S Club Euro Trip - it's time to commit.....
Discussion
Hi everyone.
Well, after a couple of months of kicking ideas around and people saying they are interested here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... it’s now time to commit.
Apologies for the lengthy post but it has lots of info that I hope you find useful.
The route came together pretty easily but finding suitable hotels has been more of a challenge, simply because a lot of them in the area we are heading for shut after the ski season or only have a couple of twin rooms – because I am expecting quite a few cars to be occupied by a pair of mates rather than other halves we’re going to need plenty of twins.
Based on the previous thread where 20+ cars expressed an interest, I’ve tried to find hotels that will accommodate up to 40 people. However I fully expect a lot of those originally interested to decide not to come whereas others may join.
I have a shortlist of hotels but cannot firm up anything with them until I know how many actually do want to come and what type of rooms will be needed. To help you decide, here is some further information
Dates
Proposed dates are Thursday 23/9 – Monday 27/9.
The Route
Timings and mileages are from Google or Michelin online planning tools. As I mentioned in the other thread, in my experience we will cover the motorway miles quicker on average than the times quoted.
Day 1 The French Connection
Calais to SE of Dijon in the Jura wine region.
Suggestion is to meet in Calais first thing in the morning. That way people are free to cross the channel the previous evening or early that morning by whichever route/method they want.
Providing we are making good progress we will have a couple of opportunities to get off the motorway and hit the original road that parallels it which will be much more fun.
400 miles / 6hrs
Day 2 Run to the Hills
No more motorways for a couple of days
SE of Dijon and up, up and up a bit more to close to Bourg Saint Maurice and the start of the Petit St Bernard pass.
Max altitude 2700m
170 miles / 4hrs
Day 3 The Italian Job
Over the Petit St Bernard pass into Italy, over the Grand St Bernard pass into Switzerland, then back into France staying near Chamonix.
Max altitude 2500
160 / 4 miles
Day 4 Champagne Charlies
Morning in the hills heading to faster cross country roads and some motorways in the afternoon, finishing at hotel in champagne country.
Max altitude 1700m
325 miles / 5.5hrs
Day 5 Break for the Border
Arrive in Calais by lunchtime / early afternoon and head home.
There will be time for photo stop at the old GP track and pit buildings in Reims on the way.
240 miles / 3.75hrs (to Calais)
On days 2 & 3 there are options to extend the route if we feel like it once there.
The mileages each day will allow time for a drink/rest break mid morning and mid afternoon, lunch, photo stops, run by’s for those with video cameras, etc, etc.
If there is a large group it’s easier to eat at the hotel where we know there will be a table waiting for us, rather than wandering around trying to find a meal at the end of the day. Also a couple of the hotels on my shortlist are a couple of miles from anywhere! I have therefore priced the hotels including dinner.
Costs
In the original thread I said I thought it’d be £40-£50 per night. It will actually be a maximum of approx £238 per person for 4 nights but that includes bed, breakfast and dinner each night, sharing a twin or double room.
I say a maximum of £238 because until I know numbers I’m not sure which hotels we’ll be in and what group deals I can get e.g. one of the hotels will give us a group discount of £5 per head if there are more than 25 people.
I’ve not included the cost of channel crossings as I’m sure some will prefer to use their Tesco vouchers on the tunnel while others would prefer the ferry. Once we know who’s coming we can discuss the crossings and if enough of us want the same route/time try and get a group discount (e.g. I know the tunnel do a discount of more than 15 cars).
Next steps
I’m unable to do anymore until we have firm numbers. If, after reading the above, you are still interested I will need a deposit of £50 per person to confirm your intention to join the trip – I’m reluctant to take the hotel bookings any further without this, I hope you understand. Please email me through my profile and I’ll give you my address for you to send a cheque and my bank details if you'd rather do a transfer.
I will also need to know what room type you’ll need e.g. if you’ll be on your own in your car, will you be willing to share a twin or do you want a single, etc? So that everyone else can see who is interested, please add your name / number in car / room preference / car model below when you email me.
