Euro Trip Update
Discussion
Got back last week from an 11 day trip with the missus in my Cayman S
Day 1 - Dunkirque to Reims
Day 2 - Reims to Dijon
Day 3 - Dijon to Grenoble
Day 4 - Grenoble to Cannes (via Route Napoleon)
Day 5 - Day in Cannes
Day 6 - Cannes to Monaco
Day 7 - Day in Monaco
Day 8 - Monaco to Geneva
Day 9 - Geneva to Versailles
Day 10 - Versailles to Le Touquet
Day 11 - Le Touquet - Home
In all 2200 miles and amazingly only one argument from my mssus when she thought she new better then the sat nav!
Apart from the long slogs from Monaco to Geneva and Geneva to Versailles all of the routes were done by putting the details into my Tom Tom One Europe and telling it to avoid the motorways. I have done this before and it has always found some fantastic roads and this was no different.
One of the highlights was Day 2 from Reims to Dijon along the old road (the D996). Probably one of the best roads I have ever driven. Its through a forrest so there is very little scenery to distract you from the fantastic road. It seems to have everything you could want in a road, long straights, fast sweepers and tight hairpins. Also very little traffic (apart from the occasional large truck transporting huge tree trunks from the logging camps). If you ever get the chance to drive this road do it as its just fantastic.
Day 3 was also great with the Tom Tom taking us into Grenoble via the Route De Lyon (N75). Not as famous as its brother the Route Napoleon (N85) this was fantastic as well but the descent into Grenoble was a bit scary as there were very tight turns but with no armco on the side of the road just a very large drop. Well worth driving though with light traffic and some fantastic scenery.
The Route Napoleon was just as spectacular as when I did it last year but this time as I wasnt with any other cars I was able to stop occassionally to admire the views. The first 1/3 is a great run but the middle third is a little boring in comparison but this is more than made up for by the last section to Cannes once you clear Digne-Les-Bains.
The roads in Northern France are just as brilliant though if you dont want to go that far south, even if the scenery isnt quite as spectacular. Very fast roads with superb visibility, light traffic and hardly any Gendarmes.
The Cayman was absolutely brilliant. It swallowed all our luggage in the 2 boots (including quite a few pairs of the other half's shoes)with ease leaving a lot of space for quite a few bottles of wine on the way home.
It handled brilliantly on the twisties,very sharp and responsive and was fantastic as a fast comfortable GT on the long stretches of autoroute. The locals loved it as well. I cant think of a better car to take on a trip like this. All that went wrong was a cracked windscreen (the second in 4 weeks!) but that was hardly the car's fault. It even returned an average of 25 MPG. Not bad for a 3.4 litre car either being thrashed on the twisties or cruising at 100+ on the autoroutes.
A few pics:
Long open roads in Northern France
Route De Lyon
Route Napoleon
Usual scruffy yachts in Cannes
Monaco
More rowing boats
Local Chav's cruising around Casino Square
Swiss regstered Veyron outside the Casino on Saturday Night
Views on the way to Geneva
The rather pokey garden at Versailles
Apologies for the long post but it really was an awesome trip. If anyone is thiking of just loading up the car and going then just do it. I plotted the driving days to gve about 5 hours of driving per day (whether using the back roads or autoroutes) which was about perfect. It allowed you to do some great driving with a few stops for coffee breaks and lunch at interesting places along the route and still get you to the destinations mid afternoon so you could have a look around.
Just need to start planning next years trip now!
Cheers
Day 1 - Dunkirque to Reims
Day 2 - Reims to Dijon
Day 3 - Dijon to Grenoble
Day 4 - Grenoble to Cannes (via Route Napoleon)
Day 5 - Day in Cannes
Day 6 - Cannes to Monaco
Day 7 - Day in Monaco
Day 8 - Monaco to Geneva
Day 9 - Geneva to Versailles
Day 10 - Versailles to Le Touquet
Day 11 - Le Touquet - Home
In all 2200 miles and amazingly only one argument from my mssus when she thought she new better then the sat nav!
Apart from the long slogs from Monaco to Geneva and Geneva to Versailles all of the routes were done by putting the details into my Tom Tom One Europe and telling it to avoid the motorways. I have done this before and it has always found some fantastic roads and this was no different.
One of the highlights was Day 2 from Reims to Dijon along the old road (the D996). Probably one of the best roads I have ever driven. Its through a forrest so there is very little scenery to distract you from the fantastic road. It seems to have everything you could want in a road, long straights, fast sweepers and tight hairpins. Also very little traffic (apart from the occasional large truck transporting huge tree trunks from the logging camps). If you ever get the chance to drive this road do it as its just fantastic.
Day 3 was also great with the Tom Tom taking us into Grenoble via the Route De Lyon (N75). Not as famous as its brother the Route Napoleon (N85) this was fantastic as well but the descent into Grenoble was a bit scary as there were very tight turns but with no armco on the side of the road just a very large drop. Well worth driving though with light traffic and some fantastic scenery.
