Offering Guided Alps Tours and/or assistance with questions and planning on your own

Moto-Charlie

Vendor
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
319
Location
New Hampshire
I am posting this message to let STOC members know that I offer guided motorcycle tours of the Alps. My website is http://www.Alps-Tours.com. Year 2017 will be my 19[SUP]th[/SUP] year of operation, during which I have had the pleasure of riding with more than 300 Tour Members.

I have been riding yearly in the Alps for more than 30 years. I started Alps-Tours as a way to pay for my Alpine riding. I was the first person to offer ?stripped down? guided tours, as opposed to full featured all-inclusive tours. The idea is to run the tours as if we are simply a group of friends going for a 10 ? 14 day ride together. Everyone carries their own gear on the bikes. You can leave your travel luggage, extra clothing and gear, etc. at our base hotel while out on tour.

I try to keep the tour costs down, which is why my tours cost $1,000 - $2,500 less per person less than the big tour companies. Tour Members pay for their own motorcycle, hotels, food and gas the same way I do. There is no mark-up on any of these expenses. I charge a flat daily fee for my guide services. In exchange for that fee I do the following:


  • Book the motorcycle rental and assist in pick-up. The bikes are always current year models, include insurance and are in excellent condition.
  • Book the hotels. The goal is to offer variety. Some are like the big tour companies and some are uniquely situated whereby our group takes all 5 ? 8 rooms per night.
  • Assist in pre-tour planning by answering any questions, sending you info on things needed to prepare for your travels, a suggested packing list, info on how to take the train from the airport to our base, a detailed list of hotels and various other planning items
  • I ride and guide every tour
  • Provide guidance while off the bike on things to do and see, places to eat, etc.
  • Anything else on a 24/7 basis while on tour to make sure you have an unforgettable motorcycle adventure


It takes approx. 4 ? 5 tour members per tour for me to cover my expenses and I cap every tour at 7 motorcycles, so this is clearly not a money making venture. I do it because I enjoy the Alpine culture very much and I love riding in the mountains. Because I don?t make a lot I cannot offer ?huge? discounts, which is why I have been unable to ?comp? several of the moto magazines that have contacted me about my tours. I do appreciate repeat riders and so I offer my repeat Tour Members a 20% discount off of my fee, which saves them enough money to pay for approx. 1 full day of expenses while on tour. I would be glad to offer the same discount to any STOC member who would like to ride along on one of my tours.

TO RECAP ? I would be glad to help you with your Alpine adventure and/or planning if:


  • You would like to sign up for one of my tours
  • If you need help planning or doing your own tour and want bike, hotel, or routing assistance
  • If you just have questions or need help about riding the Alps in general. I?ve helped a variety of people over the years including a young French couple from Nice France sort out an Alps route to Munich on their Vespa and a group of 30+ Brits sort out a route through France, Switzerland and Italy on their way to the MotoGP in Misano.

Alps-Tours has been a great way to meet new people and start long-lasting riding friendships. Please feel free to email me at Charlie.alps@gmail.com if I can help in any way. Thanks for reading.
 
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Moto-Charlie

Moto-Charlie

Vendor
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
319
Location
New Hampshire
Re: Offering Guided Alps Tours and/or assistance with questions and planning on your

I forgot to mention in my Vendor Announcement above that I send out a random email newsletter 2 - 4 times per year. The newsletter provides updates to the tour schedules, info on space available, an occasional oddball Alps factoid or video link, etc.

Please feel free to email me at Charlie.alps@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the newsletter distribution list.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
 
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Moto-Charlie

Moto-Charlie

Vendor
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
319
Location
New Hampshire
Re: Offering Guided Alps Tours and/or assistance with questions and planning on your

This is a quick note to viewers of this thread to let you know that the 2018 tour schedule is now available on my website. The 2017 tour season was one of the best yet, great rides and super people, even 2 STOC members.

For 2018 I offer 5 tours: two 8-day tours, two 11-day tours and one 14-day tour plus customized tours. They are designed to match Tour Members schedules. Some riders can only get away for 8 days, or want to tack a short tour onto the end of an overseas business trip. Other folks want to stay 14 days, or longer. I do all I can to help however I can.

The tours are available at my website linked here >>> http://alps-tours.com/ The tours scroll across the top picture in short intervals or you can click on the "Tours" tab at the top.

