About Us and Information

Ethos Tours offers guided motorcycle tours for groups of motorcyclists and their pillions across Europe and beyond. We endeavour to provide a flexible and affordable service and constantly review our routes to ensure the most enjoyable ride for all. Our guides have years of experience in motorcycle touring and have been trained to the highest standards.

Ethos Tours was born with the simple aim, and hope, of helping bring the experienced and novice tourer together to enjoy the wonders of the Motorcycle Tour. We also wished to maintain the 'authentic' feel of the tour, so all of our tours are essentially the traditional 'living of the land' camping expeditions, albeit that the campsites we visit are all of a very high quality. Consequently, our tours are different from most, if not all, existing operators and can operate at a far more affordable price. However, we do offer alternative 3/4 star accommodation at all of our stops, at an additional cost, so if you either want the odd evening in a Hotel, or the whole trip, we can meet your requirements.

Our routes, apart from some 'access' roads to Spain, etc., have been chosen because of their beauty and 'rideability' and we hope that they all  promise great experiences and memories. Our routes contrast the 'must see' cities,  i.e. Lisbon or Granada, with the less well known areas, i.e., the Cabo de Gata and Picos de Europa,  the bustling metropolis with the rural idyll, and dramatic mountains with serene coastal landscapes, and so forth.  Similarly our tours encompass the well known, and not so well known cultural and historical sites, ranging from the Forum in Rome, to the beaches of Tarifa, to the Cueva de la Pileta (with prehistoric wall paintings) near Ronda, to a glass of wine in Chateauneuf de Pape or a San Miguel served in an iced glass, with tapas, on a sidewalk cafe in Barcelona. We have tried to give our tours as much character as possible. However, we know that the true character comes from the coming together of experiences during the tour and we hope that we can help many riders (and of course pillions), to create and gain enjoyment from this.

Payment can be made through PayPal, by Debit/Credit Card, by Cheque or by Cash.

For Hire (Bikes, Tent Kits and Sat Navs)

We, with sufficient warning, are able to arrange for the hire of well serviced and suitable motorcycles. Further information is avaliable on request - it helps if you can give us the tour(s) and the date(s) you are interested in, so that we can give you meaningful feedback with a quotation.

We also can supply tents with supporting accessories. These come as 'kits' including a Khyam Tent (sturdy, light and fantastically easy to put up in two sizes), special strong tent pegs, Metal Mallet and strong, versatile straps (not of the 'bungee' variety).  These kits are currently hired out at £35 per week.

We also have a number of GPS/Sat Nav's avalaible for hire. However, it is important to discuss whether they are suitable for your bike - their battery lives can be very short (about 4 hours), so it is only practicable if you have a power socket (such as with BMW's), or can access your battery easily. Due to a rider disappearing with one last year (we assume they didn't get lost), we do have to ask for a £400 deposit. Basic cost works out at £ 5 a day.

Some General Advice

Motorcycle Touring is an adventure and is thoroughly enjoyable. You will see things, hear things, and, yes, smell things, denied to most other forms of travel. Many riders can be nervous and uncertain before their tour, whether it is their first or fifth attempt, and sometimes consider the distances involved as vast and consequently prohibitive. However, if you are prepared you will be surprised at what can be achieved in a very short period of time. Most modern motorcycles will take even our longest tours in their stride and will usually cover the miles at a very reasonable price. Our R1200RTs have averaged approx. 60 miles to the gallon on tour and have never needed an oil top up despite covering at least 64,000 miles. Not every bike will be the same of course, but generally speaking, the mileage involved, and the conditions they will encounter, should not unsettle any suitably maintained modern motorcycle. So, unless you are properly prepared with proper waterproofs (hopefully you will not need them...), gloves, boots and sundries such as Sunglasses, etc., you may find that you are more vulnerable to travel than your bike, especially if you have an uncomfortable seat! Please be prepared, be legal and be safe.