Discussion
Washington DC to New Orleans overnight. 1100 miles. Solo driver but comfortable US barge so not too bad.
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Verona to Edinburgh. 1250 miles. Two drivers but poorly planned (ran out of money at the end of a holiday) and in an Alfasud Sprint. Was literally halucinating at the end of it.
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Verona to Edinburgh. 1250 miles. Two drivers but poorly planned (ran out of money at the end of a holiday) and in an Alfasud Sprint. Was literally halucinating at the end of it.
Edited by AC43 on Friday 22 November 09:31
Mashedpotatoes said:
schmalex said:
Newbury to Tignes in the French Alps, only stopping for fuel.
What ferry port ? How long from French side to tignes?We are thinking about a drive to the alps this winter
We regularly do Exeter to Gdansk in Poland in one hit, (About 2000 kms) stopping only for fuel,
Athens to Poznan in Poland in one hit (Albeit with a 5 hour roadside sleep) was very tiring.
Earlier this year we did Poznan to Ancona in one go too in dreadful weather leaving Poznan at 18.00 and arriving in Ancona at 05.00,
Leaving Poland
Arriving in Italy
And then on to Crete
I was very pleased with myself the first time i did it but since my folks moved to Crete we no have to do it once a year when we visit them.
Athens to Poznan in Poland in one hit (Albeit with a 5 hour roadside sleep) was very tiring.
Earlier this year we did Poznan to Ancona in one go too in dreadful weather leaving Poznan at 18.00 and arriving in Ancona at 05.00,
Leaving Poland
Arriving in Italy
And then on to Crete
I was very pleased with myself the first time i did it but since my folks moved to Crete we no have to do it once a year when we visit them.
Exeter to Plockton in the Highlands is an annual one for me, about 625 miles so pretty manageable. Not overly comfortable in an NA MX5 but definitely character building!
I've done some pretty big drives in the States but big empty roads and a nice lazy V6 Mustang make the miles fly by.
I've done some pretty big drives in the States but big empty roads and a nice lazy V6 Mustang make the miles fly by.
In August I drove approximately 1026 miles (according to Google) in a little over 30 hours. I started in Exeter (at 2pm, having been at work for the morning), drove as far as Salisbury before realising I had forgotten my counterpart driving licence and some other documents, so I headed back to Exmouth to pick up the licence, back home to Exeter for some other stuff and then on to Folkestone.
Arrived at the hotel (due to traffic on the first 'leg') at just after midnight, just in time for about four hours' sleep before getting up for our tunnel crossing. After an uneventful time under the channel we joined the French Autoroute - my first time ever driving on the wrong side of the road and the first time my girlfriend and I had ever been abroad together. We had been on the road for no more than about 10 minutes when the auxiliary belt decided to f
k off out of the engine bay of my 206, causing us to have to stop at the very first rest stop in France. Fortunately I had AA European cover, however due to the roads being privately owned I had to call 112 and ask for them to send someone out to help. An hour or so later the "Frenchest" person I have ever seen turned up, jumping out of his truck smoking a roll-up and, after quickly looking at the car, made good use of the only English he knew and kept repeating "big problem". We were recovered back to his garage somewhere in the outskirts of Calais (in fact, I think we broke down on the outskirts of Calais), where we had to wait for about 3 hours or so until the AA could arrange a hire car for us.
After waiting for about 2 hours the mechanic decided he was going home (it was a Saturday and he wouldn't even look at the car until Monday) and asked us to leave the car at his garage and could we wait outside his fence. Seeing as we had a substantial amount of luggage we had to leave quite a lot, and instead just took a couple of bags and our food. There we sat in the middle of nowhere, waiting for my phone to ring and with no idea what was going to happen. Eventually I had a call to say they had found a hire car (being 23 probably made that a little difficult) and were sending a taxi, which would take us back to the ferry terminal - as far as we could possibly be from our destination.
The Europcar desk was supposed to close 10 minutes before we arrived, however fortunately a couple in front of us were having problems hiring a car and had caused the desk to stay open late. Due to various issues (the first car they had arranged suddenly being unavailable) it took almost an hour to get the keys. It then took a further 20 minutes to find the car and carry our bags to it.
At about 1pm we were set - I was sat on the wrong side of a car, sleep deprived and about to drive 500 or so miles to the French Alps. Luckily the car had cruise control, which helped a lot, and with just two stops (6 minute toilet break - with some interestingly "decorated" cubicles - and 8 minutes for petrol) I managed to knock 57 minutes off the original ETA on the sat-nav to arrive in Morillon at about 10pm.
We flew home.
