There were six of us on five bikes that decided to make the trip to the Sairach Rally 2025. Nicely balanced with three from Scotland and three from England. Mark did all the hard work of planning the route and pre booking the accommodation, which is necessary when there is a group like this.
Two of us would cross on the Channel tunnel whilst the other four travelled from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. We met up at a little Greek kabab café just north of Dortmund called El Greco – much to the owners’ surprise!
From there we travelled on the German Autobahn to Eisenach in Germany for our first nights stop together, nothing special here, just a chance to meet up and get excited about the trip to come. The Autobahn itself was disappointing, as although there is no speed limit, someone always pulls into your lane to slow down your progress.
The following day we rode to the Savoy Westend Hotel, Petra Velikého, which was very posh but affordable being in the Czech Republic. This was our first introduction to Czech architecture. The city is built around a natural volcanic Spa complete with a geyser and some very attractive buildings. We also ate in a restaurant which was truly special both for quality of food and service (Olympia Restaurant).
The next day we rode further into the Czech Republic (also known as central Bohemia) to a place just outside of Prague where we had a cabin on a nice campsite by the river. We took the next day off from riding and visited Prague, which was a beautiful city with stunning architecture, although full of stag and hen parties from all over Europe. A beautiful city spoilt by tourists like us I guess!
From there we rode through the rolling countryside of Czechia to another beautiful hotel in Brno where we did a little shopping and had an amazing Steak dinner.
From here we changed our settings to non-motorway and headed across the border to Austria through the stunning mountains to a cabin on a hillside called Einser-Hutte at Polsterlift. The scenery here was amazing and we spent the following day riding around and visiting a castle in the mountains near Spitz and overlooking the Danube.
We then rode down through Austria and into Slovenia to a lovely house which we had to ourselves, complete with a pool and BBQ! We could have spent a lot longer there but unfortunately we had to press on through the picturesque Slovenian countryside to the Rally at Ziri.
We had been invited by the hosting Bike club to spend the pre-rally night with them at their clubhouse and enjoyed good company, cheap beer, good food and a comfortable night there.
The Sairach Rally is near the town of Ziri and is a well organised and fun rally with about 2000 attendees from all over Europe.
The towns’ folk are very welcoming to all the bikers and the club really works hard to make sure that everyone is fed, watered and entertained throughout the weekend, with great bands and suspect competitions! Catriona won the furthest travelled female as well as had a go at the “Spit the bull’s eye” competition. This is exactly what it sounds like and is not for the faint hearted!
Julie and I left on the Saturday as I wanted to meet a cousin of mine living in Switzerland. So apart from a very tricky ride south through the mountain pass we mainly stuck to the motorways back through northern Italy, the Mont-Blanc tunnel into Switzerland and then France and home. The others went north through Austria to Germany and visited (via cable car) the tallest mountain in Germany (Zugspitze) and finally Home via the Ferry in Holland.
We travelled just over 2640 Miles and had an amazing adventure with good friends and a wide variety of food accommodation and beverage delights!
Thanks to Mark, Catriona, Chris D., Dean and Julie for a fantastic journey experience!
Be Easy! – Alan
