New To Touring

Nice hotels or even a room in a château always goes down well. Did a trip to Corsica with my lady on the back a couple of years ago. We stayed in a mixture of interesting places, converted cow shed to a lovely château and various others in between. Every day she enjoyed deciding on where we were stopping for lunch along the route at the morning coffee stop. Keep daily mileage reasonable, sub 200 miles, and stops reasonably frequent. If you don't have any get some bluetooth headsets so you can chat easily. Also ensure she has decent, comfortable kit and some waterproofs. All common sense really. Enjoy sharing your trip together and make some special shared memories.

 

Take a corkscrew!

 

I think @Bumpkin pretty much nailed it.

The only thing I would add on longer tours would be to plan for some days off the bike, also staying in an holiday home or apartment for a few days half way through a long tour allows for some chillout time and you can get some washing done

 

And a knife, ehh, I'll get me coat..

 

Butter, carving, bread, cheese knife though?

 

Make sure you have decent travel insurance that covers riding big bikes...and with a pillion in your case.
If it all went pete Tong, the last thing you want to be worrying about is the costs of medical cover.

 

Places to visit - Yes the Loire and Champagne regions, don't ignore the Normandy coast, its beautiful in places and has some decent roads too, Ypres and Bruges, Luxembourg, the Ardennes. You are spoilt for choice.

 

Well if you're towing a wee caravan behind you, all of the above but if not, and you're just on the bike, it would appear none of the above

 

A couple more things to consider:

• Top box - if you don't already have one, get one as your pillion will thank you for the back support and overall sense of security and comfort they offer.
• Pannier and top box liners - make it a lot easier to unpack when get to a hotel, and it's a much better look than using black plastic sacks.
• Don't over pack - it's all to easy to fill every space in the panniers and top box or worst still start strapping bags on top of them. Lay out ever thing you plan to take on a bed and carefully consider if you really need to take every item.
• Book hotels with a garage - apart from the security aspect for the bike, being able to pack the bike and set off in the dry backs a big difference to how the day starts.

In France, plan to stop early for lunch as most restaurants close at 2pm, aim to stop before 1pm at the latest.

Just checked with my wife for her comments, she suggests for your first tours keep the distances (or more importantly time) on the bike short. It's important that she enjoys the the first few tours. Even 4 hours on the bike can make for a long day with stops for morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea, particularly if the weather is no ideal - and than can mean too hot in the summer.

I'd recommend the overnight crossing from Portsmouth to St.Malo. Get a 4 berth cabin, so you don't have to climb up into a top bunk or better still the Commodore cabin with a double bed. These crossings normally depart from Portsmouth at 8pm and arrive in St.Malo at 8am which gives you time to enjoy a nice meal in the restaurant (CClub Lounge) and have a reasonable nights sleep. Expensive but it's a makes a good start to the holiday.

 

Barbarian

 

Some great additional suggestions. Tested both medical and bike insurance in France last year, thankfully she wasn't with me (though my over enthiastic riding, cause of the off, wouldn't have occurred had she been on the pillion...). As @duke63 said, check the policy covers riding large bikes. Most don't, only covering the likes of a 125cc rental or even not at all.

Our trip to Corsica was planned and booked as a solo trip pre covid. Delayed for two years it was adapted to account for the addition of my GF. The original plan was a seaside hotel for 4 days on the island with daily rides into the mountains, the rest if the time camping. This turned to 4 days on the beach and visits to the town nearby for lunch, shops etc. No camping, all hotels and BDBs. Don't it regret for a minute, we had a great, very memorable trip and hopefully she'll come on a similar tour again.

 

Take your time!
Did I say, take your time!
Riding a bike all day, day after day is very tiring, which isn't good. Plan plenty of stops and travel light. It can be done. Honest.
For where you stay, your budget will control much of that, but failing to plan is planning to fail.
Spare gloves are a must and make sure Er'Indoors has some decent kit. A damp wife is seldom a happy wife.
For where to go, depends on time, interests, money and desire. Obviously the Alps, Dolomites, Pyrenees can all be done but they're a good way from dear old blighty. Northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg can deliver a nice vacation.
I don't know where you reside but where you live in the UK will make a difference to travel plans, when we were suvverners the tunnel was champ but that's a good way from North Northumberland.
More than anything else don't try to see and do too much.
Regarding motorcycle travel insurance.....good luck....the only company I could find for this year at a reasonable price who talked any sense was Carole Nash.
Upt.

 

Luxembourg and Belgium from last year.

 

To ride into French cities you will probably need a Crit'Air sticker. You can apply online. This cost is a few Euros and takes about 3 weeks to arrive

 

All the above are spot on,also a little research is a bonus,but a GHIC is a must !!

 

A GHIC is Free and gives varying levels of contribution to medical treatment depending on the country that you're in. Still get travel insurance that includes motorcycling though.