Austrian Tirol July/August 2008

The Austrian Trip

Friends of mine had been to a hotel nestled in the centre of the Austrian Tirol and seemed quite enthused by it. I then found a leaflet at the National Bike Show last November at the NEC for the very same hotel. Hotel Enzian, Landeck, Austria.

I have to say that having spent a week there the brochure only goes part of the way to illustrate what a fantastic bike place the Tirol is - highly recommended. So here is an account of the trip.

Deciding which bike to take was a significant problem and in the end I chose the Honda Pan European over the Honda Africa Twin - whichever one would have been wrong because the Pan was superb all the way down and very capable in the Alps but not as much fun as the Africa Twin would have been - however the Africa Twin on the journey would not have been as superlative as the Pan - no easy answer here.

I chose Norfolk Lines as they offer very good rates for bikes across the channel and also the went from Dover to Dunkirk, a crossing I had not done before. In hindsight it might not have been the best route - Norfolk Lines are great but getting from West Wales to Dover is not the best of journeys, next time I might try Portsmouth to Le Havre as you may as well do the mileage in France instead of the UK!

I decided to put my Garmin to the test - I make a point of using the very cheapest one you can get from Halfords (£99) - is it waterproof you ask - well sort of, the Pan doesn't get wet where it is placed and if it looks like severe rain I have a small plastic cover I made held on with 2 elastic bands! And yes I can hear the instructions up to about 60mph - it doesn't take much to look every now and again anyhow. So here is a photo of it nestled on its 17mm ball mount in the centre of the bars, above the cheapest tank bag possible from Lidl! Great for small camera, wallet and a few bits and pieces, lift off and take with you everywhere.

Route plotting was simple - for the UK I wanted to get to Dover the quickest and easiest route this meant the M4 with a cut across country to the M25 etc - boring, busy but realistically unless you want a tour of the South the only way to go - now the Pan should be superb at this but it seems the bike is so great men in yellow jackets and funny little vans want to keep taking photos of you - I would love to get royalties on images of me on the bike they must have such a collection - BUT all below the speed limit thankfully, well except for one recently in the car (I am still not sure if I was driving it that day but that is another story, something about UK law and being guilty until proven innocent, funny I thought it was the other way around, seems times have changed eh!).

The journey to the ferry was pretty uneventful and the usual gripe about the cost of petrol and food at the services is still there, having said that Leigh Delamere Services seem to have improved the quality of food and service so I did not feel too bad paying for the late breakfast. I had chosen to catch the 2pm ferry as this gives enough time to get to Dover in the morning and the sailing is 2 hours plus the add on hour for France making it an arrival in French time of 5pm - just right for getting to a hotel and food for the next day. I cannot do the very long journeys in a day as my lower shoulder has been playing up this last 2 years and so realistically 300 miles is about it unless there is absolutely a need for more.

I booked up all my accommodation in advance with the intention of taking a reasonably relaxed route and schedule - allowing 3 days to get to Landeck in Austria and 4 days to return. It could be done in 2 days each ways fairly easily but I wanted to go without paying any tolls and avoiding as much main road as possible! The Accor Etap Hotels are ok for trips like this, fairly inexpensive and usually well placed, I must say however that some of them on this trip need refurbishment and the cost has risen (hasn't all of Europe - so much for the Euro eh!). This East side of France does not seem so well served by Etaps, there are a few new ones opening for 2008 but I could not book them on the website.

Another must have gadget is either an iPhone or I have an iTouch - this gives you web access wherever you can find a connection point - McDonalds usually have these free for 30 minutes or in Etaps you can buy an Orange Package giving you 3 hours over a 30 day period - well worth it. I was able to change and book other hotels en route as the roads and weather dictated. I take lots of photos of coffee (ok so I am a bit odd but have a look and make your mind up - http://www.coffee-angelo.blogspot.com/ )

As I said I wanted to travel avoiding busy main roads and cities but still wished to get to Landeck as quickly as possible so the GPS was set to avoid Tolls, U Turns and to go not the Fastest way but the shortest way - in France this is usually the D Roads - these are superb for bikes and I think just as quick overall as the Peage - you stop less often for petrol because you use less and it is a lot cheaper because you can fuel up in supermarkets and of course, no Toll charges. The Route Nationals are also very good but can have lots of lorries on them.

So I left Dunkirk after a good Etap, eat as much as you want breakfast for 5 euros or there abouts. In case you do not know a cheaper option to the Etap is the same chain's Formula 1 - same set up but no en suite - for a few euros more in the Etap you get the en suite - well worth it but mmmm the showers in the Formula 1 are more powerful!!!

I booked an Etap at Luxembourg for the first night as it seemed a reasonable distance to travel with some sightseeing en route - the GPS took me into Belgium after about 50 miles in France and then I seemed to be hopping across the border every 20 minutes - looking at the map later I could see why - the border between France and Belgium has many twists and turns - one interesting observation was the difference in the road surfaces between France and Belgium - looks as though expenditure on the roads is not part of Belgium's Euro deal !!!

I have to say the Etap next to the airport in Luxembourg was not the most inspired choice I made, that and the cost of the the restaurant next door on the Hotel Ibis prompted a quick visit to the local petrol station which had a mini SPAR - a vertitable feast was purchased and consumed watching French television - ok so not the best of nights but it was short one as I was quite tired.

