Plan of action:-
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Decide where you want to go:
Switzerland for the Alps and Cols. The South of France for the French Alps and Cols, or perhaps the Pyranees.
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Decide on a rough route to and from your destination and how many overnight stops are required:
Work on the principle of 300-450 miles per day max for two up. One up it's OK to do 600 miles. But it might take twelve hours at an average of 50 miles an hour on Autoroutes. Non Autoroutes, although considerable more fun can take much longer. Aim to get as far away from the north coast of France as possible on the first day. Most of northern France is quite industrial. The roads, weather and scenery get much better the further south you go. For the last trip to Switzerland we left home at 04:30 to do the 150 miles to catch the 07:30 ferry from Portsmouth to Le-Harve on Friday morning. We then did approx 130 miles down towards Switzerland to say at the Ibis Hotel on the A6 just south of Orly airport. The nest day would be spent doing the last 450 miles down to Switzerland. We stayed at a Chalet in Gals from Sat 26th June - Sat 3rd July. On the last morning we rode back up through France on Saturday to catch Fastcat at 20:30 from Caen to Portsmouth. ( or ride up again on Friday and stay at the Ibis again. Arrive home in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Decide how many of you are going to go:
It is always a good idea to vet the people who are going. If only to make sure you don't get a trouble maker. This could totally spoil the trip. However a minimum of 10 bikes allows you to book rally tickets from P&Q at a very much reduced rate £56 return through Portsmouth – Le-havre. Phone Sally Firminger, P&O Ferries, Tel 01304 863842 Fax 01304 863498
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Decide on the dates and time away:
This is probably the biggest headache. Everybody needs to book holidays from work and you have to book up your cattery or Kennels for the pets.
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Decide on a route to and from your destination.:
If you are all one up 500 miles a day is not a problem. It means you have to make progress and only stop for petrol. Petrol stops are normally scheduled for every 120 miles. We did this on the Mugello trip and we still had people pulling into the petrol station twenty minutes after the first bike. ALL riders should know EXACTLY where they are going, and have a full itinerary. Some people might want to go on their own. Some might just want to go somewhere else, but use you to get a rally booking for the Ferry. It is most important the everyone has the proper maps etc. Someone will get lost. It must NOT a problem. They must have all the documentation necessary to find their way. This is most important. You don't want to be a tour guide, you want to enjoy your holiday as much as everyone else.
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Select accommodation as required:
It is well worth remembering that a £2500 per week villa split between ten people is £250. Not bad for seven days. It must have enough rooms to cater for all the couples. Single people can share rooms. So aim for the right combination of Double, Twin and single rooms. There are plenty of good places to search on the Internet for European accommodation.
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Prepare your documentation.
One of the most important things. Everyone should have all the information required to get to the destination on their own. This is best done by setting up a simple web site or mailing list like http://simonb.zapik.com/swiz/index.html. The site does not have to be pretty, just functional.
I created a mailing list to go with it. Much easier than trying to phone everyone. Form E111 and medical insurance will be required. I am a member of the BMF and use their yearly travel insurance package. European recovery is also a good idea. Once the route and destination is chosen, pop down to your local book shop and buy some decent maps. Maps can also be purchased on the Ferry. If they have any left.
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Prepare yourself.
Make sure any dental work is done before you go. You don't want tooth ache to spoil things. These days I just buy all me fuel with Visa (take two in case one packs up). You can buy Euro's on the Ferry or use your Mistro bank card in a cash point in France. I normally buy currency on the boat.
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Prepare you bike.
Maker sure things like tyres and chain are up to the mileage. Or buy a new one