And if you haven’t yet seen it in the other thread, have a look at this for a better idea of where we’re heading
http://mitteleuropa.t35.com/filmlocations_the_ital...
Update 19/1/10
Here some answers to questions I've been asked....
Can other models of TVR join the trip?
S Club has always been open to everyone so I don’t see why that should change for this trip. It is primarily an S event so as long as the majority of cars are S’s I don’t have a problem with some others coming along and being envious of our cars, especially if an S owner who expressed an interest in the original thread now has something else…...
If a point is reached when there are too many other models we could say S’s only from then onwards. In view of this please can everyone also include the model of their car when adding their names to the list.
Is there a maximum limit on the numbers?
When searching for the hotels I used the numbers from the initial list of people interested as a guide (approx 24 cars I think) so tried to find places that could accommodate up to approx 40 people. The actual maximum number will be determined by the types of rooms in the hotels on the route - some of the hotels have rooms that can be used as twins or doubles, whereas others only have a very limited number of twins. At the moment double rooms are more popular than twins or singles so that does make things a bit easier.
When is the deadline for committing to the trip?
Because I cannot predict how many of each room type will be needed I cannot give a firm deadline. I’ll keep an eye on the numbers of people / the room types needed and when capacity is approaching I’ll let you know.
The hotels have said they want final numbers by 15/5 but I'm sure they will take more after then if they have spaces. Prices may go up though for anyone booking after 15/5 as they may not get the group discounts from the hotels Please let me know if you’re coming sooner rather than later to guarantee there will be space.
Will we be going through the Mont Blanc tunnel?
No. It’s a busy, long, straight, boring piece of road with a strictly enforced speed limit. And it goes under the scenery rather than through it! Our route means we actually do a loop around Mont Blanc. These roads will include several smaller tunnels and snow sheds which should give some good sound effects
Incidentally, one email I received from the French speaking owners of the 3rd night hotel said "there is a stunning view of Mont Blanc from our backside"……
Update 22/1/10
What class are the hotels?
2 or 3 star. They are all of the best standard I could find with car parking, reasonable costs and enough twin rooms.
Will the price vary with the exchange rate?
A good point that I'd forgotten to make in my 1st post! All £'s prices have been calculated using the current euro rate of 1.1. This may obviously change when payments are due
Thanks for taking the time to read all of the above, let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Longers
Well, after a couple of months of kicking ideas around and people saying they are interested here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... it’s now time to commit.
Apologies for the lengthy post but it has lots of info that I hope you find useful.
The route came together pretty easily but finding suitable hotels has been more of a challenge, simply because a lot of them in the area we are heading for shut after the ski season or only have a couple of twin rooms – because I am expecting quite a few cars to be occupied by a pair of mates rather than other halves we’re going to need plenty of twins.
Based on the previous thread where 20+ cars expressed an interest, I’ve tried to find hotels that will accommodate up to 40 people. However I fully expect a lot of those originally interested to decide not to come whereas others may join.
I have a shortlist of hotels but cannot firm up anything with them until I know how many actually do want to come and what type of rooms will be needed. To help you decide, here is some further information
Dates
Proposed dates are Thursday 23/9 – Monday 27/9.
The Route
Timings and mileages are from Google or Michelin online planning tools. As I mentioned in the other thread, in my experience we will cover the motorway miles quicker on average than the times quoted.
Day 1 The French Connection
Calais to SE of Dijon in the Jura wine region.
Suggestion is to meet in Calais first thing in the morning. That way people are free to cross the channel the previous evening or early that morning by whichever route/method they want.
Providing we are making good progress we will have a couple of opportunities to get off the motorway and hit the original road that parallels it which will be much more fun.
400 miles / 6hrs
Day 2 Run to the Hills
No more motorways for a couple of days
SE of Dijon and up, up and up a bit more to close to Bourg Saint Maurice and the start of the Petit St Bernard pass.