Next day was an easy ride to Strasbourg, in hindsight I wished I had spent a bit more time booking my Etaps as again I was on the outskirts, albeit in an Industrial Estate where at least I could wander around the Conforama (this is a huge Outdoor Leisure Supermarket). The journey between Luxembourg was reasonably straightforward but with little bursts of interesting roads provided by Garmin - especially the one where it tried (and this was the ONLY time it got it wrong) to send me down a cycle path!!!
Lunch was taken on route and I cannot remember the name of this lovely little town but the Salami and Cheese was great, eaten alongside the river in the sun. A Yorkshire couple in their later fine years came over to chat with me, also on a Pan European but the 1100, older model. They were on their way back from Austria and warned of torrential rain and storms - they had not had such a good time. Tales of travels were exchanged and off they went. (For info - I missed all the storms it seems both down and back, apart from a few showers, heavy but showers).


I did not have time to look around Strasbourg but had booked 2 nights on the way back, giving me a day there so more later.

The next part of the journey involved crossing from France into Germany for the long trek over Lake Konstaz, I had not realised it but I missed Leichtensein by just a few miles so would pick that country up on the way home. Before taking the direct route I went down to Colmar and hit the first rain - Colmar is a beautiful town criss crossed with small canals, unfortunately the cobbled streets, early morning and rain did not inspire me photographically - most of the time I was concentrating on staying upright on the bike on the cobbles and so no photographs were taken (another time!).

Coffee has always been an important part of my trips - well photographs of the cups of coffee at least and so here is another. I found a very good services high on a motorway or autobahn (one of the few I really had to take (no tolls though so acceptable in my book). Today was quite a reasonable distance for my itinerary - approximately 350 miles. What I had not factored in was that many of these miles would be done high in the Austrian Alps - the roads, although superb for biking, are quite tiring after a day travelling. The route through Germany was mostly fast and focused and then I dropped into Austria and started the climbs and descents into this fantastic biker heaven. It was like physically moving from one existence to another, made even more real because I had to leave the Autobahns and ride some quite small and twisting roads.

My first rest stop in Austria lifted my spirit no end - a beautiful church view but check out the sign on the left - now if only Britain adopted the same welcome.

Late afternoon in Austria always seemed to cloud over and sometimes rain - this was a view as I felt I was really entering a different country - it felt as though I was entering a land cut off from everywhere else and to a point this is true of the Tirol. By not taking the Motorway/Autobahn route views like this opened up after every corner.

I finally arrived at Hotel Enzian in the late afternoon after some superb riding in spectacular countryside - I was not to know that this was only the smallest sample of what was to come. I should say that from a photographic point of view you could stop every few hundred metres and get a different picture - I chose mostly not to stop and ride as this was the purpose of the trip, so for every photograph here there were fifty I did not take, and often where I stopped was not the best place as it was quite difficult to pull up safely on the passes.

Hotel Enzian surpassed all expectations - this is a superb hotel really geared up for a biking holiday so here are some photographs of it to give you a flavour.

The hotel has excellent accommodation, well appointed rooms and a level of comfort and quality well above the price charged for this week, having said that I suspect that if prices rose the attractiveness of the whole package would soon disappear. I was made to feel welcome very quickly and it was not long before I was making my way to my reserved table for the first of many 4 course evening meals - great food, great service and great company, every night - this is one place you can turn up on your own and before you know it you will be chatting away in a range of languages (OK so it is mostly English because the rest of Europe are much better at English than we are at any of the others - but as I say to them hey you only have to learn one other language to speak to the rest of Europe - well I already know it so job done eh! I'm joking before the complaints come flooding in - bit of truth there though!). You have a choice whether to ride on your own each day or ride out with the guide. I chose a mix of this as fundamentally I am a lone rider (images of horses and setting suns with deserts and cactus come to mind but I am sure you get what I mean). I was pleased to meet a great group of guys and their wives and partners from the Vintage Motorcycle Club VMCC who were over from the North of England, 3 on Classic Bikes and one couple in a three wheeler Morgan. The Classic Bikes had come over in a van but the Morgan had been driven all the way - I am full of respect. Through the week these guys with their pillions proved that as much if not more fun can be had with relatively low powered machines at a steady pace.

My first ride out was to the beautiful Silvretta Pass. This is an easy run out from Landeck of some 40 miles or so and after a pleasant meander along the valley floor you start to climb towards the Glacier. This is biker heaven (I may say that a lot in this posting!). Rather than trying to describe it here are a few photographs.

I have to say if anything slows you down it is scenery like this - this is not Sports Bike territory more adventure bike and touring country.

The route has many hairpin bends and every one reveals yet another "best view I have seen"

The best bit about this particular ride is that it is not too taxing for novices and eases you in gently for the may hairpin bends you will encounter if you tour further afield in the Tirol. The Glacier itself was a bit dissapointing as most are at the top but I did manage a high altitude cup of coffee - nearly 2700 Metres

Mountains, Bikes, Hairpin bends, more mountains, more bikes, more bends, scenery, more mountains, more ..... and more !

MORE TO COME ....

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/conti.angelo/Austria