Synopses & Reviews
This fifth edition of John Hermann's classic alpine motorcycle touring guide is the complete, best loved resource for any traveler to the high and twisty roads of Europe. Covering more area than any previous edition, Hermann's fun-to-read text has been throughly updated and expanded, this time with more new roads in Switzerland and France. The maps have mountain relief backgrounds to highlight the topography, and many spectacular new pictures have been added. Every region of the Alps is covered: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and even special alpine lookalike places such as Corsica, Slovenia, and the Pyrenees and Picos de Europa mountain ranges of Spain. All of the important roads and passes are described and critiqued. Each recommended trip has a detailed route description, easy-to-follow maps, advice on places to stay and things to do, and plenty of photographs. Local customs, history, and amusing travel anecdotes dot every page to enrich the journey. There is no other book like this one. It is the guide of choice for every motorcyclist who wants the trip of a lifetime to motorcycling's nirvana.
Review
John Hermann, a.k.a. The King of the Alps, has ridden every motorcycle-worthy pass in the Alps, and is positively addicted to the practice. I will boast that I have been riding the Alps longer than he has, since I began in 1957 on my NSU 250, when the 6,800-foot Monte Giovo Pass (
Jaufenpass in German) was still dirt. And I have been back many, many times, but Hermann has dedicated himself to riding every road and has been over passes that are still on my to-do agenda. On his pass-bagging list he has over 300 passes, and maybe I've been on 200 of them. This Alpine chain of mountains curves for some 700 miles from the French Riveria through Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy all the way over to Slovenia on the Adriatic Sea, and Hermann covers 75 different routes in these mountains, which are grouped into 20 sections. A section would be a part of the Alps where you might want to stay a few days. Each route is well-described, and if there is a
Gasthaus on top of the pass where you can get a cup of hot cocoa, that is detailed. Some passes have a day of the week on which motorcyclists congregate, and he tells you that. In each section he mentions hotels he has enjoyed. Reading this book will have you counting the days until you leave.
- Clement Salvadori, RiderMagazine.comAbout the Author
Known in BMW circles as the "King of the Alps," John Hermann bought his first bike in 1960. Since then he has clocked over 1,000,000 miles, many of them on his biannual trips to Europe to explore every nook and cranny that might possibly have a twisty road.