To Transylvania

After not touring on the bike for a couple of years due to the pandemic, Steve Roper decided to do a longer tour than usual, taking a full four weeks from door to door

- Steve Roper

My partner Marie said she would like to see Transylvania and the Italian lakes and, as we are of a M certain age and only work part-time, we had the luxury of being able to enjoy an extended tour which allows for a longer, more interesting experience. So that was the basis of the plan. We decided on what we wanted to see and fitted the tour around this idea, with about a week in Romania and 10 days or so lake-hopping across the north of Italy.

We set off from Lincolnshire in late August, heading for Kent to cross the channel the next day on an early ferry. This worked well and we came off the ferry at Dunkirk, going via Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, and on towards Linz, Vienna, and then into Hungary. During these three days the Wing (2020 Gold Wing Tour DCT) proved itself to be a fantastic bike to cover ground on, being able to travel quickly and in comfort, even though it was two-up and fully loaded. In the many years I have been touring I have not had a bike as comfortable or as competent for this task, not even my old 1200 RT.

The first night abroad found us in Hasselberg, southeast of Frankfurt. This was after a hot day with wall-to-wall blue skies, and most days the temperature got to the high 20s or low 30s. Perfect.

We don't book hotels ahead usually, using a booking app as we go, and this paid off handsomely on this occasion. A lovely, small family-run hotel at the top of a hill with cracking views and good food.

This theme continued into day two, with some lovely scenery going to Gresten in Eastern Austria.