I am looking for information on European motorcycle tour packages. | GTAMotorcycle.com

I am looking for information on European motorcycle tour packages.

Jorgy

Member
I am in the early stages of planning a motorcycle trip in Europe. I have been looking at the Edelweiss tours through Germany Switzerland and Italy, and i am looking for feedback /information from anyone who has been on an Edelweiss trip or one from another company.

In particular, what additional costs were there and was it worth it? What was your experience like?

Thanks in advance for any information?

Stay safe!
 
Not exactly what you're asking for, but look into just renting a bike and planning a route by yourself, you'll probably save yourself a ton of money and also have the freedom of stopping whenever you want, as to when the tour operator (or slowest person in the group) needs to stop. If you don't know where to go, just go to the Edelweiss website or other tour operator and copy their itinerary, most of them put them up on the web.

We rode around Europe for over a month and used this a great planning resource: http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/motorbike-rides-in-europe
 
I went on a Beach's tour www.bmca.com and highly recommend them.

I opted for a complete package because (1) I don't speak the languages, (2) they know where the good roads are and I don't - I rode 3600 km in 2 weeks and very little of that was on motorways, (3) they know where the good restaurants are - boy, do they ever! - and I don't, (4) they know where the good hotels are and I don't, and they get a package deal that I'm unlikely to be able to match in as good quality of a place, (5) the chase van carries most of your stuff, so you don't have to pack it on the bike.

Some day, I'll do it again ... possibly next year. I was originally planning to do one this year, but there has been too much else going on.
 
I went on a Beach's tour www.bmca.com and highly recommend them.

I opted for a complete package because (1) I don't speak the languages, (2) they know where the good roads are and I don't - I rode 3600 km in 2 weeks and very little of that was on motorways, (3) they know where the good restaurants are - boy, do they ever! - and I don't, (4) they know where the good hotels are and I don't, and they get a package deal that I'm unlikely to be able to match in as good quality of a place, (5) the chase van carries most of your stuff, so you don't have to pack it on the bike.

Some day, I'll do it again ... possibly next year. I was originally planning to do one this year, but there has been too much else going on.

These tours look great. Definitely on my to do list.
 
One thing to keep in mind is that there are different tours geared to different types of people.
A friend just got back from a tour through the Alps, aimed at motorcycling rather than "touring", i.e. they weren't stopping to rest and take in the sights. He said it was fun, but some of the roads were very narrow lanes along cliff faces with campers coming in the other direction. His tour was somewhat known for people getting in over their heads. So different tours will have different skill level requirements.
 
I went on a Beach's tour www.bmca.com and highly recommend them.

I opted for a complete package because (1) I don't speak the languages, (2) they know where the good roads are and I don't - I rode 3600 km in 2 weeks and very little of that was on motorways, (3) they know where the good restaurants are - boy, do they ever! - and I don't, (4) they know where the good hotels are and I don't, and they get a package deal that I'm unlikely to be able to match in as good quality of a place, (5) the chase van carries most of your stuff, so you don't have to pack it on the bike.

Some day, I'll do it again ... possibly next year. I was originally planning to do one this year, but there has been too much else going on.

Which tour did you go on? They have quite a number of offerings. I'd love to a couple of them, but it's pricy from what I can tell.
 
I did the Classic Alpine Adventure in 2009.

With regards to the narrow roads and traffic coming the other direction ... that's how it is in the Alps unless you want to cruise through on motorways.

No, it's not cheap. This is a 2 week trip. Beach's is of the opinion that 1 week is not enough, and I tend to agree. If I remember right, it was about 4800 euros and you had to get yourself to Munich and back separately from that. This included all hotels and all dinners except on a couple of "free" days where you were on your own, plus bike rental (unlimited mileage) and insurance.
 
Last edited:
Has anyone out there done a tour through Edelweiss? If so would you recommend it. At this point I am looking at Beach's and Edelweiss, but I haven't rulled out renting a bike and going it alone.
 
Has anyone out there done a tour through Edelweiss? If so would you recommend it. At this point I am looking at Beach's and Edelweiss, but I haven't rulled out renting a bike and going it alone.

I did the Alps Extreme in June with Edelweiss. They were brilliant and you have the ability to ride with a group that sets the "Edelweiss Pace" or to split off with a pair or more of riders and make your own way to the end hotel.

Alps extreme was a fast paced charge through the alps, and as it was my first time in Europe I was overwhelmed by the history of the area, so in future I'd like more time to nose around and have fun.

Best riding of my life to date, and on some of the best road surfaces over a multi day tour. Of course, goats and cows wandering on the road was my first vision of riding in the alps.

