Some of our tours have been designed to be shorter, so that people with limited time availability can still find time to ride in Europe.  This is one of those tours, where in just seven days, you can cross the channel with us and ride fabulous roads set in wonderful scenery. If you haven’t ridden them before, the roads in the Ardennes are just fabulous!  We leave on a Sunday and you will be back in the UK on the following Saturday evening.

This tour is all about the riding. We have specifically chosen roads that we are sure you will love to ride – twisty and scenic!  Many riders do not get to experience these types of roads and with little traffic, they are a joy to ride.

The tour is in 3 parts – riding to our main destination, riding the wonderful roads in the Ardennes and of course riding back to Calais.

The hotels we choose are 3 star, with safe parking and good food.

This is a round-trip tour and the price includes the channel tunnel train to and from France.

Depending on where you are from, you could ride your own bike on the tour, or rent one from one of the Harley-Davidson dealers we work closely with (see ‘Rentals’ tab at the top of this page).

Day One – Sunday 17 August

We catch a Eurotunnel train from Folkestone to Calais early on the Sunday morning.  The aim of today is to get to the great roads further south as quickly as possible, so we use some motorway to get there but only about 25 miles.

Almost as soon as we depart the Eurotunnel train we find interesting roads in northern France including riding through rural farmland and alongside a canal. We stop for lunch just south of Lille before skirting around Valencienenes, after which we move onto smaller roads and ride through the L’Avesnois National Park, a lot of which means riding fabulous forest roads. We then ride within the Ardennes National Park.

We cross the border into Belgium mad-afternoon and as we approach Dinant we ride past a small motor racing circuit and on some fabulous roads that twist and turn to follow the geography of a small river. We ride through Dinant and alongside the River Meuse before reaching our hotel for the evening and by the time we arrive there, we will have ridden 188 miles today.

Our arrival in Dinant means we have reached the Ardennes.

Day Two – Monday 18 August

On day 2 the fabulous roads start almost as soon as we leave the hotel. We ride great motorcycling roads all day. We ride alongside the River Meuse, occasionally catching glimpses of the river as we head south and back into France. At Montherme we change direction and start to head east, now riding alongside the River Semois and we cross back into Belgium. The roads here are sublime, twisting ribbons that follow the contours of the landscape – wonderful to ride! We make the most of the great roads here before finally heading south once more to arrive at our hotel in eastern Belgium. By the time we get there, we will have ridden 155 miles.

Day Three – Tuesday 19 August

Early this morning we cross the border back into France and then into Luxembourg as we head east and almost straight away you will notice the increase in quality of the road surfaces. We spend the rest of the day in Luxembourg riding amazing roads that could have been made for motorcycling!

At times we are on the very eastern edge of the country, riding alongside the border with Germany. The River Sure will be our companion quite a few times today and indeed the hotel we stay at tonight is on its bank.

We only travel about 60 miles as the crow flies, but we ride many great roads that Luxembourg has to offer and overall, this will be a terrific days riding of about 150 miles. Who needs straight roads!

Day Four – Wednesday 20 August

Today we stay in Luxembourg all day and we don’t need to pack this morning because we stay at the same hotel by the river again tonight. We will do a 115 mile ride today in a large clockwise loop, in the north of Luxembourg, riding some of its better roads that are terrific for motorcycling. The countryside here is beautiful and very well maintained.

We will stop somewhere really nice for lunch – maybe even a picnic if the weather is good.

Day Five – Thursday 21 August

Today we spend the morning in the northern part of Luxembourg. We stop in the beautiful town of Vianden and admire the view beyond its river up to the stunning castle set high above the town. We then ride the road immediately to the north of Vianden as it twists and turns following the River Sure, We will be riding on its west bank and the east bank, just a few metres away, is in Germany.

Soon we cross the border to ride the eastern part of the Belgium Ardennes. Centred around Malmedy, Spa, Veilsalm and onto Harze, this is another wonderful area to ride.

In total, we ride 148 miles today.

Day Six – Friday 22 August

We stay in the Belgium Ardennes all day today, heading south overall. This morning we visit the beautiful town of Durbuy and have our morning break there, including a short walk around its back streets shopping area.

We then stay on the wonderful smaller backroads around the La Roche-en-Ardenne area seeking out the best riding roads. This evening we stay close to the border with France, having ridden 137 miles today. You will be able to tell from the map of the tour, that in common with most days when we are in the Ardennes, we seek out the very best riding roads in the area as we again twist and turn to make the most of them.

Day Seven- Saturday 23 August

We conclude the tour today by riding some more of the French Ardennes until we reach Cambrai, before joining the motorway for about an hour to get back to Calais and our return Eurotunnel train. We arrive back in the UK at around 5pm having ridden 213 miles today.

• Crossing the English Channel (done by Eurotunnel train)
• 3-star accommodation
• Breakfast every day
• 2 evening meals (but not your drinks)
• Well researched routes to provide you with fantastic roads to ride
• Experienced tour guide to lead the tour
• A back marker / sweep
• Pre-purchased motorway toll vignettes
• Tour1 T-Shirt
• Comprehensive road book and tour itinerary
• GPS routes for your sat nav (if wanted)

What’s not included….

• Any hotel accommodation before the tour starts, or after it ends
• Petrol (gas) you use
• Motorway tolls that have to be paid at booths, plus other road tolls
• All other meals and drinks
• Any hotel extra charges (mini bar, drinks etc charged to your room)
• Motorcycle rental, should you need it (we can help arrange this – see the RENTALS tab at the top of this page)

Our group sizes normally range from 10 to 14 motorcycles.

Each day, we normally start riding at 8.30am sharp and cover in the region of 115 to 220 miles.  We try to avoid motorways wherever possible and only use these when there is no real alternative.  We take mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks and of course find somewhere for lunch.  Our plan is to normally arrive at that evening’s hotel by around 6pm.

We use good quality hotels – not super luxury and not bottom end, but mid-range – normally 3 or 4-star.

We ride at a pace to suit all of the riders.  We stick to all speed limits in towns, but in rural areas we ride at, let’s call them ‘more appropriate’ speeds.  We generally ride in staggered convoy on straighter roads.

As we have pre-booked hotels and a schedule to stick to, we ride in all weathers.  During any exceptionally inclement weather, we will pull over for short periods.  We could experience a range of different types of weather, so bring waterproofs, just in case.

We like these tours to be about having a real adventure, riding on great roads with like-minded people. For that reason, we do not use a support van, but we always have a back-marker.

Payments – we require a £400 deposit to be paid when you book a tour, with the balance to be paid in four equal payments, nine, seven, five and three months before the tour starts. If you prefer, you can pay the balance of the cost of the tour earlier than this.

*Ride Rating

Each of our rides has a difficulty rating and this tour is rated as ‘moderate’.  That means this tour is not recommended for new riders.  You should have at least four years of riding experience on large motorcycles.  You must have ridden on the right-hand side of the road before and you must be comfortable with travelling in a group of riders and be able to keep a good pace within that group.  We do not ride fast, but at the same time, it is better if riders do not go too slowly.  While there is not much motorway riding on the tour, as a guide, the group will be riding at speeds of 75mph on motorways.  You must be confident of riding in rain and on wet roads. Each day’s riding will be around 9 hours, with breaks.  You should be able to ride all day.  If you are at all unsure if your riding ability is good enough for this tour, then you must contact us by telephone to discuss.