After reading a travel article in Bike Rider Magazine, Carolyn Rood was inspired to share her recent motorbike journey around the incredible roads of Europe and also offer a few invaluable tips for anyone looking to do the same. It also inspired her to set up Riders’ Rest when she got back to NZ, providing motorcyclist friendly accomodation.
Words & pics: Carolyn Rood
Our love affair with Europe began in 2019 when Kel (Carolyn’s husband) and I hired a motorbike from RideinTours, a tour company based in Tours, south of Paris. We spent an incredible but short 10 days on the bike, exploring the South of France, and after returning the bikes back to Tours, we proclaimed to Laurent, the owner of RideinTours, “We will be back!!” and we meant every word. It was actually as a result of this trip that encouraged us to incorporate catering for motorbike riders in our new house build upon our return to NZ, as we had continually looked for places to stay overseas that catered for riders and often struggled to find them on Airbnb.
So, once we felt that the world had reset itself post-Covid, we organised a group of 10 Kiwi friends to join us, and we spent five weeks and 6,500km riding in and out of seven countries. We hired a V85TT Moto Guzzi from RideinTours, which was the same model, colour and year as our own here at home, adding to the adventure.
After flying via Singapore and landing on European soil in Frankfurt, we caught a Swiss flight (with complimentary Swiss chocolates on our seats) to Geneva to spend a couple of days in this cosmopolitan city, taking in the many tourist attractions from our well-appointed Airbnb. Our accommodation looked across to Mont Blanc, which served as a reminder of how majestic the mountains were in Europe and piqued our excitement for the next month ahead of us.
New Zealand is so far away from Europe that regardless of the airline you book through or the type of passage you select, our first tip is to make sure that you organise your travel to ensure you have at least two days before you start riding. While we enjoyed everything that Geneva offered, our second tip is to remind travellers that everything is expensive in Switzerland, as we soon discovered when I ordered a gin and tonic at a restaurant on Lake Geneva. The cost was 31 Francs (NZ$62)! In saying that, though, we found that purchasing food at one of the many local supermarkets in the French sector of Geneva and cooking in our Airbnb was very cost-effective.
Our first guided tour saw us being picked up in an Uber organised by the tour company from Geneva, which took us along the sweeping roads around Lake Geneva to begin the La Route Des Grandes Alpes Tour from Thonon-les-Bains to Menton and the Mediterranean Sea. Our first night in Thonon-les-Bains was a meet and greet with our fellow Kiwi travellers and the contingent of Frenchie’s joining us, along with one amazing 77-year-old American lady who adopted us Kiwi as her travelling family right from the start. Whilst she was riding a Can-Am Spider, there was never any doubt about her riding ability, although, on a couple of occasions, I did need to remind her that it was not a race and that we would wait for her.
Riding with the Frenchies was great fun, and as many of them wanted to practice their English, they soon became our translators for our evening meal selections. The use of Google Translator is our next tip, as it is an invaluable tool to use, especially in conversations with our new French friends. What we found was the French appreciated us attempting to use their language. Surprisingly for Kel and me, our French defaulted back to our school days, which saw us feeling quite confident to engage in conversations or at least be able to order the next coffee, croissant, or beer in French. Tip: Learn a few basic greetings and sayings as part of your pre-trip planning.
The Route des Grandes Alpes is renowned for being the finest mountain road itinerary on offer for motorists, motorbikes and cyclists, and it was impressive and satisfying to see the respect and consideration that each group of travellers show each other (apart from the odd white van and black ute who thought on occasions that they could outperform a motorcycle in the twisties, which they soon realised that was not the case). And that brings me to the next Tip: Watch out for white vans and black utes. (Much like NZ, then – Ed)
With the history of this popular travel route dating back to 1860 when Napoleon III used his troops to open routes between neighbouring valleys. The Touring Club de France then became interested in the route, and the final route, used to this day for the Tour de France, also saw the opening of the Col de I’Iseran, one of our first Mountains to traverse.
Stretching from Thonon-les-Bains to Nice, with 700 kilometres of mountain roads and no less than 21 of the highest cols in the French Alps (of which we travelled through and over many of them), the route is a superb voyage through an area that boasts an exceptional natural and cultural heritage. As we started mid-June, many of these cols and mountains were still covered with snow, which was a highlight for me as I had never ridden on roads lined with walls of ice and snow on either side.
European summer holidays officially begin in mid-July, so it also meant that the roads were not congested. The Route des Grandes Alpes is certainly the gateway to a unique area, offering a succession of breathtaking landscapes that will see your pillion (as I am) constantly taking photographs which the rider who is hopefully focussing on all the twisties and corners ahead of them, can view at the end of each day. While it is not always possible, here’s our next tip: Avoid travelling by motorcycle in Europe right at the beginning of their summer break.
Second Tour
We sadly said Au Revoir to our new French friends to begin the second guided tour called the “Grand Alps Loop”, and with a full Kiwi contingent of 10 of us on eight bikes, we left from Thonon-les-Bains (France) to ride to Innertkirchen, to Como Lake (Italy), to Chiavenna to Mendolo Pasco to Grossglockner (Austria) to Garmisch (Germany) to Vorarlberg (Austria) finishing at one of the most beautiful villages in France called Eguisheim, where once endangered storks nest on top of the roofs of buildings and churches.
