So I am planning the first big trip that I will undertake as an adult, and would love to hear words of wisdom and advice. I am from Minnesota. I have always loved traveling, and have spent the past 8 years of life in the mountains and deserts from Montana to Colorado. To be traveling and out there on a motorcycle makes me so much more outgoing and I feel alive. I have a tremendous amount of experience camping, traveling, and riding, but rarely combined and definitely never in Europe. I want to fly to Ireland, buy a 650 enduro bike (the usual suspects like Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda or KTM.) I would fly most of my equipment over except for the bike itself. My plan right now is to research the travel restrictions and requirements for each country I want to visit, general attractions, hostels, camping spots, etc and then just go. What am I missing/ Am I overlooking something with naive enthusiasm? Any input on where to buy a bike all the way to what to visit and why would be greatly appreciated.
Hello TwinTipFlip and welcome, The best person to get in contact with is Wheatwacker who gives some advice about buying and owning a bike in Europe here. http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=868979 And a good place for travel information and advice is here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ Plenty of people have done it before, it is a great trip and there is enough information out there to make your trip go quite smoothly. You don't mention when but I would suggest taking in a Horizonsunlimited travellers meeting somewhere, more information here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/hu-travellers-meetings-europe/ Good luck. Mark
Hey. Good choice of country to start from :) Buying a bike in any EU country gives you the freedom to travel in any country you desire, even non EU countries. Crossing borders within the EU is the same as crossing a state line in the USA. Stepping outside the Euro zone will require you to have your paperwork in order, but totally doable. Your welcome to drop by if your in the Kinsale area. WWW.donedeal.ie is the site to go to to find used bikes. Simple enough process to get it registered in your own name. I presume you have friends there so, they can supply an address. Shoot me a PM if you need anymore info. All the best. WW
As Wheat says, you'll need an address in the country where you buy the bike so you can register and insure it and, if it's an EU country, you'll then have basic insurance to ride in the EU and will be able to request, usually, free of charge, a green card for several non EU member countries. Route wise - glorious roads all the way from Ireland to Turkey and I'm sure different folks will chip in their tuppance but here's mine. Take the Balkan side Adriatic coast road the runs from Slovenia to Albania (the Italian equivalent sucks btw) - that'll get you to Northern Greece where you could check out the Meteora area before deciding where to go next - east for Turkey or south for Ancient Greece. You'll pass through Slovenia, Slovakia, a tiny piece of Bosnia, Monte Negro, Albania and then into Greece so you'll need to check your visa requirements for those countries. FWIW I rode this route a few years back (see my RR in my sig) from Vienna and loved it - took me two and a half days of solid riding but it'd be far more comfortable to take five days to do it. As for the route in total - you'll be travelling through as many as 12 countries (far more if you go crazy) so it might be best to break down your trip into sections and seek feedback on each else you risk having information overload Some information from you would be useful as well, mainly how long you're planning on taking and when.
Thank you guys so much for the feedback! I am super busy with work, and a second job for that matter, to get prepared for my awesome adventure! I will be looking into the routes you guys suggested this evening! Its so cool to get responses from you guys, and even more encouraging for you guys to say stop by and say hello! You guys are the people that I would love to meet on this adventure.
http://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/2001-klr-650/8448149?offset=2 2001 KLR with some saddle bags. Its perfect. Anyone have advice for buying a bike this old? http://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/bmw-gs-1200/7034147?offset=6 Which is another, more powerful option. This is the route! While going through many countries, especially France, I will be stopping in many towns that have World War II history. Austria and Switzerland are on a personal bucket list, because I love the mountains. Romania, Turkey and possibly Bulgaria are where I will see the friends! If anyone is somewhere near the route I have outlined let me know! I would love to visit.
Get your green card (should be free) from your insurers and make it covers all the countries you plan to visit - I suspect that you'll need to work something out for Turkey though - my green card (which is reasonably standard) doesn't cover me there. If you do come through Vienna, you're welcome to crash at my place - although I should warn you now, it's basically a bedsit but it's in a reasonable location.
Another positive experience with Martin Hurley here, the easiest and probebly cheapest way to start your trip. Green card ins is available through the Motosapiens moto camp in Bulgaria, a great place to head for, have fun.
Difficult to tell from the scale of your map but at first glance that looks like a great route to miss all the good stuff. For example, your route into Switzerland and visiting Zurich will show you precious few mountains. Your route through France seems to be mostly Autoroute with no significant WWII anywhere nearby once you leave Normandy. Riding to Turkey and only riding into Istanbul means you're missing the best part of the country. Just saying that I sense you need to think a little longer and harder about what you want to see and ask for some advice about how to fit it in. Happy to help.
You may be a bit disappointed with Berchtesgaden. The Eagles Nest is just a restaurant these days and there is nothing else left, well not that you would be allowed access to (Many Tunnels connecting old salt mines that were part of Hitlers alleged Alpine Fortress but there is no public access.) Great roads around there though including Roßfeldpanoramastraße. Our YouTube Channel has some biking vids of the area (See signature below). Salzburg is also worth a visit and Hanger 7 at the airport has a few WWII Planes of interest. (Free entry and open late http://www.hangar-7.com/en/) We aren't to far out of your way, pop in for a Brew at least. Don't forget to check out the WWII Flack Towers in Vienna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak_tower
Leaving from Cork going straight to the ferry to get to Cherbourg misses out the vast majority of Ireland and all of N.Ireland, Scotland and some cool roads in England for about the same cost of the ferry you have planned. If the auto route is your preferred choice make sure you get something comfy for your butt on that KLR, that seat does look aftermarket, I have a KLR, love it and won't get rid of it but the stock seat sucks for long haul trips. Also the KLR really is better doing under 70 mph, buzzy if you push it. Take you time and enjoy the trip, it will be 100% better than the destination that you ride 500 miles per day to get to.
And you're going to miss out beautiful Croatian coastline, damn this is real bummer I agree with previous posters, it looks like you need to do more detailed route, and take more time for planning, because it is obvious you're going to skip some of the best parts or specific locations. ride on Dooby
I also agree that my route is lacking in specific stops. I just am making a point to head to those countries. Within each country I am open to ideas.
If you are interested in WWII sites, you may want to visit Concentration camps and extermination camps along your route. You can download a GPX file that you can import into Google Earth with this link, that shows the their locations and wikipedia links. As was previously said, most EU countries (and a few non-EU countries) are so-called Schengen countries that does not have any border control. They can, however, have occasional customs control, like Denmark to Sweden (although not on your route). These are the Schengen countries. In Romania, I would recommend Transalpina and/or Transfagarasan (both well represented on Youtube). Both are paved. They are north/south routes connecting Transylvania with Wallachia over the Romanian Carpathian mountain range. At the top of the Transfagarasan, there's a tunnel with a gate that can be closed, if there's still much snow. When are you planning on going?
