Tag Archives: motorcycle travel

Dilemma: Picos or Dolomites?

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It has become our annual tradition, we are once again planning a motorcycle trip for June this year. The concept remains the same: strap a tent on our bikes and off we go!

We had five destinations on our shortlist, of which Norway, Wales and Scotland have already been crossed off. That leaves us with the Picos and the Dolomites. We have roughly mapped out the routes for both trips, and now it’s time to make a decision.

Question: which trip would you choose and why?
And for those familiar with the area: are there any roads we absolutely shouldn’t miss?

Option one: Picos


I haven’t been to the Picos before, but I’ve heard enough good things about it to rank it high on our shortlist. The biggest disadvantage compared to the Dolomites is that it’s a bit further before we reach our destination. Although the journey is just as important as the destination of course.

On day 1, we’ll be ride quite a distance into France, just over 1,000 km on the highway.
On day 2 (blue), the winding roads begin just below San Sebastian.
On day 3 (green), we’ll enter the Picos.
On days 4 (yellow) and 5 (orange), we’ll ride loops through the Picos.
On day 6 (red), we’ll leave the Picos and head east.
On day 7 (purple), we’ll take a detour through the Bardenas Reales, cross the Pyrenees and end the day just across the French border.
On day 8, we’ll take the fastest route back home.

Check out the detailed routes.

Option two: Dolomites & Julian Alps


The Dolomites are etched in my memory as one of the highlights of my trip to the Alps in 2017. So I don’t mind heading back in that direction again, this time taking more time to explore. Maybe add some Julian Alps too? Why not!

On day 1, we’ll ride to Campitello di Fassa in the Dolomites.
Here we’ll stay for 4 nights and take loops on day 2 (blue), 3 (green), and 4 (yellow).
On day 5 (orange), we’ll head east.
On day 6 (red), we’ll say goodbye to the Dolomites and head into the Julian Alps. Our destination is Kranjska Gora.
We’ll stay here for 2 nights and take a loop on day 7 (purple).
Day 8: take the fastest route back home.

Check out the detailed routes.

Travel report: French Alps 2022

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We already planned to do a tour of the French Alps in 2020, but we had to cancel our plans due to the well-known virus. The routes were already mapped out, but before we could finally depart on our trip in June of this year, a reality check forced us to do some fine-tuning a few weeks earlier. Certain campsites were still closed, and some parts turned out to be too big of a detour for the limited time we had (a week).


When creating the routes we took the Route des Grandes Alpes as a base and added interesting passes, roads and gorges. Continue reading →

2000 km through Andalusia

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In 2018, Jan F went on a trip to the Sierra Nevada with Clubmot, a Belgian organizer of motorcycle trips and trainings, and he really liked it. When he suggested the idea of ​​starting our motorcycle season early and with a lot of miles on a new Clubmot trip to southern Spain, I was sold immediately. Our biker bud Shih as well. Vamos a Andalucia!

The formula

The formula for this trip was the same as the trip to the Sierra Nevada: Fly & ride. Clubmot books the flights and the hotel, and provides you with routes. Your bike travels there and back via truck transport. Nicely arranged.

We left early on Saturday March 19th (so that we could already start riding on Saturday afternoon) and Continue reading →

Five days in the Moselle, the report

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Planning a motorcycle holiday isn’t easy nowadays. In June we had to convert our trip to the Alps into a staycation. In September I had a week off work, but where would I go to?

The Covid-19 colour code carousel changed my plans for that week more than once. My first idea was to give our getaway to the Alps a second try, but the green zone of France quickly said ‘Adieu’. Next idea: Dolomites. I was already plotting out routes when that green zone turned to red. Arrivederci.

Germany still looked good, but what about preparing a trip on German roads? Not that obvious in my opinion, because of the lack of Google Streetview. Would I spend my time researching to see a green zone turn to red once more? I didn’t feel like doing that.

So I changed my plans. No more figuring out routes or looking for overnight stays myself, I was just gonna go for a last minute all-in package: a motorcycle hotel in a green zone, with gps-tracks in the deal.

That wasn’t simple either. The five days in the Harz mountains which I hoped for fizzled out when the green disappeared just a few days before my departure. So I booked five days in the Moselle with Horizon Motorreizen. Nothing but green over there, or at least when I visited.

Day 1: Off we go

The outward route is 277 kilometers long and starts near Aachen, which is 30 minutes from my home. I leave the highway after a few kilometers of full gas on the Triumph Tiger 900 (test report coming soon).

I’m crossing the Eifel to reach the Moselle valley and even though this is nothing but the ‘route to get there’, I’m having fun. There’s a wide variation of corners: slow, winding, sharp, pointed, fast, it’s all there.

The countryside changes from woods to sloping meadows and fields as far as the eye can see. Add a lot of climbing and descending to this and you can say Continue reading →

Three days of riding on Gran Canaria

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The Canary Islands are my favourite last minute destination: reasonably cheap, plenty to see and do, and most of all: the weather is good year-round. They are called “the islands of eternal spring” for good reasons. I had already visited Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura so Gran Canaria was the next logical choice.

In my search to ride a motorcycle on the island to awaken from riding hibernation, I ended up with Canary Motorcycle Tours. Martin and Joy, an English couple, offer guided motorcycle tours on Gran Canaria for groups of up to 8 motorcycles. Prices are only slightly higher than renting a motorcycle yourself.

Canary Motorcycle Tours is based in Vecindario, a small town on the east coast of Gran Canaria, fifteen minutes from the airport. It has a pedestrian street with plenty of cafeterias but altogether there’s not much to do. For touristic Canarian highlights you need to go elsewhere. If you book a tour with Canary Motorcycle Tours they offer you a 2-star or a 4-star accommodation in Vecindario. Should you stay somewhere else, they will also organise transport from and to your hotel, on the condition that it’s not too far away.

After only a few emails the deal was done and dusted: three days of riding with stay in the 2-star hotel in Vecindario. I booked my flights and a week later I set foot on Gran Canaria!

Joy picked me up at my hotel in the morning. Upon arriving at the motorcycle shop the obligatory paperwork was swiftly done and I could choose my riding gear if I wanted to. The vests, boots, helmets and gloves they offer all looked in good condition, however I had brought my own gear.

Together with Martin I decided I would ride the Honda NC750X (he has 8 bikes in total, all Honda’s, of which I had already ridden the CB500X on Madeira). The NC750X is, according to the general opinion, that somewhat boring Continue reading →

Prepping for the Pyrenees

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Together with my biker buddy Shih I’m planning a trip to the Pyrenees. One week in June, riding mainly on asphalt with a sporadic stretch of gravel.

We’ve already been playing around with MyRoute-app. At the moment our plans look like this:

(click here to check it on Google Maps)

Saturday will be a highway day to Valence, from Sunday till Friday we’ll do our Tournée Pyrénée and then we’ll ride back to Belgium in a day and a half.

If you know roads, campings or other spots we should not miss out on, do share them in the comments below. Thanks!