Summer 2013 Road Trip
Discussion
I went down to Italy with the better half last summer in an MX5 and had one fo the best holidays ever so I thought I would share! In total we drove through 9 countries and stayed in 7 over the course of 14 days.
This was our rough route http://goo.gl/maps/6VGqb
Day 1 - UK to France
Opted for a midday ferry so weren't knackered right at the beginning, cost was £62 return.
It's a long slog getting through France so we stayed in Reims for one night which is about halfway between here and Germany. Paid £55 to stay in a travel lodge style place called Residhome Reims Centre.
Day 2 - France to Germany
We entered Germany through the Black Forest which was pretty cool. Very nice roads and cheap places to stay can be found pretty easily. We stayed in the Gästehaus Absbachtal which was someones house but it had self contained apartments within. Not much to do round there though so be prepared to drive to get dinner. Apartment cost was £48. No interesting pictures from this day as it rained all day!
Edit: If you like locks this was the route for you....
one looking the other way
Day 3 - Germany to Northern Italy via Austria
One of the most fun parts of the journey was the Autobahn! Only managed 110mph on the GPS as it rained yet again. It is amazing how well the main roads flow over there as everyone does about 100mph.
The scenery and roads as you go through Austria are fantastic so take your time and avoid motorways if you can so you get to see some of the world.
It's worth noting you need a Vignette (permit) to drive on some of the roads in Austria, full list of roads here http://www.tolltickets.com/country/austria/vignett... at 8.5 Euros we paid to save any hassle.
We stayed about 20min drive over the border of Austria in a nice place called Appartement Sunnleitn for £43.
The apartment was a bit hard to find as it was up the side of a hill. We also encountered an angry four legged friend..
It's quite surprising how fast an MX5 can reverse when a cow starts running at you! In the end we had to ask the local farmer (who was round the corner) to shift the cows out of the way.
We walked up a hill next to the apartment and took this picture
This was the view from our balcony
We also went up one of the mountains in a cable car
I wish we had stayed longer than one night at this place!
Day 4 - Northern Italy to Savona (Coast) via Milan
This was the longest day, but also one of the best. Today was the day we went over the Stelvio Pass!! As 'luck' would have it I was driving the morning of this day. We were only around 45 mins from the Stelvio Pass so it was a quick breakfast and then out on the road.
Now we can't have all the luck so as we approach the nice roads around the Stelvio it was apparent some crazy cyclists were racing up the mountain!
I nearly lost the clutch about 3/4 of the way up from all the stop starting we had to do, but nevertheless we made it up. We then went down the Stelvio Pass trying to miss all the cyclists once again.
We stopped half way down to get a quick couple of pictures
We then made our way towards Milan to meet a friend who was flying over for the 5 days in Italy.
By not using the motorways where possible we got to stop at some nice places for lunch.
When we met our friend in Milan it was apparent the next few journeys may be a bit slow.....
Days 5-6 were spent in Savona drinking beer and coffee and basically lazing around
Day 7 - Savona to Florence via Pisa
We decided toll roads were boring so took what seemed like the longest route possible to Pisa.
Some nice views again
But also some crazy roads
And yes we did go down the road after taking the picture!
So finally to Pisa and we had to take the obligatory picture 'holding' up the leaning tower.
Right i need to carry on writing my dissertation so will be back to finish it off over the weekend with Florence, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Amsterdam!
Any questions please ask
This was our rough route http://goo.gl/maps/6VGqb
Day 1 - UK to France
Opted for a midday ferry so weren't knackered right at the beginning, cost was £62 return.
It's a long slog getting through France so we stayed in Reims for one night which is about halfway between here and Germany. Paid £55 to stay in a travel lodge style place called Residhome Reims Centre.
Day 2 - France to Germany
We entered Germany through the Black Forest which was pretty cool. Very nice roads and cheap places to stay can be found pretty easily. We stayed in the Gästehaus Absbachtal which was someones house but it had self contained apartments within. Not much to do round there though so be prepared to drive to get dinner. Apartment cost was £48. No interesting pictures from this day as it rained all day!
