sturg Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 It turns out that this summer my brother & I might have an opportunity to have 3-4 weeks off at the same time. Among other things we're kicking around a guided intl. adventure tour. Has anyone done anything like this before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 I've done most of western Europe along with about 7 tours of England and 4-5 of Ireland. I'd stay away from the guided tours though - unless you want to pay big money and be on someone else's schedule. There's benefits to that, but the negatives far outweigh the positives. In most of western Europe, anyone under 30 speaks very good English,so language won't be a problem... with the exception of France. They speak English perfectly well but refuse to do so - especially when they know you speak no French at all. They seem to delight in messing with you for some reason. Are there any specific countries that interest you? Anything you really want to see? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturg Posted April 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 (edited) I've done most of western Europe along with about 7 tours of England and 4-5 of Ireland. I'd stay away from the guided tours though - unless you want to pay big money and be on someone else's schedule. There's benefits to that, but the negatives far outweigh the positives. In most of western Europe, anyone under 30 speaks very good English,so language won't be a problem... with the exception of France. They speak English perfectly well but refuse to do so - especially when they know you speak no French at all. They seem to delight in messing with you for some reason. Are there any specific countries that interest you? Anything you really want to see?Thanks for the feed back. Wow sounds like you've done some great trips! We just schemed this idea up 2 days ago, so no we haven't landed on anywhere. We did discuss the idea of S.America, Europe or the East. Neither of us are proficient in a 2nd language so English speaking would be preferred. Maybe we could use an outfitter....rent bikes & gear and then head out on our own. If such companies exist I'd be OK with that. Edited April 17, 2014 by sturg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 I know of firms in both Ireland and England that rent the bikes and the gear. The Irish one has a bit more on the gear side of things. Bikes are easily rented in most of Europe.Again. it really depends on where ya wanna go. In 3 weeks you could easily do the UK 5 nation tour (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland). All speak English (kinda) and it'd be a great tour.Or, you could fly into Germany and go from there; Swiss Alps. Northern Italy Dolomite's, Black Forest, etc. Less English spoken, but you'd get by without problems. You'd really need to decide where ya wanna go first and then work on getting the bikes. But renting in England and heading across the Channel into France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy would be a good ride as well. Let me know what you really wanna do and I'll put up pics from past trips and links to bike rentals, etc. Now ,a s far as a guided tour goes, rent my bike and rooms and I'll take ya! Mush less than the travel places and you get to pick the destinations. I'm kiddin' - all travel places do is get rooms for you each night. You can do that on line yourself with a bit of help. In the UK; B&B's are the way to go - cheap and plenty of places to chose from. No real need for reservations. Germany, Italy and some others you might wanna get reservations sorted out before you go. But I can help ya with that. My email is EaracheMS at Gmail if you want to fire off any questions tome, please do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 If you're interested in a guided tour, go to the LocalRiders forum and send a PM to Fast Eddie. He's a ride leader for Edelweiss tours. He should be able to give you a couple of suggestions. Definitely one of the top To-Do's on my bucket list…. http://www.localriders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17750 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Few piccies for ya. Bike rental place in Ireland, loads of gear to rent as well... Paul and my wife at the shop... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Pics from around Ireland... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Some of Scotland... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 England two years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokey Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 http://motocaribe.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilD'oh! Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 I didn't buy a guided tour, but I rented a VFR in Sydney and rode around the Blue Mountains of Australia for a day with a couple new mates. Does that count?Here's a link to the ride report I did.http://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/151937-blue-mountains-of-australia/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschaf Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 If you go on a self guided tour in the UK or Europe make sure you have fully functional gps. Roads there are not on the grid system to which we are accustomed. Also make sure you are totally comfortable with roundabouts & riding on the left hand side of the road if visiting the UK. This thread makes me wish I had more vacation. Have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connie14 Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 This is definitely on my bucket list after my kids are raised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 If you go on a self guided tour in the UK or Europe make sure you have fully functional gps. Roads there are not on the grid system to which we are accustomed. Also make sure you are totally comfortable with roundabouts & riding on the left hand side of the road if visiting the UK. This thread makes me wish I had more vacation. Have fun.The whole driving on the left thing is really easy on a bike. I found it took a bit of concentration at first in a car, but very easy on a bike.Roads are easy to navigate and never used a GPS at all. They have very good signage - just gotta remember to look left to see them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadTrainDriver Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) The wife and I spent 9 days in Ireland a few years ago...and I was BLOWN away by the awesomeness of the roads(so curvy!), the beauty, and the friendliness of the people!I swear to God, if I won millions of dollars in the lottery, I'd move there.I will go back someday, and rent a motorcycle.I literally have hundreds of pictures and a few hours of video, and if you start to consider going there, you're more than welcome to come over and look at everything. One other thought...what about just touring around in the US?Four weeks is a lot of time to see a lot of places.Just a thought. Edited April 18, 2014 by BadTrainDriver 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturg Posted April 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 The wife and I spent 9 days in Ireland a few years ago...and I was BLOWN away by the awesomeness of the roads(so curvy!), the beauty, and the friendliness of the people!I swear to God, if I won millions of dollars in the lottery, I'd move there.I will go back someday, and rent a motorcycle.I literally have hundreds of pictures and a few hours of video, and if you start to consider going there, you're more than welcome to come over and look at everything. One other thought...what about just touring around in the US?Four weeks is a lot of time to see a lot of places.Just a thought.Traveling around the US was a thought, but thats something I or we can tackle on another time line. With this much time off in sync, w/o kid or other responsibilities, we're viewing this as a once in a life time opportunity to travel...so we're going big! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sturg Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 So talking with my brother I'd say ireland is out as we've been there already. Germany, Italy & where ever inbetween spiked our interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.