Ultimate Black Forest & Vosges Motorbike Tour

Two mountain ranges, two proper bases and six days of riding without a suitcase strapped to the bike. This nine-day guided tour splits its nights evenly between the Black Forest and the Vosges, three in each, so the panniers stay in the room.

The format is the selling point. Rather than packing and unpacking every morning, the group settles in one hotel for three nights and rides circular routes from it, then moves across the Rhine and does the same again. It makes for faster, lighter, more enjoyable riding on roads that reward it.

The roads are the good ones. In Germany that means the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse, the B500 from Baden-Baden to Buhlerhohe, which is the road everybody comes to the Black Forest for, plus a day on forest single-track and wooded routes and a stop at the Biker Ranch cafe. In France it means the Route des Cretes along the Vosges ridge and the Col du Grand Ballon, the highest point in the range. The transfer between them goes by way of Lake Titisee and Colmar, and there is an optional spectator stop at the Nurburgring on the way home.

Moto Travel Dude include the return Eurotunnel crossing for rider and pillion, every hotel with private secure parking, all breakfasts, the routes and information pack, and a UK guide for the whole trip. Fuel, insurance, breakdown cover and meals beyond breakfast are separate. For riders who find point-to-point touring tiring and would rather ride the same good roads properly, this format is a considerable improvement.