PT in Europe......

**Posh Tourer :P** · 17th November 2005, 23:49

Yep, thats right, I'm heading to Europe, to find somewhere warmer. At the moment I am in a tent, and on Monday morning woke up to thick frost on my bike, and a frozen tent outer.... It is getting up to maximums of about 7-8°C, and they have just started gritting the roads. I have finished my job, and been chucked out of the flat (obviously), and I'm now in holiday mode...

Look out for a few updates ovr the next few months.
Any suggestions of favourite places,roads,things to see or do, would be interesting. I will be in parts of southern Spain, Morocco, southern Italy, Greece, and the Dalmatian Coast over winter, and heading further north as weather allows.

Incidentally, the campsite where I am staying has used a few of my photos in their new website, www.top-farm.info/surroundings.htm. Not all of them are mine, but the ones that are come up with my name on the file. Great campsite if you want to get away from civilisation a bit, something that is almost impossible to do in England...

Maarten

**Sniper** · 18th November 2005, 07:02

Good to hear Maarten. Travel safe mate.

**Stevo** · 18th November 2005, 07:11

Apparently Switzerland has some great twisty hills (from a post I read on here the other day).

Could you seriously not think of a better time of year to do your Europe bike tour???? Conditions here are now approaching superb. IMHO Your timing is about 6 months up the poo.

**parsley** · 18th November 2005, 07:49

Originally Posted by Posh Tourer :P

Great campsite if you want to get away from civilisation a bit, something that is almost impossible to do in England...

I disagree. There are large areas of England that are completely uncivilised - Milton Keynes, for example.

**Fordy** · 18th November 2005, 09:55

San Sebastian is beautiful. The N523 from Caceres to Badajoz and E4 Navalmoral to Trujillo are (apparently) incredible. The Paradors are the place to stay if you want to treat yourself http://www.parador.es/english/index.jsp government run good value, but not cheap, hotels in historically significant buildings.

Essaouria (sp?) on the Morrocan coast is a tranquil spot, a complete contrast to the hectic buzz of Marakesh. Atlas mountains are superb. Brace yourself for the harsh contrast between the 'haves' and 'have nots' in in Morocco.

Southern Italy can be very wet this time of year, but Pompei/Herculaneum are a sight to behold.

Greece is a great place to discover little taverna's up a track on a hill, where the tourists don't go and you'll taste simple but fantastic cooking. I like Aegina, an island off Athens, but I guess you'll be sticking more to mainland Greece.

**Posh Tourer :P** · 19th November 2005, 01:41

Originally Posted by parsley

I disagree. There are large areas of England that are completely uncivilised - Milton Keynes, for example.

Hehe, true... Let me re-phrase that then..... perhaps 'get away from people' or 'minimise the number of englishmen around oneself'

**Posh Tourer :P** · 19th November 2005, 01:46

Originally Posted by Stevo

Could you seriously not think of a better time of year to do your Europe bike tour???? Conditions here are now approaching superb. IMHO Your timing is about 6 months up the poo.

Well, I have about 15 months to do this thing. It is still around 15-20°C in the south of Spain, so that'll do me... Also, I'll still be there 6 months 'down the poo' when conditions will be perfect for a lot more of Europe. Anyway, Europe is better than England at the moment, and I'm not going to waste £600 coming back to NZ, when I could be seeing Spain, Portugal and Morocco....

**Hammer** · 19th November 2005, 08:36

Check this site out: http://www.alpineroads.com

I used it when I was over there and it might be a help.

**mjvduc** · 19th November 2005, 10:33

hey welcome in europe

its bit cold up here that's true

stick around spain or southern italy as long as you can, if you wanna try greek drop me a line and I will talk to my work mate he is from athen.

have a lots of fun

mjvduc

if you need any advice concerning switzerland/italy/germany/austria let me know

**Posh Tourer :P** · 20th November 2005, 05:06

Thanks for that MJV and Hammer

**wari** · 20th November 2005, 05:16

Originally Posted by Posh Tourer :P

Thanks for that MJV and Hammer

DONt fur-git marcus .. a-liarse brockhause in AUstria who tourd heer a couple'a years back.

.. marcus.eder@gmail.com

NIce fella .. tellim wari sent ya ..

MInd you .. itsa tad coldin Austria init ..

**mjvduc** · 20th November 2005, 11:12

f.... cold since yesterday

not used to it anymore

if anyone finds his way to northern italy drop me a line, nice roads

tones of good looking girls

and beer on mass

mjvduc

**clint640** · 21st November 2005, 11:49

You lucky bugger

From my entire 5 days spent riding in Europe I can thoroughly recommend the Sudtirol & Bavarian Alps, but you'll have to wait for summer now. There's tolls on many of the cool passes but they're worth it.

Freytag & Bernt's Osterreich & Sudtirol Motorcycle Atlas covers a good whack of the alps & highlights all the cool roads at a good scale. It's in a binder with laminated pages y' can pull out & stick in yer tankbag or pocket. 'Bout 30 euros but well worth it.

Cheers
Clint

**Posh Tourer :P** · 4th December 2005, 05:38

Here are a couple of piccies of the travels so far. There are more on my gmail account - pm me for pw/username..

Attached is where I am now staying, as it was a few days ago - with my bike visible in the garage...
Also a shot of the bike ready to get a going over, up on the stand in the garage
And thirdly, one of the bike on the ferry, nicely tied down... and I didnt even need to bring my own straps....

As you can see, it is a little cold here (still max 2, min -3, but the snow is now gone....), and I've booked the train for tomorrow morning, with bike, to Narbonne..... Warmth here I come!! I was planning to ride down, but it is easier and cheaper to takethe train, and it saves me lots of autobahn/motorway boring stuff (I'm buggered if I'm going to take the scenic route when it is this cold....)

It is over 10 degrees in Narbonne!!! :P, and over 15 on the coast of Spain....

**Zed** · 4th December 2005, 07:33

Originally Posted by Posh Tourer :P

Incidentally, the campsite where I am staying has used a few of my photos in their new website, www.top-farm.info/surroundings.htm. Not all of them are mine, but the ones that are come up with my name on the file. Great campsite if you want to get away from civilisation a bit, something that is almost impossible to do in England...

Maarten

Beaut pics man, 5 out of 12 pics on their website is something to be proud of, and those sunset/rise pics are stunning!

Godspeed Maarten.