European Tours

[GooseMan]

Yup....ALL of Europe is on vacation the entire month of August    I know this because all of my suppliers are European and theyre just GONE all of August. Lucky bastards!  

[Global Rider]

Make sure your cell phone works overseas. I was lucky to not run into trouble but it was definitely possible.

And if possible, check to see if your cell phone is an "unlocked" GSM phone, meaning you can slip a TIM or LOOP pay-as-you-go SIM card into it. That way, all your calls are local or relatively local and a lot cheaper. Thats if you plan on using it daily to make reservations, etc. The SIM cards usually run for €25 and include €10 of talk time to start you off. You then can top them up for €10 at a time.

[ninjadad66]

Just to piggyback a little,

1) Any triband phone will work in the USA and here in Europe, check on the sim card just as global rider mentioned, and you can always buy the ready to go phones as well, costing around 20 oe 30 euros and you can buy minutes for it while you're here.

2) Packing light is right on point, another thing you can do is bring throw away items such as old shirts/pants/socks this way your storage room for trinkets will increase as the days pass by. Bring good undies, you know what mom alwasy says about good clean undies  

3)As long as you don't act like a snobbish american and welcome the different culture you'll be alright, and this is not to say that all of us act snobbish, but we all know there out there.  Drive according to the rules of the road and you'll be just find, no one expects you to ride/drive any other way. You might not need it, but it's a good idea to look into getting an internationl drivers licenses as well this may or may not come in handy if stopped by the local polizi (police) for any reason.

4)As for making reservations, if you're traveling in May or June you will be fine.  July is a big vacation month for Germany, and August is big for Italy so try to work your schedule around the busy times. I'm not saying you can't travel during those months, but just like Atypical1 and Global Rider said, it's very busy during that time even at the camp grounds.

Farmers is an excellent book to get for your vacation, it will list all the hot spots and great sights to see.  Hope you make it over to enjoy europe, and if you make it to Germany my door is open as well.

[Ant]

Wow, just found this SIM card... Expensive to use in the US and probably a bit pricy for other people to ring in to but for making calls out (whatever country you're in) it is amazingly cheap!!

http://www.gosim.com/index.php?page=3725_global_sim

Just found it after doing a search, I'm not vouching for them at all.

[Cpl Punishment]

A tip when riding in France-if the police say stop, they mean it. Unlike British police, they're armed and have been known to shoot .

[Ant]

A tip when riding in France-if the police say stop, they mean it. Unlike British police, they're armed and have been known to shoot .

And then march your corpse to a cash machine...
You don't speed in France  
Fortunately there aren't as many actual coppers as there seems to be in the US (from reading other people's posts) so it isn't as much of an issue.

[Ralf]

Please note that between 7-29 June 2008 the European Soccer Championship will be held in Austria and Switzerland. This means lodgings in these countries could be also difficult to find during this time.

[throttlemeister]

Please note that between 7-29 June 2008 the European Soccer Championship will be held in Austria and Switzerland. This means lodgings in these countries could be also difficult to find during this time.

Great! That means the French Alps and Pirynees are free for me to play, and the roads are empty as everybody is sitting in front of that picture box.

[Ralf]

Great! That means the French Alps and Pirynees are free for me to play, and the roads are empty as everybody is sitting in front of that picture box.

Good plan!  

[Global Rider]

Please note that between 7-29 June 2008 the European Soccer Championship will be held in Austria and Switzerland. This means lodgings in these countries could be also difficult to find during this time.

Great! That means I may just go to Korsika again.  

[Mr Sunshine]

Please note that between 7-29 June 2008 the European Soccer Championship will be held in Austria and Switzerland. This means lodgings in these countries could be also difficult to find during this time.

HOLY CRAP!

I'm flying into Switzerland on June 16th.

[Cpl Punishment]

HOLY CRAP!

I'm flying into Switzerland on June 16th.

 





I just had to laugh...

[Mr Sunshine]

 





I just had to laugh...

Um...I don't get the joke.  

[Cpl Punishment]

Um...I don't get the joke.  

Neither did I