My euro-trip plan
Discussion
Well, I've just received authorisation from the missus to go off on a hoon around europe this July, so well excited as I've never done anything like it before. I've spent a while reading others trip reports and advice on various forums, and especially the invaluable www.alpineroads.com. So I've come up with the following as my plan.
Wednesday - Drive London to Lyon via Chunnel. Just nailing it down the motorways, but possibly taking in Reims pitstop. Stay overnight near Lyon.
Thursday - Drive the Route de Napoleon down to Nice then along the riviera to Monaco. Stay overnight at Monaco. Win £££s in casino.
Friday - Doss around Monaco in morning, and try to get my car back after having pawned it for more chips on the poker tables! Possibly driving some of the GP circuit. Then head over to Lake Garda. Kip overnight near the lake.
Saturday - Drive north through the Alps, from Tirano to Stelvio to Imst to Elmen to Gran to Pfronten. This should give a fair selection of passes and alpine routes. From Pfronten we will then join the A7 and nail it all the way to Hockenheim, and see what speed I'm brave enough to get to. Kip overnight at Hockenheim.
Sunday - Go to Hockenheim Grand Prix, then drive all way back to London afterwards.
Seems like a lot of driving, but from what I've read it is doable.
What do you think?
Wednesday - Drive London to Lyon via Chunnel. Just nailing it down the motorways, but possibly taking in Reims pitstop. Stay overnight near Lyon.
Thursday - Drive the Route de Napoleon down to Nice then along the riviera to Monaco. Stay overnight at Monaco. Win £££s in casino.
Friday - Doss around Monaco in morning, and try to get my car back after having pawned it for more chips on the poker tables! Possibly driving some of the GP circuit. Then head over to Lake Garda. Kip overnight near the lake.
Saturday - Drive north through the Alps, from Tirano to Stelvio to Imst to Elmen to Gran to Pfronten. This should give a fair selection of passes and alpine routes. From Pfronten we will then join the A7 and nail it all the way to Hockenheim, and see what speed I'm brave enough to get to. Kip overnight at Hockenheim.
Sunday - Go to Hockenheim Grand Prix, then drive all way back to London afterwards.
Seems like a lot of driving, but from what I've read it is doable.
What do you think?
The first part of it sounds a bit boring to be honest but it depends how much time you have.
There are some great roads in Northern France.
I'm off on a 12 day trip this Saturday ending up in Monaco then home via Geneva, Versailles and Le Touquet.
For the first part of the trip I am doing the following:
Dunkirque - Reims
Reims - Dijon
Dijon - Grenoble
Grenoble - Cannes (via Route Napoleon naturally)
All of these are being done on the A & B roads avoiding the Autoroutes.
I'm going with my missus though so may have a bit more time than you but if you can get off the Autoroutes as much as you can and see a bit more of France via some interesting roads.
There are some great roads in Northern France.
I'm off on a 12 day trip this Saturday ending up in Monaco then home via Geneva, Versailles and Le Touquet.
For the first part of the trip I am doing the following:
Dunkirque - Reims
Reims - Dijon
Dijon - Grenoble
Grenoble - Cannes (via Route Napoleon naturally)
All of these are being done on the A & B roads avoiding the Autoroutes.
I'm going with my missus though so may have a bit more time than you but if you can get off the Autoroutes as much as you can and see a bit more of France via some interesting roads.
I'm expecting the first bit to be boring as I am just trying to get to the south coast as quick as possible. There will be plenty of fun roads from Napoleon onwards, hence not bothered about french A/B roads.
The other option was to take the motorail down to Nice, but that costs a bomb and it means you miss out Napoleon.
The other option was to take the motorail down to Nice, but that costs a bomb and it means you miss out Napoleon.
Fair enough then.
I did a similar trip last year with the Ferrari boys and that was Calais to Dijon (via the old GP circuit at Reims) for an overnight stop then all the way to Juan Le Pins (next to Cannes) in one go the following day.
It was a full days driving but one of the best days I have ever had in a car.
From Dijon take the autoroute to Grenoble then just pick up the Route Napoleon from there.
You could go straight to Monaco from there but Juan Le Pins is a nice place to stop for a night as well.
I did a similar trip last year with the Ferrari boys and that was Calais to Dijon (via the old GP circuit at Reims) for an overnight stop then all the way to Juan Le Pins (next to Cannes) in one go the following day.
It was a full days driving but one of the best days I have ever had in a car.
From Dijon take the autoroute to Grenoble then just pick up the Route Napoleon from there.
You could go straight to Monaco from there but Juan Le Pins is a nice place to stop for a night as well.
