jeairas

My girlfriend and I are leaving for Sweden on April 1st. I've outlined our itinerary below, we'll be traveling on a motorcycle. Any thoughts and or suggestions on must see places and stops along the way, a fantastic little bed and breakfast, a secluded beach, a hidden local restaurant or anything like that would be greatly appreciated!

Itinerary:

4/1/2012: Leave San Diego
4/2/2012: Arrive Ostersund, Sweden
4/3/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
4/4/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
4/5/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
4/6/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
4/7/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
4/8/2012: Drive to Stockholm, Sweden
4/9/2012: Stockholm, Sweden
4/10/2012: Drive to Copenhagen, Denmark
4/11/2012: Drive to Luxembourg
4/12/2012: Luxembourg
4/13/2012: Reims, France
4/14/2012: Paris, France
4/15/2012: Paris, France
4/16/2012: Paris, France
4/17/2012: Paris, France
4/18/2012: Paris, France
4/19/2012: Drive to Lyon, France
4/20/2012: Lyon, France
4/21/2012: Drive to Barcelona, Spain
4/22/2012: Barcelona, Spain
4/23/2012: Barcelona, Spain
4/24/2012: French Riviera
4/25/2012: French Riviera
4/26/2012: French Riviera
4/27/2012: French Riviera
4/28/2012: French Riviera
4/29/2012: French Riviera
4/30/2012: French Riviera
5/1/2012: Florence, Italy
5/2/2012: Florence, Italy
5/3/2012: Tuscany, Italy
5/4/2012: Tuscany, Italy
5/5/2012: Tuscany, Italy
5/6/2012: Rome, Italy
5/7/2012: Rome, Italy
5/8/2012: Rome, Italy
5/9/2012: Naples, Italy
5/10/2012: Pompeii, Italy
5/11/2012: Sicily
5/12/2012: Sicily
5/13/2012: Sicily
5/14/2012: Sicily
5/15/2012: Ferry to Genoa
5/16/2012: Drive to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
5/17/2012: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
5/18/2012: Drive to Vaduz via Geneva
5/19/2012: Fussen
5/20/2012: Dachau
5/21/2012: Wurzburg
5/22/2012: Rhine Valley/River
5/23/2012: Rhine Valley/River
5/24/2012: Rhine Valley/River
5/25/2012: Rhine Valley/River
5/26/2012: Copenhagen, Denmark
5/27/2012: Drive through Norway
5/28/2012: Drive through Norway
5/29/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
5/30/2012: Ostersund, Sweden
5/31/2012: Back to San Diego

zeppole

You need to read up on road accessibility and temps that early in May around Mt. Blanc.

I am puzzled why you have put Lyon in between Paris and Barcelona. It is in the opposite direction of Barcelona. It would be easier to see Lyon as a detour from the French Riviera.

It may be that you need all that time of the French Riviera for logistical/driving or meet-up-with friends reasons, but the French Riviera is not very interesting and April is not an optimal time to enjoy what little there is to enjoy there. Heading into Italy would be more interesting, and you might especially want to give yourself more time around Rome to Napoli (take a coastal route) and drive the Amalfi Drive (unless you would really rather not). Do a loop that take you down to Pompei to Salerno (see Paestum) and then back up the Amalfi to Sorrento to Naple to get your ferry to Sicily. If you are not taking a ferry to Sicily, drive from Naples to the Amalfi drive, sleep in Salerno, and to a short jog back to seem Pompei.

Others will say what they will, but when it comes to actually executing a road trip like this, it is pointless to have recommendations for a specific b&b or place to stop. You will either be behind schedule or ahead of schedule by day 3 or your trip, and you will surely want to take some detours or rest some places or do a laundry.

You will need one huge guidebook, many maps and many apps for places you can book at the last minute.

Aramis

Paris - Lyon - Barcelona = 10:50 driving time

Paris - Barcelona = 10:20

Cannes - Lyon = 4:40

Your planned route, through Lyon, adds 30 minutes to the standard Paris - Barcelona travel time while the suggestion you just received adds a 9 hour backtracking detour since you plan to continue to Italy from the Riviera.

The average daily high, in May, for Saint-Gervais-les-Bains (the closest I could find on short notice), 20 km west of Chamonix, is 20C, or 68F. The Chamonix Golf Club is having a tournament on May 27, so I think you'll be fine.

I trust you will be able to keep to your schedule and that you will get some good B&B suggestions. I'll chip in something a little later.

zeppole

I stand corrected by Aramis regarding the wisdom of going through Lyon.

Obviously the tunnel will be open in Mt. Blanc, that's what it is there for. But the valle d'Aosta is notoriously cold in spring, and most usually much colder than Chamonix. (I don't think much of historic averages, especially if you just look at highs, not lows). However, I don't see any better choice for you.

mamcalice

I think you are spending too little time in Rome and Sicily and points in between. You can pick up a few days by reducing the time spent on the French Riviera which, as noted above, is not one of your more interesting stops and won't be warm enough in April to enjoy the beach.

And don't underestimate the time to travel from place to place. As an example, it will take the better part of a day to travel from the FR. Riviera to Florence, thus leaving you just a day in Florence, a fabulous city.

Have a great trip.

jeairas

Thanks so much for those great replies. Here's some further explanation to my itinerary decisions so far:

-Yes, I've heard that the French Riviera isn't the greatest, however, I'm traveling with my girlfriend and she has distant family in Nice and along the coast so we allocated a little extra time for that.

-Florence and Rome; yes, both excellent cities but we've been there before and will therefore try to spend more time at other destinations where we've never been before.

