Planning a Euro Trip Solo in April > June; Anyone want to meet up in Greece / Italy / Spain / Portugal / Switzerland / Austria?

3447 Views 53 Replies 15 Participants Last post by WalkingTheDog, 10 d ago

Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago

Hey guys,

Maybe this is not the usual post, but here goes, sorry if it's the wrong section;

After a few solo trips done in the past two years (usually 1-3k km over a week or two) with my Africa Twin, I'd like to tap into myself for more courage and start a longer, 2-month trip through Europe at the start of April this year, departing from Romania, going southwest through Greece, then southern Italy, Sicily, Sardegna, Spain (maybe Portugal), southern France, Switzerland, Austria and back.

I'm planning to go through the warmer areas (Italy-Spain) in the colder month and through the colder countries (Switzerland, Austria) in the warmer month.

Bike & logistics wise, I'm pretty much prepared for this trip and every day is just one less day in my "cant wait to go" countdown. Safe to say I'm excited as hell about it, it's been longer than a decade since I've felt this type of childish joy over anything... these bikes are really something else..

The only thing I'm unsure about is how I'll cope with being alone for such a long amount of time. Most of the time, it's pretty easy for me to talk to people in other countries, share some stories and maybe keep in touch. But truth be told, in my last 9-day trip in Greece, there've been times when I felt alone and a bit empty, especially when camping alone in the woods in the middle of nowhere... I try to keep trips as low-cost as I can, half-booking, half-camping.

What I'm trying to ask is.. does anyone want to meet up in any of these countries/cities and have a beer or something? I don't know how the distance and the time alone will affect me by then, but I know that I'd enjoy a friendly face, especially fellow AfricaTwin owners

Nothern Greece / Thessaloniki / Igoumenitsa
Southern Italy / Bari
Sicily (is it as dangereous as they say?)
Sardegna / Porto Torres
Spain (Barcelona/Valencia/Madrid)
Southern France
Switzerland
Nothern Italy - Dolomites area
Austria

Wheel Tire Cloud Sky Vehicle

Looking forward to meet you, please don't kill me

If I meet anyone from this forum and he/she agrees, I'll post pictures in this thread

Dan

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Dado

· #2 · 4 mo ago

2

You'll have a blast for 2mnths

Seems you'll be spending a lot of time on Ferries,

Ecoregion World Map Line Atlas

why not leave Greece, ride coastal Croatia, and then ride coastal Italy to Sicily, then a short Ferry to Tunisia, Algeria, Maroco etc, to maximize riding ?

Map World Ecoregion Water Atlas

Either way you'll have fun, wish I can join you 😉
Post lots of great pictures 📸

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Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #3 · 4 mo ago

Thanks for the doodle, definitely doing the first version yeah, the answer to your question is mostly time & money budget restrictions.. It would be much harder for me without the ferries, Croatia and Italy are both expensive countries.

Reactions: 1

Georgy

· #4 · 4 mo ago

Being from Slovenia I can say, you should think about a trip through the former Yugoslavia. It's pretty cheap, a bit more expensive than Romania or Bulgaria, but still no where near western Europe prices, especially if you wont seek out the most prestige accommodations.
The drive through Croatia and Bosnia is pretty fun, Montenegro is interesting too. Albania is really nice to ride through, but every year less ''adventury''. Nature is tremendous all through the Balkans.
If you can, definitely take the trip there once.

If Slovenia is ever on your scope let me know, the beer is on me 😄

Reactions: 3

Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #5 · 4 mo ago

Actually yes, forgot to mention I'm going through Slovenia too, going to visit a long time friend in Logatec.. we met over 15 years ago in an online game called Freelancer and we've only met once when I visited him a few years back, but by plane. So yeah, we can definitely meet if you want

I'll update the trip status here as I go and we'll keep in touch!

Reactions: 1

DoubleThumper

· #6 · 4 mo ago

I could do Romania and Slovenia. I have wonderful coworkers in both regions.

Reactions: 1

Dado

· #7 · 4 mo ago

5

Dan [ATAS2018] said:
It would be much harder for me without the ferries, Croatia and Italy are both expensive countries.

That's too bad, some beautiful and scenic places to experience on a motorcycle in coastal Croatia

Water Water resources Azure Natural landscape Blue

Water Water resources Azure Coastal and oceanic landforms Sky

Water Cloud Boat Building Sky

Water Water resources Boat Azure Nature

Water Property Building Coastal and oceanic landforms Urban design

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Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #8 · 4 mo ago

Hehe that looks great but I'm sure Sardegna and Southern Italy won't disappoint either

Reactions: 1

irsh

· #9 · 4 mo ago

Definitely having a partner would make that trip more fun.

Reactions: 2

Dado

· #10 · 4 mo ago

irsh said:
Definitely having a partner would make that trip more fun.

it would definitely "spark up" the trip

Tire Wheel Cloud Sky Vehicle

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Red

· #11 · 3 mo ago

Hi Dan,

fellow Romanian here living in Germany and owner of an Africa Twin...

Is your route set in stone 100%? Could you pass through Germany as well? I will be able to provide "shelter" for a little while and even take some days off work and ride along for a bit with you.

Please let me know how flexible you are with your route and if you're not, I may be able to come down to Austria and meetup with you.

Btw, I live close to Stuttgart (in case you want to look it up on maps).