Edit: If you like locks this was the route for you....
one looking the other way
Day 3 - Germany to Northern Italy via Austria
One of the most fun parts of the journey was the Autobahn! Only managed 110mph on the GPS as it rained yet again. It is amazing how well the main roads flow over there as everyone does about 100mph.
The scenery and roads as you go through Austria are fantastic so take your time and avoid motorways if you can so you get to see some of the world.
It's worth noting you need a Vignette (permit) to drive on some of the roads in Austria, full list of roads here http://www.tolltickets.com/country/austria/vignett... at 8.5 Euros we paid to save any hassle.
We stayed about 20min drive over the border of Austria in a nice place called Appartement Sunnleitn for £43.
The apartment was a bit hard to find as it was up the side of a hill. We also encountered an angry four legged friend..
It's quite surprising how fast an MX5 can reverse when a cow starts running at you! In the end we had to ask the local farmer (who was round the corner) to shift the cows out of the way.
We walked up a hill next to the apartment and took this picture
This was the view from our balcony
We also went up one of the mountains in a cable car
I wish we had stayed longer than one night at this place!
Day 4 - Northern Italy to Savona (Coast) via Milan
This was the longest day, but also one of the best. Today was the day we went over the Stelvio Pass!! As 'luck' would have it I was driving the morning of this day. We were only around 45 mins from the Stelvio Pass so it was a quick breakfast and then out on the road.
Now we can't have all the luck so as we approach the nice roads around the Stelvio it was apparent some crazy cyclists were racing up the mountain!
I nearly lost the clutch about 3/4 of the way up from all the stop starting we had to do, but nevertheless we made it up. We then went down the Stelvio Pass trying to miss all the cyclists once again.
We stopped half way down to get a quick couple of pictures
We then made our way towards Milan to meet a friend who was flying over for the 5 days in Italy.
By not using the motorways where possible we got to stop at some nice places for lunch.
When we met our friend in Milan it was apparent the next few journeys may be a bit slow.....
Days 5-6 were spent in Savona drinking beer and coffee and basically lazing around
Day 7 - Savona to Florence via Pisa
We decided toll roads were boring so took what seemed like the longest route possible to Pisa.
Some nice views again
But also some crazy roads
And yes we did go down the road after taking the picture!
So finally to Pisa and we had to take the obligatory picture 'holding' up the leaning tower.
Right i need to carry on writing my dissertation so will be back to finish it off over the weekend with Florence, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Amsterdam!
Any questions please ask
Edited by simonre7 on Saturday 4th January 11:37
steveeeW said:
Wow. Already sounds like a great trip! This is definitely on my wish list of things to do, but with an almost 1 year old daughter, it's not possible at the moment. 
I know you are bound to tell us, but so far, how's the mx5 doing?
Can't wait to read part 2!
Make sure you do get round to it, it's the best way to see the world.I know you are bound to tell us, but so far, how's the mx5 doing?
Can't wait to read part 2!
We did the trip in the summer and i'm glad to say the MX5 survived although it did have a hicup whilst up the alps
billzeebub said:
always enjoy reading about a good road trip, especially one with plenty of photos and done the best way (in a Convertible/Roadster). Good work fella, look forward to seeing the rest of the trip
I think having the converible made the trip to be honest. We had the roof down from day 3 onwards and it didnt go up until it was on the drive at home again. You can see so much more with the roof down and it never good too cold, even when it snowed up the alps!I've just updated the original post with some more pictures. I'll do part two tomorrow.
Nice write up. Be sure to link this thread to the ‘sticky’.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Did you pre-book any of your accommodations or did you just ‘wing it’?
Cheers.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Did you pre-book any of your accommodations or did you just ‘wing it’?
Cheers.
BrotherMouzone said:
Nice write up. Be sure to link this thread to the ‘sticky’.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Did you pre-book any of your accommodations or did you just ‘wing it’?
Cheers.
Thanks for the heads up with the sticky.http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Did you pre-book any of your accommodations or did you just ‘wing it’?
Cheers.
We pre booked all the accommodation. Me and a few mates done the Crumball Rally in 2012 (car for less than £250 UK to Prague, that's a whole other story!) and I soon learnt 250 miles was the maximum you could comfortably do in one day. So to make sure we paced ourselves I planned the accommodation every 250 miles or so. This meant we didn't have to get up really early, we could stop and eat lunch at leisure and most of all we were at our destination in time for dinner.
