Our Austria & Switzerland Ride July/August 2008.

When we went to the Austria Gathering last year we stopped on the way out at Klaus’ Hotel zur Post at Klotten on the Mosel as we had seen it recommended by NPR members, and on the back of that we stopped at another Moto Bike Hotel at Neu Ulm on the way back. We were thoroughly impressed with these hotels and decided we would use them again in future.

Switch forward to the beginning of this year and our riding partners (BMW) were staying with their son who lives and works in Switzerland. We had an e-mail from them saying they had been over the Grimsel Pass in a car and it would be a fantastic ride on the bikes. So an idea was born and we got together in February to plot out a holiday on the bikes which would take in some mountain passes in Austria and Switzerland and in which we would use the Moto Bike Hotels wherever possible.

Mike & Wendy live on the Borders so Sunday 20th July they made the 340 mile trip down to Norfolk, and on Tuesday we set off, in beautiful sunshine, for Dover.

Our first night was in a Logis de France in St Omer, only 30 miles into France, but a good resting place for the first night. Mike & Wendy were a bit tired and went to bed early but Freda & I wandered round the town and sat on the square for a quiet beer. Next day it was off to Luneville to another Logis. We have ridden on the Continent a lot, but had been warned that there is a new strict regime for speeding in force, and were struck immediately by how disciplined the French drivers have become. This was to be a feature of the whole holiday wherever we were.

In fact some of our days were longer than intended simply because whole traffic streams stuck rigidly to the speed limits particularly in town. We tend to stay away from motorways unless crunching some miles, and back roads through villages were sometimes very slow moving. After one more stop when we re-visited Willi & Gerda at Neu Ulm we arrived at our first stop in Austria at Gasthof Pension Laudersbach in Altenmarkt near Salzburg. We had booked to stay four nights here. Again it was biker friendly in that the owners ride and will provide local routes and even guided rides if needed. Mike & Wendy are keen walkers so next day they wanted to explore the area on foot. Freda and I wanted to ride so Christian provided a 100 mile round trip which introduced us to the wonderful riding in the area.

We had a longer ride next day going up the Post Alm and beginning to hone our hairpin bend skills. The next and last day we went to Konigssee and the Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. To visit the Eagle’s Nest you have to go on a coach as the road is closed to all other traffic. It was expensive but worth it just for the incredible view from the top.

Tuesday 29th saw us packing the bikes and moving on to our second stop at the Hotel Regina at Serfaus in the Tyrol. Again a Motorrad Hotel but completely different this time as it is up in an Alpine skiing resort. I had google mapped the route before we went and had commented that the approach road looked “interesting”. So it was, with a steep climb and 11 very tight hairpins which made challenging riding on a heavily loaded Pan complete with tank bag!

Part of the deal at this hotel is that you get a lift pass for the whole valley, so we had a day off and walked for the first day but on the second we rode up to the Kaunertal Glacier. The glacier is at 2,750 metres and the ride involved 80 hairpins in 70 miles. Great fun. We had last been to the glacier in 1984 on a holiday with the children and were shocked to see how far it has receded in the last 25 years. A ski station which had been well up the glacier is now about half a mile below the foot.

Next day it rained, the first we had seen, so we found a swimming pool and then went to the top of the mountain for lunch. Saturday 2nd of August was our departure day for Switzerland and the Grimsel Pass. Mike had booked a hotel close to the pass and the plan was to ride there, do the pass next day then go on to two more nights in Evolene where their son and his family live. What we hadn’t appreciated was that the road to Switzerland was the main road and that it took in three other passes, the Oberalp, the Fluela and the Furka. All of these are demanding riding but heavy traffic made it even more so. Anticipating coaches coming down hill to a tight hairpin while we were approaching it going up, and knowing there was no way I could stop and put my feet down made me sweat a bit !

The funny thing was that, half way down the Furka we looked down and could see the top of the Grimsel so decided we were hairpinned out and wouldn’t do it. After two restful days in Switzerland we turned the bikes for home. We stayed again in Logis, one at Luxeuil les Bains and one near Laon. Incidentally the vignette in Switzerland cost 40 euros for the bike regardless of how long we were staying. It is a one year pass and we bought it because we needed to crunch some miles to get to our stop in France.

The weather was scorching we saw 38 degrees on the penultimate day in France. As seems usual our last day dawned wet and windy. It had been just like this when we came back from the Gathering. We reconciled ourselves to 400 miles of miserable riding and so it was. The mayhem of the M20, M25 and Dartford crossing reminded us yet again of the driver discipline on the Continent.
In all we did just over 3,000 miles, although Mike and Wendy did another 680 to and from the Borders. Both bikes went well. We both experienced some hesitation in pick up when we were in the mountains which I think was just a fuelling and altitude hiccup. The BMW used a litre of oil and the Pan not a drop.We all had a great holiday. I thoroughly recommend Austria and Switzerland for great riding and the Motorrad Hotels for accommodation.
Roger Pipes.

Ed. Thanks for this article Roger, I'm ready for a nice holiday now that you have whetted my continental appetite.