france

[Andyberg]

Hi all after a bit of advice from anyone who has done France from uk .i need to do a loop from Calais taking as many of the great roads possible and then on to Italy and back and i have up to 3 weeks to do it so if anyone has ever done it and want to share routes with me to save a lot of research then they will be much appreciated

[Magnon]

You could have a look here http://ukgser.com/forums/forumdisplay.p ... -Pyrenees) and more information in the Alps sub forum.

If you’ve no route in mind you could buy a Michelin map (792) and just pick out the roads with a green stripe alongside which are going vaguely in the direction you want to.

[Brenhden]

You could have a look here http://ukgser.com/forums/forumdisplay.p ... -Pyrenees) and more information in the Alps sub forum.

If you’ve no route in mind you could buy a Michelin map (792) and just pick out the roads with a green stripe alongside which are going vaguely in the direction you want to.

What does the green stripe indicate?

[Slowboy]

You could have a look here http://ukgser.com/forums/forumdisplay.p ... -Pyrenees) and more information in the Alps sub forum.

If you’ve no route in mind you could buy a Michelin map (792) and just pick out the roads with a green stripe alongside which are going vaguely in the direction you want to.

What does the green stripe indicate?

It means it's a scenic route

[Spike941]

Three weeks to get to Italy and back, plenty of time to do any route you want, depending on where it Italy you’re going. I would suggest avoiding north west France, can be a bit boring as can the west coast south of Brittany down to the Spanish border. Also the Po Delta in north west Italy should be avoided. Yes they have some places worth visiting, but in general there are far better places to ride. As mentioned before, follow the green lined routes to the Jura Mountains, Alps, Italian Lakes, the Massif Central and the Pyrenees. In particularly, Les Grande route des Alpes and/or The Route Napoleon. Google them, they’re both a must for any Adventure Bike Rider. Don’t worry about too much planning, you have plenty of time, go and enjoy. Planning can be fun, but I rather enjoy the unexpected.

[Scott_rider]

+1 for avoiding the North West bit (but it is nice in places)...eastern France, on the borders with Germany etc, is really good (the Vosges area)...I only discovered it in the last few years.

[daveuprite]

You could have a look here http://ukgser.com/forums/forumdisplay.p ... -Pyrenees) and more information in the Alps sub forum.

If you’ve no route in mind you could buy a Michelin map (792) and just pick out the roads with a green stripe alongside which are going vaguely in the direction you want to.

What does the green stripe indicate?

It means it's a scenic route

It means that motorbikes are welcome, smiles inside helmets are compulsory and road users are encouraged to wear out their knee-sliders wherever possible.

[Magnon]

In my experience the green stripe accreditation tends to be relative to the area you are in - for example, if you're riding around in Pas de Calais, any road that goes up or down a hill or round a bend warrants a green stripe, whereas down here in the Dordogne a road would have to be much more dramatic to justify it.

France is no longer the land of no traffic. I think traffic everywhere in France has increased tenfold in the last 5 years and now it’s all crawling along at 80kmh.

[daveuprite]

In my experience the green stripe accreditation tends to be relative to the area you are in - for example, if you're riding around in Pas de Calais, any road that goes up or down a hill or round a bend warrants a green stripe, whereas down here in the Dordogne a road would have to be much more dramatic to justify it.

France is no longer the land of no traffic. I think traffic everywhere in France has increased tenfold in the last 5 years and now it’s all crawling along at 80kmh.

Yes, that's so true. It is different now on the roads. And how 'scenic' a road is definitely depends on how it looks relative to the surrounding roads. A green-bordered road in some areas would be considered a boring road in others, just as you say Magnon.

But the green-stripe is a useful guide to concentrate upon if you're planning routes that explore the best of rural france. Even better, get off the tarmac and on to the trails - you see a completely different side to the french countryside and you access views and places that you could never reach by road and are often pretty difficult to walk to as well..

[Billy Bananahead]

It's not just the roads that are getting over-crowded.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/tra ... spartandhp