Motorbike Tours

Spain Tour September 2026 - North Spain, Pyrenees and East France

This tour started in the North part of Spain arriving by ferry at Santander and then the Picos area of Spain. The tour heads East along the Pyrenees and France borders and finally heads north into France ending at Verdun. A total of 14 days in total.

So we’re off.

Well I am anyway. Trip for me started with the crossing on the Hook of Holland to Harwich Stena Line as I needed to get over to UK to take the next ferry to Spain.
Decent cabin with a view across Rotterdam port and a quiet crossing. A tip for those using this crossing, you do need to secure your own bike as the crew simply are not interested. Anyway after a quiet night we were off by 0730 and on our way towards Portsmouth.

NOTE: the map overview is in Basecamp but I no longer provide the daily trips as GPX files. If anyone wants them please send an email.

Relais de la Voie Sacree

Day 1. Harwich to Portsmouth - 435 km

After disembarking in Harwich I took the long way around London to the north starting in Essex, heading into Suffolk and the roads were actually enjoyable to ride with little traffic

With a stop in the village of Long Melford to take a look at the beautiful old wool church which has an amazing history, I ventured further west to the small village of Shabbington where I met up with my riding partner for the trip and bit of lunch.

Then we headed south through Basingstoke and the Thames area towards Portsmouth. Roads were poor and busy but we fianally arrived at the docks around 1730. Boarding wasnt due to start until 1930 so we had bite at a local pub close to the docks and then started the boarding process. Finally on board and in our cabins by 2100. Depsarture was on time at 2145.

A small section about the ferry crossing from Portsmouth. We decided to take te Portsmouth option as it just fitted with the trip timing and dates and frankly i just didn't fancy the ride all the way down to Plymouth on the motorway.
The vessel, The Salamanca from Brittany Ferries is a new ship built in 2021. I opted for an outside cabin.
The car deck is on deck 5 and my cabin was on deck 7 so no big effort to walk the stairs with bags. The ferry departs at 2145 and before departure the crew actually take responsibility for lashing your bike down.
Crossing was very comfortable and you have a full day and second night to relax. Food on board wasn't great but breakfast was excellent. Big advantage with this crossing to Santander I found was the arrival time of 0800 and off by 0830. This gave us time for a full days ride before the first stop which is exactly what we did.

Beautiful open coutryside and scenery

Day 2. Santander Ferry to Los Picosrsbronn - 333km.

A great start to the morning albeit a bit grey. The rain had passed through during the night and forecast was dry and cloudy. After breakfast we set off and headed north east and then gradually east. Lovely winding roads as we headed to the foothills of the north Vosges and into Alsace. The German influence in this area is very clear. It stayed dry all the way and actually in the afternoon became quite warm at around 26 degrees. We arrived at out destination at 1600. A lovely hotel with airconditioned rooms but unfortunately due to it being a Sunday no dinner. We had booked an Italian restaurant within close walking distance which was great. Another lovely day´s riding, decent food and an early night! Hotel was the RitterHoft in Morsbron. A lower classification for both food and accommodation but we felt it worthy of the blue level.

Hotel Ritter Hoft, Mrosbron

The start of the B500

Coffee break on the B 500

B500

Day 3. Los Picos tour .- 304km.

The main event of our trip - to ride the B500 and surrounding roads. It all started a bit badly because the route which had taken us across the Rhine by ferry had no ferry so we had quite a large detour to get across the river by motorway. Soon we were heading down towards Baden Baden and the top of the B500. Weather thankfully was dry and overcast but by the time we hit the B500 is was bright and roads quiet and dry. Unfortunately the speed restrictions had been further extended so at the ´´top´´ part of the B500 was a 50 km/h restriction and for most of the rest was 70 km/h.

We still managed to enjoy the roads all the way down to the boarder with France again crossing over just below Colmar.

We finally crossed a couple of hill ranges where the roads were incredibly tight with real narrow bends and twisties. Dropping down into the town of Munster then it was up again through the tight twisties to our hotel The Panorama just south of the town of Hohrod in Les Vosges. The hotel had seen better days and the food was poor. Still had the ´´blue´´ Logis classification for both accommodation and food. We were really disappointed. Views from the hotel were great though. Nice day let down a bit by the hotel.

view from the hotel room

View from Hotel, Hohrod

B500, Black Forest

Day 4. Potes to Mues - 322km

Another bright start and blue skies.

Rain had again passed through during the night and by 0900 it was well into the 20´s in temperature. The start of the trip took us north into the Vosges and to the town of Hohrod and the WW1 battlefields of northern France. A quick stop at the impressive German Military Cemetery and then past French ones and we headed due West. Roads were quite open and long stretches but soon we were quickly into lovely open countryside. A quick drinks stop on the way in the small village of Bourbonne-les-Bains and we were making good time. Weather was great. Arrived quite early in the lovely wine town of Chablis. Hotel was the Hostelleire des Clos. A lovely building just outside the centre with safe parking. A lovely 3 course dinner with a nice bottle of the local wine and that was great end to day 4.

Crossroads at the Hohrod Cemetery

German military cemetery, Hohrod

Chablis, France

Hostellerie Les Clos, Chablis

some of the amazing French Countryside from above

Day 5. Mues to CanFranc Station- 331 km.

A lovely start again to the day with bright sunshine. No rain forecasted so we headed off west towards our next destination in the South part of Normandy. Unfortunately due to some navigation issues Karl became separated and rather than faffing around with meeting points we agreed to ride our own routes to the hotel. The roads were great albiet some long stretches again in the open countryside. Weather was warm and calm so I managed to stop a few times to get some drone footage which is shown above.

A few short drink stops along the way and I arrived a little after Karl at our penultimate stop in the town of Montagne au Perche. A lovely old medieval French town and our hotel was in the oldest area. The Hotel aux Tribunal. A lovely renovated but very old 16 century building. Bike parking was within their small courtyard and very safe. A lovely dinner in their restaurant and a early night ready for our final ride north.

Hotel au Tribunal Montagne au Perche

Very safe bike parking

Old part of town

Day 6. CanFrans Station to Llavorsi - 330km

Another lovely morning greeted us and after breakfast we headed north on our final leg of the tour to an old favourite, Montreuil sur Mer. Unfortunately Thursdays was the only day that the famous restaurant ´´Le Patio´´ was closed so we had already made other arrangement's at a local bistro. More on that later.

The weather was fine and we rode north past Rouen avoiding the city and heading more towards Le Havre. The weather turned grey although no rain right up until our last 10 km when it did rain a bit. Roads were nice and the closer we got to Montrueil, less traffic and more open spaces. Final arrival was a little later at 1700 at the hotel. Dinner was at ´´Le Bistronome´´ in Montreuil which was very good; a 5 minute walks from the hotel.

The hotel was Les Hauts de Montreuil

Another great tour. We had planned to set of early next morning to be back home at a reasonable time. Next morning weather had changed considerably and whilst a bit wet the winds were horrific as I headed across the Belgium / Dutch border.

Finally arrived home around 1230.

My thanks again to Karl for a great trip. Until the next one end of September!

Watch this space.