Max altitude 2700m
170 miles / 4hrs
Day 3 The Italian Job
Over the Petit St Bernard pass into Italy, over the Grand St Bernard pass into Switzerland, then back into France staying near Chamonix.
Max altitude 2500
160 / 4 miles
Day 4 Champagne Charlies
Morning in the hills heading to faster cross country roads and some motorways in the afternoon, finishing at hotel in champagne country.
Max altitude 1700m
325 miles / 5.5hrs
Day 5 Break for the Border
Arrive in Calais by lunchtime / early afternoon and head home.
There will be time for photo stop at the old GP track and pit buildings in Reims on the way.
240 miles / 3.75hrs (to Calais)
On days 2 & 3 there are options to extend the route if we feel like it once there.
The mileages each day will allow time for a drink/rest break mid morning and mid afternoon, lunch, photo stops, run by’s for those with video cameras, etc, etc.
If there is a large group it’s easier to eat at the hotel where we know there will be a table waiting for us, rather than wandering around trying to find a meal at the end of the day. Also a couple of the hotels on my shortlist are a couple of miles from anywhere! I have therefore priced the hotels including dinner.
Costs
In the original thread I said I thought it’d be £40-£50 per night. It will actually be a maximum of approx £238 per person for 4 nights but that includes bed, breakfast and dinner each night, sharing a twin or double room.
I say a maximum of £238 because until I know numbers I’m not sure which hotels we’ll be in and what group deals I can get e.g. one of the hotels will give us a group discount of £5 per head if there are more than 25 people.
I’ve not included the cost of channel crossings as I’m sure some will prefer to use their Tesco vouchers on the tunnel while others would prefer the ferry. Once we know who’s coming we can discuss the crossings and if enough of us want the same route/time try and get a group discount (e.g. I know the tunnel do a discount of more than 15 cars).
Next steps
I’m unable to do anymore until we have firm numbers. If, after reading the above, you are still interested I will need a deposit of £50 per person to confirm your intention to join the trip – I’m reluctant to take the hotel bookings any further without this, I hope you understand. Please email me through my profile and I’ll give you my address for you to send a cheque and my bank details if you'd rather do a transfer.
I will also need to know what room type you’ll need e.g. if you’ll be on your own in your car, will you be willing to share a twin or do you want a single, etc? So that everyone else can see who is interested, please add your name / number in car / room preference / car model below when you email me.
And if you haven’t yet seen it in the other thread, have a look at this for a better idea of where we’re heading
http://mitteleuropa.t35.com/filmlocations_the_ital...
Update 19/1/10
Here some answers to questions I've been asked....
Can other models of TVR join the trip?
S Club has always been open to everyone so I don’t see why that should change for this trip. It is primarily an S event so as long as the majority of cars are S’s I don’t have a problem with some others coming along and being envious of our cars, especially if an S owner who expressed an interest in the original thread now has something else…...
If a point is reached when there are too many other models we could say S’s only from then onwards. In view of this please can everyone also include the model of their car when adding their names to the list.Is there a maximum limit on the numbers?
When searching for the hotels I used the numbers from the initial list of people interested as a guide (approx 24 cars I think) so tried to find places that could accommodate up to approx 40 people. The actual maximum number will be determined by the types of rooms in the hotels on the route - some of the hotels have rooms that can be used as twins or doubles, whereas others only have a very limited number of twins. At the moment double rooms are more popular than twins or singles so that does make things a bit easier.
When is the deadline for committing to the trip?
Because I cannot predict how many of each room type will be needed I cannot give a firm deadline. I’ll keep an eye on the numbers of people / the room types needed and when capacity is approaching I’ll let you know.
The hotels have said they want final numbers by 15/5 but I'm sure they will take more after then if they have spaces. Prices may go up though for anyone booking after 15/5 as they may not get the group discounts from the hotels
Please let me know if you’re coming sooner rather than later to guarantee there will be space. Will we be going through the Mont Blanc tunnel?
