the only exception is hopping back on a main road to bypass a big town or city (Basel springs to mind as one where we end up jumping back onto the motorway for a bit)
 
For a number of years have left Yorkshire around 5.30am! Hit Dover for 11ish ferry, first night around Chalons en Champagne (Chateau d”Etoge if feeling flush or Mourmelon le Petit if budgeting,)
Second day easy ride to top of route Napoleon to allow fresh attack on the decent roads.

This works for me but have done Hull Zeebrugge several times but this drops you early morning with a long way to go to hit the alps fresh without spending two nights on the way down.
 
When you pile off the ferry (I assume in Holland) on day one, where do you zoom to for your first overnight stop?

Your assumption of Holland is correct. Either Rotterdam or Ijmuiden.
First night this year was in Besancon , Grenoble the second night.
Usually anywhere south of the Mosel ,have stopped in Munster ,Baden Baden, Even Nuremberg when heading for Austria.
 
All very valid comments, IMO a major factor for making progress is the size of any group plus the amount of faffing about and dithering, lighting up a fag etc. instead of hitting the ground early before traffic builds to get miles under the belt, queues/getting a group through peage collection barriers etc.

A small and focussed group will make good progress, a large group will be like herding cats.
 
Do you ride alone when touring abroad Rasher ?? I don't but I see why some do.

I very much enjoy the social craic of a SMALL group but get pissed off waiting to go each morning while Fred finds his gloves, John has another coffee, Dave lights a fag, Pete studies the map, Steve cant find his wallet, Joe makes a quick call to his missus etc etc.

If the group agree to be on the road at 8am and stick to that for example, life is good.
 
The big gal and i did home( Derbyshire) to Troyes this year in one hit, left home around 4.45 am and arrived in Troyes around 5.30 pm, we took our time and used motorway in the UK and a combination of peage and lesser roads in France, no dramas and a really nice run apart from the the UK bit, a total of around 560 miles with 5 stops including ferry.
Troyes is well worth spending a day there, plenty to see and do a really nice place.
 
Do you ride alone when touring abroad Rasher ?? I don't but I see why some do.

Mostly with the Mrs on long trips, and in a small group on shorter trips - you just have to go with the flow in groups, there is always someone who is slow to get going, takes ages to eat, wants a piss just after everyone else stopped for one, did not fill up at last services and 10 miles later is pointing to his tank as if it is your fault he is low on fuel.

With the Mrs (or 1 other mate) progress tends to be very quick, 4-5 is the largest group I am happy being a part of, not so bad if tagging along but if deemed the "organiser" you have to handle complaints about Weather, Hotels, Road Conditions as well - scant reward for spending many of your own precious hours arranging someones Holiday for them.
 
I usually ride alone but it takes me a day to cover the 650 miles (mainly boring, busy English motorways) to Ashford, Kent for an overnight stay ready to get the 05:00 tunnel crossing. Once in France I use the Peage (I enjoy the open scenery so it's not boring for me) to head for Albertville (about 630 miles) for my next overnight stay and then I'm ready for the really enjoyable scenery and roads. Next year I may head for Baden Baden or further down the Black Forest for my first overnight in mainland Europe.
 
To cut out the drag from the north to Kent (assuming the Newcastle ferry is not an option) has anyone tried trucking their bike down to the SE corner of England and then flying down?

Or trucking all the way to (insert continental destination of choice) and flying there?
 
To cut out the drag from the north to Kent (assuming the Newcastle ferry is not an option) has anyone tried trucking their bike down to the SE corner of England and then flying down?

Or trucking all the way to (insert Continental destination of choice) and flying there?

In a word, no. I know I'm not a lover of the traffic congestion on the motorways but I'm a biker and want to ride it not transport it. Plus, I did check out the ferry option but it's also very expensive and from my home it's about halfway en route to Kent so I may as well just keep going.
 
I’ve never been entirely convinced by the “I want to ride it”. Bods think nothing of putting their bikes on a ferry to Spain (and bitch about the cabins) but don’t ever countenance the idea of trucking and flying. It’s almost as if the 24 hours spent on the ferry is the same as riding, proximity to their steed - even if separated by layers of steel decks - being vital.
 


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