Me and a friend are looking at doing virtualy the same route as this in August. We have 5-6 days, but looking at the route from Castellane to Stelvio it looks really boring and a bit of a waste of a days driving. We are now considering tanking down to Lyon in Day 1, then from there to Castellane and basing ourselves out of there (and maybe Briancon)for 2-3 days exploring the roads around Verdon and then heading back.
Am I right in thinking that the South France-to-Stelvio trip is a bit of a faff and a waste of a day, or is it really worth doing?
Am I right in thinking that the South France-to-Stelvio trip is a bit of a faff and a waste of a day, or is it really worth doing?
After having a look at the Alpine Roads website we have decided to stay around Castellane and Briancon for the few days. Looks like there are more than enough awesome roads to have a go at without having to make the trek to Davos. There is always next year 
And yes you can do Calais to Monaco in a day, but you'd hardly be in a fit shape to appreciate the Route Napoleon, or to re-do any of the bits that you take a shine to
Jack
And yes you can do Calais to Monaco in a day, but you'd hardly be in a fit shape to appreciate the Route Napoleon, or to re-do any of the bits that you take a shine to
Jack
I wouldn't go out of my way for Stelvio. I recently did it, some 20 years after seeing a photo that put it on my to do list.
The views are great, but as a driving road it isn't that good IMHO. Plus I busted up my splitter/undertray on one of the hairpins.
The road doesn't flow, it is just accelerate, brake, turn wheel full lock. Launching the car over the bumps half way up was interesting. And since it is a constant steep decent, if you want to toast your brakes, then this is the place to do it.
There are much better roads in the Alps, and the gorges in Southern France that you will do around Castellane are 10 times better. Make sure you book something if you are staying in Castellane - there is very little accommodation outside the town for a good 50kms. I turned up mid week in summer last year to find a room, and wasted 2 hours going in circles. I ended up riding (ie. motorbike) all the way to Menton dead tired calling a in favour for a bed. That was a loooong day. Route Napoleon is not fun after riding 10 hours, doing it at night with pathetic sportsbike headlights.
It is rather quite in France at the moment, but that area is one where you can't drive 5 minutes up the road and find another 10 hotels.
The views are great, but as a driving road it isn't that good IMHO. Plus I busted up my splitter/undertray on one of the hairpins.
The road doesn't flow, it is just accelerate, brake, turn wheel full lock. Launching the car over the bumps half way up was interesting. And since it is a constant steep decent, if you want to toast your brakes, then this is the place to do it.
There are much better roads in the Alps, and the gorges in Southern France that you will do around Castellane are 10 times better. Make sure you book something if you are staying in Castellane - there is very little accommodation outside the town for a good 50kms. I turned up mid week in summer last year to find a room, and wasted 2 hours going in circles. I ended up riding (ie. motorbike) all the way to Menton dead tired calling a in favour for a bed. That was a loooong day. Route Napoleon is not fun after riding 10 hours, doing it at night with pathetic sportsbike headlights.
It is rather quite in France at the moment, but that area is one where you can't drive 5 minutes up the road and find another 10 hotels.
jackwood said:
.... we have decided to stay around Castellane and Briancon
castellane hotel:http://www.hotel-fradet.com/1024/index_gb.html
speak to "trish" ... tell her fat dave from the isle of man sent you, also tell her to put plenty of beers in the fridge, for saturday !
good spot.
pic from roads near briancon below.
d
Sorry Kryten if I hijacked your thread, but thank you VERY much to F308 and Smack for the info.
That is now firmly the plan, to stay in and around Castellane, and the dates are pretty much set for the 12-18th August.
I'll be calling the hotel to see if they have any vacancies for those dates. Is Trish English or French? And F308, if you're there later this week, any chance of some routes and pics when you get back?
Thanks guys,
Jack
That is now firmly the plan, to stay in and around Castellane, and the dates are pretty much set for the 12-18th August.
I'll be calling the hotel to see if they have any vacancies for those dates. Is Trish English or French? And F308, if you're there later this week, any chance of some routes and pics when you get back?
Thanks guys,
Jack
jackwood said:
Sorry Kryten if I hijacked your thread, but thank you VERY much to F308 and Smack for the info.
No problem.I'm not really looking for a "base" on my trip, I prefer a continuous "onwards only" journey, as it gives me more purpose rather than sticking to one area.
I hear what you are saying about Stelvio, but its gonna be good to tick the box though, and I think the bits before and after the concentrated hairpins will be fun. I'm certainly looking forward to Napoleon most, but some of the other little roads mentioned on alpineroads sound good, and so I've a good little plan.
I'm thinking now to drive to Frankfurt instead of Hockenheim on the saturday, then delay the drive home until the Monday. That'll give me the whole of sunday off and maybe public transport will be good to-from Hock GP.
Edited by kryten22uk on Friday 13th June 16:19
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