A two-week, two-and-a-half-thousand-mile trip through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Last spring, MoreBikes reader Aaron Walker set off on his first ‘big bike’ trip just a few months after passing his full test. With his partner Alex on the back of his Kawasaki Versys 650, the two of them spent 14 days covering 2313 miles across eight countries; packing in plenty of scenic goodness, adventurous activities, cool places and top food. Not bad at all, right? Here’s what they got up to.
Day 1: Leeds to Folkestone
Our adventure kicked off as we hit the road bright and early, riding swiftly in three stints of two hours. In Folkestone, we enjoyed fish and chips and a walk along the iconic white cliffs of Dover.
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Day 2: Folkestone to Luxembourg City
The day began smoothly as we packed up and set our sights on the Eurotunnel. The train ride was pretty stressful due to the weight of the full-loaded bike and how much it moved on the train! After disembarking, we had a pretty uneventful ride through flat France and Belgium. We stopped in the charming town of Dinant and later arrived in the immaculate city of Luxembourg. We settled for a cheaper hotel in a converted house and explored the local scene.
Day 3: Luxembourg to Baden-Baden
Leaving Luxembourg behind, we crossed into Germany, making our way to Baden-Baden. The town’s size and assortment of shops and restaurants left us pleasantly surprised. We stayed in an Airbnb-style arrangement—a converted front room of a private house.
Day 4: Baden-Baden to Zurich via the B500
The most anticipated leg of the tour! We packed up and headed off to the start of the legendary B500 and climbed up deeper into the Black Forest. The climb into the trees was brilliant. Despite the conservative speed limit, there were amazing views with roads to match. We made a couple of stops at scenic viewpoints and lakes, chatting to other bikers we met along the way. We made a stop in Triberg to check out the house of 1000 cuckoo clocks before carrying on all the way to Switzerland, stopping just outside of Zurich.
Day 5: Zurich to St Anton am Arlberg
Leaving Switzerland behind, via a refreshing swim in Lake Walensee, we crossed into Austria. Our first stop was at Lake Lünersee, ascending to the summit via cable car for a hike around the lake. We were a bit surprised to see loads of snow still about! On the way to the hotel we got caught in a bit of rain but it wouldn’t be a tour without it!
Day 6: St Anton am Arlberg to Mieders
The first stop of the day was at Umhausen to tackle the Stuibenfall Via Ferrata, scaling the side of a huge waterfall! In the evening we stayed at a lovely out-of-season ski resort in the Austrian mountains.
Day 7: A trip to Innsbruck
After a week of non-stop riding, we decided to stay at a hotel for two nights and to have a rest day in Innsbruck. Getting there meant enjoying the short but amazing ride through the Austrian mountain pass, which was arguably better than the B500 in my opinion. We explored the colourful city with nice architecture. We had a delicious lunch at Kröll Strudel Cafe, trying meat and potato as well as spinach, feta, and pine nut strudels.
Day 8: Mieders to Achensee
Leaving Mieders behind, we headed south to Neustift for paragliding. Accompanied by an instructor, we ascended the mountain in a cable car to paraglide back down. It was a thrilling experience flying through the valley. After some gliding and tight turns, we landed in a field, received certificates, and headed to Achensee. At the lake, we rented paddle boards and had a fantastic time.
Day 9: 5 Peaks Via Ferrata
The first (and only) day of our trip we haven’t ridden anywhere! We got up and walked to the cable car from Rofan Seilbahn up the mountain and headed for the second Via Ferrata of the trip. We got to the top of the first via ferrata, Hochiss (2299m) and had our lunch before hiking back down. We had a rest and then moved on to summit Speiljock (2236m) before hiking back down to the cable car, narrowly avoiding the rain.
Day 10: Achensee to Munich
Traversing the magnificent Austrian Alps, we ventured into the picturesque Bavarian Alps, where we made a delightful stop in the charming town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a coffee break. Arriving in Munich, we checked into our hotel before adventuring into the centre for the evening, visiting landmarks and shops, before getting a traditional sausage and a pretzel and sitting at a bar for a couple of beers.
Day 11: Munich to Saarbruken
We ate our breakfast, fuelled up and made our way to Stuttgart to visit the Porsche museum. Stutgartt was fairly difficult to ride in, with roadworks everywhere and it’s quite industrial. It was also absolutely roasting at this point, the hottest day of the trip! The Porsche museum was brilliant and it took us a couple of hours to get through, the highlight for me being the Porsche-engined McLaren MP4/4 F1 car. We rode on to Saarbrüken, checking into the Ibis Budget for the night.
Day 12: Saarbruken to Gent
We travelled to Gent in Belgium with a couple of stops in Bitburg and the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit. We unpacked and walked into Gent looking for food. I was surprised as it was a lovely town; we didn’t expect it to be so nice! The architecture was amazing with a kind of medieval vibe. We ended up getting the biggest portion of chips I’ve ever eaten along with a Belgian waffle.
Day 13: Gent to Calais
Our first stop was the captivating city of Bruges around 30 minutes away. We explored for a while including the busy centre and found some quiet canals. Continuing along the coastal route, we rode towards Calais, stopping along the way to have a picnic and a swim in the sea on the beach at Normandy. After that we checked into our hotel and went to bed early as we needed to catch the Eurostar home in the morning.
Day 14: Calais to Leeds
Departing from Calais, we made a brief journey to the Eurotunnel, where we boarded the train. It was strange as we were the only bike on the train. Along the way back to Leeds we took the opportunity to visit friends in the city of Canterbury.
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