No. It’s a busy, long, straight, boring piece of road with a strictly enforced speed limit. And it goes under the scenery rather than through it! Our route means we actually do a loop around Mont Blanc. These roads will include several smaller tunnels and snow sheds which should give some good sound effects
Incidentally, one email I received from the French speaking owners of the 3rd night hotel said "there is a stunning view of Mont Blanc from our backside"……
Update 22/1/10
What class are the hotels?
2 or 3 star. They are all of the best standard I could find with car parking, reasonable costs and enough twin rooms.
Will the price vary with the exchange rate?
A good point that I'd forgotten to make in my 1st post! All £'s prices have been calculated using the current euro rate of 1.1. This may obviously change when payments are due
Thanks for taking the time to read all of the above, let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Longers
Edited by Longers on Tuesday 19th January 12:14
Edited by Longers on Friday 22 January 20:26
Edited by Longers on Friday 5th February 22:23
Thanks for the great response everyone 
I’ve got your emails and will send you my address, etc, for payment of the deposits when I get a spare moment.
A couple of questions have also been sent to me so I’ll update my post at the start of this thread to make sure that everyone can easily access all the info without having to read the whole thread.
Updated list so far……
name / number in car / room preference / car model
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
I’ve got your emails and will send you my address, etc, for payment of the deposits when I get a spare moment.
A couple of questions have also been sent to me so I’ll update my post at the start of this thread to make sure that everyone can easily access all the info without having to read the whole thread.
Updated list so far……
name / number in car / room preference / car model
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
name / number in car / room preference / car model
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
Edited by Longers on Tuesday 19th January 13:28
Glad you can make it Stew. No need to delete Gary though!!!!
name / number in car / room preference / car model
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
name / number in car / room preference / car model
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
Gary, I think you'll be ok without the oxygen - it's not like we're going quite as high as the Top Gear boys went in South America 
Good that you can make it Carlo, especially as it was you joining the forum that helped to choose the destination for the trip! I'll reply to the questions in your email tonight
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
12. phillpot/1/single/ S or Chim ( S may be sold by then ?)
13. cominoc / 2 / twin / VERY rare 2 litre S Series
14. v8s4me / 1 / single, but happy to share with a non smoker / V8S
Good that you can make it Carlo, especially as it was you joining the forum that helped to choose the destination for the trip! I'll reply to the questions in your email tonight
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
12. phillpot/1/single/ S or Chim ( S may be sold by then ?)
13. cominoc / 2 / twin / VERY rare 2 litre S Series
14. v8s4me / 1 / single, but happy to share with a non smoker / V8S
Edited by Longers on Thursday 21st January 23:26
I must admit to being very surprised by the great response in just 1 week
I always knew that not everyone who was initially interested would be able to make it but to get this many already is great.
The 2nd hotel is the smallest on the trip and, based on the list so far, it has 6 rooms remaining that can be used as twin or double. Don't worry though, there is another hotel not too far away that could be used if we exceed this number
Cheers,
L'rs
I always knew that not everyone who was initially interested would be able to make it but to get this many already is great.
The 2nd hotel is the smallest on the trip and, based on the list so far, it has 6 rooms remaining that can be used as twin or double. Don't worry though, there is another hotel not too far away that could be used if we exceed this number
Cheers,
L'rs
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
12. phillpot/1/single/ S or Chim ( S may be sold by then ?)
13. cominoc / 2 / twin / VERY rare 2 litre S Series
14. v8s4me / 1 / single, but happy to share with a non smoker / V8S
15 AutoAndy / 1 / single or twin or share (I do snore a bit) / BRG S3 (will sound better than that Italian tractor on that route)
16. paul.deitch / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
12. phillpot/1/single/ S or Chim ( S may be sold by then ?)
