Driving to Europe from the North West
Discussion
I've been considering driving to Europe for some time now. Obviously the Nurgurgring but starting to consider Switzerland as well; for the roads, the scenery, and its more akin to a holiday when I propose the idea to my girlfriend. As opposed to sitting at the side of the ring taking photos.
Now, the point thats always put me off, is that living in Lancashire, I have perhaps 300 mives to drive before I even get to the continent. Is there a better way to go? Ferry from Hull or Newcastle or something?
Do I just need to man up?
Jim1985 said:
Now, the point thats always put me off, is that living in Lancashire, I have perhaps 300 mives to drive before I even get to the continent. Is there a better way to go? Ferry from Hull or Newcastle or something?
Yes, there are ferries from Hull and Newcastle to Europe. In fact, you don't even need to get a boat to go to Europe - you are already IN Europe!Jim1985 said:
Do I just need to man up?
Yes.Here's a thought... It's 300 miles from your home to Dover. OK, that's a long way. But it's another 500+ from Calais to, say, Geneva - if you go straight there without any sightseeing. If, of course, you really want to go to Geneva. It's another 150 or so to the other end of Switzerland and the Stelvio pass. Calais -> 'ring -> Stelvio - Calais is about 1,400 miles shortest route.
If the thought of the extra 300 miles is putting you off, are you sure you want a driving holiday...?
P&O ferries from Hull to Rotterdam or Zeebrugge would be your best bet.
Driving 300 miles to/from the Channel ports down the M6/M1 and then the M25 (oh, joy!) is not my idea of a good beginning or end to any motoring holiday.
The P&O service (above) is excellent. Early start at Rotterdam/Zeebrugge after a night's sleep and a good meal in a half decent on-board restaurant. Time your arrival for the week-end and you'll miss the weekday early morning commuter traffic in Holland or Belgium. Done this several times when travelling to Italy etc..
Driving 300 miles to/from the Channel ports down the M6/M1 and then the M25 (oh, joy!) is not my idea of a good beginning or end to any motoring holiday.
The P&O service (above) is excellent. Early start at Rotterdam/Zeebrugge after a night's sleep and a good meal in a half decent on-board restaurant. Time your arrival for the week-end and you'll miss the weekday early morning commuter traffic in Holland or Belgium. Done this several times when travelling to Italy etc..
Have a look at http://www.aferry.co.uk/ferry-routes.htm for a good idea of what routes are available from where. Harwich-Hook might be a good one for you, but - tbh - it's worth that bit extra to Dover for the choice of boat times and the quick crossing.
MTFU. If the 300 mile trip to the ferry puts you off then maybe touring isn't for you... because there's (a lot) more miles to do on the other side.
I've done a 10day, 3000mile Euro trip in my kit car annually for the last 5 years. Sailing from Dover (or Portsmouth when we've done Spain). I've considered Hull but the mates I go with are all southern based. Week could be something like... Drive down and stay with one of them night before ferry. Then Dover and a 300-350 mile first day hacking down the motorway. Day2 possibly in the Voges then on to Swiss. Classic Swiss passes day3. Into Italy day4. Day 5 across to Nice/Antibes. Rest day in Monaco or loop through the Verdon. Day7+8 back into the French and Swiss Alps. Then 2 days back on the motorway heading back to Calais. Day 10 for me is usually 250miles of French motorway, late afternoon ferry and then back to Manchester before midnight. That'll be a 500 mile day in a bike engined kit car with no creature comforts... What are you going in?
I've done a 10day, 3000mile Euro trip in my kit car annually for the last 5 years. Sailing from Dover (or Portsmouth when we've done Spain). I've considered Hull but the mates I go with are all southern based. Week could be something like... Drive down and stay with one of them night before ferry. Then Dover and a 300-350 mile first day hacking down the motorway. Day2 possibly in the Voges then on to Swiss. Classic Swiss passes day3. Into Italy day4. Day 5 across to Nice/Antibes. Rest day in Monaco or loop through the Verdon. Day7+8 back into the French and Swiss Alps. Then 2 days back on the motorway heading back to Calais. Day 10 for me is usually 250miles of French motorway, late afternoon ferry and then back to Manchester before midnight. That'll be a 500 mile day in a bike engined kit car with no creature comforts... What are you going in?
AdiT said:
That'll be a 500 mile day in a bike engined kit car with no creature comforts... What are you going in?
Looking back through the OP's posts, it appears he drives...A 56-plate 335d saloon.
Wow.
Yes, I can see how 300 miles of motorway might be a hardship in something as raw and spartan as that.
Hahaha! I knew I'd get grief when that question was asked!
Im no stranger to driving 300 miles. I regularly drive to Scotland, its just its boring, and not in mainland Europe, so not part of the holiday. Its the same people prefer to fly as opposed to spending 4 days on a coach. Plus its extra fuel costs etc.
Granted, this mentality of "Sod wasting 300 miles of driving in this country" was cemented in my mind when I was running a Subaru that couldnt manage more than 270 miles to an £80 tank of V Power. I suppose thinking about it, driving down the country and then across France wouldnt be too bad. Ive just heard taat driving in France is boring, I know that driving down the M6 etc is boring, and that if I could start relatively local (i.e. Hull/Newcastle) and end up somewhere I wouldnt mind spending a day or two in (Ijmuiden->Amsterdam or Zeebrugge->Ghent) it wouldnt seem so much of a relentless drive for the sake of it.
To me, a route that over the course of 3 days went:
Lancashire->Hull->Zebrugge->Ghent/Brussels->Nurburgring
OR
Lancashire->Newcastle->Ijmuiden->Amsterdam/Eindhoven/Rotterdam->Nurburgring
would be a much more appealing road trip than one that followed a route:
Lancashire->Folkestone->Calais->Nurburgring
But I'm a newbie to this. Educate me!
