|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We opted to go via the Eurotunnel as it was quick and cheap £50 return. Catching the 1930 hrs train on Friday evening. 35 mins later we were in France and only had 65 miles to do to get to our first nights stop in Lens, where we stayed in a Campanile, £50 bed and breakfast.
Next morning we were off, motorway all the way to Strasbourg, then on the small roads to Zell am Harmersbach, deep in the Black Forest, where we would be staying for Saturday and Sunday. The weather in England and north France was wet, however now it was dry and the roads were so much more fun , even though we stayed within the speed limit. On the Sunday we rode down to Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee Lake, it was very busy, full of weekenders, but we had a nice ride there and back, with a lovely lunch on the lakeside.
Monday morning, we packed the bike and we headed off for Switzerland, down to Zurich, and across to Liechtenstein, down on of their few roads, and we were soon looking up a large hill, this was the road to Tshappina, just south of Chur, and that was where we were going to stay. We rode to the top of the hill/mountain, the road was great, very twisty, great fun, not to much cow muck on the road, at the top we found the Hotel Heimat. A lovely wooden framed hotel which was empty, except for a German couple on two more bikes. We had a lovely meal that night, and went for a walk afterwards, to get some of that lovely fresh air, it was pitch black at 9 pm and all you could hear was the sound of the cows with their bells clanging down the mountain.
Tuesday morning we rode to the San Bernadino Pass, there and back to Mesocco. Then the Splugen Pass to Chiavenna-St Moritz, via the Maloja Pass-Zernez and headed for Nauders. We looked around Nauders for a hotel, and we thought we would treat ourselves and go for a big hotel. We found the Hotel Bergblick, which was only £22 each per night B+B, the hotels are half price in summer and it was real posh, check their website to see the rooms and balcony, the room was massive and had a lovely view.
Nauders is just in Austria, and is a stone's throw from Switzerland and Italy, and we stayed there for 4 days, it was great for a touring base. From the hotel we could see the main road, and it was streaming with bikes all day.
We found a hotel in Nauders called Biker Hotel, and it was full of bikers. We called in for a beer, and looked at all the photo’s on the wall, hundreds of bikes. They also do route cards that you may use during your stay, these have all the details you need for a perfect route. The route cards tell you how long it should take you, where you will go, what passes you will go over, there are about 10 different trips.
On the Weds we did only 142 miles, but the view was awe inspiring up the Stelvio Pass. Our route took us into Italy and over the Reschen Pass to Resia, where you go past a large lake, which has an old church tower sticking out of the water. The road then starts to get twisty as you go down into a large valley, but it is a really bad surfaced road, so we took our time and enjoyed the ride. We then ended up in the largest area of apple orchards we have ever seen. Apples were being grown on nearly every piece of available land, and they were nearly ready for harvesting. The weather was really warm and sunny and it started to heat up as we wound our way through these small towns, and we soon turned off up a valley, that would take us to Stelvio. We stopped halfway up the Stelvio Pass at a small Hotel, for a large hot cup of coffee. We also did the tourist bit and sent some postcards, in the end they took nearly 3 weeks to get back. The pass was being worked on at the time, and it was very busy, but the view was brilliant, we did not stop at the top as it was really crowded, so we carried on over the top and turned off onto the 28 Umbrail Pass, which was quite a dirt track for a few miles, so caution was taken and we were soon in Zernez and back on tarmac. We then did the Ofen Pass and Fluela Pass to Davos, then turned around and headed back to Nauders.
Thurs was a bit longer 420 miles, some motorway to get to the Big One, the Grossglockner. Nauders-Landeck-Innsbruck-169 Gerlos Pass- Krimmler Waterfall-165-168 to 107 and the Grossglockner quite expensive toll road, but worth every penny, ace sweepers and brilliant surface, then we headed up the Brenner Pass as it was getting late, back to Innsbruck - Landeck - Nauders.
Friday was 220 miles, from Nauders-south-Reschenpass to Merano, up the Jaufen Pass and back to the Timmelsjoch to Solden-Huber-A12-Landeck-315 to Nauders