Trip to Switzerland advice please

[AndyXXV]

I'm off to Sion in Switzerland in June on the bird, has anybody on here done this, or similar trip? Looking at the RAC Routeplanner it's about 510 miles from Calais so I was going to get an early Chunnel and make significant progress during the first day. I suppose the options are: take 2 days and stay over about half way or hammer down all the way in one.
I regularly do Northampton - Scarborough which is 185 miles without a stop in about 2 1/2 hours so I should be able to do it with fuel stops and watering in about 7 - 8 hours (??????) ...... or is my logic flawed?
If a stop over is recommended anyone know of a place to stay around Besancon / Dijon area?
Be grateful for any advice from you experienced tourers.

 

[Dark Angel]

Calais/Sion approx 540 miles. We did a similar journey from Calais to Nancy and, from there, to Lugano last year (620 miles in comparison to your proposed 540 miles). If this is your first trip abroad take spare bulbs, tools and gaffer tape as a minimum. Don?t try to do too much in one day. Make sure you?ve got adequate insurance and breakdown cover, enjoy yourself, ride within your limits and remember you?re a long way from home.

 

[Judge Dredd]

calias to metz

is 293 miles which we have done on a number of occasions on the way into Italy if you do go near Metz do the D955 it is a great road
(Nancy is 321 acording to mapsource)

as said previously do not do to much the first day and if you decide to go for it, do get some paractise in first before you go a couple of long one day runs in the uk will help dealing with wrong side of the road and drivers who give a shit.

As for road breakdown get RAC cover, my brother had to use them in the middle of france one call and it was sorted.

 

[Lebowski]

510 miles is certainly possible in one day, relatively easy too, if you use the autoroutes.

But if it is your first time over there and you have the time, take it easy, sample something more than boring motorways. It is a lot different to riding in this country, usually courteous, switched on, drivers and a lot less traffic.

The scenery, villages and people are something to experience, if possible, rather than just blasting past en route.

Driving on the ?wrong side? of the road can be a little off putting at first, roundabouts and the like can take some thinking about, so another good reason to take it easy if it?s your first time.

Accomodation shouldn?t be a problem in June, you should see plenty of vacancy signs, in fact if you can don?t plan anything, just book your crossing, get over there and ride. If you make it in a day fine, if not, no worries.

Best advice, take your time and enjoy!

:yo:

 

[dufus]

Hi AJR

Firstly my exact memory is vague but a ruff guide is avaliable, damm this alzhiemers.

2 years ago we went to Mugello in Italy to watch rossi, excellent time.
We went calais to lyon, even though the ferry was early the day was long, tediuos almost especially with the tolls.

the next day we left lion and went all the way to mugello, watched the racing,stayed a few days.

Then we came back through switzerland and stayed at sion a long day but a good one stayed in a reasonable hotel, more like a travel in, can't remember the namec7u8 and then we travelled the next day to another place in france and again stayed over night in a formula one, imagine cheaper than cheap and you get my drift, platic walls etc. From thier the last day back to calais and tyring as it was we enjoyed every minute, except France, it was full of french .

I would allow 500 miles a day on average but no longer than 700 if you do it around that pace you should feel great but tired.

I hope this helps

 

[AndyXXV]

Thanks fellas for the advice so far, looks like I'll go for an early start and cover as much ground (if not all) on day 1, if I make it great, if not no probs, I'll do an o'nite. The idea is to get there asap and take time getting back so will def 'immerse' myself in the local culture (vin) on the return leg.
Anybody fancy tagging along for a bit? Company would be good and a good ride out would be had!

 

[CAD]

Good choice!

My other half passed her test end of 2005 and rides a CB600F. Her first test in Europe was Swiss, Austria, Germany and back. We did Dunkerque to Interlaken (Swiss, 580 miles) in one hit no problems.
Euroroute numbers (A green shield on the big blue signs: eg E42) are designed to join a lot of different motorway numbers across different countries into an easy to follow route. Have a look at a European map and you'll see what I mean.
We went Dunkerque, Lille, Tournai, Mons, Charleroi, Namur (Follow green shield E42). At Namur M/way junc A15 (E42)/A4 (E411) hang a right to Luxembourg. Outside Lux you'll be following the A4 (E411 & E25). On the Lux Ringroad stay with the E25 Thionville, Metz, Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse, Basel (Swiss border). It's easy and apart from Metz to Strasbourg misses out the tole roads. Once at the border you'll have to pay Swiss road tax. This is valid for the year (Hoorah)! After that the country is your lobster. DO NOT BREAK ANY OF THEIR TRAFFIC LAWS AT ALL!! If you're caught you're done and if you go whipping past the locals at the speed of sound they have a habbit of phoning the Police and bubbling you up and you get done:tosser: ! Try this website www.alpineroads.com it's a cracker:yo: !
Do it in a oner if you can. Gives you more time there and allows a nice run around and home again. The motorways get you there much quicker and give you time to get used to driving on the other side. Plenty of Service and parking areas no matter which way you go.

Enjoy it, we loved it. Lake Guarda for us this year. Leaving UK on the 21st June.

 

[AndyXXV]

Thanks for the tips and info CAD, I'll be leaving just before you on the 14th June. Andy

 

[Artemis]

You're going a week too late, ajr, the Sion Airshow is on 9th & 10th June,

 

[mikew]

I'm off to Sion in Switzerland in June on the bird, has anybody on here done this, or similar trip? Looking at the RAC Routeplanner it's about 510 miles from Calais so I was going to get an early Chunnel and make significant progress during the first day. I suppose the options are: take 2 days and stay over about half way or hammer down all the way in one.
I regularly do Northampton - Scarborough which is 185 miles without a stop in about 2 1/2 hours so I should be able to do it with fuel stops and watering in about 7 - 8 hours (??????) ...... or is my logic flawed?
If a stop over is recommended anyone know of a place to stay around Besancon / Dijon area?
Be grateful for any advice from you experienced tourers.

Me and three mates did the Calais to Interlaken run in one day, long stretch but definitly do-able.

Bikes were not fastest thing on the planet either (2x TRX's, 1 x FZR600 with a slow poke on board, 1x VFR750).

We stopped every 100 miles for fuel and a leg stretch, left Calais at 07:30, arrived in Interlaken at around 19:30 the same day. We were not hammering it. A blackie should munch this distance in less time.

Stayed off the autoroutes mostly, so used the main roads instead. Got a nice route if you're interested, let me know.


mike.

 

[chinnorbiker]

Austrian Alps via Sion

I'm hoping to take in some passes in the Austrian Alps in August (got management permission - she flies to Innsbruck) and the thought of a minor detour via Sion on the way appeals to me. Trip out currently includes Oxfordshire to Calais via Tunnel then down to Strasbourg, day 1.
Second day was going to be Strasbourg to Innsbruck but Sion looks like a good detour.

I'm hoping to use Autoroute 2007 together with my StreetPilot 2610 to plan the route and would welcome any route planning advice around these ideas from afficionados, please. :bow:

Ralph

 

[AndyXXV]

Mike, would appreciate any tested route thanks. I'm still deliberating whether to do the boring autoroute or not. Any advice welcome.
I'll post experiences/tips when I get back.

 

[mikew]

Mike, would appreciate any tested route thanks. I'm still deliberating whether to do the boring autoroute or not. Any advice welcome.
I'll post experiences/tips when I get back.

Ok, will dig out the route we used, will get back to you before the weekend.

Mike

 

[Marathon Man]

Mike, would appreciate any tested route thanks. I'm still deliberating whether to do the boring autoroute or not. Any advice welcome.
I'll post experiences/tips when I get back.

Another rider (on a Sprint ST) and myself are riding down to Monza in May - allowing two days to get to Montreux then another day playing in the Alps before getting to Milan. Similar concept on the way back home but going via Grenoble and Lyon.

We could get to Montreux easily in a day (our overnight ferry from Portsmouth lands at Le Havre at 7:30 local time so we'd have all day after a peaceful night's sleep to do it in) but that would largely be using autoroutes.