Arrived at the hotel (due to traffic on the first 'leg') at just after midnight, just in time for about four hours' sleep before getting up for our tunnel crossing. After an uneventful time under the channel we joined the French Autoroute - my first time ever driving on the wrong side of the road and the first time my girlfriend and I had ever been abroad together. We had been on the road for no more than about 10 minutes when the auxiliary belt decided to f
k off out of the engine bay of my 206, causing us to have to stop at the very first rest stop in France. Fortunately I had AA European cover, however due to the roads being privately owned I had to call 112 and ask for them to send someone out to help. An hour or so later the "Frenchest" person I have ever seen turned up, jumping out of his truck smoking a roll-up and, after quickly looking at the car, made good use of the only English he knew and kept repeating "big problem". We were recovered back to his garage somewhere in the outskirts of Calais (in fact, I think we broke down on the outskirts of Calais), where we had to wait for about 3 hours or so until the AA could arrange a hire car for us.After waiting for about 2 hours the mechanic decided he was going home (it was a Saturday and he wouldn't even look at the car until Monday) and asked us to leave the car at his garage and could we wait outside his fence. Seeing as we had a substantial amount of luggage we had to leave quite a lot, and instead just took a couple of bags and our food. There we sat in the middle of nowhere, waiting for my phone to ring and with no idea what was going to happen. Eventually I had a call to say they had found a hire car (being 23 probably made that a little difficult) and were sending a taxi, which would take us back to the ferry terminal - as far as we could possibly be from our destination.
The Europcar desk was supposed to close 10 minutes before we arrived, however fortunately a couple in front of us were having problems hiring a car and had caused the desk to stay open late. Due to various issues (the first car they had arranged suddenly being unavailable) it took almost an hour to get the keys. It then took a further 20 minutes to find the car and carry our bags to it.
At about 1pm we were set - I was sat on the wrong side of a car, sleep deprived and about to drive 500 or so miles to the French Alps. Luckily the car had cruise control, which helped a lot, and with just two stops (6 minute toilet break - with some interestingly "decorated" cubicles - and 8 minutes for petrol) I managed to knock 57 minutes off the original ETA on the sat-nav to arrive in Morillon at about 10pm.
We flew home.
When I was a student at uni (some 23 years ago) I had a job as a driver with Europcar.
We had to deliver and pick up cars nationwide and if we were lucky sometimes abroad.
Once I had to drive a Renault Super 5 (running on only 3 cylinders) from Antwerp (Belgium) to Cannes (France) and come back with a Renault Espace. We got an allowance for a one night stay in a hotel, but I decided to do trip whole trip in one go so I could save the money for something else.
Antwerp to Cannes took 13hrs for 765 miles as the car wouldn't go faster than 75MPH. In Cannes I immediately switched to the Espace and began the drive back, luckily at much higher speeds.
After a total of 1260 miles and 20hrs however I was so tired that I had to stop to get a few hours sleep (easy in an Espace). After that the last 250 miles seemed like a drive around the block.
Now, over 20 years later, I'm lucky if I can do 500 miles without wanting to take a nap.
We had to deliver and pick up cars nationwide and if we were lucky sometimes abroad.
Once I had to drive a Renault Super 5 (running on only 3 cylinders) from Antwerp (Belgium) to Cannes (France) and come back with a Renault Espace. We got an allowance for a one night stay in a hotel, but I decided to do trip whole trip in one go so I could save the money for something else.
Antwerp to Cannes took 13hrs for 765 miles as the car wouldn't go faster than 75MPH. In Cannes I immediately switched to the Espace and began the drive back, luckily at much higher speeds.
After a total of 1260 miles and 20hrs however I was so tired that I had to stop to get a few hours sleep (easy in an Espace). After that the last 250 miles seemed like a drive around the block.
Now, over 20 years later, I'm lucky if I can do 500 miles without wanting to take a nap.
ecurie said:
Once I had to drive a Renault Super 5 (running on only 3 cylinders) from Antwerp (Belgium) to Cannes (France) and come back with a Renault Espace. We got an allowance for a one night stay in a hotel, but I decided to do trip whole trip in one go so I could save the money for something else.
Not car related, but that reminds me of a time I worked for a yacht charter business when I was a student.We had to collect a yacht from Cherbourg and bring it back to Lymington. No big deal in itself, as I was racing across the Channel pretty much every weekend and it was generally a 10 - 12 hour trip on a slowish cruising boat. However, these particular charterers had broken the forestay (the wire the stops the mast falling backwards) and also destroyed the engine.
We had to rig a jury forestay and wait until there was very little breeze to avoid bring the rig down. It took something like 23 hours, as we averaged 2.5 kts all the way back. It turned out that my boss had absolutely no idea how to sail a boat or navigate, so I sailed the thing single handed all the way.
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