Considering taking my P&J round Europe (Inspired by Tin Hat)

[Pumpkinheeed]

Well France and possibly Spain.

Inspired by Tin Hats account of his trip round the Pyrenees me and Mrs Heeed got talking last night about talking the car on tour this summer.
Having never done anything like this in the car before (only normally doing short blasts round the countryside etc) I was wondering if there are any special precautions I/We should take?

Car is a Series 1 111s. Should I be looking forward to a fortnight of permanently worrying about HGF? Or, as long as the car is well looked after (which it is) will it be trouble free and happy to be driven for the best part of 2000 miles?

Any advice is appreciated.

Heeed

Edited by Pumpkinheeed on Friday 8th February 15:55

[Twit]

As long as the car is well serviced, then no issues - just head off and have a laugh!

If you only have two weeks then it may be worth picking an area you want to see, blasting there and then taking your time in one area rather than trying to pack too much in to a short period of time. E.g. I rode a bike all through Europe a couple of years ago on my way to Australia. Spent 7-8 weeks getting from here to Istanbul via France, Italy, Greece etc and bearly scratched the surface. If you try to do too much you will just spend all your time in the car, and there is no point in that. Also, if you have sat nav... Leave it at home! Half the fun is just driving/riding up roads and getting lost. I met so many people who were slaves to sat nav, they missed loads!!

[TonyHetherington]

Having done 15,000 plus miles hooning around Europe, I can tell you it will be the best trip of your life and you will not regret a minute of it!

The only advice re HGF is to get AA 5 star Euorpean Recovery. On all the trips I've done there has always been at least one car that hasn't made it back under it's own steam and the AA cover has been perfect. It's around £100 for a 2 week trip - so not much at all in the grand scheme of things.

[skyline350]

Get yourself a good Sat-Nav with European Maps, avoid all Motorways and have the best holidays of your life. When everybody hits the motorways around Calais, you hit the back roads and villages and see the real France, there is nothing like having the locals hearing you before seeing you and turning out as you give them a fly-by!. Switzerland is amazing and the Stelvio Pass, before dropping down into Italy is unmissable. Last year we met up with friends Half way through our 2 week tour and took them off the beaten track, and as he blasted past us, the huge grin on his face was priceless and summed up the whole holiday.

[jb111s]

Thinking about doing the same myself for the belgian grand prix this year. Anyone done anything similar ?

[Pumpkinheeed]

skyline350 said:

there is nothing like having the locals hearing you before seeing you and turning out as you give them a fly-by!. Switzerland is amazing and the Stelvio Pass, before dropping down into Italy is unmissable. Last year we met up with friends Half way through our 2 week tour and took them off the beaten track, and as he blasted past us, the huge grin on his face was priceless and summed up the whole holiday.

Sounds awesome!

I think it's time to get the maps out and plan some routes.
Have to say that Stelvio if possible is going to have to be done.

It will be the last time I get a chance to do this kind of thing for a few years (looks like Mrs Heeed has finally got her way and we'll be making baby heeeds next year) so I think it might be a case of just going for it.

What about storage? Where the hell will I fit all of Mrs Heeeds nick nacks and bloody clothes?

Edited by Pumpkinheeed on Friday 8th February 16:39

[Philygumbo]

Join the SELOC Stelvio trip in September.

[Pumpkinheeed]

Philygumbo said:

Join the SELOC Stelvio trip in September.

Had a look at that but unfortunately it's too late in the year for me.
Plus Mrs Heeed is a teacher so will be back in school 1st of September.

[Alimac]

I stuck the car on the Euro rail train to the south of France and worked my way round the south of France for a couple of weeks, brilliant (Bit warm!!)Is £500 quid though

[Stitch]

You could look at a longer sea crossing to get you closer to where you want to be

Portsmouth to St Malo or the like will cut the run down to Brittany.

Or the one I am thinking of - Porstmounth to Spain (mini-cruise - driving - mini cruise).

Took the S2 to Franec last year for a few days - unfortunately it poured with rain the whole time only got the roof off for about 15 minutes!

Still doesn't seem to have put my wife off, the Spain trip I was assuming we would do in the X5, she thinks the Elise.

[skyline350]

Pumpkinheeed said:

skyline350 said:

there is nothing like having the locals hearing you before seeing you and turning out as you give them a fly-by!. Switzerland is amazing and the Stelvio Pass, before dropping down into Italy is unmissable. Last year we met up with friends Half way through our 2 week tour and took them off the beaten track, and as he blasted past us, the huge grin on his face was priceless and summed up the whole holiday.

Sounds awesome!

I think it's time to get the maps out and plan some routes.
Have to say that Stelvio if possible is going to have to be done.

It will be the last time I get a chance to do this kind of thing for a few years (looks like Mrs Heeed has finally got her way and we'll be making baby heeeds next year) so I think it might be a case of just going for it.

What about storage? Where the hell will I fit all of Mrs Heeeds nick nacks and bloody clothes?

Edited by Pumpkinheeed on Friday 8th February 16:39

The rules are simple.... 1 bag of clothes each, no more than 3 pairs of shoes and a Toiletries bag. The Security Guards at the Tunnel did ask if I had any Firearms in the car !!!!! I said to him that if there was room in the car for guns the missus would have chucked them out and brought more shoes, fair play to him, he did laugh. When you plan your trip, try to find somewhere special to stay for 3 days, it will give you both a break and a chance to have your clothes washed. If this is going to be the final holiday you have as a couple, make it memorable and have the best holiday.