European road trips.

[Stevemr]

Mulhouse Bugatti museum
http://citedelautomobile.com/en/home

Then up through Alsace wine villages

[DonkeyApple]

Stevemr said:

Mulhouse Bugatti museum
http://citedelautomobile.com/en/home

Then up through Alsace wine villages

Thanks. Have done that one. My great grandfather raced Bugs at Brooklands so after Prescott this was the next place to go.

[truck71]

DonkeyApple said:

We've done all the first ideas. And the Dordoigne. All fantastic.

Northern Ireland is dangerous as a quick dash down the M1 means bags of clubs will be loaded before you know what's happening. It's a real danger. One year we had a chap who decided he'd fly himself to Le Touquet a day before we would be passing so he could get a round in. He was only snapped into line for future trips because we actually forgot to pick him up. It's a crippling affliction.

What's the poor lads tour?

The poor boys tour is a trip the guys from the mag do once a year, the latest one was based around WW1 history and very interesting. Jamesatcandsc will obviously be able to give more details however I suspect you will have already done a lot of it.

Go off peak on one of the freight ferries to Scandinavia and it should be half reasonable.

[Russwhitehouse]

Be careful driving in Norway. Speed limits and enforcement are draconian!

[Sideways Tim]

Alpine passes are well worth doing. Lots of folk will tell you Stelvio is to be avoided, but they are wrong - it's ace. Hotdog at the top is a must too. Fluella, Foppa and Grimsell are all worth it, I think the Foppa is my favourite though and into the Swiss National park.

[Bobo W]

littleredrooster said:

Circuit des Remparts, Angouleme?
http://www.circuit-des-remparts.com/index-id_page-...

I'm hoping to go there myself this year.

Is the race an annual event or biannual like CLM ?

Incidentally to the OP you may want to consider the hill climbs at La Pommeraye & Saint Gueno which bookend the Whitsun half term week - either of which are excellent events - http://www.hillclimbfrance.co.uk/

[Fiscracer]

Bobo W said:

Is the race an annual event or biannual like CLM ?

Incidentally to the OP you may want to consider the hill climbs at La Pommeraye & Saint Gueno which bookend the Whitsun half term week - either of which are excellent events - http://www.hillclimbfrance.co.uk/

Angouleme is every year - it sometimes clashes with the Spa 6 Hours. Having raced at both I can recommend them both but they are very different.

Angouleme is very French and very crowded with a wide variety of cars from vintage to 80s. Grids are small and all the action takes place on one day, It isn't very good for spectating, BUT there is a rally open to all visitors on the Saturday.

Spa 6 Hours is undoubtably the best motorsport event in Europe. The main event is a cracker with 100+ pre 65 cars going hell for leather from 4 -10pm on the Saturday ie into the night. The support races are excellent and you have open access to the paddock and pits without the massive crowds. Petrolhead heaven for 3 or 4 days.

Angouleme is good but Spa 6 is better IMHO

HTH

[aw51 121565]

A friend and I accidentally happened across the Circuit Des Remparts back in September 2007 !

My friend's parents have a villa on the Costa Blanca (they have moved out there more recently), and my friend and I drove there in a Montego 1.6HL (it only took 3 days via the Millau Viaduct, and I have an Uncle near Carcassonne who we just had to visit). My wife - arguably with more sense than us - flew to Valencia and we collected her from there the day after we got to the villa.

Ten days or so spent on the Costa Blanca later, we dropped my wife off at Valencia Airport and took a more relaxed route home (over 4 days). As both my friend and I hail from Bury, we thought "why not drop in to Angouleme, one of Bury's twin towns?". And so we did, oblivious to the Circuits Des Remparts event that weekend! Many commented from streetside bars along the lines of "Oh! A Montego!" (it sounded better than it reads ) and there were many interesting vehicles - many English-registered - to be seen that weekend in the immediate area .

We also paid a visit to Le Mans, twinned with Bolton where I now live, the next day... The Mulsanne Straight was interesting - especially as the solenoid feed dropped off before we stopped at a garage at the bottom of said Straight to fill up with petrol and the Montego wouldn't then fire up... Easily sorted in a few seconds, though .

The north of France just has to be worth several trips over the years if time is short - we always sail Newhaven-Dieppe despite travelling from the north west, it costs more than Dover-Calais but saves over a hundred miles each way and the real McCoy is so much nearer on the far side of the ditch this way .

[AndrewCrown]

D

May I suggest as it seems you enjoy dining too... San Sebastian. Basque Northern Spain. Make this a highlight http://www.mugaritz.com/
One can just about make it in a day. SS is brilliant in itself, but from there you can do Bilbao, Pamplona etc..
The ferry to Santander is an alternative route... but its a 24 hour thing... It might suit.
(Sorry just realised James suggested this earlier)

A second suggestion is Ile de Re... and possibly also Oléron... Interesting islands off France's West Atlantic coast... amazing seafood.

Cheers
A

Edited by AndrewCrown on Friday 23 January 02:17

[lowdrag]

Angoulême 1992:-







It was so light and easy then. We stayed in town and had a were allowed anywhere we liked really.

[DonkeyApple]

Thanks. Yes I've enjoyed San Sebastián a few times. A couple of times on classic car rallies around the Basque and also dashing over the Pyrenees from Bordeaux for lunch. It's a fantastic part of the world.

The tips on the islands would be great if it weren't that I avoid seafood more than golf. This generally makes places like La Rochelle etc immensely unexciting as I'd end up sitting on a table surrounded by seafood platters!!!!

It would be nice to do a bit more in Germany, if anyone has any tips. Again, we've done the Ring many times and have become a little bored of it and we've done the Rhine/Mosel wine area which was great.

[Riley Blue]

If you've a day free, this place is well worth visiting: http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en

[Ali2202]

Might be a bit far on your time-scale but it is invariably truly magnificent.....

http://concorsodeleganzavilladeste.com/

You can visit Clooney while you're there. Tell him I said hello.

[GSE]

DonkeyApple said:

Good call. Have done it, back in 90s just after the revolution. In a ford Sierra. Class.

I did a road trip to Berlin via Amsterdam in the '90's not long after the Berlin Wall came down - in a 20 year old Opel Commodore GS/E that I restored. It was a really good trip (first time on the autobahn) I went to a really fascinating museum in Berlin devoted to those from the east who attempted to escape and the methods they used. I presume its still there, would like to go back. Prague was a revelation too!

[DonkeyApple]

GSE said:

DonkeyApple said:

Good call. Have done it, back in 90s just after the revolution. In a ford Sierra. Class.

I did a road trip to Berlin via Amsterdam in the '90's not long after the Berlin Wall came down - in a 20 year old Opel Commodore GS/E that I restored. It was a really good trip (first time on the autobahn) I went to a really fascinating museum in Berlin devoted to those from the east who attempted to escape and the methods they used. I presume its still there, would like to go back. Prague was a revelation too!

I think that anyone who got to drive Europe in the 90s saw a part of the world that simply no longer exists. Especially towards the Soviet Block remnants. That part of Europe has changed so rapidly.

I feel very lucky to have accidentally experienced events like Le Mans, Nurburgring and a few other hugely important places before they went corporate and you could still see the same things that your father saw and even your grandfather.

I guess I'm trying to find some places/events within a day's drive of Calais that cheap debt, commercial promotion and modern architects haven't changed forever.

This thread has thrown up a few events that I never knew about and wish I'd experienced earlier. In short, I like going to events where I am not going to bump into fellow Square Milers.