Europe Motorcycle Tours

Germany, Austria, and Italy

What do you do after a 10-hour operation that just saved your life? Do you live every given day more consciously? Do you care less about conventions and everything that burdens your life? Do you realize a long-fostered dream? Do you stop stressing and do everything much more slowly? All

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

Scotland

"When your arse is in the saddle, the forecast will be the skies in front of you. In Scotland, there’s little point in looking any further ahead,” Calum Murray, owner of Saltire Motorcycles says prophetically, smiling at my comment that the weather forecast looked promising. I slip out the

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

Tenerife’s Teide National Park

Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, lies some 200 miles off the coast of northwest Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. It has become synonymous with endless apartments, timeshares, restaurants, and all-day cheap booze. This, combined with full English breakfasts for a few euros and tacky tourist attractions, does

Jan/Feb '21 Premium Content

Austria: The Art of Indulgence

My friend Michael comes from Vienna. The Viennese are sometimes ill-reputed in the rest of Austria. The residents of the capital city are supposedly snotty and a bit too self-aggrandizing. Michael, however, embodies another undisputed quality of the Viennese—they know how to indulge in the good things. During our

Sardinia Motorcycle Ride: Italy or Not Italy?

Nov/Dec '20 Premium Content

Sardinia: Italy or Not Italy?

The island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean is a motorcyclist’s dream. Officially, it is a territory of Italy. But, as we shall find out, it is different in many ways.“SARDEGNA NO E ITALIA!” is written in fat red letters on a concrete wall at the port of Olbia,

Mar/Apr '20 Premium Content

Greece: Beyond the Postcards

Anticipating our journey to Greece, we were expecting to see the whitewashed buildings with blue rooftops clinging to the coastline—the scenes that we knew from pictures. But those iconic sites are found only on two specific islands, and Greece has literally thousands of islands. We traveled the mainland and

Nov/Dec '19 Premium Content

Portugal: Stone Age

Few corners of Europe are as remote as northern Portugal, a fact that makes a journey to this region particularly worthwhile.The fisherman’s pub in Viana do Castelo looks like the place to go. It was even recommended to my wife, Danica, and me. But our timing is wrong:

Sep/Oct '19 Premium Content

French Fancy: Roadbook Trail Riding in the Cantal

The concentration is intense. My entire world has shrunk to a roll of stick drawings, a trip meter, and the single track ahead. Behind me there are six other riders relying on my navigation skills to keep the group moving at pace through the achingly beautiful French countryside. But I’

Jul/Aug '19 Premium Content

Ireland: Land of Story and Song

Giant StepsI tiptoe out of Dublin astride a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide (a touch nervous on the left side of the road, to be honest) and into a lush countryside of narrow lanes, hedgerows, and heath. Ireland is a land of storytellers and stories, and I am here to hear the

May/Jun '19 Premium Content

Italy: The Heart of the Dolomites

The legendary Sellaronda loop in Italy’s Dolomites mountain range is a mere 34 miles long, but in that distance, you travel around the mighty, plateau-shaped Sella rock massif, climb four passes, ascend more than 5,800 feet, and steer your motorcycle through a countless number of turns in breathtakingly

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Italy: Smoke On the water

Mt. Etna, the largest of Italy’s three active volcanoes, commands the view to the east of Enna, an ancient town built atop a hill in the middle of Sicily. A few miles farther and 2,000 feet higher on the road climbing out of the Dittano Valley, the smoking

Jan/Feb '18 Premium Content

Austria: Behind the Mountains

For the longest time, the high alpine valley of the Lungau sat in remote isolation, approachable only by treacherous pass roads. And the region’s old traditions and stunning natural appeal have been preserved very well. Two of the many reasons to travel there.It’s slightly decadent. Plenty of

Nov/Dec '17 Premium Content

The Azores: Little Adventure

Selecting a location roughly 75-percent smaller than Rhode Island to test a prototype adventure motorcycle would seem to be a less-than-ideal decision. However, just as one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, never underestimate the level of excitement that can be found in a small space.Juggling Time