Initially, we had planned to keep our bikes for a further seven days to go exploring through the South of France to show our friends how beautiful that area was, but when our Belgium guide asked us where we were going, he roared, “You come to my country of Belgium, there are 2000 beers there”, and it would have been very rude of us if we declined his offer. So off we headed to rendezvous in Brussels with Marc – our new Belgium friend. From there, we spent the next seven days riding in and out of Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, where the landscape was beginning to burst full of colourful lavender and other summer flowers, and of course, we did try a number of the famous Belgian beers. Along with the visits to monasteries where the Trappist beers are made, we also took the opportunity to visit several war memorials, which was a very humbling experience.
During the 35 days of riding, we rode through so many well-known high mountain passes and gorges like: Cormet de Roselend (France); Col de I’Iseran (France) which is the highest paved pass in the Alps; Col de I’Izoard (France) built during the reign of Napoleon III; Col de la Bonette (France) which borders with Italy; Col de Rousset (France) located in the Vercors Regional Natural Park; the mighty Grossglockner (Austria) which is the highest surfaced mountain pass road in Austria with an elevation of 2.504m; Grimsel Pass (Switzerland) which was used as an alpine traverse route way back in Roman times and only open during the summer months; Furka Pass (Southern Swiss Alps) which became legendary after James Bond’s film Goldfinger and home to the iconic shape and unique location of the Hotel Belvedere; St Gotthard Pass (Switzerland) with its 15 kilometre long railway tunnel and connects northern Switzerland with Southern Switzerland; Bernina Pass which connects the famous resort town of St. Moritz with the Italian Val Poschiavo; Stelvio Pass (Italy) often referred to as the most magnificent but exhilarating ride on a motorbike for both driver and pillion; the Dolomites (Italy) with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys which were unbelievably breathtaking!!; the Giau Pass (Italy), Gerlos Pass (Austria), and the Black Forest (Germany), to name just a few.
One of the notable highlights for us Guzzistas was our visit to Mandello del Lario (Italy) on the south-east branch of Lake Como, which since 1921 has been home to Moto Guzzi, and we could feel the pull from excitement from our V85TT as we approached the red gates of the Moto Guzzi factory.
Before we could visit, however, we needed to fill in time as the museum is only open certain hours each day, so we had an amazing lunch at an Italian restaurant followed by a siesta in the adjacent park.
When the time came to pay, Laurent had to negotiate on our behalf for the waiter to accept our E100 note. There is apparently so much counterfeiting operating across Europe that anyone with a note larger than E50 is considered a possible gangster. Tip: If you are taking cash (which is helpful when in small villages), ensure you have smaller denomination notes.
The time had finally come, and Kel was so excited when he saw that big red door signifying the shrine held within that there was no chance of holding him back. Funnily enough, when Rocco, who was sharing the history of the Moto Guzzi, discovered we were from NZ, he said, “I have a FB friend from NZ called Merv Bennett”, and we replied, “Yeah, we know him”.
The Museum was not a disappointment, and after an hour of admiring the bikes, we were happy to leave and rejoin the rest of our group, who were patiently waiting for us under the shelter of trees.
Both ourselves and our rented Moto Guzzi V85TT felt at peace that we had made this journey and can return home knowing our own bike had originated from this mighty place.
To wrap up
Would we go to Europe again? YOU BET!! In fact, we have already booked with RideinTours and have a group of 10 other Kiwis to join us in June 2024. We will fly directly into Paris this time, spending a few days relaxing after our long trip, and then we will spend around 7 days riding southwest from Tours to Biarritz, which Kel will lead. Once in Biarritz, we will have two days rest and then start our private tour with RideinTours across the Pyrenees, followed by a second tour into Spain.
Laurent has recently asked us to become their agents in Australia and New Zealand. What that looks like, we are a little unsure. But we are happy to share our journey and experiences with anyone who is interested in travelling to Europe. Final Tip: I would recommend anyone who loves twisties, switchbacks, hairpins, mountains, passes, gorges, scenery, castles, cathedrals, great food, history, wine and, of course, Belgium beer to find a reputable tour company as we did and just do it!
Safe riding.
Carolyn and Kel Rood
Visit us on Facebook or Instagram: TheRoods2upineurope
And if you’re looking for motorcyclist friendly accommodation near Whangārei, check out Riders’ Rest.
10 TOP TIPS
- Pack lightly and I mean lightly – and make sure you have a bag on trolley wheels (by the way, our tours do not have support vehicles, which is a great way to ensure you travel lightly, but between tours, your bags will be available to swap over clothes.
- It’s a long way to travel, so book at least two back to back tours or give yourself at least four weeks away.
- The meals are often too big for one person, and it is quite acceptable in Europe to order “partage” (sharing), as many of us discovered very early. You can also save money and avoid putting on weight by ordering this way.
- Travelling during June and July, you will experience different temperatures, so take a liner in your jacket that you can slip in and out and or a light puffer to wear under your riding jacket and can then be used when cooler evenings and going out for dinner.
- Ensure your riding boots are good for walking, as you will do lots of walking over cobblestones – don’t take jandals unless you want to risk twisted ankles or sore feet.
- Ensure you leave at least a full day to rest to allow for jet lag and to get used to walking and riding on the opposite side of the road.
- Switzerland is expensive – be prepared to ask the prices of drinks before ordering them.
- Be sure you are familiar with using Google Translate and learn some basic phrases as part of your pre-planning.
- Ideally, book before the holiday season commences to avoid congestion on the roads.
- Book with a reputable touring company and undertake your research by asking others who have travelled before.
