BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

My wife had to attend our local Health Centre recently, and got chatting to a very nice nurse who’s just returned from a holiday in Albania. When she got home she dropped the inevitable
“Can we go via Albania on our trip next year?”

So, for the next few months she’ll be looking at places to visit, and I’ll be looking at roads and routes.

This is the first draft from Coquelles to Paleros (avoiding Kosovo) with no tolls. 1743 miles and 36 hours.

Looks interesting - but far

That's around 3500 miles just in Europe, I'm sure your mileage will be less than mine as I'm in Scotland, but for me that would be 4500 miles+ - so getting on for 4 weeks riding if you want a day off each week and not sicken yourself. My biggest single trip has been just over 3000 miles in two weeks, and on several occasions, but I was riddling pretty much every day, and it was getting old by the end of it, but perhaps that's just me

Let us know how you get on with the planning, it looks a pretty direct route, so not much lee way for detours if the weather kicks off

This is only the first draft, and I do understand as to the last minute changes
We did a 5 week tour in the EU a few years ago, all accommodation booked months in advance and sat-nav loaded, then at 10.30pm on the last night (before we left at 3am the following morning) my wife decided she didn’t like 2 of the hotels and changed them.

Weather’s not a problem unless it’s floods or snow. We had the biblical stuff for the length of France and Italy last year and didn’t dissolve despite getting thoroughly soaked a couple of times, plus we’ve got the well regarded Scott Ergo waterproofs this year, but I’d like to hope they won’t be needed. .

We plan to look around a bit in Albania as we’ve never been there before, and also the Peleponnese after we unload in Paleros, so that’ll add a bit too. We’re based in Paleros for the whole of June having found a good deal on a rented Granny annex, so maybe 6 weeks all in with wanderings? It doesn’t matter if it’s longer, the only limiting factor is our 90 day allowance in the EU as my wife’s also skiing in Italy and France in Jan and March for 2 weeks.

I did try and get my wife interested in touring Scotland but no go, however I plan to tour up there maybe March or Sept with my old crewmate. Destinations and route recommendations always welcome.