The Route Napoleon was just as spectacular as when I did it last year but this time as I wasnt with any other cars I was able to stop occassionally to admire the views. The first 1/3 is a great run but the middle third is a little boring in comparison but this is more than made up for by the last section to Cannes once you clear Digne-Les-Bains.
The roads in Northern France are just as brilliant though if you dont want to go that far south, even if the scenery isnt quite as spectacular. Very fast roads with superb visibility, light traffic and hardly any Gendarmes.
The Cayman was absolutely brilliant. It swallowed all our luggage in the 2 boots (including quite a few pairs of the other half's shoes)with ease leaving a lot of space for quite a few bottles of wine on the way home.
It handled brilliantly on the twisties,very sharp and responsive and was fantastic as a fast comfortable GT on the long stretches of autoroute. The locals loved it as well. I cant think of a better car to take on a trip like this. All that went wrong was a cracked windscreen (the second in 4 weeks!) but that was hardly the car's fault. It even returned an average of 25 MPG. Not bad for a 3.4 litre car either being thrashed on the twisties or cruising at 100+ on the autoroutes.
A few pics:
Long open roads in Northern France
Route De Lyon
Route Napoleon
Usual scruffy yachts in Cannes
Monaco
More rowing boats
Local Chav's cruising around Casino Square
Swiss regstered Veyron outside the Casino on Saturday Night
Views on the way to Geneva
The rather pokey garden at Versailles
Apologies for the long post but it really was an awesome trip. If anyone is thiking of just loading up the car and going then just do it. I plotted the driving days to gve about 5 hours of driving per day (whether using the back roads or autoroutes) which was about perfect. It allowed you to do some great driving with a few stops for coffee breaks and lunch at interesting places along the route and still get you to the destinations mid afternoon so you could have a look around.
Just need to start planning next years trip now!
Cheers
Edited by Davey S2 on Sunday 29th June 18:56
Nice one!
We've just done much the same; we got back Wednesday from a 12 day trip, though we went clockwise: the Nurburgring, Tribern in the Black Forest, Konstanz, Vaduz (for the passport stamp), Stelvio Pass, the Munt La Schera Tunnel, Bellagio, Ventimiglia, Monaco, Route Napoleon, the Millau Bridge, and back via Tours and Le Mans. Had a great time, and will want to do it again. We'd never done it before, but we just booked the ferry and the first two hotels, and sorted everything out as we went.
We've just done much the same; we got back Wednesday from a 12 day trip, though we went clockwise: the Nurburgring, Tribern in the Black Forest, Konstanz, Vaduz (for the passport stamp), Stelvio Pass, the Munt La Schera Tunnel, Bellagio, Ventimiglia, Monaco, Route Napoleon, the Millau Bridge, and back via Tours and Le Mans. Had a great time, and will want to do it again. We'd never done it before, but we just booked the ferry and the first two hotels, and sorted everything out as we went.
Davey S2 said:
The Route Napoleon was just as spectacular as when I did it last year but this time as I wasnt with any other cars I was able to stop occassionally to admire the views. The first 1/3 is a great run but the middle third is a little boring in comparison but this is more than made up for by the last section to Cannes once you clear Digne-Les-Bains.
Route Napoleon
Route Napoleon
Looks quite familiar David
matc said:
Looks like an amazing trip, planning something similar to this in October. Did you pre-book all of your hotels or just do it as you wne? Where did you stay?
Mat, I booked everything up before I went but you could take a flyer and just find somewhere when you got there but obviously you could be unlucky.As we were only in most places for 1 night a lot of the hotels were just simple Ibis type places. We didnt get to each destination until mid to late afternoon and would then go straight out for a look around and then dinner (generally spent more on restaurants than hotels).
The only one I would change was Geneva which had no parking and it was a nightmare trying to get a space anywhere.
The exceptions for the hotels were Cannes and Monaco where we were for 2 nights. We had a small but nice hotel just outside Cannes. Monaco was the other end of the spectrum as we were staying in the Hotel De Paris in Casino Square.
Shropshiremike said:
Davey S2 said:
The Route Napoleon was just as spectacular as when I did it last year but this time as I wasnt with any other cars I was able to stop occassionally to admire the views. The first 1/3 is a great run but the middle third is a little boring in comparison but this is more than made up for by the last section to Cannes once you clear Digne-Les-Bains.
Route Napoleon
Route Napoleon
Looks quite familiar David
Turbo5 said:
Shropshiremike said:
Davey S2 said:
The Route Napoleon was just as spectacular as when I did it last year but this time as I wasnt with any other cars I was able to stop occassionally to admire the views. The first 1/3 is a great run but the middle third is a little boring in comparison but this is more than made up for by the last section to Cannes once you clear Digne-Les-Bains.
Route Napoleon
Route Napoleon
Looks quite familiar David
ST150HB said:
I saw this thread a few months back, loved it. It gave me ideas as to what I could do for my 21st, so this Saturday me and my mrs will be taking the ST down to Monaco using the same stops as this trip! Can not wait as its my 1st proper road trip!
Great. Glad it inspired someone to do something similar. You will love it.Gassing Station | Roads | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff