BMW The Ultimate Riding Machine

14-24 June 2013 (1,945 miles)

11 days / 10 nights

Highlights:

• Ride France’s best mountain passes on the Route des Grandes Alpes

• Relax with a three-night stop in a seafront boutique hotel on the French Riviera

• Visit the Cathedral of St Etienne of Bourges, a UNESCO listed national landmark

• Endless twists and bends to ride through the Jura Mountains and the Vosges National Park

If you prefer to cruise along rural D-roads, top up your tan on the Riviera and storm up the highest Alpine passes, this tour is for you. We’ll do all this and more, taking in the very best roads and stunning scenery from many regions of France. We skirt the Champagne region and cross over the River Loire on our way south through Bourges, to the beautiful valleys and sweeping roads of the Ardeche region. Cutting across the Vaucluse and the Alpes Maritimes, we pass Nice on our way to a three-night stay in the famous Riviera resort of Menton. Our charming boutique hotel is on the sea front with a pool. The beach, restaurants and Italianate, picturesque old town are only a short walk away.

The real ride starts when we leave Menton heading north over the stunning Route des Grandes Alpes, which has one mountain pass after another (many over 2,000 metres high), all the way to Lake Geneva. After this is another great ride along the Jura Mountains and into the hilly and scenic Vosges region, where we stay overnight in the lake resort of Gerardmer. We haven’t finished with the good roads yet as we head westward along sweeping and quiet D-roads, then up the valley of the River Meuse to our last night stay in the ancient fortress of Sedan, before heading back to Calais.

Price:Single Rider (Single room)£1,799 •Single Rider (Shared room)£1,299 •Rider & Pillion (Sharing room)£2,299