I recently started an Instagram page that shows photos taken while on tour, by me and other Tour Members, as well as photos from some of my other Euro travel. Some of the photos taken by the pillions while riding give a unique perspective to the photos. I'll be adding more photos as time goes on. Please feel free to check out my Instagram here >>> https://www.instagram.com/alpstours/

Most of the basics regarding my services/offer are included in the first top post of this thread. I love to talk about the Alps in particular and riding in general, so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, need advice or just want to chat. Thanks for looking.

BR - Charlie
 
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Moto-Charlie

Moto-Charlie

Vendor
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
319
Location
New Hampshire
Re: Offering Guided Alps Tours and/or assistance with questions and planning on your

I was deleting my SPAM folder when I saw a message with "STOC" in it - so I may have accidently deleted a message from someone here who is expecting a reply. If so I apologize - please send again. Thanks
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
28
Location
Huntsville, Alabama
Re: Offering Guided Alps Tours and/or assistance with questions and planning on your

Guys.... DO NOT MISS THIS !!! My wife and I did a somewhat similar tour, except the guide offered a box van for the luggage and a spare FJR1300 bike. The Italian Alps should be on your bucket list ... We enjoyed St Moritz and we can assure you that you won't be disappointed. We went over with a Yamaha RSV group, picked up an ST1300 and my wife liked it so well, that when we got back state-side, we traded for a ST1300. Passo di Stelvio, and Passo di Gavia are something you will not forget ( do Stelvio both directions if you can.) Merano, Italy is at the bottom of Stilvio and is famous for hosting the Word Championship of Chess....
Karpov - Korchnoi World Championship Rematch (1981) . Björn and Benny ( ABBA ) wrote a song about it that some of you old-timers might remember https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaD1BuigS3g Enough trivia We now return you to your normally scheduled program.

ps Don't miss one of these Alpine Tours.
 
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Moto-Charlie

Moto-Charlie

Vendor
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
319
Location
New Hampshire
Re: Offering Guided Alps Tours and/or assistance with questions and planning on your

Sixacross - I'm glad you got to ride the Alps. Like you say a top bucket list pick however you get there. Passo di Stelvio is the 3rd highest pass and gets a lot of buzz, as it should for its spectacular layer of switchbacks on both sides. Mercedes, Audi and Porche have all run commmercials in the USA using that pass as a backdrop. Passo di Gavia comes in at #7 highest, 137 meters lower than Stelvio. The south side going down to Ponte di Legno was a narrow dirt road until about 8 - 10 years ago and it was frequently washed and impassable to cars in the summer. It's still 1-car wide but at least it's paved, sort of. I love the wildness of Gavia - one of my top 3 favorite Alps passes. Enjoyed the ABBA video - thanks.
 
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Moto-Charlie

Moto-Charlie

Vendor
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
319
Location
New Hampshire
My 2019 Alps Tours routes and dates are finalized and posted to my website. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just want to know more about riding the Alps in general. I'm glad to help in any way I can. Thanks for looking - Charlie

The website is >>>> Alps-Tours.com

A quick overview of the tours offered, dates, tour links and tour basics are all summarized here >>>> Tour Dates and Basics

There are 6 Tours offered in 2019:
  • THE FRENCH LOOP – 6 days total, 5 days in France ridng the highest of the high passes in the Alps
  • ALPS SELECT – 11 days total riding in Switzerland and Italy, with a focus on the Italian Dolomites and a pure Italian lakes experience situated at the edge of the Alps at Lago di Garda
  • TOTALLY SWITZERLAND – 6 days all in Switzerland exploring many of the nooks and grannies that make Switzerland the epicenter of the Alps
  • ESSENTIAL ALPS – 8 days, think of it as a slimmed down Alps Select focused on the 2 prime ridng areas in the Alps along with 5 of the TOP 10 highest passes – can be linked to the FRENCH LOOP as part of the TOP 10+ tour
  • AWESOME AUSTRIA – 10 days total, 6 days in Austria exploring the best riding and some of the most famous high Alpine roads in Europe – includes 5 of the TOP 10 highest passes – can be linked to the FRENCH LOOP as part of the TOP 10+ tour
  • TOP 10+ TOUR – one of my most popular tours achored by the FRENCH LOOP with its 5 TOP 10 passes and then linked to either the ESSENTIAL ALPS before or the AWESOME AUSTRIA after (each with the other 5 non-France TOP 10)
My fledging Instagram page with tour photos is here >>>> Alps Tours Instagram

There are also more photos here at my SmugMug page >>>> Alps Tours Photo Album (best viewed in full screen mode :)
 
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