Me ferry to Spain’s been cancelled, mate....

Thank you - looks good

An idea for Sept 21. Always wanted to go to the Millau bridge and Andora.

Horses for courses, but I was underwhelmed with Andorra. Cheap fags, tax-free shopping if you've got room on your bike to carry anything else, but that's about it.

There's a lovely road in the West of Andorra that goes up to Pal, a skiing resort in the winter I think. We road up in the summer and the scenery and views were great, but the roads were thick with cyclists. All in groups, three or four abreast, a sea of Lycra that unlike the Red Sea, doesn't part for anyone.
 
Hi all, I have just read Wapping's link and enjoyed it.
I ought to chuck in my 2p's worth now I guess.
Firstly there are many, many great roads in rural France and because the second world war didn't ruin the historic buildings, they are certainly worth putting in your route planner.
Andorra is a worthwhile stop-over, we normally stay in Soldeu, the accomodation is the Hotel Bruxelles, a small apparently family run hotel. We normally ditch the bikes for a day and stop us drinking too early in the day, we go up to the top of the adjoining mountain which has a 9 hole golf course and try our hand on the golf driving range (which incidentally is adjacent to a mountain bike course and if your aim is poor, the poor cyclists have to dodge the occasional wayward ball..and our aim is always terrible..lol) then we try a little putting, but I have to say I have more luck lying on the green and using the putter like a snooker cue.....
After leaving, yes the N260 is incredible, it you should remember it can be ridden from the Med coast almost across the bottom of the Pyrenees.
The Millau bridge is worth seeing too, but go in daylight, went over it once at night and didn't really know we had done it....doh.
However, also try the Alps, the numerous Swiss passes and of course the Italian Dolomites and the great Grossglockner......
Miles and miles of good roads to ride, and don't make any excuses, get over and ride them....
 
The interesting things about the route the bod in the link in post #1 took, are:

1. He went to the Pyrenees, which is what he intended to do anyway.

2. He didn’t sit around moaning that his ferry had been cancelled; he got off his arse and onto his bike, working out how to still get to the Pyrenees, ride along them and come home again, all within the timeframe allowed.

3. He recognised that riding from Calais to the western end of the Pyrenees would take longer than an overnight ferry. So he put in chunks of motorway but softened it up with chunks of N and D roads, too. In other words, he used (where possible) the fastest roads to get him where he needed to be. People can sit on their arses, mumbling that motorways are dull and that it is not fair that their ferry has been cancelled. Yes, they are dull but sitting around at home instead of going away is very much more dull. Not least it was not their ferry that was cancelled, it was cancelled for everyone with a booking. Some bods did something about it, others just moaned.
 
For what it is worth, I think last minute holidays, or even (and possibly better still), just be brave and book the crossing and then make it up as you go along, because those have given me some of the best memories of all my many trips.
A plan, is a plan, but experiencing the unexpected and just enjoying being free to roam is liberating. we all have phones (read "computers"), these days so finding accommodation is not the least bit difficult so a big worry is therefore removed.
I, like most of us love planning a trip, but these days, ferries etc have proved to be unreliable. Therefore, perhaps, we all need to relax a little bit right now and just think we will be lucky to just getaway whenever and wherever it might be.
For me, and I have long since realised this, a holiday needs to be experienced in the right frame of mind - a positive one !

And if you can't manage that, have a couple of extra beers when you get to your first hotel..........that always improves my frame of mind.
 


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