Another thought we had was to go Paris-Lyon then 3 days in the French Riviera, then Barcelona, then further down to Valencia, then a ferry to Majorca, spend two days driving around there, then ferry back to Barcelona, then a ferry to Genoa (since we've already driven the French Riviera). This would add a few days, however, we'd be willing to cut down a day or two in the French Riviera and possibly another day somewhere else.

We've heard nothing but amazing things about the Amalfi coast. I'd like to somehow squeeze in another day or two there...if possible.

Does anybody have any info on the drive through the Rhine Valley/River? This is an area I am very unfamiliar with.

Thanks!

bardo1

With eight weeks on bikes you do not want to pre-book all your ferries, hotel/B&B stays - maybe just reserve hotels in Paris & Rome.

Among all the other contingencies (food poisoning? a fall?), you may want to delay a departure for a day to wait out a bad rain, for instance.

As suggested by zeppole: <i>"one huge guidebook, many maps and many apps for places you can book at the last minute."</i>

Think of your itinerary as more of an <b>outline</b> (and it's a good one!) and just have a few points locked in:
1) depart Ostersund 4/7
2) arrive Paris 4/14
3) depart Paris 4/18
4) arrive Rome 5/6
5) depart Rome 5/8
6) arrive Ostersund 5/29

Everything else can by done on-the-fly an be somewhat elastic. You MIGHT even end up sticking to your original schedule 100%, but more likely will end up stretching/contracting/adding/deleting it here and there. Which is just fine.

zeppole

I don't know if you've already looked at the ferry schedules, but you might find that they don't run every day at that time of year so it could get hard to time.

Any chance you could string together some ferries from Majorca to Livorno instead of Genoa? Driving from the French border across the italian Riviera means driving through a lot of tunnels. About the only way to catch the scenery is to get off the main highway and wind down the cliffs to the individual town on the sea, and you really don't have time for that. If you could catch a ferry in Barcelona that landed you in Livorno, you could skip all that.

If it does turn out that you are on the road south of Genoa, heading toward Tuscany, get off the autostrade in Nervi (or leave Genova via the Corso Europa) and drive the via Aurelia (SS1) from Nervi to Sestri Levante, and then rejoin the autostrade. That is scenic.

It is also scenic to take a detour in Rapallo and backtrack a bit to head to Portofino along the low coastal road. Don't try it on a nice weekend, or you'll get caught in a traffic jam. Don't eat in Portofino. Too pricey and bad food.

Since you've already seen Florence and Rome and they are so motor-vehicle unfriendly, why not give them a miss this time? You might have more fun staying in a less touristed, less pricey city like Arezzo, or a small Tuscan town (pick one by eyeball), and around Rome, you could consider stopping off in Tivoli or near Lago Bolsena. Or Tarquinia. Or you could head down the coast, taking in Sperlonga and Gaeta.

My earlier comment about Mt Blanc was based on the idea you might try to find another way over the mountains other than the tunnel. Last year was a quite cold spring in the valle d'Aosta, but maybe this year it will be a lot warmer. Aosta itself is a very interesting town to stop and look around. You can see everything of importance in a few years, and the Roman ruins are very memorable if you like things like that.

jeairas

Thanks so much! The change of ferry route is a great idea! I looked and couldn't find any ferries from Majorca to Livorno, however, I did find a ferry from Barcelona to Porto Torres, Sardinia (14hr 30min, runs every 4-5 days). This may save us a lot of time, basically my train of thought is this: Go Paris-Lyon-French Riviera-Valencia-Majorca (via ferry)-Barcelona-Sardinia (via ferry) - Livorno (via ferry) then take the 1.5hr drive to Florence.
I would just need to time the ferry schedules so it doesn't back fire on us as far as the timing goes.

Mt Blanc isn't a must, I've been there but my girlfriend hasn't. I think the view and experience of going up the gondola is worth going there though.

I'm in the restaurant industry and have set up a wine tasting/tour at Col d'Orcia: Via Giuncheti, 53024 Montalcino Siena
Our wine rep also suggested visiting a nice little restaurant called Boccon Di Vino while we're there: www.boccondivinomontalcino.it

zeppole

Another ferry possibility might be Barcelona to Civitavecchia. That is actually the port of Rome, but from there it is only a 3 hour drive to Montalcino.

I'm not sure it would save you any time, but you might also be able to make your way from Porto Torres to Corsica's port of Bastia, and from there take a ferry to Piombino in Tuscany (just south of Livorno). From there it is about 2.5 hours to Montalcino (lots of winding roads).

I've eaten at Boccon Di Vino. It's got a killer view and very nice onion soup.

Mt Blanc is fogged in so often during the spring, you might think hard about whether you want to go all the way up there and discover you can't even see it.

After Sicily, when you ferry back to Genoa, you could go to Lago di Como and from there head up to Fussen, skipping Mt. Blanc.

menachem

I take it that by "french riviera" you could also mean the foot hills that starts where the beach ends? so the foot hills of the Alpes Maritimes? That is a lovely area, and even lovelier in April. You could tour from Marseille to Monaco and be 20 minutes from the coast, doing a tour of the countryside. You could include St Paul and Vence, and go for the countryside. Then, when you want more choice and steeper prices, you'd be at the coast within the hour.

http://www.provenceweb.fr/f/alpmarit.htm
http://www.alpineroads.com/maritimes.php

jeairas

Zeppole: Yes, there is a ferry from Barcelona to Civitavecchia. I just really like the idea of stopping off in Sardinia if time permits.

Menachem: Thanks for the suggestion about the Maritime Alps. Would you suggest driving through there when we head from Lyon? Any areas that may have roads closed in mid April? Any particular roads there that you recommend, let's say from Lyon to Nice?

Thanks!