Alps Motorcycle Tours - Priced Right

[Michael J]

The owners don't speak English...how is your German?

Worse than my French, but good enough to find a room, the toilet and get fed.  

Anything more than that is just icing on the cake.

[Karza]

In the Alpine hotels they might not speak english but they do understand a lot.

[throttlemeister]

You could go to Vivaldi. It is in Western Austria and deadsmack in the middle of all the good stuff. They are not that expensive, Dutch owned which means English speaking, catered for bikers, with garage parking, wrenching area and roadbooks.

[Global Rider]

A listing of a few motorcycle rental companies...

The BMWMOA Global Touring - Touring in Europe site (scroll down to rentals)...
http://www.bmwmoa.org/global/ToEurope.htm

Knopf Motorradreisen in Heidelberg...
http://www.knopftours.com

Allround Motorradvermietung in Frankfurt...
http://www.motorradvermietung.de

BiancoBlu in Milan...
http://www.biancoblu.com

Feel free to add a few with links to any others.

[Global Rider]

A listing of Euro & Alps videos...just what you needed...

An extremely well done stills-in-motion non-video with classical music...
Roads of Northern Italy

An extremely well made video...
Riding In The Dolomites

A series of videos by Steve Farson...
Campolongo Pass in the Dolomites of Northern Italy

Grödnerjoch in the Dolomites of Northern Italy

Sella Pass in the Dolomites of Northern Italy

Passo dello Stelvio in Northern Italy

Fedaia Pass in the Dolomites of Northern Italy

St. Gotthard Pass in Switzerland

Locomango Pass in Switzerland

Oberalp Pass in Switzerland

Susten Pass in Switzerland

Nufenen Pass in Switzerland

And for something a bit different; a video from one of the premiere tracks in the world (90 Mb)...
A Fast Lap of the 20.8 Km North Loop at the Nürburgring

Feel free to add any Euro/Alps related videos that you've come across.

[gforce]

Nice!  Thanks for the links, esp the Nordschleife lap!

[throttlemeister]

Two of mine:

Col de la Bonette
Gr. St. Bernard

I will be leaving for a 8,000km trip through France and Spain in 2 days. Pictures to follow.

[RBEmerson]

Have a great ride!  

[Global Rider]

I'm on the tailend of another great month of riding over here and came up with another reason for going on a self guided tour....

WEATHER!

Imagine having spent big coin on a tour and ending up with a streak of bad weather; weather so bad that it is raining heavily all day. Yeah I know, you can ride, but it takes a lot of the fun out of the day.

Self guided lets you choose where you can ride...where the weather is better. So its raining this week in this part of Austria? No problem, I'll head on over to Italy for a few days...so I did.

PS the weather is usually better at the southern end of the Alps.

[FJR-UK]

So you went from where it's pouring all day to where they're having a heatwave! I'll bet your clothes dried out quick.  

[Global Rider]

So you went from where it's pouring all day to where they're having a heatwave! I'll bet your clothes dried out quick.  

Heatwave? 30 C was comfortable. But yes, my Aerostich suit dried in no time.

[throttlemeister]

To get back on the subject of DIY travel, on my Spain trip I did almost 8000km at a cost of 550 euro's for gas. The 2 weeks (14 days) spend in Spain cost me about 500 euro for anything else except gas. Now this is cheaper than the Alps cause food and drinks don't cost nothing in Spain (when was the last time you could have two half liter beers + tapas for 2.40 anywhere in Europe? I did, in Merida), but I am not complaining.

[Global Rider]

To get back on the subject of DIY travel, on my Spain trip I did almost 8000km at a cost of 550 euro's for gas.

I just added up my gas expenditures for my last trip:

For 12 days of riding covering about 5500 kms, I spent exactly €400 which totalled CA$589.24 on my charge card.

A new record for a fill-up...a whopping €43.10 or CA$63.78. Wow...but worth every penny when you get to ride on roads as good as the Alps.

As for accomodations, I overnighted in Austria where a night with breakfast ran between €20 or €30. A bargain! A night in a hotel in Croatia ran me €35 with a buffet breakfast and buffet dinner which included endless white or red wine. You had to pay for Coke or bottle water; the exact opposite of North America.  

[throttlemeister]

Alex, you really need to update your website. You don't even have your 2004 trip on there yet!

[Global Rider]

Alex, you really need to update your website. You don't even have your 2004 trip on there yet!

I know, I know.

Blame that digital camera I bought before my 2004 tour. Life was easier when I used my film camera...less pics to sort though and decide upon.

I have my 2006 pics without captions (to follow when I have time) on my Smugmug site...
http://edelweiss.smugmug.com

[throttlemeister]

Ah, the blessings if digital photography. Personally, I would never want to go back to film. It's so much more convenient and so much cheaper.

[photomd]

Alex, I might talk The Wife into touring the Austrian Alps in Sept. Your site and advice has been great. Thanks!  

However, I've still got questions...if you don't mind.

Do you get additional medical insurance? My insurance covers me, but I have to pay up front and file for reimbursment. For the right price, travel insurance may be easier. I take it you have a bike over there. If I go, I'll be renting. Can I get additional insurance through my carrier over here or should I look to get insurance over there? Also accomidations: do you just play it by ear? Have you had trouble finding a place to stay? I do this when I travel, but The Wife gets a little antsy about this. Is there a way to find places to find before hand. I'll google stuff, but I feel like I'm throwing darts at a board: no idea what I'm looking at. Thanks for your help.

[Global Rider]

Ah, the blessings if digital photography. Personally, I would never want to go back to film. It's so much more convenient and so much cheaper.

Yeah, I know its convenient, but film has soooo much more latitude. And what is this White Balance shit? I never had to worry about that on film.

[Global Rider]

Alex, I might talk The Wife into touring the Austrian Alps in Sept.

You shouldn't have to...at least you won't have to for your return trip.  

Do you get additional medical insurance? My insurance covers me, but I have to pay up front and file for reimbursment. For the right price, travel insurance may be easier.

I used to get travel insurance through the CAA (like your AAA in the US), but I was recently reminded that I am covered through my work travel insurance whether I am on business or not.

I take it you have a bike over there. If I go, I'll be renting. Can I get additional insurance through my carrier over here or should I look to get insurance over there?

I do because I go every year. If rental rates came down to planet earth, I'd rent, but I refuse to pay for their motorcycles in a matter of months. There must be some Dutch in me...I'm cheap!

Additional insurance? Are we back to talking about medical insurance or do you mean insurance for the motorcycle? The rental motorcycles are covered but with a high deductible; usually at least US$1000. You can get a lower deductible for an extra fee.

Also accomodations: do you just play it by ear? Have you had trouble finding a place to stay? I do this when I travel, but The Wife gets a little antsy about this. Is there a way to find places to find before hand.

In my thirteen years in a row of touring there, I just made my first advance booking last month and only because I would be arriving late. Also, in that same time period, I can count on two hands the amount of times I had to check with a second B&B or albergo for a room, usually across the street.

Read through this thread. You'll find lists of accomodations...1st post.

Europe goes on vacation in July and August and during that time I would probably book ahead, but September shouldn't be an issue.

[photomd]

Additional insurance? Are we back to talking about medical insurance or do you mean insurance for the motorcycle? The rental motorcycles are covered but with a high deductible; usually at least US$1000. You can get a lower deductible for an extra fee.

I'm talking about extra insurance for the bike. I assume that the $2000 the rental company holds is the decutible. I'm wondering if I can use my insurance stateside to decrease that to something like $250. Or is it even worth doing?

Thanks for all your help. Your website and links have made this a pretty easy process.

Now post more pictures!