How Far to Ride per Day on a Motorcycle Tour

Plan by hours, not kilometres

A 300 km day can be a relaxed half-day on a motorway or a hard ten hours over mountain passes. The useful number is time. For most riders, five to six hours of riding a day, plus stops, is the sustainable limit on a tour of a week or more. That leaves time to look at things, eat properly and arrive with the energy to enjoy the evening.

Average speeds by road type

These are rough moving averages including short stops, not top speeds. Use them to turn hours into distance.

• Motorways: around 90 to 100 km/h (55 to 60 mph) average, including fuel stops and traffic.
• Open main roads and good B-roads: around 60 to 70 km/h (35 to 45 mph), with villages, junctions and the odd tractor.
• Twisty hill roads: around 45 to 55 km/h (30 to 35 mph).
• High mountain passes: around 30 to 40 km/h (20 to 25 mph). Hairpins, traffic, photo stops and roadworks all slow you down.

What that means per day

• Motorway transfer day: 500 to 700 km (310 to 435 miles) is possible, but tiring. Above that, fatigue builds and the next day suffers.
• Touring on main and hill roads: 250 to 350 km (155 to 220 miles) is a good, full day.
• Mountain days: 150 to 250 km (95 to 155 miles). Four or five big passes in a day is plenty for most riders. Our Alps season guide explains the conditions.
• Two-up: knock a quarter off. Our pillion touring guide covers why.
• Group rides: knock a third off; stops take longer. See planning a group ride.

Examples from our route guides

The Route des Grandes Alpes is about 700 km (435 miles) from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean over the high French passes. Most riders take four to six days, which works out at 120 to 175 km (75 to 110 miles) a day. That sounds short until you count the passes. The North Coast 500 is about 830 km (515 miles); four or five days is comfortable, with single-track roads on the west and north coasts that slow you down. A day loop like the Black Forest high road at about 230 km (145 miles) makes a full and satisfying day.

The first and last days

Keep the first day short. You will be getting used to a loaded bike, riding on the right if you have crossed from the UK, and starting early for a ferry. An easy first leg to somewhere with good roads for the next morning sets the tone. Our first European tour guide suggests first-day routes from Calais.

The last day before the return crossing should also be easy, ending within a short ride of the port. A missed ferry costs more than the hotel. Leave a buffer of a few hours.

A sample week

Here is how those numbers fit a seven-day trip from the UK to the Black Forest: day one, a short crossing and about 330 km (205 miles) to the Ardennes; day two, about 400 km (250 miles) on to the Black Forest, mostly motorway; days three to five, unloaded day loops of 200 to 250 km (125 to 155 miles) from one base; day six, back north to the Ardennes or the Eifel; day seven, an easy run to the port and home. No day is too long, and three of them are pure riding.

Rest days

On a tour of a week or more, plan a day off the bike every three or four days, or a short day without luggage. Fatigue builds slowly and shows up as poor lines, late braking and short tempers. A rest day is also a buffer for bad weather, a closed pass or a puncture. If nothing goes wrong, use it for a day loop from the hotel.

Sat-nav times are optimistic

Navigation apps estimate time from speed limits and typical traffic. On mountain roads, single-track lanes and anywhere with hairpins, they are often well short of reality, before you add fuel, lunch and photo stops. As a rule of thumb, add a quarter to the estimate on hill roads and up to a half on high passes. Border crossings, roadworks with traffic lights, town centres and fuel stops all add time too.

Daylight and the season

Plan to arrive in daylight with time to spare. In June the evenings are long and a late finish is easy; by late September and October the days are much shorter, and the temperature drops quickly in the mountains after sunset. Riding unfamiliar roads in the dark, tired, is when tours go wrong. Earlier starts help more than later finishes.

Bases versus moving every day

A tour where you change hotels every night means packing, unpacking and loading every morning, and riding the whole day with full luggage. Staying two or three nights in one place and riding unloaded day loops is more relaxing and often better riding. A good pattern for a ten-day trip is two or three bases with transfer days between them. Biker hotels with garages, drying rooms and hosts who give out local loops suit this style well; regions like the Black Forest, the Tyrol and the French Alps work well as bases.

Signs you are riding too far

• You are arriving after dark, or arriving too tired to enjoy dinner.
• You are skipping stops you planned to make.
• Your riding is getting sloppy: missed gears, running wide, late braking.
• Every day ends with a long stretch on a main road just to make the hotel.

If you see these, shorten the next days, add a rest day or move the hotel booking. A flexible plan with one or two empty days is the best insurance there is.