FIVE MORE GREAT ROADS IN EUROPE
D908 SOUTH OF FRANCE Clermont-l’hérault to Haut-languedoc Regional Nature Park
Length 49 miles
Best for Sun-kissed sweepers
When it comes to fast, flowing sweepers, the D908 is one of the most satisfying roads in the world. Cutting though the Provençal mountainside, it turns and twists with frenetic intensity. It starts off smooth and flowing and, on a warm summer’s day, bursts full of confidence-building grip. With long, constant corners, it’s a wonderful place to wear the edges of your tyres after the autoroute schlep down but, as you climb, the bends come thick and fast, culminating in the Haut-languedoc Regional Nature Park and a rendezvous with the even more serpentine D907.
B107 AUSTRIA Winklern to Vorfusch
Length 48 miles Best for Hairpins
The Großglockner Pass is epic motorcycling. Cutting through the Austrian Tyrol, one of the most famous passes in Europe lives up to all the hype, thanks to the combination of countless hairpins linked by challenging corners and Sound of Music-style panoramas. The journey to it is fun too: the B107 starts off smooth and flowing as it follows valley after valley, cutting though the greenest of green.
A397 SOUTHERN SPAIN San Pedro de Alcántara to Ronda
Length 53 miles
Best for Corners
The home of countless bike launches, this route is chosen for its year-round good climate and great accessibility but mostly for the mind-bending corners. A wonderful combination of a high-ish average speed while never actually being straight, it flows from one complex of amazing bends to another, all the
The A36 on the
Isle of Man is a stunning piece of road time framed by distractingly spectacular views while climbing inexorably. Worth the effort, the airfare and the bike hire.
A36 ISLE OF MAN Stony Mountain Plantation to Port Erin
Length 12 miles
Best for Limit-free riding
More enjoyable, quieter and safer than lapping the TT course, the Sloc Road is the best piece of tarmac on The Island. Surfaced as well as any racetrack, it wends its way down towards Port Erin in the south. A wonderful confection of wide, open sweeps and nadgery wonder, out of season you’ll see barely a bike and, thanks to the Isle of Man’s main roads being truly de-restricted, you can choose your own speed. Unique.
S44 ITALIAN ALPS Merano to Vipiteno
Length 45 miles
Best for Views and pizza
In high summer, there are few better places to ride a motorcycle than the Italian Alps. The S44 rises and heads north, climbing towards the Austrian border in a series of sweeps and twists increasing in intensity. Lush, green hillsides head to the sky, turning into rough-hewn, snowcapped mountains as they climb. The scale is breathtaking. There’s nowhere else like this — the best of Austria and Italy, every diner has the choice of bratwurst or schnitzel.