Road Trip - Europe

[MrsNemo]

Hi,

Me and the OH are going for a short road trip through Europe in Sept. It's only a 10 day trip. Will be getting the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, then driving straight through Belgium (visited Brussels and Bruges last year) to my brothers place in The Hague, then onto my gran's in Roermond, in the Netherlands. From there will be travelling down the German boarder to get to Switzerland. Then it will be to Italy and back up through France to get back to Dunkirk.
I lived in Switerland for a few years when I was younger (much younger) so will want to spend about 2 days there. Most of our time will be in Italy, want to see Milan, Rome, Lake Garda.

Anyone got any suggestions on places to visit/stay at/avoid/stop through etc?

Cheers in advance

[MrsNemo]

I hate this new lay-out!! bump for any sort of response

[pitbull turbo]

in milan i would stay at the ata hotel, i went there 2 months ago and the hotel was very nice and cheap.
i would vist the milan castle as it is a good walk around and only about £1.50 to look around all the castle.
monza is very nice place to go and maybe good for a blast in the car but tickets are quite expensive.
you have to drive back through the alps.
i want to do a road trip like this next year so post up your route and pics when your done.

[MrsNemo]

I will definately be taking loads of pics. We might me getting a landrover disc. to do it in. I'm not sure how my little puma will fare up and down the alps, plus a bigger car will be more comfy too.
Cheers for the info, will check it out.

[MacGee]

best road in Switzerland is from St Moritz to Davos...stunning. Top Gear did this a couple of seasons ago...been skiing there and is beautiful. Also roads around Lake Como...fantasic views.

[MrsNemo]

MacGee said:

best road in Switzerland is from St Moritz to Davos...stunning. Top Gear did this a couple of seasons ago...been skiing there and is beautiful. Also roads around Lake Como...fantasic views.

We were going to stay around lake como or lake garda at some point.
St Moritz sounds good. Will be taking plenty of pics of the beautiful views!

[Steve-o]

MrsNemo said:

MacGee said:

best road in Switzerland is from St Moritz to Davos...stunning. Top Gear did this a couple of seasons ago...been skiing there and is beautiful. Also roads around Lake Como...fantasic views.

We were going to stay around lake como or lake garda at some point.
St Moritz sounds good. Will be taking plenty of pics of the beautiful views!

I did a road trip a few years ago with my then OH, travelling from London all the way down to Sorrento in Southern Italy. We did it in a big Lexus RX, so can recommend the comfort value of a larger vehicle.

The trip went like this:
Day 1 - London to Chamonix
Day 2 - Chamonix to Civitavecchia (close to Rome)
Day 3 - Civitavecchia to Sorrento

On the way back, we travelled from Sorrento to a night stop over in Lake Como (via the outskirts of Milan) which was really nice and romantic, before heading back through Switzerland/Germany/Belgium/France in one day before getting on a late ferry back to the UK.

Well worth it, but quite a lot of driving, but the plus was a great holiday with some stunning view down in Amalfi/Sorrento etc...

Drop me a line if you like the sound of it, and want some more detail.

[BoxheadTim]

MrsNemo said:

MacGee said:

best road in Switzerland is from St Moritz to Davos...stunning. Top Gear did this a couple of seasons ago...been skiing there and is beautiful. Also roads around Lake Como...fantasic views.

We were going to stay around lake como or lake garda at some point.
St Moritz sounds good. Will be taking plenty of pics of the beautiful views!

The pass they were going over (the supposedly best road) is the Flüelapass IIRC. That goes over from Davos over to the Engadin valley and you end up about 20-30 miles north of St Moritz. It's a cracking road though and in case the weather turns really bad you'd also have the option to stick the car on the train through the mountain instead. Mind you, the road from Landquart up to Davos can be a bit of a drag in summer when all the tourists are out in force and pottering around at 25mph...

That said, a very nice alternative route to St Moritz is to go down to Thusis, Tiefencastel and then take the Julier pass over to St Moritz. I've done both multiple times but the Flüela is nicer.

Top tip though - if you suddenly find yourself going faster than those cars with local plates ('GR'), check your mirror. If you don't look like The Stig, slow down. The natives tend to drive in quite a spirited fashion and I've seen people run out of talent on those roads more than once and barely avoid crashing. Which tends to annoy me a little if the car they've almost crashed into was mine...

From Roermond down I'd cross into Germany, then take the A61/A5/A8/A7/A96 down to the Austrian border. You can parallel the Swiss motorway 13 all the way down to Landquart if you're not too bothered about making good time as you'll be going through each and every village, plus the speed limit outside town in Switzerland is 50mph, which they do vigorously enforce. Pick up the road to Davos in Landquart, go over the Flüella, turn South towards St Moritz and then Chiavenna...

[blueST]

I've stayed here http://www.lavallettabergamo.it/ Lovely spot, not too far from Milan, and the Lakes. The owner will run you into town and pick you up of an evening, for a hassle free night out.

If your travelling back home through France, a night or two at http://www.villa-eugene.com/accueil_uk.htm might be just the trick.