Jim1985 said:
Granted, this mentality of "Sod wasting 300 miles of driving in this country" was cemented in my mind when I was running a Subaru that couldnt manage more than 270 miles to an £80 tank of V Power.
But, surely, you wouldn't have been thinking of a ~2,500 mile+ driving holiday in that...?Jim1985 said:
Ive just heard taat driving in France is boring
Motorways anywhere are boring. It's kinda their whole point. They get you from A to B as quickly as possible with as little distraction as possible.Get off the motorways - y'know, like you might want to on a driving holiday - and much of France is a wonderful place to drive. NL, otoh... Flat and overcrowded. Northern Germany's a massive industrial/urban sprawl, too.
Do you actually own a European road atlas? If not, get one.
TooMany2cvs said:
Motorways anywhere are boring. It's kinda their whole point. They get you from A to B as quickly as possible with as little distraction as possible.
Not quite - IMHO non-German motorways are boring.Find the local speed limit, add on your preferred amount
of grey area, set the cruise and away you go. Put the radio
on when you get bored. It is a mostly fixed task that autopilots
were invented for.
German motorways mostly have no limit, so you have to think
for yourself around other traffic. The ideal variable task than
humans find interesting and fun.
TooMany2cvs said:
Get off the motorways - y'know, like you might want to on a driving holiday - and much of France is a wonderful place to drive. NL, otoh... Flat and overcrowded. Northern Germany's a massive industrial/urban sprawl, too.
I find a lot of North Germany to be very rural. Ok Ruhrgebiet has 15+ million folks in close proximity, but away
from that, there are some lovely rural bits.
Sure most of NL and B are pretty flat - different folks like different things.
TooMany2cvs said:
Do you actually own a European road atlas? If not, get one.
Having a sat nav that does Europe is a better idea.TooMany2cvs said:
But not if you want to actually look around a region/country/continent and figure out where to visit on your driving holiday.
I usually buy the local Lonely Planet / Rough Guide to find out wherethe clueless, the sheep and the Americans have been sent and then go
someplace else.
For instance, in Western Belgium, all the tourist guides will send you
to Brugge.
It's a fine place, but it's a tourist industry with a small, fossilised
and pretty town attached.
I've had many better visits to other places like Gent, Ostend, Veurne,
Middelkirke and even Nieuwpoort (ok pushing it with the last one).
Just an idea, but I don't usually have a lot of fun if a load of Americans
and / or drunken Brits who haven't been abroad before usually attend.
We live in Blackburn and tend to book a 6am ferry from Dover to Dunkirk. Leave home about 23.30, cruise south without any traffic, chill on the boat and have breakfast then hit France. Have not long returned from doing 'Ring, Davos, Swiss Alps, Lake Majiore in Italy, back to Riquewihr in France, then Reims for a night, then home. Just under 2500miles.
I have done Leeds to Stuttgart in one stint loads of times, there are various routes, but the average distance is approximately 750 miles. I always go from Dover.
I usually leave at 2am, drive to Dover arriving at 6am and get the 7am ferry to Calais. I know it would be far easier to get the ferry from Hull as it is only 40 minutes away, but the 'dead' time on the ferry seems such a waste. In fact every time I go I question myself about the logic of not going from Hull, but I don't think I could sleep on a ferry so would rather spend the night driving.
The toll roads through France are monotinous but easy driving, the motorways through Belgium and Holland are not in such good condition and have much more traffic, but the route can be more interesting and has has more sections of de restricted road in Germany.
I usually leave at 2am, drive to Dover arriving at 6am and get the 7am ferry to Calais. I know it would be far easier to get the ferry from Hull as it is only 40 minutes away, but the 'dead' time on the ferry seems such a waste. In fact every time I go I question myself about the logic of not going from Hull, but I don't think I could sleep on a ferry so would rather spend the night driving.
The toll roads through France are monotinous but easy driving, the motorways through Belgium and Holland are not in such good condition and have much more traffic, but the route can be more interesting and has has more sections of de restricted road in Germany.
lazy afternoon drive from Edinburgh to Newcastle crossed through the night to Amsterdam - nice meal on the boat and a good sleep then motor down through Germany to Basel. Night in Switzerland and then next day through to Lake Guarda....
different roads different drivers.... have you driven any distance in mainland Europe ? comfortable with wrong side of the road ?
Germany sitting at 120 with cars passing like you were sitting still.... its an experience and you really need to try it, its great fun and Europe has some great places to visit.
different roads different drivers.... have you driven any distance in mainland Europe ? comfortable with wrong side of the road ?
Germany sitting at 120 with cars passing like you were sitting still.... its an experience and you really need to try it, its great fun and Europe has some great places to visit.
We drove from Manchester to Venice last year, it's just part of the trip and the drive to the Eurotunnel just makes you appreciate the roads over in mainland Europe.
We are looking at doing it again next year and we'll be driving from Manchester to Eurotunnel, it's part of the road trip
we did Manchester > Ashford > Reims > Interlaken > Chamonix > Pisa > Venice > Hallstatt > Salzburg > Innsbruck > Sirmone > Lugarno > Strasbourg > Calais > Manchester
had a cracking time
MAN UP and do it
We are looking at doing it again next year and we'll be driving from Manchester to Eurotunnel, it's part of the road trip
we did Manchester > Ashford > Reims > Interlaken > Chamonix > Pisa > Venice > Hallstatt > Salzburg > Innsbruck > Sirmone > Lugarno > Strasbourg > Calais > Manchester
had a cracking time
MAN UP and do it
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