South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

Just looking into a trip to the Pyrenees and dam that Ferry seems expensive!

I was looking for June time, maybe that's why?

Also on most websites you can't seem to book for 2 bikes sharing a cabin - how do you normally get around that (I guess phone them)?

All prices are for return journey;

2 people, 1 bike and a cabin £528
2 people, 1 van and 2 reserved seats £644
2 people, 1 van and a cabin £894... yet the cabin only adds £140 per person when on a motorcycle, what's that about then??

Bike on the Chunnel £82
Van on the Chunnel £206

Starting to think about abandoning the Pyrenees and hitting the Alps instead, van it down to Germany and ride on from there.

Ive priced this sort of trip up several times over the past few years.
We ended up using fly by bikes a few years ago for an Alps trip,dropped the bikes to them, flew to Nice a week later and bikes waiting for us at their transport depot,worked well.Unfortunately they no longer do it but my mate recently used Bike shuttle and said that worked well,they take bikes and your gear to Toulouse or Geneva and you fly.
When weve priced the ferry against doing the above there has been nothing in it when you add up the extra fuel,food,accommodation,wear and tear, and worst of all the extra time you need to get to your destination!

Yup, did the Alps in 2015 and so much of the time was just getting there & back whilst trying to minimise M/ways.
Was ok but most of it was just bland roads until we hit the Black Forest, then it was great all the way to Italy.
Coming home was long & boring.

Maybe bike shuttle is the way... but it isn't cheap. I guesstimate £1291 for 2 bikes, and there are probably other costs, like taxis at the other side.
Plus a 3 hour ride up to Northampton & then 3 hours back.

I think chucking 2 bikes in my van might be cheaper though, and the commute isn't such a grind in the van either.
Just need to work out where I could leave my van for a week, I'm guessing a campsite might let me keep it there.

have a look on www.bike-stay.net

There is a company up near swindon that takes the bike to faro, there may be other options to drop it off at.

I go from Plymouth to Santander every September with the wife on the back. Just under £600 this year with cabin both ways. It'd cost more than that going down through France with fuel, stopovers etc, plus it's way more relaxing. Gets you off the boat right into the good roads so no boring motorway slogs to get you there. The lower speed limit on main roads in France, and the proliferation of speed bumps in every village, has put me off going through there. If you are going by van you're pretty safe leaving it anywhere that's legal - just because it's on UK plates shouldn't mean it's going to get done over.

Stick bike in van

"So much time is spent getting to and fro" re an Alps trip? catch a breakfast chunnel and it's a comfy days ride on a mixture of autoroute and RN. AutoRoute to around Dijon then cut down through Dole/Pontarlier/Geneva and you're in the Alps. Take two days and it can be RN's with a detour around Reims/Epernay for the Champagne vineyards and the old F1 circuit.

For the Pyrenee's then a Ferry to Caen or Le Havre and its an easy two days to the Pyrenees once again using a mix of AutoRoute and RN. I'd personally go via Orleans/Bourges/Clermont Ferrand/Beziers and the A75 which is one of the best Autoroutes you'll find in France (think the split level bit of the M5 @ Bristol)

If you put the bikes in the van and are prepared to just get the miles out the way, an overnight ferry and a hard days drive will see you around Perpignan or similar, though I think I'd stop at Carcassonne and then head down into the Pyrenees from there.

Re booking two bikes and a 4 berth cabin, it's easiest to phone. A good ferry comparison site is AFerry.co.uk.

Don't forget there is supposedly now a blanket 80kph/50mph speed limit on all single and 3-lane roads in France, though I haven't heard how heavily that is being policed, and can't say I noticed much difference when we went to Le Mans earlier this year .......

We spent most of the eighties and nineties doing Europe to death. Now as poor pensioners we've realised there's so much to still do and see in the UK........


........and with weather now being so unpredictable here and abroad, perhaps that is no longer such a major consideration

I'm still trying to find the track log or route plan from my Alps trip, I think I've lost it..
Though I have discovered it was 2016 and not 2015.

I have so far done 3 bike trips on the continent and each time the weather has turned whilst out there, and usually whilst coming home.
I think it would be nice to have a van to commute in, or the van as basecamp then move as we wish. That would free us up to ride the passes without carrying luggage, and we could take sufficient kit to deal with the conditions as they present themselves.

Interesting fact (for me anyway), Petrol is now more expensive in France than it is in the UK... how about that!

TLS-Moose wrote: ↑Oct 30th, '18, 23:21 "So much time is spent getting to and fro" re an Alps trip?

Found the route
9 day trip, we tried to follow the national parks in France down to Germany & then some B500.
On the way back we used more M/ways just to get the distance done. Last day up through France to Calais it pissed down, plus we were one rider down due to breakdown (Honda BTW, there were no KTM's on this trip ).

Day 1 - We all met up at M3 Fleet services around midday, had a burger & a coffee and then made our way to the chunnel.
Once in France we did about a hour to get clear of Calais and stopped at a B&B in Bethune.
Day 2 - We meandered down the border and occasionally crossed in Belgium and stopped in Mtez.
Day 3 - Over into Germany, down some of the B500 and stopped near Waldkirch.
Day 4 - took us into Switzerland and the Alps.
Day 5 - Into Italy through the Alps.
Day 6 - Heading back now, still in Alps, through Liechtenstein and on to Germany. Got delayed for 1/2 day by a bike race closing the Stelvio Pass, also got split up in the mayhem that followed. Met the other half of our group later that evening.
Day 7,8 and 9 were just heading back up country and back to blighty in a more direct route.

We had to hack a lump of the Stelvio off as time was short and we were delayed due to bike race.
So out of those 9 days, only 3 were in the Alps.

TLS-Moose wrote: ↑Oct 30th, '18, 23:21 catch a breakfast chunnel and it's a comfy days ride on a mixture of autoroute and RN. AutoRoute to around Dijon then cut down through Dole/Pontarlier/Geneva and you're in the Alps.

Chard to Eurotunnel - 206 miles (3h 40 min), so say 4 hours with M25 traffic, so a 5:00 am set off (not liking this already ).
Eurotunnel to Dijon (A26) 355 mile 5 hrs 11 mins.
That is a long day in the saddle, 9 hours riding (plus breaks) and 561 miles total, I'd split that into 2 days and aim to do 350'ish miles each day.

If I did ride it again I would do something like that though. Riding down the edge did break up the journey but took too long. I personally don't care how long it takes as I'm retired, but my mates haven't so I need to increase the time at the good roads.

I'd have booked a Travelodge and travelled up to Folkstone the evening before. That allows members of a group to travel from various area's & meet without impacting departure time. Also allows a decent kip and an early start time without making the overall day too long.

Good idea, see... that's why I'm asking here.