Tours
On these pages we try and lay out for you descriptions of the tours we've gone on providing as much information as possible for you to plan your own adventures and work out which are the best routes for you. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you want more information or have any questions and we hope you find our site helpful...
2018 - Fly Ride Milan, Como & StelvioA complete change for Passport Tours this year and a number of firsts. After 11 years of riding all the way to the Alps and back we decided to try a fly ride tour.
After a little research the easiest option seemed to be to fly to Milan, hiring bikes from next to the airport and then riding up in to the Eastern Alps. This would be a first for us - albeit Nick had trialled the approach with Michael Spiteri in their California Dream adventure. The other first was that our good friend Chris Sullivan joined the band! Chris is referred to as Hugo in the text so as not to confuse with Chris Davis... those who know Mr Sullivan will understand the reference... All in all we had an absolute blast and now would not ride all the way to the Alps again. It was great to do when we were younger and had the time to spare but now we are getting older we can enjoy all our riding time on great Alpine roads, in great weather and not have to endure the tiring schlep on the motorways. |
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2017 - Southern Alps revisitedNick Bailey and Chris Davis returned to the Southern Alps for the first time since 2011. In this tour we re-visit some of our favourite passes and also discover exciting new ones...
We also managed another Passport Tours first - staying for two nights in one hotel and therefore being able to jettison our luggage and not having to worry about where we were going to kip for the night! We also choose to ride less distance, overall, and focus on really enjoying the passes and places we visited. We rode several of the passes twice and enjoyed becoming more familiar with the roads learning how to get the most our of them. All in all another great tour... and possibly the last one we ride to the Alps for as in 2018 we are planning a fly ride tour... |
2016 - Rhone valley and central AlpsThis tour is another first for Passport Tours. Our first 9 tours have all been ridden as a pair - Nick and Chris. However, in 2015 we were joined by our friend Michael Spiteri. Would Michael fit in? Would his riding style suit? Would he find a bike to tour on as he didn't own a suitable one? Read on to find out...
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2015 - Central Alps Revisited
Perhaps anticipated more than any previous tour, and like previous tours, with a theme that turned out to be inaccurate, 2015 may become something of a watershed in our tour history. Originally planned to be Passport Tours' first tour with 3 travellers, the status quo was maintained when Chris "Hugo" Sullivan had to drop out due to work commitments. The 2015 tour format initially followed previous tours, comprising the riding of mountain passes in a number of different regions of the Alps/Dolomites interspersed with the sometimes tedious liaisons between them. This format has served us well in the past; it has however meant a lot of time (and miles) spent getting around and resulting in only the major passes being ridden. Furthermore, we have never spent much (any!) time exploring the places we have visited other than the roads getting to/from them. On our final full day of 2015, we decided not to travel beyond the immediate area (around Interlaken) and spent more time in one place. This is a format that we expect to develop further for 2016 and beyond...
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2014 - Austrian and Central Alps Tour
Snow and road works stopped play in Austria!
