Eurotrip 2015 - Alps (Incl France, Germany, Italy & Austria)

Christmas has passed & the weather is crap. What better time to start thinking about this years EuroTour! It helped that Brittany Ferries offered me £69 return to Dieppe!

Still loose talk at the moment, but seems I'm not the only one as a few friends have mooted this years trip based on the initial criteria:

• June or July
• 7-10 days
• Ferry
• Alps
• Incl France, Germany, Austria & Italy
• Camping (very light!)

At least 3 of us so far, more company welcome. Last years ride to the Spanish Mountains & Andorra was epic. One day I'll get round to posting the vids. Looking to book the Ferry by end of January / Feb as the cheaper the better. Expecting about £120-£130 from Portsmouth. I'll update this thread as we go.

So, apart from anyone who "unfortunately can't make it because of work/WAG/cleaning/church etc [delete as appropriate... or just not bother]" anyone else game?

If you're around Rome, I can join you for a bit. I live here.

Can't believe no one commented on my mistake! There's no way I'm gonna ride from the Pyrenees to the Alps! The title should have been "Eurotrip 2015 - Alps (Incl France, Germany, Italy & Austria)". Haha, Geography - never my strongpoint. How do I get the title changed I wonder?

[Winder]

Originally Posted by Runako

Can't believe no one commented on my mistake! There's no way I'm gonna ride from the Pyrenees to the Alps!

Why not? It's a couple of days riding

Originally Posted by Winder

Why not? It's a couple of days riding

Not with the destination itinerary. France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland. We spent 2/3 days in the Pyrenees last year, so trying to pack everything into 10 days would be difficult. The plan for this year is to do the passes in and around the Alps.

[Winder]

If you do end up going in June check if the high passes are open. My euro plan last year was swapped with a UK loop as the only time I could get off work was late May/early June and a lot of the higher and better passes were still closed.
Austria is fecking awesome. Been skiing there a few times and the roads are epic!

Yep, I heard that too. Its either June or July as can't do it later that year. Even if some aren't open, I'm sure we'll still get some sweet riding done but thanks for the tip.

[Luckypants]

I have been in early June to the French Alps and the passes were closed. I have been in late May and the passes are open. It depends on the amount of snow-pack and the arrival of spring, so it's always worth checking the pass status the few weeks before you go.

When we cycled Stelvio, it had been open for 3 weeks but closed the day before due to snow! It was ploughed and cleared the next day and a hot sun dried the tarmac. It worked out for us, but if we had planned to be there the day before we would have been stymied. These are high mountains and things can change very quickly.

[Fen Tiger]

Another factor which can come into play in the French Alps are the annual roadworks in preparation for le Tour which take place between the opening of the cols in the spring and the race itself. You can normally ride through them but I have come across total closure a couple of times. Difficult to plan for these. The Michelin map gives the closure dates of the main cols in a normal year due to snow so that can be used as a guide and the date/route of the Tour is also a known factor. I have done the Route de Haute Alpes a few times in early June with no snow on the road if that helps. I imagine late May would be touch and go. Great ride.

[L3nny]

Videos you say???

We also did some off roading last year, unfortunately this isn't on the itinerary this year but enjoy anyway!