There’s a number of gpx on the download page which you can freely download use which should go a long way in helping you plan your trip. They are not going to list all the best poi’s, hotels and all the rest but it’s certainly enough to get you started planning your own route.

At the moment I am working on gpx files which will contain all the best poi,s certainly all the unmissable ones from photo stops, cliffs, mountain roads and passes, hotels, b&b’s, campsites, traditional bars, whiskey distillery tours, bike mechanics and just about everything you can think of. They’ll also contain full routes themselves of what I’d consider being the best roads a motorcycle can take at realistic distances per day. I’m calling these Self Guided DIY Tours, where all you’ll really have to do is, 1 – Book your accommodation from those listed in the POI’s. 2 – tweak the route to include your chosen accommodation as the start/stop points and 3 – get here on your own bike or pick up one of the rental bikes here in Killarney or Dublin and off you go. The gps downloads and poi files will be usable for Garmin, TomTom, Tyre or convertible for smartphone use via MyRouteApp.

Considering the amount of info in the SG DIY tour files and as they are also based on my guided tours these ones won’t be for free, but will be at a fraction of the cost, somewhere around €20, so, far cheaper and more flexible if you’re happy to book your own accomodation and guide yourself via satnav or phone. Certainly they’ll be the cheapest way to get to see everything and ride the best roads you would on a guided tour based on years of local knowledge.

I’ll be releasing a post on this very soon as the project is almost complete. The first route set is actually ready to go and contains everything you could possibly need for the south west region with all my routes and POI’s (200+ for Cork/Kerry) based on my 6 day guided peninsula day tours running from killarney. The full coast of Ireland will be coming soon after which you might be interested. If not the routes currently on the download page will go a long way in helping you to plan the trip yourself. Either way I’m sure you’ll have a blast and hopefully the weather will be kind

Cheers,
Denis

March is very very early, most or the tourist and high passes on D roads usually don’t open until May or even June. Early March will likely see the ski stations in full swing. The high passes and the central Pyrenees only really thaw out in early to mid May and even then the going can be treacherous with either late snow anywhere above 1800 meters or flooding due to snow melt. Mid May would be the earliest I’d try planning a trip through the high Pyrenees. So to be safe your likely route would almost certainly be along the major commertial routest. On the west side you can choose the Biaritz – Pamplona-Zaragoza-Valentia or Biaritz – Burgos-Madrid-Cordoba/Granada routes or even skirt the Picos and around via Portugal. However in early March Pamplona, Zaragoza, Madrid and even around Barcelona can see snow, near freezing conditions or just plain old miserable weather so you need to be prepaired for a cold run in places.

On the east side it’s a crossing via Andorra or one of the passes south of Perpignan which tend to open sooner as they are lower and closer to the Med which keeps the weather a bit more civil. The Spanish Med motorway route is mind numbing boring and expensive but you could roughly follow the route taken by Hannibal from Carthagena which is very enjoyable, a little research will get you on that route. I dont know how well you know Spain but it can get some pritty bizzar and extreme weather. If it were me planing a run to Malaga in March I’d be well prepaired with my winter woolies and GoreTex and pick a route close to the Med as i’ve had a few runs along the west side of France/Spain and the Basque Pyrenees go nasty or downright dangerious thanks to Atlantic storms in April and May where the temperatures dropped from +12C to -10 in a matter of 2 hours.

That said the weather is highly unpredictable these days, anything goes, you might be very lucky crossing one of the cols south of Pau but you’d want to keep a very close eye on the weather, especially along the west where atlantic storms can roll in and turn a mountain crossing into a highly dangerious endevor on a bike. I certainly wont be making that mistake again.

If it were me making a run to Malaga in March I’d play it safe these days and cross the Pyrenees on the Med side and aim to make it interesting in Cathar country and Hannibals aproximate route through Spain from Cartagena, at least if the weather goes nasty it’s a short run to the boring but safe costal route for a bit. The coast road via Cerbère, Tossa Del Mar, Lloret del Mar north of Barcelona can be pure magic in places too and the weather always starts to warm up south of Barcelona.

Hope this helps..
Denis

Sorry for the late reply, I’m flat out at the moment working the motorcycle guide gig on Irelands west coast.

I’m using a HID bulb on the low beam on both my bikes, and I’ve used them in Spain, north and south without issue. Actually I bought them in Spain and fitted one on my Spanish reg bike which went to and passed the Spanish version of the MOT, so I’m sure it’s fine. However Spain can a little tricky as it’s made up of autonomous states so for example the laws in Valencia and the laws (and languague) in Catalonia can vary greatly. I’m just saying that to cover myself, but the traffic laws are 98% the same across Spain so I really don’t think you’ll have an issue with those lights. And I’ve not read anywhere or heard anything that would make me think you’d have a problem. If you still worried go onto FaceBook and look for a FB page called N332 (https://www.facebook.com/DrivingSpain/?fref=ts) which is run by English speaking Guardia Civil, you can post the question there and get an definitive answer from the GC themselves. It was some of the GC’s on this page that helped me write my Spanish Roundabout article.

I would say you definetly will need to adjust your lights for riding on the right. If a sharp eyed Guardia Civil Traffico spots that you have not you might easily get into a spot of bother. The GC are doing a major safety campaign this year (May-October) and they are paying special attention to tourists, trucks and motorcycles. This includes roadside vehicle safety checks (P.O.W.E.R. checks) as well as document checks. So I’d certainly recomend having your bike serviced, lights adjusted and start off on tyres capable of doing the round trip.

Hope this helps,
Denis

I don’t have many routes for the north of France as I spend far more time in the southern half. But there are plenty of good routes for that area on the following links.

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/motorbike-rides-in-france-/basse-normandie–___3216.html

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/motorbike-rides-in-france-/haute-normandie–___4154.html

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/motorbike-rides-in-france-/nord-pas-de-calais–___4958.html

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/motorbike-rides-in-france-/bretagne-brittany–___3484.html

Rgds
Denis

I am planning a long weekend in Northern France, which unusually, includes both cars and bikes.

We would start in either Calais or Cherbourg on a Saturday morning (having left London on Friday night), returning to London on either the Monday or Tuesday night. We only have 3-4 days maximum.

Could you suggest a route that has about 5 hours of driving/riding a day and is suitable for both vehicles? We’re not scared of twisties, in fact the more the better as long as the visibility and road surface is good.

I can imagine you must be very busy, but as detailed a reply as possible (even a cheeky Gmaps link) would be hugely appreciated!

Regards
AD