Edelweiss is awesome, if you get Angela or Mattias as guides, you can't do any better.
 
+1 for Edelweiss. I went there for the High Alpine Tour and honestly one of the best trips I've had and not to mention riding roads...there's nothing like stelvio pass here and not to mention the # of "goat paths" our guide took us through lol.

Be prepared to pass aggressively or as they say over there "overtake" lol.
 
+1 for IMT Bikes http://www.imtbike.com/ & http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motor...ides-in-europe

We didn't take a tour with IMT, but we rented an R1200RT in Barcelona for 8 days through the pyrenees in May. The price was good (relatively speaking - bikes aren't cheap when you compare them to cars), and there were no surprises. They let us pick it up the night before so we could leave first thing in the morning. The bike had 7,000 km and was in great shape. It had the OEM front & a new rear tire. I brought it back 2,000 km later and they had to replace both tires. Service was great, no hassles, they basically expected that kind of wear 2-up & loaded. I did a couple tiny scratches and they were totally fair on costing the damges.

We planned the whole route by referencing BestBiking Roads.com. The route was awesome. I'm still working on editing the GoPro videos. I hope to have something posted here soon.
 
+1 for IMT Bikes http://www.imtbike.com/ & http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motor...ides-in-europe

We didn't take a tour with IMT, but we rented an R1200RT in Barcelona for 8 days through the pyrenees in May. The price was good (relatively speaking - bikes aren't cheap when you compare them to cars), and there were no surprises. They let us pick it up the night before so we could leave first thing in the morning. The bike had 7,000 km and was in great shape. It had the OEM front & a new rear tire. I brought it back 2,000 km later and they had to replace both tires. Service was great, no hassles, they basically expected that kind of wear 2-up & loaded. I did a couple tiny scratches and they were totally fair on costing the damges.

We planned the whole route by referencing BestBiking Roads.com. The route was awesome. I'm still working on editing the GoPro videos. I hope to have something posted here soon.

I'd be interested in a ride report of this including your rental contact etc. My buddies and I thought this might be a great trip to do in a couple of years.
 
I'd be interested in a ride report of this including your rental contact etc. My buddies and I thought this might be a great trip to do in a couple of years.

My wife's about half way through a blog she is writing about this trip, and I'm not quite that far with the editing of the GoPro videos. I'm hoping to post a thread in this section soon. I'll put in a link to the blog and links to the vidoes. I'll update as we add more.

Ronnie, I'll have to do some digging to find the rental contract. I'll PM you when I have it.
 
Thanks! :thumbup:
 
I've done 5 tours with Edelweiss. They are awesome. They take care of everything and all you have to do is just ride and enjoy. The only weak parts are (1) if you ride with the group, the ride will be tailored to the weakest rider in the group (to avoid accidents) so if you're really skilled you may get bored, (2) if the tour has a large group, you may miss the small stuff - a group of 14 bikes with 18 riders can't stop at the quaint stop for a coffee break - gotta have enough space to park the bikes and be very efficient to handle the size of the group (ordering/serving/paying as well as restroom access). I like to ride slow, take my time, take lots of photo stops and arrive at a reasonable time at the hotel to clean up and have a pleasant dinner - with all the travel hassles addressed. Great for me, but if you want to do it all yourself, don't go with them.
 
I've done 5 tours with Edelweiss. They are awesome. They take care of everything and all you have to do is just ride and enjoy. The only weak parts are (1) if you ride with the group, the ride will be tailored to the weakest rider in the group (to avoid accidents) so if you're really skilled you may get bored, (2) if the tour has a large group, you may miss the small stuff - a group of 14 bikes with 18 riders can't stop at the quaint stop for a coffee break - gotta have enough space to park the bikes and be very efficient to handle the size of the group (ordering/serving/paying as well as restroom access). I like to ride slow, take my time, take lots of photo stops and arrive at a reasonable time at the hotel to clean up and have a pleasant dinner - with all the travel hassles addressed. Great for me, but if you want to do it all yourself, don't go with them.

We rode with the group day 1, and I find you are quite correct.
Day 2 I mounted my gps and led two other riders along the days route. You are required to brief your tour guides in the morning, and to check into the hotel at the end of the day at a reasonable hour as they are expecting you to join them for supper.

Otherwise we were riding through the alps ourselves making our own choices where to stop, although we did run into the tour again and again as our paths crossed, it was a unique experience for me, and I appreciated having Edelweiss there in case we ran into unforeseen problems.

I may simply rent a bike next time I feel the urge to tour.
 

Back
Top Bottom