In case you want to check me out, I can be found @advRedseven on YT (not gonna post links, coz I don't know if its allowed. Not promoting anything, just want to show that I am trustworthy)

Kind Regards

Adrian

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Mastercore

· #12 · 3 mo ago

Good luck to find a someone to meet up with you.
What is your riding style with on vs off road?

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Stanko

· #13 · 3 mo ago

Hi Dan
When you pass Bulgaria welcome to Etropole
The hotel room and beer are free.
Our group also start trip to Sicily on 28 April but trough North Macedonia and Albania
I will be glad to meet you
Stanko

Reactions: 1

DoubleThumper

· #14 · 3 mo ago

Stanko said:
Hi Dan
When you pass Bulgaria welcome to Etropole
The hotel room and beer are free.
Our group also start trip to Sicily on 28 April but trough North Macedonia and Albania
I will be glad to meet you
Stanko

Good on you @Stanko - and welcome to the Forum!

Feel free to introduce yourself at the New Member Introductions area of the Forum.

Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #15 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

Red said:
Hi Dan,

fellow Romanian here living in Germany and owner of an Africa Twin...

Is your route set in stone 100%? Could you pass through Germany as well? I will be able to provide "shelter" for a little while and even take some days off work and ride along for a bit with you.

Please let me know how flexible you are with your route and if you're not, I may be able to come down to Austria and meetup with you.

Hey Red, yes, absolutely, I can deviate to Stuttgart if you're willing to meet up, have a few rides together and share stories. Your post is exactly what I was looking for with this post, thank you for the openness

I might need a rest day when i reach you though, so shelter would definitely help a lot, thank you!

Then maybe we can ride southern Germany together down to Austria or Switzerland, we'll see. When I leave Andorra, I'm going to have to decide If I'll do France > Switzerland > Germany > Austria OR France > Germany > Switzerland > Austria.

I would've said no for something like Berlin, as it's too far away off my track, but Stuttgart is south enough, so yeah, definitely

thank you for the invite! I'll post updates in this thread as I go along, with photos too. We'll keep in touch, thanks!

Looking forward to this crazy trip,
Dan

Reactions: 1

Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #16 · 3 mo ago

Mastercore said:
Good luck to find a someone to meet up with you.
What is your riding style with on vs off road?

Hey, thank you!
When close to home, I ride about 80-20, so, mostly road with a bit of offroad here and there, mostly with friends that can help me in the eventuality of a drop or a flat.. To be honest, I'm a bit scared of these two because I haven't dropped this bike yet (15k km on it) and i'm not sure I can pick it up alone, especially in offroad conditions...

So, to answer your question, considering this trip will be mostly solo, I'll try and play it as safe as I can, which means 95% road with the occasional offroad IF i'm with someone else and there is really something cool to see at the end of that road

or if the road is some high-altitude mountain pass... Love those... check out this pic of my ex bike on a road that goes off Romania's Transalpina, it's called "Strategica", miles and miles of easy-medium offroad in a huge plateau above 2000m.. so yeah, i'm up for anything like that if you want to join up..

Wheel Tire Sky Vehicle Automotive tire

with that said, i'm not up for muddy offroad trails, i hate-hate mud and i suck at it, and my 260kg cow hates it too

Doing the trip with Shinko 705 tyres, 80/20, so there's that.

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Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #17 · 3 mo ago

Stanko said:
Hi Dan
When you pass Bulgaria welcome to Etropole
The hotel room and beer are free.
Our group also start trip to Sicily on 28 April but trough North Macedonia and Albania
I will be glad to meet you
Stanko

Hey Stanko!!
Wow this post just gets better and better, this community & forum are amazing.
I can tell you right now, you'll be my first visit & night spent on this trip. I don't even have to deviate for Etropole, it's straight in my path, so most likely we'll see each other between on the 8th or 9th of April.

Thank you so much for the room offer, it really does help a lot with my budget restrictions.. I'll probably spend half of the trip in my sleeping bag & hammock, but hey, I'm going to SPAAAAIN wooo I can't wait.

See you soon!

Dan

Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #18 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

Also, I would love to join some offroad bootcamps / trainings or anything like that, to improve my offroad confidence. If any of you know of something like that, please share some time&location in any of these countries and I'll try to save up for it.

Another big part of this trip will be swimming for me, so if anyone wants to recommend (or join in) good spots to swim in clear waters and maybe some light diving/snorkeling too, I would be 100% in. Kayaking too. So far I've only got "Coast of the gods" in southern Italy bookmarked for this, but I'll keep researching good spots to save in Maps.

Dan [ATAS2018]

Discussion Starter · #19 · 3 mo ago

irsh said:
Definitely having a partner would make that trip more fun.

Regarding this, after selling my side panniers and racks to make the bike lighter & sportier, I definitely don't have space around my luggage for a pillion, even though I'm really packing small for 60days.

But if we're talking about a partner on his/her own bike, then I fully agree. Trouble is, none of my friends can join me for this one so I have to go alone and just rely on meeting other random great bikers & people, which is great too

irsh

· #20 · 3 mo ago

Dan [ATAS2018] said:
Regarding this, after selling my side panniers and racks to make the bike lighter & sportier, I definitely don't have space around my luggage for a pillion, even though I'm really packing small for 60days.

But if we're talking about a partner on his/her own bike, then I fully agree. Trouble is, none of my friends can join me for this one so I have to go alone and just rely on meeting other random great bikers & people, which is great too

Definitely not talking pillion. Everyone needs their own wheels.

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