A tour that started out as an Austrian adventure required some hasty re-planning when snow and road works closed a number of crucial roads. A tour that also confirmed beyond any doubt of the benefit of a large engine when touring, both Chris’ Triumph Trophy and Nick’s BMW R1200GS proving more than adequate for the long motorway slogs as well as being great fun in the twisties on arrival. The 2014 tour was also memorable for one of the best single pass riding days of any tour... |
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2012 - The Dolomites
After only a brief flirtation with the Dolomites on our 2007 tour and reading so many rave reviews of touring in them we decided that our 2012 tour would be centred there. We planned to attempt John Hermann's 17 passes in one day! It didn't quite turn out as we planned and in the end we covered:
• 16 high passes • 5 countries • nearly 2,000 miles. More importantly we discovered a new touring destination which promises many miles of fabulous riding - Austria. Also the 2012 Passport Tour was much later in the year (October compared to the normal June) as a result of work commitments. We were unsure what this would mean regarding the weather and the impact of shorter days. Our conclusion is that June is much preferential for the length of day and the excitement of seeing lots of ice and snow on the mountains. October clearly has the advantage of dryer roads high up and less road works due to the winter ice / snow damage. |
2011 - Best of the Alps TourAn absolutely classic Alpine tour:
✓ 5 days ✓ 2,163 miles ✓ 23 alpine passes ✓ A Rocket and a Tiger ✓ 890 miles - the longest day So, do you consider yourself too busy to tour? Well, we covered over 2,150 miles, 4 countries and 23 of the best Alpine passes in 4 full days. Admittedly, arriving back at work on Friday morning having been riding for most of the previous 20 or so hours wouldn’t make for the most productive of days. With an understanding boss and a great bike however, a full fat tour is do-able taking only 4 days’ leave… so get planning… |
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2010 - Introduction to the Pyrenees
The Passport Tour 2010:
✓ 5 days ✓ 1,650 miles ✓ A Rocket and a Tiger ✓ 4 days of heavy rain ✓ A ferry ✓ A new adventure We had set out to complete our long awaited Best of the Alps Tour, however, it soon became clear that the weather was going to be appalling in the Alps so we started to discuss alternate destinations. With hindsight we should have had some planned, but we didn't! Also we should have taken the weather forecasts more seriously. If we had we would have gone up north either in Great Britain or up to Norway and the Fjords. For 2011 Chris is going to have a number of destination plans so we can ensure we get the best of the weather and the roads. Anyway in a bid to get below a band of bad weather, which failed as you will see, we headed further south, to the Pyrenees. After nearly 1,000 miles getting to Perpignan we decided the only way back was by ferry, much against Nick's better judgement, however, all worked out well. We found some great roads, hotels, people and that the ferry cuts out a lot of motorway. Next year we are seriously contemplating getting the ferry in both directions. |
2009 - UK Tour
A very different tour to the 3 Passport Tours proceeding it but still a very good tour. So what did we conclude after our first UK Tour:
If we are going to do another UK Tour then we would head for Moffat on day zero, only 300 miles from London. The next morning we would set off on the A701 to Edinburgh and then head north as fast as we could staying up in the north of Scotland for as long as we could. If we got the same dry sunny weather, we had this time, we would be very happy. However, we keep seeing our passport pictures and reading our reports from touring in the Alps and there is just something exciting about going abroad. Therefore we plan to head to the Alps again for the best of the Passport Tours in 2010. |
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2008 - Southern Alps
The Passport Tour 2008:
Once again the weather was lousy compared with 2006. Thankfully as decided after last year’s tour, both of us are riding ABS bikes! In fact both of us are riding Triumph’s new Tiger 1050 ABS. Both bikes were great and we agreed that it would be hard to find a better bike for long distance touring. The Tiger is comfortable and assured on the motorways and even better on the twisty A and B roads. All in all the tour was excellent and the highlight was one of the best roads in Europe - ‘The Route Napoleon.’ We can’t do it justice, although we will try later on, the only real way to experience it is to ride it - get planning your trip now! |
2007 - Eastern Alps
The Passport Tour 2007:
The weather was lousy compared with 2006. Luckily for us most of the rain fell while we were traveling to and from the Alps. However, the roads were still much more slippery, and had quiet a lot of debris on them, so care was essential. Next year we both plan to be riding ABS bikes! Both bikes were great. This was Chris’ second year on the Sprint and it’s a great sports tourer. Next year, Chris plans to go back to a Tiger as he finds the Sprint’s riding position a bit extreme, however, it is very quick! Nick took his Yamaha this year. Much quicker than his Tiger 955i on the motorways but he experienced brake fade on Stelvio!! Not much fun. We hope you find the write up interesting. |
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2006 - Central Alps
This was the first Passport Tour Nick and I ever went on and as such has a special place in our memories...
We covered:
Day 0 - Get as far into France as we can before we have to hit the sack! Day 1 - First sight of the Alps and first Alpine pass bagged... Day 2 - Interlaken, around Mount Blanc and through the tunnel to Chamonix… Day 3 - Col de L’Iseran, the second highest pass in the Alps and a blast through Italy to Lake Como... Day 4 - From the Lakes of Italy, over the high passes of Switzerland, through Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany and onto Luxembourg - all in one day! Day 5 - A quick blast back through Belgium and France and safely home onto the busy roads of South East England. What a great adventure! We had loads of fun and are now hooked on touring in the high mountains. |
