EU Road Trip 2018: Mattighofen to Goodwood and back

Ridden by the founder in 2018 · KTM 790 Duke, two mates

5,609 km on two KTM 790 Dukes: Porsche Museum, Hockenheim, a lap of the Nürburgring, Spa, Aston Martin, Alfaholics, Brooklands, Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Riviera, Lucca, Tavullia, World Ducati Week, Modena and home over the Alps.

Change the dates, stops and your vehicle. The planner works out fuel, night stops, sunset, weather and the grade of every road.

Distances and grades from the planner's route on OpenStreetMap roads. Your plan may differ.

Day by day

1. DAY 1 · 402 km
   Mattighofen → Stuttgart
   Via Munich Airport, Porsche Museum
2. DAY 2 · 327 km
   Stuttgart → Nürburg
   Via Hockenheimring
3. DAY 3 · 271 km
   Nürburg → La Louvière
   Via Spa-Francorchamps
4. DAY 4 · 542 km
   La Louvière → Banbury
   Via Calais, Folkestone, Brands Hatch
5. DAY 5 · 193 km
   Banbury → Clevedon (Alfaholics)
   Via Aston Martin, Gaydon, Burford, Cotswolds
6. DAY 6 · 193 km
   Clevedon (Alfaholics) → Shepperton
7. DAY 7 · 428 km
   Shepperton → Portsmouth
   Via Brooklands Museum, Wellington, Somerset
8. DAY 8 · 75 km
   Portsmouth → Portsmouth
   Via Goodwood Festival of Speed
9. DAY 9 · 1 212 km
   Portsmouth → Lyon
   Via Le Havre, Paris
10. DAY 10 · 416 km
    Lyon → Saint-Raphaël
11. DAY 11 · 471 km
    Saint-Raphaël → Lucca
    Via Nice, Monaco
12. DAY 12 · 331 km
    Lucca → Tavullia (VR46 MotoRanch)
13. DAY 13 · 214 km
    Tavullia (VR46 MotoRanch) → Modena
    Via Misano (World Ducati Week), Museo Lamborghini, Sant'Agata, Pagani, San Cesario
14. DAY 14 · 362 km
    Modena → Innsbruck
15. DAY 15 · 233 km
    Innsbruck → Mattighofen

The story

A trip of a lifetime that changed my life. A TV reviewer said nobody should tour on a 790 Duke. We did 5,609 km, six countries, at 5.4 litres per 100. The Nürburgring on a public Sunday, first time, on motorcycles. Aston Martin's factory, Alfaholics, Brooklands. My mate won the pillion seat in the Vulcan up the hill at Goodwood. An overnight ferry to France, sleeping on deck on the Riviera, Lenny Kravitz by accident in Lucca, a night opposite Rossi's ranch and World Ducati Week. 212 km of rain to finish. Grinning in my helmet the whole way.

Good to know

• The Channel: we took the Eurotunnel out and an overnight ferry from Portsmouth back. The planner routes the ferry.
• Bike theft is real in the UK. Lock it to something.
• Nights in England are approximate where the blog doesn't say.

Read the misadventures

• The whole trip
• Hockenheim and the Nürburgring
• Goodwood Festival of Speed
• Lenny in Lucca
• World Ducati Week

Roads change. Check conditions before you go, and report what you find in the planner so the next rider knows.