Advice from the wise please.

Right,

As a few of you know my folks live in the south of france, Valbonne close to Nice. I'm going on friday 13th ( ) may for 10 days or so.

I haven't booked anything yet but had a look around. Ferry seems to be about £70 return Dov/Cal which is fine, what I'm interested in is where to stay for a night. I'll arrive at Calais about 9:30am so on the road 10ish I expect. - Is Dijon realistic in a day, then to Nice the next? I know the motorrail exists and can definitely see the benefits but I'd like to do the journey once at least.

So I'm asking from the wise n experienced what route is best to the cote d'azur and how long should I allow.

Recently I did London-Wales and back in a day to see if I could handle the mileage and it was fine -

Thanks in advance

You would definitely make Dijon but it will feel a longish day. From there I cant comment bikewise you may like to PM Jelster as I havent seen him on today and he may know about the rest of the way.
Ive done the second half of you route in the car and I think its the longer half and you may be a little tired from the day before. If you do Lyon, Grenoble Gap its decent roads but not as quick as the autoroute. Th last sectopn looks a little slow. Its probably do-able ok but I'd maybe bank on staying over another night Gap way in case you are feeling fatigued. Or maybe try and pushon a bit more the first day...

Ill ask on the GS forum and see what they say therell be a few done it there I expect.

FWIW they reckon no bother, 12hours total at 90mph...... or (unsure). But concede its more of an adventure on an SV!

try booking the ferry using bike magazines special offer.

Call 08705 202020 and quote ref 61418.

If you do save some money I suppose you could do them the courtesy of buying the magazine

As for the distance... take it easy, take plenty of rest stops and you'll be fine.

I've been working in Paris for a couple of days....

From Calis to Nice is about 18 hours of riding at a reasonable speed. Dijon is about 6-7 hours riding (not including breaks), less if you hit the motorways. If you opt for the M'way route, your tyres will be shagged by the time you get there (very squared off!!).

We're taking the train this year, motorail down and a 6 day ride back. This may be your best option as you can get there overnight, spend time with the family (riding around the Alps Maritimes - you lucky git ) and then give yoyrself 3 or 4 days to get back via the twisty route... If I were in your shoes that would be my preferred option....

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Thank you SO much for you replies and time people - I'm going to see if I can get to Dijon or even Besancon on the first day using the autoroute then into Switzerland maybe over the st bernard (looking at my photos from october there I absolutely HAVE to go back) then Aosta to Turin and stay a night there. Fortunately I speak reasonable french and italian Then 3rd day to Cote d'azur (A6/ with a break off to do the coast road from San Remo to Cannes. I'm confident I can ride the distance and should be a great 3 days (2nd+3rd) atleast.
I bought one of those flexible ferry tickets for £77 so I can alter my return date should I need to hence the 3 days to get down there. As for my return journey I'm thinking N85 grasse gap grenoble (twisty ) then Lyon Dijon Reims etc..

3 questions -

I'm wearing conti road attacks, done about 2K on them; about 600 miles of the 850 will be motorway if I choose the quickest, as far as shagging my tyres goes, is it going to be a problem from the safety point of view? I'm not bothered about getting new tyres either on return to the UK or once I'm down there.


Secondly mappy.com prompts that I need a Swiss motorway tax disk for the brief jaunt through the country. Is this compulsory for UK reg'd bikes?

Anything there you'd strongly advise against?

Oh and Steve I'm not ignoring your opinon at all regarding the motorail. It seems a bloody good idea and expect I would choose it when I go again. Paticulary if I took the mrs! When I called them (motorail) I couldnt get the price under £300 since I'd be travelling alone and although it would save me a few quid I really want to experience the journey myself (maybe only once!) just to keep the sense of distance and satisfaction of travelling under my own steam so to speak. I'm fortunate enough to be able to take up to 2 weeks off work so will have plenty of time dans l'alps maritimes

Besancon's a good ride, as long as it's not chucking it down with rain (oh the joys of last years Eurotour!!).

Don't know your tyres but I'd try to mix it up, some motorway, then twisties, then motorway, twisties etc. That way you can keep the profile on your tyres.

Never heard about getting Swiss road tax, but why use motorways in a land full of mountain passes ???

Don't drink & drive.... Don't get too cold, have lots of fun !!

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Originally Posted by adam

Secondly mappy.com prompts that I need a Swiss motorway tax disk for the brief jaunt through the country. Is this compulsory for UK reg'd bikes?

not a tax disk but is a motorway permit. Unlike the French motorways where you pay for the distance you do, the Swiss charge a flat fee.

Unless its changed since I went you basically had to buy a months motorway permit on entering Switzerland. sorry cant remember how much it was back then... and that applied regardless of country of registration.

Originally Posted by lynw

not a tax disk but is a motorway permit. Unlike the French motorways where you pay for the distance you do, the Swiss charge a flat fee.

Unless its changed since I went you basically had to buy a months motorway permit on entering Switzerland. sorry cant remember how much it was back then... and that applied regardless of country of registration.

According to Mappy it's 40 swiss frances for a year. (about £1