Short Tours
Short Motorcycle Tours
Our Short Motorcycle Tours can be as little as day trips although most are long weekends or mid-week breaks incorporating 3 days riding. Almost all are offered from our Glasgow base but we can arrange other locations by special arrangement including locations in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other parts of the UK.
Day trips tend to suit riders who are already holidaying in Scotland who want to experience parts of the country by bike. A typical day trip might leave Glasgow heading towards the Trossachs National Park, ride north up the west shore of Loch Lomond and west to Inveraray and onward to Oban. Then heading back to the east to Callander before turning south through the western side of the Trossachs on the return to Glasgow. This is a very pleasant day trip with many minor road variations available to make the trip anywhere from about 180 to 240 miles.
Most short breaks involve the rider arriving the day before the first trip and leaving the day after the last days riding. So, you arrive day one, ride days two, three and four and return home or move along to another holiday facility on day five. From Glasgow we usually head North, West or South each day although we occasionally head East if the rider or group desire.
Short trips in areas other than Scotland can be arranged but unless added before or after a planned tour of that area tend to be too expensive to set up. However, there are at least 4 riders in your group we can usually make it viable.
Mini breaks in Spain might embrace Andalucia where we base ourselves in Antequera which is a great spot giving a comfortable ride to major cities in the region such as Ronda with Granada, Saville, Cordoba and Malaga all within reach. In the north of Spain we might use Besalu which is just north of Girona and close to Barcelona. From that base we expore the Pyrenees and the northern national parks.
An ever popular location in Italy is Brescia which is easily accessible from Milan and offers easy access to the Italian lakes and alps or Bolzano to tour the Dolomites and Alps.
Whether day trip or short break the format is always the same; we take you through breath-taking scenery and along the twisty roads that most bikers love. Approximately every 90 minutes we stop for a refreshment break or to view a place of interest.
Unless the rider is incorporating the riding into an existing holiday in the region our Short Trips are usually based at a Luxury Hotel or Country Club. We always use motorcycles supplied by local dealers (in most areas we can usually supply BMW, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Triumph). We recommend hiring a bike from one of our local suppliers to avoid the laborious journey of getting from where you are to the region we shall tour, but if you want to bring your own bike then we are happy to accommodate you.
- In Scotland we recommend the Hotel du Vin in Glasgow because this is ideally located to reach the city centre if your family want to head into town yet is best placed to reach the roads we shall tour on our circa 200 mile daily circuit.
The hotel is in an iconic tree-lined Victorian terrace in Glasgow's fashionable West End. This is only 30 minutes from Loch Lomond and less into the City Centre famed for culture, style, an array of museums and fabulous shopping.
Hotel du Vin Glasgow at One Devonshire Gardens is a luxury 49 bedroomed boutique hotel. It features a cigar shack and a well-stocked and comfortable whisky room and of course offers luxury dining. - In Switzerland we recommend The Hotel Cornivan in Geneva, where Tintin and Haddock stayed back in 1956 in Herge's The Calculus Affair, it also features the worlds largest mechanical clock with a pendulum scaling 9 floors of the hotel.
The location is perfect for the railway station, tram station and bus station which are all on its doorstep making it ideal for family to tour the city yet we can easily escape the city centre to reach the Juras, the Apls or Lake Geneva for our daily trips. - For Northern Italy the Hotel Master in Brescia because there is so much for families to see and do in the city whilst the rider is away exploring the Italian Lakes and Alps.
Brescia is famed for the Mille Miglia vintage car race but there are also many sights within walking distance of the hotel include the old Roman Forum and other Roman ruins, a former Benedictine monastery, Civici Musei d'Arte e Storia Santa Giulia (Museum of Art and History), the Duomo Nuovo (New Cathedral) and Rotonda, Brescia Castello (castle), beautiful Piazza's and more. - We will happily recommend hotels in other areas to meet your party and touring requirements. All will have great amenities and plenty sights of interest close by. Simply tell us what interests you and we shall show you which hotel best meets your criteria.
The above examples of our Short Tour bases ensure that a rider whose partner or family have little or no interest in biking have plenty to see and do whilst you are away biking. Operating from a fixed location that is central to a region we tour allows the area to be fully explored taking a different route each day to ensure that the best biking roads the area has to offer are experienced.
Examples of Short Tours: