A two-week, two-and-a-half-thousand-mile journey by way of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Final spring, MoreBikes reader Aaron Walker set off on his first ‘large bike’ journey just some months after passing his full take a look at. Together with his accomplice Alex on the again of his Kawasaki Versys 650, the 2 of them spent 14 days overlaying 2313 miles throughout eight nations; packing in loads of scenic goodness, adventurous actions, cool locations and high meals. Not dangerous in any respect, proper? Right here’s what they acquired as much as.
Day 1: Leeds to Folkestone
Our journey kicked off as we hit the street brilliant and early, driving swiftly in three stints of two hours. In Folkestone, we loved fish and chips and a stroll alongside the enduring white cliffs of Dover.
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Day 2: Folkestone to Luxembourg Metropolis
The day started easily as we packed up and set our sights on the Eurotunnel. The prepare journey was fairly aggravating as a result of weight of the full-loaded bike and the way a lot it moved on the prepare! After disembarking, we had a reasonably uneventful journey by way of flat France and Belgium. We stopped within the charming city of Dinant and later arrived within the immaculate metropolis of Luxembourg. We settled for a less expensive resort in a transformed home and explored the native scene.
Day 3: Luxembourg to Baden-Baden
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Leaving Luxembourg behind, we crossed into Germany, making our option to Baden-Baden. The city’s dimension and assortment of outlets and eating places left us pleasantly stunned. We stayed in an Airbnb-style association—a transformed entrance room of a personal home.
Day 4: Baden-Baden to Zurich by way of the B500
Probably the most anticipated leg of the tour! We packed up and headed off to the beginning of the legendary B500 and climbed up deeper into the Black Forest. The climb into the bushes was good. Regardless of the conservative velocity restrict, there have been superb views with roads to match. We made a few stops at scenic viewpoints and lakes, chatting to different bikers we met alongside the best way. We made a cease in Triberg to take a look at the home of 1000 cuckoo clocks earlier than carrying on all the best way to Switzerland, stopping simply outdoors of Zurich.
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Day 5: Zurich to St Anton am Arlberg
Leaving Switzerland behind, by way of a refreshing swim in Lake Walensee, we crossed into Austria. Our first cease was at Lake Lünersee, ascending to the summit by way of cable automobile for a hike across the lake. We had been a bit stunned to see a great deal of snow nonetheless about! On the best way to the resort we acquired caught in a little bit of rain but it surely wouldn’t be a tour with out it!
Day 6: St Anton am Arlberg to Mieders
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The primary cease of the day was at Umhausen to deal with the Stuibenfall Through Ferrata, scaling the facet of an enormous waterfall! Within the night we stayed at a beautiful out-of-season ski resort within the Austrian mountains.
Day 7: A visit to Innsbruck
After every week of continuous driving, we determined to remain at a resort for 2 nights and to have a relaxation day in Innsbruck. Getting there meant having fun with the quick however superb journey by way of the Austrian mountain cross, which was arguably higher than the B500 for my part. We explored the colorful metropolis with good structure. We had a scrumptious lunch at Kröll Strudel Cafe, attempting meat and potato in addition to spinach, feta, and pine nut strudels.
Day 8: Mieders to Achensee
Leaving Mieders behind, we headed south to Neustift for paragliding. Accompanied by an teacher, we ascended the mountain in a cable automobile to paraglide again down. It was an exciting expertise flying by way of the valley. After some gliding and tight turns, we landed in a subject, acquired certificates, and headed to Achensee. On the lake, we rented paddle boards and had a unbelievable time.
Day 9: 5 Peaks Through Ferrata
The primary (and solely) day of our journey we haven’t ridden anyplace! We acquired up and walked to the cable automobile from Rofan Seilbahn up the mountain and headed for the second Through Ferrata of the journey. We acquired to the highest of the primary by way of ferrata, Hochiss (2299m) and had our lunch earlier than mountain climbing again down. We had a relaxation after which moved on to summit Speiljock (2236m) earlier than mountain climbing again right down to the cable automobile, narrowly avoiding the rain.
Day 10: Achensee to Munich
Traversing the magnificent Austrian Alps, we ventured into the picturesque Bavarian Alps, the place we made a pleasant cease within the charming city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a espresso break. Arriving in Munich, we checked into our resort earlier than adventuring into the centre for the night, visiting landmarks and outlets, earlier than getting a conventional sausage and a pretzel and sitting at a bar for a few beers.
Day 11: Munich to Saarbruken
We ate our breakfast, fuelled up and made our option to Stuttgart to go to the Porsche museum. Stutgartt was pretty troublesome to journey in, with roadworks all over the place and it’s fairly industrial. It was additionally completely roasting at this level, the most well liked day of the journey! The Porsche museum was good and it took us a few hours to get by way of, the spotlight for me being the Porsche-engined McLaren MP4/4 F1 automobile. We rode on to Saarbrüken, checking into the Ibis Finances for the evening.
Day 12: Saarbruken to Gent
We travelled to Gent in Belgium with a few stops in Bitburg and the enduring Spa Francorchamps circuit. We unpacked and walked into Gent in search of meals. I used to be stunned because it was a beautiful city; we didn’t count on it to be so good! The structure was superb with a sort of medieval vibe. We ended up getting the most important portion of chips I’ve ever eaten together with a Belgian waffle.
Day 13: Gent to Calais
Our first cease was the charming metropolis of Bruges round half-hour away. We explored for some time together with the busy centre and located some quiet canals. Persevering with alongside the coastal route, we rode in the direction of Calais, stopping alongside the best way to have a picnic and a swim within the sea on the seaside at Normandy. After that we checked into our resort and went to mattress early as we wanted to catch the Eurostar dwelling within the morning.
Day 14: Calais to Leeds
Departing from Calais, we made a short journey to the Eurotunnel, the place we boarded the prepare. It was unusual as we had been the one bike on the prepare. Alongside the best way again to Leeds we took the chance to go to mates within the metropolis of Canterbury.
