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Stu_666 |
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Stu_666 Brolly Dolly
Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Karma :
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Posted: 19:42 - 06 Apr 2006 Post subject: Touring by yourself |
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As I'm really considering riding down the west coast of France this summer and perhaps through the Pyrenees to either Bilbao or Barcelona I as was wondering if anyone has toured through Europe by themselves before.
I was reading the post done by Nath on here where he went down to Spain and it did'nt seem to bad for him. I was wondering though if anyone who's done it before found it too lonely. I'll probably try and stay in either hostels or biker friendly campsites (f*ck me that sounded gay for some reason ). Do you tend to me a fair amount of people on the way who you can chat to and is the language barrier much of a problem. I know a bit of French but not conversational. |
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carlnicholson... |
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carlnicholson... World Chat Champion
Joined: 13 Mar 2005 Karma :
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Posted: 19:54 - 06 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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I've been looking into doing the same and have it planned for July next year. The Mrs was going to come but is getting cold feet so I may be doing it solo.
Hotel formule 1 offer silly cheap rooms and berakfast, and they are who I intend to use, they even have one in Barcelona, so a short stay there will cost next to nothing.
Panrider can give you a good route, but there a few on here who know their stuff.
www.hotelformule1.com ____________________ "THOSE WHO RISK NOTHING, DO NOTHING, ACHIEVE NOTHING, BECOME NOTHING." |
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natv4 |
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natv4 Brolly Dolly
Joined: 31 Dec 2004 Karma :
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Posted: 21:03 - 06 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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I visited Barcelona on my first bike trip. Try staying in hostels, that way you may meet more people (you never do staying in a hotel.
Other than that, be outgoing, friendly, and chatty. Start conversations, it doesn't matter if someone isn't interested, just talk to someone else. You'd be surprised how many people will be interested in what you are doing and want to talk to you.
I would recommend staying in one of the many pensions (hostels) near/on La Rambla (Barcelona's main entertainment centre, nr the sea front). At least visit it, its probably the best part of Barcelona with countless bars, clubs, resturants. and everything else you can imagine.
I've done a few runs through Europe now, all solo. Yeah, it gets lonely. Eastern Europe was the worst for that. Not many people speak english, so its difficult to chat. I went 5 days without more than basic english interaction (hello, goodbye, etc). That was tough. If you are in western Europe, near any popular destinations, you will be fine. In fact my problem then was that you end up spending your time with fellow travellers and not with locals.
Go, even if you don't appreciate it at the time, you will in retro-spect. I spend my whole year looking forward to my road trips. ____________________ Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
Bike: Blue Honda VFR800fi (*NEW*) Mileage: 22k Countries visited: GB/F/D/CZ/PL/E/I/B/A/HR/H/Rus/E/MA
West Europe...2004, East Europe...2005, Russia/France...2006, Morocco...2007 |
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Itchy |
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Itchy Super Spammer
Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :
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carlnicholson... |
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carlnicholson... World Chat Champion
Joined: 13 Mar 2005 Karma :
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Posted: 23:34 - 06 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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I wouldn't want time to go faster really.
51 weeks of work, motorway commuting, early nights, paying bills blah, blah, blah, and the only week of being able to fuck it all off and get away on the bike and you want it to go by quicker?
Stuff that, I want it to seem like it's taking forever, completely forget everything and just enjoy the ride. Thats what a trip is all about. Isn't it? ____________________ "THOSE WHO RISK NOTHING, DO NOTHING, ACHIEVE NOTHING, BECOME NOTHING." |
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Itchy |
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Itchy Super Spammer
Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :
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Stu_666 |
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Stu_666 Brolly Dolly
Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Karma :
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Posted: 19:36 - 07 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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Thanks for the replies chaps!
Staying in hostels does sound like a good idea. Would also be a hell of a lot cheaper as the most expensive things at the moment seem to be the ferry cost and petrol costs (the ZX6R only does about 140 miles on a full tank so I'll have to ease off hard acceleration on it).
One question though, with hostels and formule1 hotels, do you have to book them in advance?. I'm thinking about going mid July so it might be quite busy then. It'd be easier if I was'nt tied down to a particular place to get to each night as then I could take me time more. |
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illusion |
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illusion Scooby Slapper
Joined: 04 Apr 2005 Karma :
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Posted: 20:23 - 07 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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Would be worth trying to get a few people off the forums to go. I want to do some touring of Europe this year, although I was looking around September time. ____________________ My bike |
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panrider |
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panrider Borekit Bruiser
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Karma :
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Posted: 20:25 - 07 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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hi stu sorry i dont know about hostels we never use them .but we do use formule1 a lot .no you do not have to book in advance BUTyou can if you plan your trip when and where you are going to stay at the end of each day .
if you are going in july ?it will be busy at the formule1 hotels if you have not booked in advance you will need to start looking at where you are stopping for the night at around 4 pm as the hotels start to fill up fast .but you never be stuck for anywhere to stay in france
go down the centre of france towards clermont ferrand then the real biker roads start .see you in the pyrenees in july |
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Stu_666 |
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Stu_666 Brolly Dolly
Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Karma :
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Posted: 22:32 - 07 Apr 2006 Post subject: |
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Yeah I was thinking around September but I might be off to Uni around then so was'nt sure on dates. Shame as most of the school holidays finish then.
Panrider, cheers for the advice |
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natv4 |
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natv4 Brolly Dolly
Joined: 31 Dec 2004 Karma :
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kawakid |
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kawakid World Chat Champion
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colin1 |
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colin1 Captain Safety
Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :
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niff5855 |
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niff5855 Sausage Boy
Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Karma :
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mattgt |
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mattgt Nitrous Nuisance
Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Karma :
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 18 years, 55 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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