Is this a daft plan?

I had planned a tour to Switzerland but due to a change of job and limited leave I can only take 5 days. I'd still like to go to ride one or two of the passes and see the Alps. I'm about 220 miles from the tunnel so am reckoning on 2 days to get to the Alps and 2 days back with just one full day in Switzerland. Would you still do it or leave it for another year? It would be a solo tour on an MT10 using hotels which I'd pre-book to save time.

Hi and welcome to the forum

I would leave it for another year when you have more time! IMO trips like this don't want to be rushed

What you could do though is travel through the tunnel after a day at work then travel as far as you can and have a stop over that way you start your 5 days in France and just have a jolly about for a few days and return home

Yea im with stu on that one, I think if you are on a tight time constraint you wont fully enjoy your time as you will always be clock watching due to having to return home

Cheers Stu and Richzx6r. I get what your saying. I guess I'm hoping someone says yes I've done it and it was great. Have been checking out routes and distances and realise its a trek in 5 days.

Yea you'd probably be covering around 1200 miles as a guess which will knacker you out over 5 days whatever your riding, think you will want to get back to work for a break

Yes ... there you go

It may well be doable but is it enjoyable? And that's what it boils down to at the end of the day

I don't see the point in munching big miles unless it's just to get somewhere! Touring is about enjoying the break and exploring at your own leisure.

When we go away we do around 250 miles in the first day to get as as close to where we want to be then we try and take it easy from there on.

You need a minimum 3 days there.. First ever trip i organised for a group was 3 days there... And it went by so quickly it was like blink and you miss it. That was the first and last. Since then it's been 5 days there. If we go further afield then it's still 5 days there, just an extra day travel in each direction.

We do this so all the travelling is at the weekend and we have Monday to Friday - there. And out of season so.. It's a normal working week and the roads we want to ride are a lot quieter.

For Switzerland I would use day one of travel and dash to the Black Forest and then day two... Down its length, over the Rhine into swissland.. And make a beeline for my base.

The biggest reason for not having one day in the Alps after a mad dash down is safety, those roads are dangerous at the best of times and lethal if you're tired. There is also the high risk of being speed checked on the fast sections and paying an on the spot fie that can easily run into £1000s is not something you want to risk. Too fast and they will ban you and that would mean paying a fine plus paying to have the bike transported to the nearest border. Over the limit by too much? Prison plus fine plus ban.