Ha Ha Mrsb thought that was amazing Ken, and now she knows why i always have a smile on face after a day on the road. one on the road story, i was approached by a shall i say rather tired looking lady of the night whislt sat in a layby getting my break in on the A460 near Telford one evening, she asked me if i fancied a little company? i said politely no thanks ill be going in half an hour, she just looked at me and said, Don't fcukin flatterer yourself son and walked off, oh how i laughed.
Good on yer for organising this trip, Gary. Organising anything involving more than a couple of blokes is always going to be akin to herding cats. re: costs, you could look at building a loose itinerary that can cater for people on a budget can go as well as those happy to shell out a bit more. As mentioned above the ferry has a range of accom options from reclining seat to full-on suite-like berths but you'll still all be on the same ferry and able to enjoy the same facilities. As for overnight accom on the trip, if you choose different towns as bases you may have the option of cheap accom like F1/Etap style, B&Bs or 2/3/4* hotels, or even campsites. If you're in the same area then again it doesn't really matter if you're not kipping in the same building. Apart from ferry and accom, food & fuel would be pretty constant. Wouldn't take much to produce an itinerary with the cheapest and dearest options, but depends on how much work you want to put into it, I guess! Just a thought.
Jimbo's right on this one Bardo, I've been touring an awful long time myself and was quite happy to wing it when I was younger but now I enjoy nice places to stay ( not Formula 1 ). Don't like to eat at the side of the road or McD's and want to sit down to relax in a lovely restaurant with a glass of wine. Not to mention the new set of tyres..........On £500? C'mon mate and give it a go, try a luxury biking holiday.
On £500.00? breakdown recovery 80.00 hotel 12X30 360.00 fuel 2000miles 225.00 ferry 350.00 not inc. food tyres 230 food 30.00 a day 360 drink 10.00 a night 120 _______ 1725.00 Obviously tyres and ferry are paid in advance but this is quite a conservative price............as for £500, wouldn't want to come on your holiday Bardo I'm just being realistic dude.
Little tip: If you have your insurance through Carole Nash you get UK & European Breakdown cover included. Worth considering if you're planning a Euro trip and their price is close to your cheapest renewal quote. I find their Customer Service to be very helpful too, unlike some I could mention (*cough* Bennetts *cough*).
Hi Moily, appreciate your input on this one, i love the herding cats, even on uk day trips it gets a little like that I think what im catering/looking for? is a few like minded folk that want an adventure, Not sure if you saw my origanal post? "sure you did" i started off by putting maps of routes up estimated milage for that day etc and tbh i think it spooked a few peeps because it was too clinical, if you get me? As i get older i appreciate the finer points in life now, yeah man i cant wait to get over onto these roads and have mile after mile of warm? tarmac to play on, but now a days i also appreciate the quality of my time, for example smelling the roses if you wish, yeah get out for a blast and all day too but make the none riding times as memorable, fast food restraunts are fine if your in a hurry, but me, youll see me sat on the side of a little cafe bar on a mountain pass eating my Menu Del Dia watching the world go by, digs tbh so long as its clean, i'd be a lier if i said i hav'nt roughed it in the past because i have, again thanks for the input, all advice recomendations greatly recieved
Also, presumably you can take your own food & drink onto the ferry? A last minute stop at a Pompey Tesco/Asda to fill up on booze and snacks will help the journey down to Santander!
I'll second that one even if you can top up on snacks its a great saving, not being tight, but savings have to be done where you can
I'm with you on that one, and my days of staying in F1 and Etap are long gone, I'm afraid! Give me local places with a bit of charm and comfort or if in a larger city then a decent 4* hotel. Stayed in some great places in Europe and they're not as dear as you'd expect either - particularly if you compare to the equivalent types of places in the UK. I think it boils down to what you want, as it's your trip. I would either advertise what you're planning and if others wish to join then great, or choose a couple of base towns and that allows flexibility where you can all do your own thing or together.
I was so lucky with Bennetts. The guy who answered the phone to me was a Gixxer pilot who'd had the same kind of crash as me and was really sympathetic. He walked me through the whole process and seemed genuinely jealous of the Blade I found. Then the assessor phoned me and complimented me on how clean the Ducati was before giving me the full insured value back. It's a roll of the dice, I suppose.
Yeah, their claims service may be good but the hassle I had with their CS over my renewal involved lots of phone calls and me having to disprove their lies to get my money back. Never again - unless I'm totally uninsurable with all other brokers.
same here mate. Last year, we stayed at Folkestone overnight at Premiere inn = £35 each. Then onto Strasbourg at F1 (cheap) £10 each Then onto Baden at £15 each. 3 nights stay at 5* Hotel = £80 Another stay in strasbourg = £10 Folkestone again = £ 25 All food and drink at top restraunts = £240 each ish Speedboats on Garda =£ 70 each Petrol = £300 ish Chunnel, return =£50 Tolls and fines = £100 total = £1k ish inc a service before,, and it was fab.
You stayed in Folkestone!?!! Did you have your jabs beforehand?! Reckon I'd rather stay on the other side of the Chunnel, personally! The Ibis @ Coquelles, adjacent to the tunnel at Calais is quite decent and you've saved 90 mins the next day being on the other side. Twin rooms are €50 but there's an Etap next door for €35 and you can use the bar at the Ibis. Done that Ibis a few times but stayed at Chateau Tilques the last time for a nice change, 40 miles down the A26 from Calais. Great food in the restaurant there.
Those hotel prices are great Si but taking into account we're going to Spain, the extra distance has to cost us more somewhere. Also if you take off the tyres (230), you didn't mention breakdown (80) plus the extra cost of the ferry or the road trip through France the price you're left with is comparable to your trip. Either way it's a great way to spend your hard earned! Plus we're going for 12 days.
Deffo! 9 days this year its: Straight from work to Calais, so Chunnel and a night in Calais = £35 Then, a night in Nurburg, in an old monastery £15 inc brekkie Then, a night in Baden Baden in a hansel and Gretel gaff = £ 20 in brekkie A night in Lucerne on the lake in a Hotel £30 2 nights in Como, again use of speedboats and fab view £90 2 nights on the way back , one black forest, the other Vosges National Park £40 Party boat from Zeebrugge = £70 inc 3 course and brekkie Fuel and new tyre £390 ish Breakdown ins is £25 £715 plus beers and food, so reckon around £1k again… we don't skimp on the food and wine as you know (we loves our fodder) and it's pure luxury every night. moil, we stayed in Folkestone, as it's 260 miles from me, but not again…it was the dearest night of all the trip, hence this time, it's on the other side of the channel.
The biggest expense for you guys, is the ferry to Santander, that is well expensive, but imo, Europe trips are worth every penny. they really are fantastic!
