France in July/August

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by Tim in Belgium

You'll be stuck in one place......

That's part of the plan.

Originally Posted by dyzio

To be honest, there's no start date yet. Looks like we might start early July.

In that case even more point in joining us (see post 1

Originally Posted by dyzio

Cheers, any idea if he booked it in advance or just stopped somewhere and looked for one?

If you're on a tight budget I would recomend booking in advance. Yes you will have to keep to a schedule but that's not too difficult really, since mostly you'll have all day to get to your next stop.

You'll be free and can be sponateous otherwise but may run the risk of paying over the odds for rooms if landlord sees you're desperate for accommodation.

Early September I was paying 36-46 euro a night for a twin room (so cheap when divided by two) and that sometimes included breakfast, that was just turning up and no advanced booking. That was France/Italy/Germany

[dyzio]

That's really cheap Tim,
I'm just one of the people that's constantly worried about something (what if we can't find a place etc).
Another thing is that none of us have never visited France (let alone speak French).

How did you look for the rooms? Just ride into a town and look for a "vacancies" sign?

Just looked for hotels in small towns, nothing flash, or asked at the local tourist office for cheap places to stay. Going just out of season helped, there are loads of places in the alps, also on the plus side I speak a bit of french which helps.

Hi, if I may add my thoughts, as many of you know we run a B+B near the spanish border, there are many Biker friendly B+B's throughout france which also have a secure garage or workshop facilities, most also speak english and provide evening meals on demand. There are times , when in a foreign country, it is nice to just unwind after a great days riding and not have to do battle with the local lingo, have a great meal , a few bevvies and get ones head down for the next day. If you stay at hotels there is always that nagging doubt that when you come down in the morning , your pride and joy will not be there.
Also rather than do a round trip it is also worth looking at going to one spot, then unload all your gear and take days trips out.
This is what most people do when they stay here take a look at this site which has a write up of one of our roads here as well as watch 4 videos of the best biking road in the world.
Dont forget you can always email us and ask questions even if you dont visit us , info costs nothing as forward planning always helps.

[dyzio]

Thanks Nigel,
If we go ahead with the provisional route, your place would be too far of it. But thanks anyway.

Any chance you'd have a link to the biker friendly b&b's?
I wouldn't mind staying in one place for a week, but I know the rest of the group would :/

Originally Posted by dyzio

The two first days we would be doing 500 miles each day (Scotland-Dover, Dunkirk-Lyon) , so I wanted to take it easy after that (200-250 mile days).

You thought about Scotland to Hull, and an overnight ferry to Zeebrugge? It leaves Hull at 5pm and you arrive on the continent at 0930, rested, showered and ready to ride...

Saves the long ride to the Dover...

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Geeman

You thought about Scotland to Hull, and an overnight ferry to Zeebrugge? It leaves Hull at 5pm and you arrive on the continent at 0930, rested, showered and ready to ride...

Saves the long ride to the Dover...

I have used these plenty of times in the past, but these days are too expensive compared with going to Dover for me. Might be worth it from Scotland though! You have to book a cabin so you do sleep ok and get a good start the next day. Be careful of the road surface on the motorway through Belgium though.

If you end up going to Dunkirk, I can recommend the Formula1 at Grand Synthe in Dunkirk. I catch an evening ferry these days and stay there when I go over. I also sleep there before an early ferry on the way home too. €31 last time I looked and you can sleep 3 in a room, but is best booked in advance. I can let you know about places to eat if you stay there, because F1's are normally in industrial areas away from town centres.