Sep/Oct '17 Premium Content

Germany: Down by the River

Germany is home to two famous rivers, the Rhine and the Danube. But it’s the underdog, the Main (pronounced “mine”) River, which connects some of the most beautiful motorcycling areas in the country. The Main meanders drunkenly between the most traditional and innovative beer brewing areas in Franconian Switzerland

Jul/Aug '17 Premium Content

England on Enfields: Stay Left, Look Right

“Look for Big Al. Tell him Tall Paul sent you …” With a wave, these words end our first black cab ride in London. Who’d have thought our cabbie would know someone at the one Royal Enfield dealer in East London, where we are staying, on a trip that will

Mar/Apr '17 Premium Content

Portugal: The Prettiest End of Europe

The prettiest end of Europe—that could be the most accurate description of Portugal. Remnant’s of this once-enormous empire are scattered throughout, from its decadent dining establishments to haunting historical buildings. One can’t forget the country’s beautiful coastline though, or its peaceful countryside, which is exactly where

Sep/Oct '16 Premium Content

Albania: Carving a Country of Contrast

There’s a man taking his bear for a walk. Traffic is a bit heavy and quite chaotic, but he doesn’t appear concerned. Drivers yield as if there is a codified rule of the road providing bears the right-of-way. This scene might seem unusual in Los Angeles or Munich,

Mar/Apr '16 Premium Content

Italy: Fire and Ice

Italy has many well-known sights, from mountain ranges, volcanoes, valleys, and towers to magnificent coastlines overlooking choppy seas. Still, a journey into the country’s deep unknown southern region comes along with surprises.Riding Italy’s BackboneThe pass sign indicates “Vado di Sole.” This means something like “The way to

Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content

Switzerland: Lakeside Luxury

One country and four different languages—Switzerland spreads various cultures and sheer beauty between the pearls of Lake Lucerne and Lake Maggiore.Helicopters are circling. A dozen police bikes are riding toward us. We get stopped right at the top of Albula Pass. The reason is harmless and almost disappointing:

Jan/Feb '15 Premium Content

Umbria: Italy’s Dreamy Heartland

I’m riding south through Umbria on the Via Flaminia, the ancient road connecting Rome with Rimini on the Adriatic Coast. I fancy it has been improved since Gaius Flaminius initiated construction around 220 B.C.—now named prosaically “Strada Statale 3.” This fast two-lane highway sweeps along the western

Nov/Dec '14 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Scotland – Single Malt Moto Tour

It’s a balmy August morning, and I am crammed into a train car with hundreds of gray-suited commuters. Destination: London. I feel smug pleasure knowing that I am about to embark on an adventure, while they are headed to another day of office drudgery.And what an adventure! My

Nov/Dec '14 Premium Content

Central Europe: European Romance Tour

Some of the most beautiful places in central Europe are connected by outstanding motorcycle roads that are just perfect for our KTM 1190 Adventure R. On this tour, every overnight location is protected by UNESCO World Heritage status, and each September day leads my wife and me through a completely

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Iceland: An Adventure-riding Paradise

“Ride a motorcycle through Iceland? You’ve got to be kidding me. Isn’t that a frozen, windblown island nation in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean?” Well, I’ve been awakened to the fact that this place of “fire and ice” is one of the most beautiful, diverse,

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Romania: Ceausescu’s Folly—Transylvania and the Transfagarasan Highway

Best road in the world or communist tyrant’s power trip? Only one way to find out! It was on a bus tour in the early 1970s that I discovered Romania. I remember little but the awful food and how our nervous guide evaded political questions, pointing instead to distant

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Reader Ride-Nordkapp, Norway: An Irishman at the Top of Europe

Nordkapp (North Cape) has been a mystical place for me since I was a boy. I remember  reading a book about a car journey from North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. It was probably written in the early ‘50s. I never dreamed then that I