Euro trip - camping vs hotels and bike choice

[TallPaul_S]

Right, bit of a question for you lot - euro trips. Say you have a few planned over this summer and the next few years, just you going so no bird or pillion passenger to cater for - would you camp or stay in hotels?

My primary reason for choosing camping is cost, if you base camping costs at £15 a night (which is on the high side for a lot of European campsites) and hotel costs at £40 a night minimum, it works out £100 cheaper to camp for a 5 day trip, and £200 cheaper to camp 8 nights out of 10 on a 10 day/night trip vs hotels every day (I probably wouldn't camp all the time if the weather was bad so allowing for a couple of days staying in a hotel).

Overall costs excluding food/drink/touristy stuff, including petrol, eurotunnel and accommodation is:

4 nights camping £200
4 nights hotel £300

8 nights camping & 2 nights hotel £450
10 nights hotel £650


Reason I'm thinking about this is that at the MCN show on the small Kriega stand, they had an 899/959/1199 with a US40 combo (US20 and 2x US10's) on the rear seat, which fitted just fine. Now if I'm taking camping kit, that's a full US30's worth just there, with the extra 2x US20's for other normal stuff, plus a tank bag. Obviosuly if I wasn't taking camping kit that would reduce my luggage needs by 30l, so a US40 combo would be perfect. Doing that opens up a lot of other bikes that may not have the 200+ mile tank range, but do have tiny rear seats not suited for a US30 (they're BIG when fully packed!).

There's the initial cost of camping but that's £150 in total for a tent and decent sleeping bag, and that would pay for itself in less than 2 trips.

I'm planning on doing a lot of trips to europe on the bike this summer and the next, Moselle valley in the summer, a 1 night quick jaunt into France in May, and a bigger trip in August or September. Then next year, 2 or 3 trips again - probably a ferry down to Santander, up through spain and the Pyrenees, and back up via the Alps along with an Alps/Dolomites trip. And of course there's the North Cost 500. I have 25 days holiday a year and only use 5 or so for other stuff so have 4 weeks to use on bike trips to Europe

If I'm staying in hotels then I wouldn't need the luggage space and this means I can look at other bikes as a 2nd weekend/touring bike, basically anything with some wind protection and that's comfy enough for a few hours on the motorway, like a Tuono V4, or monster 1200, or even stuff like a panigale 899 as opposed the multistrada/superduke GT/sporty tourers I'm looking at now. Oooh, superduke 1290...ahhh

Thoughts?

 

[TallPaul_S]

I did say £15 was a bit high for most Euro campsites most are £5-10 a night.

Craig - 8 nights at £15 + £80 for the 2 hotel night which is £200, vs 10 nights at £40 which is £400, so £200 difference. I'd love to see a pic of your US70 setup on the speed triple if you get a chance Same for me with the US30, that'll have my tent, sleeping bag and self inflating mattress.

If campsites are £10 a night and hotels are £50 then then difference is even bigger, for a 10 night trip that's £500 just in accommodation, vs £100 if camping!!

Rucksacks are out, I did 800 miles with a US30 on the bike and an on R30 on my back and it wasn't comfortable, so bike only luggage is the way forward.

And as for choice of bike - I fully admit a GS would be great for touring, but as I've mentioned before I want something a bit more 'special'. It'll be a 2nd bike, not ridden in winter or commuting apart from a few nice Friday commutes in the summer and would be used for about 2-3000 miles a year touring, plus 2-3000 miles a year weekend blasts. I know that if I got a GS or similar I'd just end up using it all year round for commuting, and that would be getting on for 15k miles a year.

I'd also like something that will be comfortable enough to ride the 500 miles down to Bern in one day and not need 2 days to recover at the end

I've had to use earplugs at one campsite last year and camping for a week or so doesn't particularly bother me, you can always have a night or 2 in a hotel if you need a comfy bed for the night or if the weather is terrible. But not taking camping kit means you're limited to spending £40-50 every night.

If you end up in Switzerland you're welcome to spend a night or 2 here, assuming the boss approves.

Edit: I've never had any issues with the lack of wind protection on motorways except on the German Autobahns.

My next bike will be a Tuono V4, BMW S1000R or Yamaha MT-10 and I do a lot of tours in Europe. You just can't beat the fun upright nakeds for long distance fun.