So I got bored writing a disseration and thought my time would bebetter spent finishing this off
Days 7 to 8 and a bit of 9 - Florence
So we arrived in Florence..
And had a look around in the dark...
The next morning something with wheels which moved without much effort was needed, so we went and got a few of these!
We then done some sight seeing
Got some drinks from a stall
and went shopping!
Quite amazing how easily you get used to them. You could pretty much go where ever you wanted on them and the big bonus was you could see over the top of everyone
So after some more sight seeing during the day (and yes it is that big)
An expensive beer or two
and a real Kiwi fruit lolly (most refreshing thing I have ever tasted!)
We left to start the journey home.
Day 9 - Florence to Domodossola via Milan
So quite an uneventful journey from Florence to Milan.
We didn't spend long in Milan but thought we can't just drive past, plus our friend Craig was leaving us to fly home from Milan airport so it made sense to stop.
A few impressive places to see
I have never been in a shopping mall with so many designer shops. You almost feel like you need to be dressed up to go in!
So once we went our seperate ways at Milan the roads started to get interesting as we headed towards the Alps!
We stayed at a fantastic place called Agriturismo La Tensa which was £70 for the night. You stayed in one of aorund 10 small houses built into the mountain
This was the view from outside the on site resturant
Day 10 - Italy to Germany
To save changing up loads of money we decided to not stay in Switzerland due to the fact Switzerland uses the Swiss Franc (funny that) and everywhere around it uses Euros. I also decided a Swiss Vignette was a rip off as you can only purchase one for a year for 33 Euros as opposed to Austria where you can get one for a week at 8.5 Euros.
This meant a 220 miles mission accross Switerland not using any motorways. The hardest part of thsi journey is we would be going up the Alps and I knew it would be a long day as the average speed would be low from stopping and the fact 140bhp feels like about 80bhp once up a mountain.
Any way enough chat I'll let some pictures do the talking up to the top of the Grimeselsee Pass, our route through the passes was something like this http://goo.gl/maps/gm9dO
Finally we made it to the top!
There was a bit of ice..
Its quite a mesmerising place. P.S. Only real men wear shorts in the snow
After a few dreamy minutes we carried on the journey going down the mountain (and back up and down some more)
And then, I had a genius idea. The car was hot, I was hot and the view was goo so why not park up and take a few pictures
The only problem was the car really liked it up there so it wanted to stay.....
Mazda engineers thought it would be really good to mount the coil pack on the back of the engine where it gets really hot. MX5s and big mountains don't get on so well. Although after half hour of talking to the locals, who were riding up the mountains on their bikes, and generally taking pictures we were on our way again.
Now for some reason when we got out the car to take some pictures I forogt snow is fluffy and full of air. It wasn't until about this point in my jump that thsi occured to me.
Cue snow up to my knees and wet trousers and shoes!!
One thing which kept me entertained on the way down was the way the snow across roads was dealt with. Instead of clearing up all the snow around a road they just cut a slot through the middle of the snow pile where the road goes!
So when you drive down that bit of road you end up with a snow wall on one side.
Any who we carried on the journey with no major dramas
We even had a few animals in the road thrown in for good measure.
We eventally made it to HochenSchwand in Germany. The place we stayed was rubbish but the town was fanatastic.
Day 11 - Germany to Belgium
Not many pictures from the day although we went via the black forest so the roads were good.
We did also venture onto another autobahn where we maxed out the MX5 with the roof down!
We stayed the night in a nice place called Bütgenbach which cost £75 but was one fo the best places we stayed.
Day 12 to 14 - Amsterdam
So we had our shortest day yet and drove up to Amsterdam. We opted to park at the air port and get the train into the City which worked quite well.
We saw some clogs
and went to look at some of the night life..
Day 15 - Amsterdam to home via Brugge
So today was the end of the trip and nearly time to go back to reality. I'm pretty rubbish with boats so we opted to go back to Calais for the shorter journey.
