Europe

Classic Roads

Ride the Highest Pass in the Eastern Alps—Stelvio Pass, Italy

The Stelvio Pass is one of the most challenging and exhilarating motorcycle roads in the world to ride. It’s absolutely worth a trip to Italy just to wrassle with this beast. At 9,045 feet, Stelvio Pass is the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps and the

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Tuscan Tryst: Exploring Europe with a Zavorrina

Lesa and I have always traveled unconventionally. We began married life with an eight-month backpacking honeymoon adventure that included renting a BMW K 75 in Sydney and heading up into Australia’s Blue Mountains with a tent strapped on the back. We often joke that we’ve been on t

Jan/Feb '24 Premium Content

Ötztal Valley, Austria: The Story of Three Roads

It is September and my wife and I are staying at a small apartment hotel on the outskirts of Sölden in Tyrol. This place serves as a base from which to explore the area by motorbike. Today’s plan is to ride over the Timmelsjoch, Austria’s highest international border

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2024 Tour Operators Guide

If you've been on the fence about planning that motorcycle trip you've been dreaming of, don't fret. You no longer need to plan the tour, line up the motorcycles, or worry about anything other than showing up on day one. RoadRUNNER has partnered with

Roundtrip Tour

A Year In Review: Top RoadRUNNER Tours of 2023

Stories from the road are what we are known for. We don't just write about places that we think might be interesting to visit, we actually ride there. When you read RoadRUNNER's tour editorial, you know our team of experienced motorcycle travel journalists have put the

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Ukraine's Heart of Darkness

On a clear summer day, with the sky that deep rich blue they always seem to use on holiday postcards, the pure white clouds fought with the endless miles of brilliant yellow sunflower fields for our attention. Occasionally, the vibrant blanket of color turned to a patchwork quilt of wheat

May/Jun '23 Premium Content

Germany: Bavaria at Its Best

What pops to your mind when you think of Bavaria? Munich and Oktoberfest? Maybe you would add the Alps and some beautiful lakes in their vicinity. There’s also BMW, of course. But the largest and probably most diverse state of Germany is much more than any of that. Some

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Sölkpass & Radstädter Tauern: Ancient Alpine Trade Routes

It is a sunny day in late May and Austria has lifted the pandemic riding restrictions for those of us who live here. What better way to celebrate our long-awaited freedom than by tackling the highest pass in Styria—the wonderful Sölkpass between Stein an der Enns on the north

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Hahntennjoch & Kaunertaler Gletscher: From Valley to Glacier

It’s motorcycling season and today we’re going to ride a route that should cover an amazing range of scenery types as we climb two famous motorcycling roads from the verdant floor of the Elmen Valley in Austria at 3,200 feet to the very foot of the Kaunertaler

Nov/Dec '22 Premium Content

Spain: A Man in La Mancha

“Down in a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to recollect, there lived, not long ago, one of those gentlemen who usually keeps a lance upon a rack, an old buckler, a lean stallion, and a coursing greyhound.” —Cervantes, Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes

Jul/Aug '22 Premium Content

Georgia: The Little Great Country

Canyons like Utah, glaciers on 16,000-foot-high mountains, prairies like Mongolia, and a subtropical coastline—Georgia has it all and much more. Yes, I came because of the great landscape. But already my first day on the bike reveals a flaw in my travel plan. I didn’t include the

Jan/Feb '22 Premium Content

Germany, Austria, and Italy: Monkey Business in the Dolomites

What do you do after a 10-hour operation that just saved your life? Do you live every given day more consciously? Do you care less about conventions and everything that burdens your life? Do you realize a long-fostered dream? Do you stop stressing and do everything much more slowly? All

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

Scotland's Gray Skies

"When your arse is in the saddle, the forecast will be the skies in front of you. In Scotland, there’s little point in looking any further ahead,” Calum Murray, owner of Saltire Motorcycles says prophetically, smiling at my comment that the weather forecast looked promising. I slip out

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

Tenerife’s Teide National Park

Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, lies some 200 miles off the coast of northwest Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. It has become synonymous with endless apartments, timeshares, restaurants, and all-day cheap booze. This, combined with full English breakfasts for a few euros and tacky tourist attractions, does

Jan/Feb '21 Premium Content

Austria: The Art of Indulgence

My friend Michael comes from Vienna. The Viennese are sometimes ill-reputed in the rest of Austria. The residents of the capital city are supposedly snotty and a bit too self-aggrandizing.  Michael, however, embodies another undisputed quality of the Viennese—they know how to indulge in the good things. During our

Nov/Dec '20 Premium Content

Sardinia: Italy or Not Italy?

The island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean is a motorcyclist’s dream. Officially, it is a territory of Italy. But, as we shall find out, it is different in many ways. “SARDEGNA NO E ITALIA!” is written in fat red letters on a concrete wall at the port of Olbia,

Mar/Apr '20 Premium Content

Greece: Beyond the Postcards

Anticipating our journey to Greece, we were expecting to see the whitewashed buildings with blue rooftops clinging to the coastline—the scenes that we knew from pictures. But those iconic sites are found only on two specific islands, and Greece has literally thousands of islands. We traveled the mainland and

Nov/Dec '19 Premium Content

Portugal: Stone Age

Few corners of Europe are as remote as northern Portugal, a fact that makes a journey to this region particularly worthwhile. The fisherman’s pub in Viana do Castelo looks like the place to go. It was even recommended to my wife, Danica, and me. But our timing is wrong:

Sep/Oct '19 Premium Content

French Fancy: Roadbook Trail Riding in the Cantal

The concentration is intense. My entire world has shrunk to a roll of stick drawings, a trip meter, and the single track ahead. Behind me there are six other riders relying on my navigation skills to keep the group moving at pace through the achingly beautiful French countryside. But I’

Jul/Aug '19 Premium Content

Ireland: Land of Story and Song

Giant Steps I tiptoe out of Dublin astride a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide (a touch nervous on the left side of the road, to be honest) and into a lush countryside of narrow lanes, hedgerows, and heath. Ireland is a land of storytellers and stories, and I am here to hear

May/Jun '19 Premium Content

Italy: The Heart of the Dolomites

The legendary Sellaronda loop in Italy’s Dolomites mountain range is a mere 34 miles long, but in that distance, you travel around the mighty, plateau-shaped Sella rock massif, climb four passes, ascend more than 5,800 feet, and steer your motorcycle through a countless number of turns in breathtakingly

May/Jun '18 Premium Content

Italy: Smoke on the Water

Mt. Etna, the largest of Italy’s three active volcanoes, commands the view to the east of Enna, an ancient town built atop a hill in the middle of Sicily. A few miles farther and 2,000 feet higher on the road climbing out of the Dittano Valley, the smoking

Jan/Feb '18 Premium Content

Austria: Behind the Mountains

For the longest time, the high alpine valley of the Lungau sat in remote isolation, approachable only by treacherous pass roads. And the region’s old traditions and stunning natural appeal have been preserved very well. Two of the many reasons to travel there. It’s slightly decadent. Plenty of

Nov/Dec '17 Premium Content

The Azores: Little Adventure

Selecting a location roughly 75-percent smaller than Rhode Island to test a prototype adventure motorcycle would seem to be a less-than-ideal decision. However, just as one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, never underestimate the level of excitement that can be found in a small space. Juggling Time

Sep/Oct '17 Premium Content

Germany: Down by the River

Germany is home to two famous rivers, the Rhine and the Danube. But it’s the underdog, the Main (pronounced “mine”) River, which connects some of the most beautiful motorcycling areas in the country. The Main meanders drunkenly between the most traditional and innovative beer brewing areas in Franconian Switzerland