23 Days Around Europe With Poppy Baker

What can you achieve in 23 days?
2019 was a year to experiment, previous biking tours were always booked from start to end. I’m not dissing pre-booking but keeping to a schedule can bring its own issues. e.g. covering specific distances, not accounting for breakdowns, weather conditions, health & the ache to detour.
Everyone has their ideas but having tried both ways, a bit of ad lib is so much easier & calmer….here’s my adventure.
I’m a chunky 56 year old asthmatic with a penchant for wine, yummy food & my hairdryer!
Ridden since I was 15 & currently on a T120. Ride with my fella & 82 year old Dad….& few mad mates. However this trip was just me & he…

Ok, after saying all of the above I do book a couple of things….
1. Ferries, Portsmouth to LeHarve & Cherbourg to Poole
2. 1st stop (arrived on bank hols & winging that might have been grief)
Apart from that all we knew is we wanted to reach Croatia & over to Italy. With just over 3 weeks it’s was doable.

With £1k in euros, a couple of credit cards, travel insurance, breakdown recovery in place, my Tom Tom sat nav, iPhone & not forgetting hard maps I was ready.
I use a 40 litre dry bag, 2 side panniers & a few incidentals go in his bags. I carry whatever I want, if you want to pack your hair straighteners take them. 3 weeks on a bike & those few niceties are relevant…either that or I’d look like Crystal Tips!

Things to consider, carry documents so you can reach them at all times, passport, tickets & money ideally on your person.
If you are doing an overnight crossing pack shorts & a T-shirt, deodorant and toothbrush etc into a small bag. Just grab that when parking your bike in the ferry garage as you can’t take it all out.

Sweat….the joys of riding in Europe in June/July/August…so much drier heat than the UK but god can you sweat! Travelling with multi weather clothing is the ideal but obviously not practical. Something everyone has to suss as we all cope in different ways.

Back to the trip, I sussed the direction with Google maps & pre set where we going on my sat nav, took off motorways and tolls & headed off. We’d stop when we needed for breaks and at lunch have a good hour out. Breaking a days riding up with a decent rest allows you to jump back on with more vigour.
Depending how the mornings ride went I’d decide how much longer / further we’d go.
Maps and AirBnB / Booking.com were a doddle, to book for the night ahead.
Some days we’d ride 2-3 hrs in the morning & only 1 hr in the afternoon, other days we’d ride on enjoying the peaceful roads and weather.

We never spent more than €50 per night & in Croatia we paid £20 for 3 nights for a en-suite room for an apartment by the sea…..amazing!

The hardest thing for me is the constant daily packing & unpacking, carrying your bags in & out of rooms, it’s no walk in the park at high temps, the holiday isn’t sitting by the pool, you rarely look groomed to perfection but the positives of having an adventure on your beloved motorbike is totally precious. It’s invigorating, thrilling & each trip gives you ideas for the next. You get to meet wonderful families & share your stories as you go.
Visiting other countries is made easier for us Brits as many speak English but even if the lingo fails, you can easily get by and just trying a few pleasantries makes everyone happy and works.

Our route:
1 night: LeHarve to Verdon, France
2 nights: Verdon to Triberg, Germany
1 night: Triberg to Söll, Austria
2 nights: Söll to Udine, Northern Italy
1 night: Udine to Piran, Slovenia
1 night: Piran to Zadar, Croatia
1 night: Zadar to Podgora, Croatia
2 nights: Podgora to Split (ferry across Italy)
1 night: Ancona to Comacchio, Italy
1 night: Comacchio to Lake Garda, Italy
2 nights: Lake Garda to Lake Como
2 nights: Lake Como to Verrayes
1 night: Verrayes to Arandas, France
1 night: Arandas to Vignoux-Sur-Barangeon
1 night: Vignoux-Sur-Barangeon to Jouie De Charnie
2 nights: Jouie De Charnie to Grandcamp Maisy
1 night: Grandcamp Maisy to Cherbourg (ferry home)