We stopped off in Brugge for lunch and for the obligatory windmill picture
Before driving back to Calais
And then finally to England
To give an idea of costs for the entire trip:
Tolls:£43
Parking: £56
Hotels: £787
Petrol: £580 @ av 35 MPG
So including spending money and all the above we spent about £3000 between us for two weeks.
We averaged aroud 38 MPG on motorways and around 33 MPG whilst going up the alps which I thought was reasonable for a 1.8 litre.
One of the best tools we used when planning the journey was http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ this allows you to plot a route and tells you any road toll or vignette costs. You can also tell it to avoid vignette and tolls roads and see the difference. In general we avoided toll roads although we used a few when we went from northern Italy via Milan and to the coast due to the length of time it would have taken otherwise.
As i mentioned early this was probably the best holiday of my life and I will definately be planning another trip.
If you are thinking of doing one then just get on and do it!!
Days 7 to 8 and a bit of 9 - Florence
So we arrived in Florence..
And had a look around in the dark...
The next morning something with wheels which moved without much effort was needed, so we went and got a few of these!
We then done some sight seeing
Got some drinks from a stall
and went shopping!
Quite amazing how easily you get used to them. You could pretty much go where ever you wanted on them and the big bonus was you could see over the top of everyone
So after some more sight seeing during the day (and yes it is that big)
An expensive beer or two
and a real Kiwi fruit lolly (most refreshing thing I have ever tasted!)
We left to start the journey home.
Day 9 - Florence to Domodossola via Milan
So quite an uneventful journey from Florence to Milan.
We didn't spend long in Milan but thought we can't just drive past, plus our friend Craig was leaving us to fly home from Milan airport so it made sense to stop.
A few impressive places to see
I have never been in a shopping mall with so many designer shops. You almost feel like you need to be dressed up to go in!
So once we went our seperate ways at Milan the roads started to get interesting as we headed towards the Alps!
We stayed at a fantastic place called Agriturismo La Tensa which was £70 for the night. You stayed in one of aorund 10 small houses built into the mountain
This was the view from outside the on site resturant
Day 10 - Italy to Germany
To save changing up loads of money we decided to not stay in Switzerland due to the fact Switzerland uses the Swiss Franc (funny that) and everywhere around it uses Euros. I also decided a Swiss Vignette was a rip off as you can only purchase one for a year for 33 Euros as opposed to Austria where you can get one for a week at 8.5 Euros.
This meant a 220 miles mission accross Switerland not using any motorways. The hardest part of thsi journey is we would be going up the Alps and I knew it would be a long day as the average speed would be low from stopping and the fact 140bhp feels like about 80bhp once up a mountain.
Any way enough chat I'll let some pictures do the talking up to the top of the Grimeselsee Pass, our route through the passes was something like this http://goo.gl/maps/gm9dO
Finally we made it to the top!
There was a bit of ice..
Its quite a mesmerising place. P.S. Only real men wear shorts in the snow
After a few dreamy minutes we carried on the journey going down the mountain (and back up and down some more)
And then, I had a genius idea. The car was hot, I was hot and the view was goo so why not park up and take a few pictures
The only problem was the car really liked it up there so it wanted to stay.....
Mazda engineers thought it would be really good to mount the coil pack on the back of the engine where it gets really hot. MX5s and big mountains don't get on so well. Although after half hour of talking to the locals, who were riding up the mountains on their bikes, and generally taking pictures we were on our way again.
Now for some reason when we got out the car to take some pictures I forogt snow is fluffy and full of air. It wasn't until about this point in my jump that thsi occured to me.
Cue snow up to my knees and wet trousers and shoes!!
One thing which kept me entertained on the way down was the way the snow across roads was dealt with. Instead of clearing up all the snow around a road they just cut a slot through the middle of the snow pile where the road goes!
So when you drive down that bit of road you end up with a snow wall on one side.
Any who we carried on the journey with no major dramas
We even had a few animals in the road thrown in for good measure.
We eventally made it to HochenSchwand in Germany. The place we stayed was rubbish but the town was fanatastic.
Day 11 - Germany to Belgium
Not many pictures from the day although we went via the black forest so the roads were good.
We did also venture onto another autobahn where we maxed out the MX5 with the roof down!
We stayed the night in a nice place called Bütgenbach which cost £75 but was one fo the best places we stayed.