We did that last year and whilst it was a rapid way to cross the country, it's dead boring. So this year we'll be using the French 'N' and 'D' roads which are much more fun. And you get to see the country itself. And you also allows yourself to pace yourself. Whilst the 'Bird will happily munch away 500 miles plus in a day, it can end up knackering you out and not able to enjoy your holiday. And also you could end up dreading the trip back up to Calais at the end.

And don't forget the vignette!

 

[ROVERT TJ]

Hi Andy what type of accomodation are you planning ( camping or B&b )there are lots of good campsites aroung Interlaken ,have stayed there on three occasions camping ,and you are well placed for a lot of great mountain passes thinking of going back again soon

 

[bmwdumptruck]

Hi Andy
I'd definately look at CAD's route through Belgium.

It looks a bit awkward on the maps, but as he say's you follow the big road signs and they pretty well take you there.

We did this route last summer to Freiburg in Germany, then across the south of Germany to Nauders in Austria on the Swiss,Austrian,Italian border just north of the Stelvio pass. The Swiss tolls and the reputation of their police put me off going through Switzerland altogether.

The previous year we did the french toll routes to Chalons-en-champagne, just south of Reims. The tolls add up quite a bit and you loose quite a bit of time getting through them, although this won't be as bad as it is with a group. A friend of mine uses a Nationwide credit card as they don't charge for currency transfer, then goes through the card payment lane as its always clear.

You will make much better time on your own, you may need to allow some extra time if you end up with a group.

I must admit I much prefer to find cross country routes. The roads off the main routes are fantastic. Because of the tolls the lorry's tend to stick to the main roads, so if you do get off the Autoroutes try picking routes that leave out the main N roads as well if you can. You'll find less police and some really good roads and scenery. But you'll need more time.

It all depends on whether your going for the destination or the trip.

Hugh.

 

[dufus]

If your worried about the police dumper then you must have a blue one, non of the other colours go that fast g0nn3

 

[mikew]

Mike, would appreciate any tested route thanks. I'm still deliberating whether to do the boring autoroute or not. Any advice welcome.
I'll post experiences/tips when I get back.

Sorry for delay in getting back to you about the route we took, but here it is anyway:-

Calais
southeast away from port on autoroute A26/E15 for the first bit, passing:-
St. Omer
Bethune
Arras
Leave autoroute at exit 8, onto D939, and head towards Cambrai, turn right onto N44.
Cambrai (south east on N44)
St. Quentin (south east on N44)
Laon (south east on N44)
Reims (follow N44 through Reims, bit fiddly)
Chalons en-Champagne (south east on N44)
St. Dizier (south on N67)
Chaumont (south on N19)
Langres (south on N74 )
Longeau (turn left onto D67)
Gray (D67 south to autobahn junction 3/N73)
Besancon (south on either N57/E23 main road or the D67 which is a pretty route but slower)
Pontarlier (just after Pontarlier, head east on D67b, cross border and on towards)
Neuchatel
Bern
Thun
Interlaken


The roads were good condition, traffic was light, and for the most part (autoroute excepted) varied and interesting.

Hope this is of some use to you, enjoy your trip. I'm off to the Dolomites this year for 3 weeks touring. Probably the only time I'll wear out the sides of my tyres!

Regards
Mike.

 

[caf]

If you follow MikeW road, you can reach Bern and then need only about 1h30min to Sion by taking the highway. It's a nice bit of highway, not too straight, nice view and not that much traffic.

From Bern take highway direction Fribourg, Vevey. Once in Vevey take direction Simplon, Sion is on the way.

When in Sion, I suggest you take a day to get to the big 5 pass, Grimsel, Furka, Susten, Gothard, Nufenen. If you never rode your bike up to glaciers level, that's a good experience. From Sion they are just 90km away.

I suggest to do it this way :

Furka, Gothard, Nufenen, Grimsel, Susten, return by Furka (~200km)

That's a bout 500km in a day, but what a nice trip.

 

[AndyXXV]

OK Mike /caf, I've decided that's the way to go, thanks for the advice. I'll be stopping overnight about two thirds the way through, any biker friendly hotels/BBs to recommend?