There’s no doubt that motorcycles are one of the vehicles capable of offering us an authentic experience. They provide us with greater contact with the environment than many other vehicles, and more freedom and agility. The feeling of speed and connecting with the road is also enhanced, so it’s no surprise that thrill seekers tend to choose them as their prefered means of transport, even for travelling.
While mythical films such as Holidays in Rome, Easy Rider or Motorcycle Diaries have contributed towards transmitting these strong experiences during motorcycle journeys, the famous TV documentaries Long Way Round and Long Way Down, presented by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in 2007 once again gave a new lease of life to this image of adventure and the desire of many to make a motorcycle trip.
Whatever the destination, the real journey during any motorcycle trip is the road itself. For these long or short motorcycle trips, we bring you 6 of the routes we believe to be the most impressive to travel on a motorcycle. This time around we focus on Europe, leaving some itineraries further afield for the next adventure. Helmets on and off we go!
The Amalfi Coast (Italy)
We start riding around Europe, where we visit one of the most spectacular areas in Italy, the Campania region. Through a route with the Tyrrhenian Sea as a common frame and the quaint towns and villages set in a postcard-like world. Our journey begins in Sorrento and continues along the Strada Statale 163 as far as Amalfi with a good road surface and plenty of twists and turns. You’ll enjoy extraordinary views throughout the entire route with picturesque coastal villages like Positano and Ravello.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to take a break and even stop for a swim in the sea or to visit some of the towns on foot and check out the traditional shops and restaurants.
San Bernardino Pass (Switzerland)
A little further north, we have another fantastic route in the Alps, where we cross a high mountain pass (2006m) in the eastern side of the western Alps that connects Thusis in Graubünden and Bellinzona, in Ticino. The route runs along an old trade route that joined Genoa and Graubünden.
A road with endless twists and turns coupled with constant ups and downs recreates the feeling of riding on a real-life roller coaster.
The almost 7km long tunnel and the unique scenery are two highlights on the route, where we have the opportunity to enjoy native plant species and idyllic landscapes in the high mountains.
Oslo to North Cape (Norway)
We continue north to Norway and one of the most fascinating routes for motorcyclists. This time we travel through icy landscapes, and although we have Oslo as our starting point, we can also choose other places to begin our journey, it all depends on what time of the year we travel and our budget as we take some ferries or choose different roads, some of which may be closed due to weather conditions. The route can run entirely through Norway, or we can arrive in Sweden or even parts of Finland.
We can also decide to travel along the fjords, by way of the well-known Atlantic road, an 8km stretch of road connecting the spectacular villages of Kårvåg, in Averøy, and Vevang, in Eida with impressive bridges that are authentic masterpieces of engineering.
For those who wish to go a little further, crossing the Arctic Circle, you can reach the towns of Tromsø or Alta, and even arrive in the northernmost point of the continent.
The Cat and Fiddle (England)
We change the scenery entirely here and suggest a route through the East Midlands in England, in particular through the Peak District National Park and the Cheshire Plain.
Although at first glance it may appear to be a quiet route, don’t be fooled, its sharp changes in gradient and often blind, twists and turns, make this a challenging route that’s really only suitable for more experienced motorcyclists. The road, connecting the cities of Buxton in Derbyshire and Macclesfield in Cheshire, was named the UK’s most dangerous road due to the high number of road accidents reported.
The Cat and Fiddle Road will leave us, with vibrant moments and beautiful, scenic views of Greater Manchester. A challenge for the daring.
The Adriatic Coast and the Balkans
We head off on a route through the Balkans, but again we suggest several options so you can set the route that suits you best and choose the cities you wish to visit.
The area is home to several countries so we can opt for a route that goes from Albania to Bosnia-Herzegovina, passing through Montenegro and Croatia. If we start from Ksamil and travel along the winding roads along the coast until we reach towns and ports such as Sarandë, Vlorë and Durrës, we can then cross over into Montenegro, where we’ll find the city of Bar, which was largely rebuilt after World War 2, Stari Bar (Old Bar) and its archaeological site.
We can continue along the Adriatic coast, which takes us on to Croatia, and visit beautiful cities like Dubrovnik, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, with its streets, fortresses and oceanic horizons that featured in Game of Thrones as the fictional city of King’s Landing, and finish in Split. For those who still have energy, you can extend your trip a little further to Bosnia and Herzegovina to discover the main cities, Mostar and Sarajevo.
Cabo de Gata to Granada (Spain)
We’ve chosen one of the many routes rich in varied landscapes on the Iberian Peninsula that runs between desert scenery close to the sea and the mountain. Almería to Granada, a route to stimulate our senses.
We’ll move from Nijar in the Cabo de Gata-Nijar National Park towards the coast, cross the volcanic landscape between cliffs and natural coastline, and after reach the Tabernas Desert. We can make a short stop there to check out some peculiarities from the old Spaghetti Westerns shot in the area in the 1960s and 70s.
After the dry, arid landscape, the route changes again, becoming more mountainous as we climb the slopes of the Sierra Nevada to reach the stunningly beautiful small white-washed villages of the Alpujarra Granadina. Once we arrive in Granada, it’s time to regain strength with some of the city’s world-famous tapas and drinks. A more than pleasant reward after such an enjoyable route.
