Looking for recommendations....

Planning a trip from the UK to Bologna in June I have 9 days to complete this. My initial thoughts are;
Day 1 UK to France (open to suggestions)
Day 2 France to Nurburgring
Day 3 Nurburgring to Furka Pass
Day 4 Furka Pass to Bologna
Day 5 Bologna to Mugello
Day 6 Mugello to Nice
Day 7 Nice to Lyon
Day 8 Lyon to Paris
Day 9 Home

The only 'must dos' are Nurburgring, Furka Pass, Bologna & Mugello, everything else is flexible. Has anyone done a similar trip? I would really appreciate you advice on route & stopover locations.

Steve

Hi Steve,

What a fantastic trip that will be :)

i haven't made that exact trip before but I have been to all of those places.

One comment that I would make is that you have chosen several cities, you might like a rather less full itinerary as I suspect that if you want to enjoy lots of nice riding and city visits, the trip could end up being quite rushed. I am someone who likes to spend a lot time riding and so I generally arrive quite late in the day at my destination, leaving it too late to really do anything but a very minimal amount of sightseeing. That said of course, I appreciate that we are all different.

As you have a MTS I would imagine that the real fun of the trip for you will be the mountain passes rather than the first part of the trip to the ring.

Therefore, if it were my trip, I would try to get to Nurburgring as fast as possible, then from there to Furka as fast possible and try to relax the pace for the rest of the trip more.

If it is important to you to get onto the Nurburgring to have a go, be sure to check the opening times with your arrival time to avoid disappointment. Weekends best avoided IMO.

The above map shows an outline route from Furka around one of the lakes, crossing down to La Spezia, then through the tuscan hills to Bologna and on to Mugello

Going back, there is of course the Nice Lyon option which takes in Route Napoleon. But there is also the chance to go north back through the dolomites, so it depends on what you prefer really

Thanks for your words of wisdom

I hadn't really thought of the quickest route I was more focused on avoiding the main roads. Great thoughts though, the ring would be Sunday so may look to give that a miss if its going to be too busy.

The main sight seeing I have planned is the Ducati Museum & Factory other than that is play it by ear.

Your route from Furka Pass looks impressive, I will certainly look to do this.

As this will be my first adventure, would you recommend booking accommodation in advance or should we just see where we end up each day?

The trip should be great, I love the mountains and I think Italy is a wonderful destination for a motorcycle trip.

Regarding whether to book or not, that is a question of personality and requirements. Personally I am someone who likes spontaneity and adventure, so I tend to simply carry basic camping equipment with me, and keep a map of campsites loaded onto my phone/gps then I see how far I get each day or how I feel, on each day

I know that many people shudder at the idea of camping,Probably if you prefer something nicer, it is sensible to book in advance, particulary if it is your first trip.

Other things that I would recommend are getting some European breakdown cover (usually available from your own vehicle insurance) and carrying a tubeless puncture repair kit amongst your stuff. A puncture on a motorcycle trip can be a big deal and these handy little kits can really get you out of a spot.

I hope this info is useful

David