Cheers, I'll keep that in mind

You have a big advantage over us though, you're 15 minutes from the Alps, not 8 hours! I'd want a big comfy barge for getting there and then a 150bhp naked for actually riding the alps, but that's not possible, so a compromise has to be made. Wind protection isn't a big deal, but after 7+ hours of 80mph some wind protection would be nice.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I do week-long tours through Italy and France so don't think just because I live in the heart of the Alps that there aren't hundreds of thousands of kilometres of amazing roads for me to explore

True... doing miles of twisty roads isn't as tiring as sitting at 80mph for 7 hours if you're on the wrong bike though. I could probably handle doing 500 miles in a day on a Tuono, after all you'd get a break every hour or so for petrol stops

I think I'll need to get a load of test rides in over summer, anything with a big twin/triple/v4 and some comfort and see what tickles my fancy And I honestly don't think I could stomach paying out £400-500 just in hotel costs for a week or 2 away.

I may even look at hiring a multistrada for a couple of days over summer to see how they are to live with.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Ok, so how about:

Camping and several trips a year vs hotel and one trip a year?

 

[TallPaul_S]

Why would you only do one trip a year if you intend to stay in a hotel?

Cost. A 10 day Alps trip would be £75 for the channel tunnel, £170 for 2000 miles of fuel, then up to £500 in hotels @£50 a night, then allow £15 a day for food and you're up to £900. Obviously you're saving money by not commuting to work for that week or 2, but that's about £30 for me so not a big amount.

I certainly couldn't spend £1500 this year on 2 trips as that's 4 months worth of savings, and it's not looking like I'll get a 2nd bike I want until spring next year at the moment, waiting another 4 months would be agony!

 

[TallPaul_S]

Yeah I'll do that down in the alps, 2 or 3 nights in the same place, take the panniers and luggage off and just enjoy the roads

 

[TallPaul_S]

Oh, it's that sort of holiday...

 

[TallPaul_S]

To be honest the tent doesn't take up that much room, it's the sleeping bag and mattress that are the biggest things, and obviously you need to keep them dry.

@Kreeee - you mentioned the MT-10 - definitely get a test ride as the one I sat on at the London show had a seat like a plank of wood, much like the MT-09. It would NOT be comfy for a more than an hour!

 

[TallPaul_S]

I didn't know they were out yet!

They're not, but they had one at the London MCN show at the weekend, which I sat on (as well as loads of other bikes). The very first thing that struck me was "good god, that seat is hard!! " then it was cheapness of the switchgear

@BenJi - you can tour on any bike, I did 800 miles over 2 days on a CB400! I was almost dead afterwards (12 hours in the saddle for 2 days will do that!), but I still did it

 

[TallPaul_S]

I test rode an MT09 last year at the Yamaha MT tour, and it was OK, but felt like a bike you had to be 'on it' to ride properly, it was like a slightly ADHD puppy

I reckon the MT-10 will be all about the engine and not much else - after all it's the new crossplane R1 engine... if I had an IL4 it would that. I'm still tempted sometimes by a 2009 or later R1 Brilliant sound. Now stick it in a proper premium tourer to take on the S1000XR Yamaha!!

 

[TallPaul_S]

I did 14 weeks around Europe and prior to leaving I was all about 'yeah, I'll camp everywhere... save money... just me, the bike and a tent, camping in a field - simple living, yeah, doing it proper'...

I got as far as the Netherlands about 10 days in when I realised I was sick of it. The campsites were full of families and not fellow 'young people' or bikers to have a beer with and it was a lonely experience. Not that I met many people in hotels but they'd tend to be closer to town so it was easier to go out in the evenings and what not.

Every now and again I'd stay in a hostel, it's there that you meet people to hang out and explore the town with.

I went to various metal festivals and camped at those but that aside, beds all the way!

Of course your experience could differ but... I'd avoid camping where possible.

14 weeks?! Yeah camping for that long would get annoying! But I'm talking about 10-12 days max, with a day or 2 in a hotel at some point, so probably a max of 7 or 8 days straight camping.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I'll be going the camping route, with the occasional hotel if I need some comfort or if it's raining.

I've bought a 3 man tent (coleman aravis 3) and a quality sleeping bag (vango latitude 300), both of which fit in my kriega us30 along with my brukit (jetboil) stove, I'll whack 2x us20's on the sides and that'll take my clothes, a self inflating camping mat and everything else along with a decently large tank bag.