The latest series, which premiers on Apple TV+ on Friday, comes 21 years after the duo embarked on their first on-screen biking adventure. In 2004, Long Way Round followed them on a 19,000-mile journey across the globe from London through Europe and Asia to New York.
With each series comes a new motorcycle – the bikes are as important as the route. For the latest chapter, McGregor rode a 1974 Moto Guzzi 850 Eldorado former police bike, while Boorman revived a 1972 BMW R75/5.
The pair set off from McGregor’s house in the Highlands, eventually arriving, 17 countries later, at Boorman’s Surrey home (Photo: Max Cruz/Apple TV+)
Long Way Up in 2020 saw the pair cover 13,000 miles from Ushuaia at the tip of South America through 13 countries up to Los Angeles, exploring South and Central America’s epic and diverse landscapes from the saddle of prototype electric Harley-Davidsons.
“We were on our trickiest terrain in the Bolivian desert. It was very rutted, probably our most challenging bit of riding,” McGregor tells The i Paper. “But it’s moments like that we usually have the best time.
So they set about making it a reality. The pair set off from McGregor’s home in the Highlands last summer, taking the long way home to Boorman’s house in Surrey over 10 weeks and 17 countries in northern, central and eastern Europe.
Continuing north into Denmark, McGregor’s bike gives way but, luckily, a local biker club comes to the rescue.
It’s one of several instances that show how people are at the heart of the pair’s motorcycle adventures. Estonian mechanics fix McGregor’s bike, and the pair also meet volunteers at a Ukrainian refugee centre in Poland.
This time around, the pair opted to ride on vintage motorbikes from the 1970s – a choice which didn’t come without consequences (Photo: Max Cruz/Apple TV+)“Maybe part of that is riding a motorcycle – we’re dusty, we look haggard and tired and people kind of want to look after us. People have always been so generous, especially on the breakdowns. They rally together and are super interested in where we’re coming from, where we are going.”
As well as cured fish in northern Europe, they inevitably enjoyed indulging in cheese and chocolate in Switzerland.
A standout was the Lindt factory in Kilchberg near Zurich – the Star Wars actor remembers the chocolate fountain with particular fondness.
Along with the food, the landscapes and the people, the pair’s friendship and their mutual love of motorbikes is a constant theme. They met nearly 30 years ago on the set of The Serpent’s Kiss, in which McGregor starred and Boorman, then working as an actor, played a part.
The best friend duo took in some incredible landscapes on their epic journey around Europe (Photo: Ian Gavan/Apple TV+)The pair have also shared “good times and bad, ups and downs, bad weather, difficult terrain, falling off, hurting yourself”, he says.
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The series has allowed them the freedom to explore the world at their own pace. “A by-product of making movies [is that] it’s like a machine, like a military exercise,” McGregor says, clearly delighted that he and Boorman have far more control over their day-to-day lives while on the go.
As to whether the Long Way Home means this series will be their last, the friends are quick to disprove the title.
Long Way Home is available to watch on Apple TV+ from 9 May.
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