Touring Down to the South of France & on to Monaco?

Hi Tom, just before we go too far down the wrong road, you do mean Monaco, the Principality, on the southern eastern coast of France?

https://www.google.fr/maps/dir/Caen...4c3ac49cfc!2m2!1d7.4246158!2d43.7384176?hl=en

As you will see by following the above link, it's 1200kms from Caen to Monaco so it's a fûcking long way from London !!!

If you just want to be in the saddle for 4 or 5 days solid, then good on you, but it's a long way to go, enjoy and good back in a week. If you're decided then so be it, but if you just want to ride in France, there's loads of other and possibly better places to go in France, with a week window.

As a general rule all the roads in France are good, much less traffic than England (notable exceptions being Paris, Lille, Lyon, Marseille), but the A or even the D roads are far more interesting than the excellent but boring autoroutes. If you run at more than 130kms per hour on a bike with UK plates, you run a strong risk of getting nicked and remember you have have to pay the fine immediately.

Dave

 

I did the Grossglockner and Stelvio last year in 8 days and its a long way to go (but worth it).Last years trip involved hoping between B&B's and made for some long days in some horrible weather. I'm planning a trip to the Alps again this year but having a couple of bases so routes can be amended dependant on weather. I guess the only way to work out what works for you is to try it and see but I would recommend an Airhawk for the long days.

Best Biking Roads can give give some nice routes and the Ride magazine routes are well worth a look:
www.bestbikingroads.com
www.ride.co.uk/Routes

Another thought - last year was a weekend to weekend trip and the tunnel was very busy so this year will be a Wednesday to Wednesday trip to hopefully make crossing the channel easier.

 

As biglad has said there's a lot more to France than just the south. If you're thinking of hotels try searching "Logis moto hotels". A network of hotels that claim to offer bikers tailored stays. They also have routes they suggest. I'll be using some this year on my way to Nice.

By the way, Monaco is very expensive!

 

Just a thought, but if you've only got a week, get across to Normandy and Brittany (watch for the Pont du Normandy over the Seine at Le Havre ... SWMBO let fly with some very unladylike language when she saw it ... looks a bit like the Pepsi Max at Blackpool from a distance!!) and then have a trip down along the Atlantic coast as far as you feel is comfortable if coastal scenery is your thing. Not done it myself, apart from the Normandy/Brittany thing, but I would think it will be more relaxing and less pressured than trying to get to the Med coast. That France is a bloody big country, deceptively so. It has caught us out, more than once!!

 

Hi Tom, if you take the boat from Newhaven to Dieppe (very cheap crossing, about £25 each way!) you land in Normandy which is really nice to ride around, see the Normandy Landings places if that's your bag (it's very much mine) then go on to tour Brittany. So in other words you won't be dragging your arse for hour after hour on boring autoroutes and you'll get to ride in nice scenery.

If you do something like that you'll have loads of time to enjoy France without flogging yourself to death. 13 years ago I was still living in UK and used to ride down to the Drôme Valley south of Valence but doing that distance I was fûcked the day after, no use for anything, except beer !!!

 

Well I've done both, live in France and visited Germany many times. The Black Forest area of Germany is great, but overall I prefer France, for it's friendliness towards bikers, variety of scenery and not having to flog too far from Channel ports.

If you wanted something a little more but still in France, follow the Atlantic coast down to Bordeaux and Biaritz.

 

If you really want to do the South of France and are worried about the time factor then you could try these guys.

https://www.flybikefly.com/

Truck it down and ride back or spend a week down there and truck it back.

 

If you want to go to the South of France but are worried about the time factor then you could use these guys.
https://www.flybikefly.com/
Return trip or one way,it's up to you,certainly saves some time.

 

Ok, as you're set on the south, this is a trip I've done a number of times. 8am Dover-Calais. Autroutes via Rheims/Dijon/Lyons. Overnight around Macon. Head for a place called St Cyr / Les Leques. Campsite near the beach or plenty of hotels. There is dive base around as a mate went diving when we were there. 5 days of touring the area (Monaco a couple of hours away) or lazing on the beach. Leave early on the last day and one hit back to Calais.

 

Now that's a BIG question isn't it? Depends what you're buying. Brits who come over for holidays often say both countries are dear, but the thing is that when you're on holiday you might stay in hotels, eat in restaurants etc so there's no basis to compare your normal cost of living at home.

The biggest single difference between the two countries for a biker, the French love bikers !

Dave

 

I know it's probably not relevant here, but the Swiss also love bikers. And they have BIG lakes if you like diving. We made the mistake of not crossing to France on the first day (visited an old friend in Canterbury) and so didn't land in France until late morning. Destination was a gite in the Jura region, near Pontarlier (Hautepierre le Chatelet if memory serves) which we reached around 7pm, around 2hrs later than hoped for. Big country (lesson 1 ... well it was our first trip)! But we were not far from the Swiss border which allowed day trips as far as Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Wengen (train access only - nil by road) with a trip around Lake Thun on the way back. Bloody expensive, though!
Nowt's far if you choose a decent destination/route. And France has borders with seven countries if you include Luxemburg and Andorra! (I think!)
So, are you now spoilt for choice or just bloody well confused?
My work here is done!!!