Cherbourg to Bologna

08-01-2009, 10:35 AM

Hi All

Me and my BH are planning a trip down to the Ducati factory late July 2009. We will be catching the ferry to Cherbourg as we are staying in lower Normandy for a couple of days before heading south. Can anyone recommend routes and cheap and / or nice places to stay. We haven't decided whether to take one bike or two, obviously one will limit the luggage though (toothbrush, dress, sandals for me!).

Thanks for info

Lisa

Pedro · 08-01-2009, 06:42 PM

Best to stay off the Autoroutes in Italy as the A roads are superb fun - we went from Mont Blanc tunnel to Alessandria to Le Spatzia to Florence to Forli on the way to World Ducati Week and had a hoot.

Plenty of cheap hotels in france (F1 etc), 20-30 euros a night but don't expect a palace!!

The Hotel Novecento in Bologna is lovely and very civilised, two minutes walk from the main square

08-01-2009, 07:17 PM

Check the factory when they close for the summer holidays, as they will. I doubt there will be much available in July which will be both cheap and nice. The F1 I stayed at had plastic mattress covers which are not nice when it's 30C at night and you cannot safely open the windows if you've got a ground floor room. Never again...

Grumpy · 08-01-2009, 08:03 PM

Why not move your trip to sept, the factories open & the motogp is on at Misano, plus the temps can climb into the mid 30 oC ( try riding in full leather's!)
As for advise for route down/somewhere to stay.....travel via the loire valley, over the mastif central ( via La Puy ) drop into the Rhone valley, thro' Avignon or Orange into Provence, head for the Alps (enjoy!) and drop into Italy.
As for accomadation, the suggestion of the F1 chain is great, though personally I prefer to stay in family run 1* or 2* hotels, the service is top and most have an inexpensive resturant attached.
Hope this helps.

09-01-2009, 07:22 AM

Thanks for the info, I will check these out. Have to go during July/August due to school summer holidays unfortunately. Will checkk out the factory closing dates.

Any idea how long it would take to go down, comfortably?

Thanks

Lisa

09-01-2009, 08:41 AM

Head to Lake Anneccy loads of hotels and worth a stop, then head to Aosti in Italy on the other side of the Alps in Italy, suggest the Petite Bernard Pass great views etc. Aosti great place for a night which will allow you to head to Bologna for the next night. head into the centre as plenty of hotels.

One suggestion is once you get out of the Alps get on the Autostrada(toll) and follow it to the factory, the roads in this part of Italy can be very busy and are very boring and not worth hanging around for. Plus italian car driver will be sitting on your backside, just try to ignore them. Oh and if you come across stationy traffic on the Autostrada go on the hard shoulder to keep going.. The Italians don't seem to mind and all their bikers do this.

Suggest you go back via Austria and go for a stop over in the Austrian alps. You could head acoss germany to the Rhein/Mosel and visit the nearburg ring on the way back to France.

One thing about France os if you stay on the N roads they will be fairly straight but allow large distances to be covered, if you go onto the back roads you will find some twistys.

One thing to be carefull off at mo is the exchange rates, at the rate at the moment France is loosing its cheapness for touring so expect it to start getting expensive as you spend. This has put me off at the moment for arranging a visit for this year.

Check the dates for the Italian holidays and try to miss them, otherwise you will hit stationary city as all the Italians head for either the coast or the mountains for the summer holidays. There will be plenty of hold ups on the roads.

27-01-2009, 07:49 PM

Hey Lisa,

Me and a few mates are planning the same trip in July, at the mo the aim is to leave on Saturday the 13th however I have just checked and the last day of term for Italian schools is the 12th!! We've got six nights to get there and back and we are planning a trip to the Ducati factory....think it closes in August.

I would be interested to know what route you plan to take and how long you're going for......we are still in the planning stage!!

30-01-2009, 01:27 PM

Hi

We will be heading from a place called Domfront in Normandy (where we will drop off some gear first). Is the Ducati factory shut for the whole of August? Yours will be a quick trip by the sound of it, ours may be longer as we intend to stay for a few days down there, all being well. We shall be leaving end of July (end of school term here and after my childrens' birthday). Have you picked a route and are you going via tunnel or ferry?

Lisa

LVC · 30-01-2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaW

Hi

We will be heading from a place called Domfront in Normandy (where we will drop off some gear first). Is the Ducati factory shut for the whole of August? Yours will be a quick trip by the sound of it, ours may be longer as we intend to stay for a few days down there, all being well. We shall be leaving end of July (end of school term here and after my childrens' birthday). Have you picked a route and are you going via tunnel or ferry?

Lisa

Hi Lisa, if you're staying at Domfront you're only about 1 1/2 hours north of me and more importantly only 75km from Le Mans (between me and Domfront). If your stay includes a Friday night I can recommend the "Friday Run" by the circuit at Le Mans - over 200 bikes there on average every Friday night during summer

If your stay's any longer you're welcome to pop in - drop me an PM if you want any more info.

Same is applicable for anyone else passing through the Loire Valley/Le Mans this year

30-01-2009, 07:15 PM

We are in the process of planning the route at the moment, the intention is to get as close to Italy as quickly as possible and enter via the Mont Blanc tunnel. We hope to spend a couple of days there and then a couple of days coming back through Austria, Germany and Northern France. We aim to be back in Dover on the Friday after we left. At the moment we are intending to use the ferry, we have done this the last couple of years and it seems to work out ok. Think this is the longest trip we've tried in this space of time.......can't wait to take the Monster through Italy.......awesome!! not sure how long the factory is shut for, I'll hopefully be sorting out a booking in the next couple of weeks so I'll let you know.