13. cominoc / 2 / twin / VERY rare 2 litre S Series
14. v8s4me / 1 / single, but happy to share with a non smoker / V8S
15 AutoAndy / 1 / single or twin or share (I do snore a bit) / BRG S3 (will sound better than that Italian tractor on that route)
16. paul.deitch / 2 / twin / S
Thanks to everyone on the list for emailing me over the last couple of weeks. I'll pop an email off to you all later with details for payment of the deposits and some of my initial thoughts of channel crossings, etc.....
For anyone else still thinking about coming along, feel free to add a comment in this thread so that I have an idea of potential numbers but, to avoid confusion, please only add your name to the list when you can actually confirm
Arrivederci
Longers
For anyone else still thinking about coming along, feel free to add a comment in this thread so that I have an idea of potential numbers but, to avoid confusion, please only add your name to the list when you can actually confirm
Arrivederci
Longers
No problem Norman.
As mentioned at the start of this thread the deadline for booking will be dependent on how many of each room type we need at one of the hotels. I'm also waiting for 2 of the other hotels to confirm the last date for guaranteed rooms - I'll add the details here when I get them
Cheers,
Longers
As mentioned at the start of this thread the deadline for booking will be dependent on how many of each room type we need at one of the hotels. I'm also waiting for 2 of the other hotels to confirm the last date for guaranteed rooms - I'll add the details here when I get them
Cheers,
Longers
Thanks for the deposits everyone, apologies for not getting in touch before now but been a mad week. Will email you all again over the next couple of days.
If anyone else would like to join us the hotels have all agreed on 15/5 deadline for bookings (although I'm sure they'd take more after then )
Cheers,
L'rs
If anyone else would like to join us the hotels have all agreed on 15/5 deadline for bookings (although I'm sure they'd take more after then
)Cheers,
L'rs
Another car has joined the group so I thought I'd update the list and bump this thread back to the top in case anyone else is interested
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
12. phillpot/1/single/ S or Chim ( S may be sold by then ?)
13. cominoc / 2 / twin / VERY rare 2 litre S Series
14. v8s4me / 1 / single, but happy to share with a non smoker / V8S
15 AutoAndy / 1 / single or twin or share (I do snore a bit) / BRG S3 (will sound better than that Italian tractor on that route)
16. paul.deitch / 2 / twin / S
17. Red / 2 / twin / Griff
1. Longers / 2 / twin / S
2. Ragtop / 2 / twin / S
3. Wiz / 2 / double / S
4. Jaye R / 1 / single (quite happy to share a twin as well - co-pilot also welcome) / S
5. lou4010 / 2 / Double Please / S
6. tinks / 2 / Double / S
7. chrischat / 2 / Double / S
8. orange dodo / 2 / twin / S
9. Mr Plow / 2 / Double / S
10. Barclayboy / 2 / twin / S3
11. Stew Mc / 2 / Double / S
12. phillpot/1/single/ S or Chim ( S may be sold by then ?)
13. cominoc / 2 / twin / VERY rare 2 litre S Series
14. v8s4me / 1 / single, but happy to share with a non smoker / V8S
15 AutoAndy / 1 / single or twin or share (I do snore a bit) / BRG S3 (will sound better than that Italian tractor on that route)
16. paul.deitch / 2 / twin / S
17. Red / 2 / twin / Griff
Quick update.....
Some of us are planning to cross the channel from Dover-Calais with Sea France on Wednesday. I'll be making the journey in the evening after work on the 20.00 boat (currently the fare is £45 return), some are planning to go a bit earlier and some may cross first thing Thursday morning.
I'll find a hotel in Calais over the next couple of days where we can meet on Weds evening or Thurs morning before the journey really starts......
Cheers,
Longers
Some of us are planning to cross the channel from Dover-Calais with Sea France on Wednesday. I'll be making the journey in the evening after work on the 20.00 boat (currently the fare is £45 return), some are planning to go a bit earlier and some may cross first thing Thursday morning.
I'll find a hotel in Calais over the next couple of days where we can meet on Weds evening or Thurs morning before the journey really starts......
Cheers,
Longers
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