The Alpine Passage Grand Tour

The Road South Begins

The Alpine Passage begins close to the Channel Tunnel, where we'll meet over coffee, introduce the group and run through the journey ahead before rolling towards France together.

Once through the Tunnel, we leave Calais behind and turn south. Today isn't about chasing miles. It's about settling into the bikes, finding the rhythm of the group and watching northern France begin to unfold around us.

By late afternoon we'll arrive in Reims, capital of the Champagne region and our first overnight stop.

The bikes are parked, the riding gear comes off and the evening becomes every bit as important as the road that brought us here.

We'll head into the centre of Reims for our opening dinner at one of the city's excellent restaurants, accompanied — almost inevitably — by a glass or two of Champagne.

Tomorrow the mountains begin to appear.

Tonight, the Grand Tour properly begins.

The Road We Didn't Plan to Find

We leave Reims after breakfast and turn south towards Switzerland — but today the route matters far more than simply reaching the border.

On our first journey this way, a wrong turn took us away from the obvious route and onto a succession of French D-roads. 

What should have been a mistake became one of those days that reminds you why travelling by motorcycle is different.

So we're going back.

We'll spend much of the day away from the autoroutes, following quieter roads through rural France as the landscape gradually changes and Switzerland draws closer.

By late afternoon we cross into Switzerland and arrive on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, where our hotel sits beside the water and the bikes can be parked right outside.

Once the riding gear is off, we'll head out into Neuchâtel for dinner rather than stay in the hotel — another evening to enjoy the destination rather than simply sleep in it.

Tomorrow, the landscape changes again.

The Alps are waiting.

Alpine pass & the Italian Lakes

We leave the calm waters of Lake Neuchâtel behind and head for the mountains.

Today is the day The Alpine Passage earns its name.

The roads climb higher as we cross Switzerland and make our way through the Alps towards Italy, with one of the great Alpine passes forming the centrepiece of the day's ride.

Eventually the mountains begin to open and we descend towards Lake Como.

But rather than ride around it, we'll ride straight onto the ferry.

Bikes parked on deck, engines off and mountains rising from the water around us, the crossing gives us a chance to stop for a moment and simply take in where we've arrived.

Back on the bikes on the other side, we continue east across northern Italy towards Lake Garda and a hotel we first discovered on our own travels — somewhere special enough that we always knew we'd come back. This time, we're staying for two nights.

Mountains in the morning. Lake Como in the afternoon. Garda by evening.

A Different Pace

Not every great day on a Grand Tour needs to begin at sunrise or finish hundreds of miles away.

After three days travelling across Europe, today we leave the luggage at the hotel, take breakfast at a more leisurely pace and head out to explore the roads around Lake Garda.

We'll ride south through the landscape surrounding the lake, following smaller roads through vineyards, villages and the hills of northern Italy, with plenty of time for coffee and a long Italian lunch along the way.

There is no finish line today. No distant hotel to reach and no reason to watch the miles.

By mid-afternoon we'll be back at Forte Benedek, with the bikes parked for the day and the rest of the afternoon ours — pool, sunshine, a cold drink and nowhere else we need to be.

As the temperature begins to fall, we'll come together again for another Italian evening.

Some days are about the road ahead. Today is about enjoying where we've arrived.