Paul.

08-01-2009, 10:35 AM	#1
LisaW Guest Posts: n/a	Cherbourg to Bologna Hi All Me and my BH are planning a trip down to the Ducati factory late July 2009. We will be catching the ferry to Cherbourg as we are staying in lower Normandy for a couple of days before heading south. Can anyone recommend routes and cheap and / or nice places to stay. We haven't decided whether to take one bike or two, obviously one will limit the luggage though (toothbrush, dress, sandals for me!). Thanks for info Lisa

08-01-2009, 06:42 PM	#2
Pedro Ciao, come stai? Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Somewhere Bike: Multiple Monsters Posts: 4,158	Best to stay off the Autoroutes in Italy as the A roads are superb fun - we went from Mont Blanc tunnel to Alessandria to Le Spatzia to Florence to Forli on the way to World Ducati Week and had a hoot. Plenty of cheap hotels in france (F1 etc), 20-30 euros a night but don't expect a palace!! The Hotel Novecento in Bologna is lovely and very civilised, two minutes walk from the main square __________________ Monster 1200R! KTM 990 SuperDuke

08-01-2009, 08:03 PM	#4
Grumpy record breaker!! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Peterborough Bike: M1200R Posts: 2,155	Why not move your trip to sept, the factories open & the motogp is on at Misano, plus the temps can climb into the mid 30 oC ( try riding in full leather's!) As for advise for route down/somewhere to stay.....travel via the loire valley, over the mastif central ( via La Puy ) drop into the Rhone valley, thro' Avignon or Orange into Provence, head for the Alps (enjoy!) and drop into Italy. As for accomadation, the suggestion of the F1 chain is great, though personally I prefer to stay in family run 1* or 2* hotels, the service is top and most have an inexpensive resturant attached. Hope this helps. __________________ It's not the destination, but the journey that matters Definition of a motorbike, a devise for overtaking cars!

08-01-2009, 07:17 PM	#3
Paivi Guest Posts: n/a	Check the factory when they close for the summer holidays, as they will. I doubt there will be much available in July which will be both cheap and nice. The F1 I stayed at had plastic mattress covers which are not nice when it's 30C at night and you cannot safely open the windows if you've got a ground floor room. Never again...

09-01-2009, 07:22 AM	#5
LisaW Guest Posts: n/a	Thanks for the info, I will check these out. Have to go during July/August due to school summer holidays unfortunately. Will checkk out the factory closing dates. Any idea how long it would take to go down, comfortably? Thanks Lisa

09-01-2009, 08:41 AM	#6
sadbiker Guest Posts: n/a	Head to Lake Anneccy loads of hotels and worth a stop, then head to Aosti in Italy on the other side of the Alps in Italy, suggest the Petite Bernard Pass great views etc. Aosti great place for a night which will allow you to head to Bologna for the next night. head into the centre as plenty of hotels. One suggestion is once you get out of the Alps get on the Autostrada(toll) and follow it to the factory, the roads in this part of Italy can be very busy and are very boring and not worth hanging around for. Plus italian car driver will be sitting on your backside, just try to ignore them. Oh and if you come across stationy traffic on the Autostrada go on the hard shoulder to keep going.. The Italians don't seem to mind and all their bikers do this. Suggest you go back via Austria and go for a stop over in the Austrian alps. You could head acoss germany to the Rhein/Mosel and visit the nearburg ring on the way back to France. One thing about France os if you stay on the N roads they will be fairly straight but allow large distances to be covered, if you go onto the back roads you will find some twistys. One thing to be carefull off at mo is the exchange rates, at the rate at the moment France is loosing its cheapness for touring so expect it to start getting expensive as you spend. This has put me off at the moment for arranging a visit for this year. Check the dates for the Italian holidays and try to miss them, otherwise you will hit stationary city as all the Italians head for either the coast or the mountains for the summer holidays. There will be plenty of hold ups on the roads.

27-01-2009, 07:49 PM	#7
paulyh Guest Posts: n/a	Hey Lisa, Me and a few mates are planning the same trip in July, at the mo the aim is to leave on Saturday the 13th however I have just checked and the last day of term for Italian schools is the 12th!! We've got six nights to get there and back and we are planning a trip to the Ducati factory....think it closes in August. I would be interested to know what route you plan to take and how long you're going for......we are still in the planning stage!!

30-01-2009, 01:27 PM	#8
LisaW Guest Posts: n/a	Hi We will be heading from a place called Domfront in Normandy (where we will drop off some gear first). Is the Ducati factory shut for the whole of August? Yours will be a quick trip by the sound of it, ours may be longer as we intend to stay for a few days down there, all being well. We shall be leaving end of July (end of school term here and after my childrens' birthday). Have you picked a route and are you going via tunnel or ferry? Lisa

30-01-2009, 07:15 PM	#10
paulyh Guest Posts: n/a	We are in the process of planning the route at the moment, the intention is to get as close to Italy as quickly as possible and enter via the Mont Blanc tunnel. We hope to spend a couple of days there and then a couple of days coming back through Austria, Germany and Northern France. We aim to be back in Dover on the Friday after we left. At the moment we are intending to use the ferry, we have done this the last couple of years and it seems to work out ok. Think this is the longest trip we've tried in this space of time.......can't wait to take the Monster through Italy.......awesome!! not sure how long the factory is shut for, I'll hopefully be sorting out a booking in the next couple of weeks so I'll let you know. Paul.