Day 12 to 14 - Amsterdam
So we had our shortest day yet and drove up to Amsterdam. We opted to park at the air port and get the train into the City which worked quite well.
We saw some clogs
and went to look at some of the night life..
Day 15 - Amsterdam to home via Brugge
So today was the end of the trip and nearly time to go back to reality. I'm pretty rubbish with boats so we opted to go back to Calais for the shorter journey.
We stopped off in Brugge for lunch and for the obligatory windmill picture
Before driving back to Calais
And then finally to England
To give an idea of costs for the entire trip:
Tolls:£43
Parking: £56
Hotels: £787
Petrol: £580 @ av 35 MPG
So including spending money and all the above we spent about £3000 between us for two weeks.
We averaged aroud 38 MPG on motorways and around 33 MPG whilst going up the alps which I thought was reasonable for a 1.8 litre.
One of the best tools we used when planning the journey was http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ this allows you to plot a route and tells you any road toll or vignette costs. You can also tell it to avoid vignette and tolls roads and see the difference. In general we avoided toll roads although we used a few when we went from northern Italy via Milan and to the coast due to the length of time it would have taken otherwise.
As i mentioned early this was probably the best holiday of my life and I will definately be planning another trip.
If you are thinking of doing one then just get on and do it!!
Good write up and loved the pics. I used Via michelin website also for planning, found it very accurate indeed. The missus reckoned it was one of the best holidays we've had so planning for 2015 to Spain (Circular trip).
Mine here if you're interested
......... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Mine here if you're interested
......... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...CarbonXKR said:
Good write up and loved the pics. I used Via michelin website also for planning, found it very accurate indeed. The missus reckoned it was one of the best holidays we've had so planning for 2015 to Spain (Circular trip).
Mine here if you're interested ......... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Just had a look. Looks like a good trip and plenty of beer along the way.Mine here if you're interested
......... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...Its funny you say about the missus liking it as mine is keen as mustard to go on another one now as well.
I forgot to add I have a video of the Grimsel Pass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ1oc_lKc_k
Epic trip there bud. I was only reminiscing the other day about our Alpine tour last September, as the January rain lashed the windows.
We went up the Stelvio from the Bormio side and nearly got hit by some German bellend in a Z4, taking the bend on our side
We did the Aprica,Gavia, Stelvio and Foscagno Passes via the spectacular dam on Lake Livigno. We crossed into Italy via the Splugenpass (route 36) from Switzerland the previous day, which was a bonkers road in places - one vehicle wide and carved out of the rockface.
Spectacular views from the Grimsel Pass car park isn't it ? There were 2 car clubs there when we pulled up, a group of Brit TVRs and locals in Volvos that Roger Moore drove in The Saint. Would have been mid afternoon Saturday 7th Sept if anyone's on here. I took some pics of both groups.
We overnighted in Bad Berzagbern, Germany,both ways, doing the B500 Black Forest road. 9 days in total and only 1 day of crap weather. The only drawback is the tedious motorway slog through Northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg before the spectacular crossing of the Moselle into Germany.
Thinking of doing the Portsmouth-Bilbao ferry this year and tour the Pyrenees and Picos mountains.
We went up the Stelvio from the Bormio side and nearly got hit by some German bellend in a Z4, taking the bend on our side
We did the Aprica,Gavia, Stelvio and Foscagno Passes via the spectacular dam on Lake Livigno. We crossed into Italy via the Splugenpass (route 36) from Switzerland the previous day, which was a bonkers road in places - one vehicle wide and carved out of the rockface.
Spectacular views from the Grimsel Pass car park isn't it ? There were 2 car clubs there when we pulled up, a group of Brit TVRs and locals in Volvos that Roger Moore drove in The Saint. Would have been mid afternoon Saturday 7th Sept if anyone's on here. I took some pics of both groups.
We overnighted in Bad Berzagbern, Germany,both ways, doing the B500 Black Forest road. 9 days in total and only 1 day of crap weather. The only drawback is the tedious motorway slog through Northern France, Belgium and Luxembourg before the spectacular crossing of the Moselle into Germany.
Thinking of doing the Portsmouth-Bilbao ferry this year and tour the Pyrenees and Picos mountains.
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