Key European places to visit
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm starting to plan a trip around Europe next year and have started to add destinations to a map:
http://www.wayfaring.com/users/show/43324 (click "The Goods" tab for the full list)
I was wondering if anyone could tell me any destinations that I've missed. So far I have:
Grimselpass
Monte Blanc Tunnel
Fiat rooftop test track
Italian Job (road from the film)
Ferrari Factory
Lamborghini Factory
Furka Pass
Bugatti Factory
Millau bridge
Stelvio Pass
Monte Carlo Rally
Route Napoleon
Nurburgring Nordschlrife
Klausen Pass
Reims Circuit
Can anyone help me add to my list. Once I think i've got a decent amount I'll start to firm up where I'm going to go, but having it all on a map is a good start I thought.
Over to you...
I'm starting to plan a trip around Europe next year and have started to add destinations to a map:
http://www.wayfaring.com/users/show/43324 (click "The Goods" tab for the full list)
I was wondering if anyone could tell me any destinations that I've missed. So far I have:
Grimselpass
Monte Blanc Tunnel
Fiat rooftop test track
Italian Job (road from the film)
Ferrari Factory
Lamborghini Factory
Furka Pass
Bugatti Factory
Millau bridge
Stelvio Pass
Monte Carlo Rally
Route Napoleon
Nurburgring Nordschlrife
Klausen Pass
Reims Circuit
Can anyone help me add to my list. Once I think i've got a decent amount I'll start to firm up where I'm going to go, but having it all on a map is a good start I thought.
Over to you...
Edited by markmakak on Sunday 30th November 16:21
SimonV8ster said:
Routes Des Grandes Alpes ??
Nice one - I've just added the route here: http://tinyurl.com/5of2afEdited by markmakak on Sunday 30th November 17:16
Hi Mark,
I went over the Italian job pass this summer, though I didn't realise it was the road from the film until I read your post!
This road was the best part of a 2,500 mile trip, it is totally stuning. I didn't get to see many views as it was dusky when I went over, in fact by the time I got to the bottom of the French side it was totally dark, and I nearly ran out of fuel, but thats another story!
Called in Reims on the wat home as well, it's a must do location for any Euro Hoon. If you get chance the sinlge carragie way North towards Calais from here is a great bit of road for over taking. long rolling hills, pretty straight but not much traffic.
Hope you enjoy the trip, I'll keep an eye on your web site.
Cheers,
Richard.
I went over the Italian job pass this summer, though I didn't realise it was the road from the film until I read your post!
This road was the best part of a 2,500 mile trip, it is totally stuning. I didn't get to see many views as it was dusky when I went over, in fact by the time I got to the bottom of the French side it was totally dark, and I nearly ran out of fuel, but thats another story!
Called in Reims on the wat home as well, it's a must do location for any Euro Hoon. If you get chance the sinlge carragie way North towards Calais from here is a great bit of road for over taking. long rolling hills, pretty straight but not much traffic.
Hope you enjoy the trip, I'll keep an eye on your web site.
Cheers,
Richard.
markmakak said:
Hi all,
I'm starting to plan a trip around Europe next year and have started to add destinations to a map:
Avoid the Stelvio - all the novices go there and it's not much fun.I'm starting to plan a trip around Europe next year and have started to add destinations to a map:
More interesting, more accessible Alpine passes are on
www.alpineroads.com
If you are driving from UK to Italy, be prepared
to spend a day or two on the motorway getting there.
You missed out the BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Audi museums in Germany.
Also the technik museum at Sinsheim, where they have the Russian space
shuttle, the Buran.
http://www.technik-museum.de/
>>Avoid the Stelvio - all the novices go there and it's not much fun.
The Stelvio is well worth a visit in my book - its sheer scale and variety on the very driveable South side (tunnels, hairpins, straights, and more open corners towards the top) coupled with the challenge that is the tighter North side make it a great experience - stay nearby and drive it before breakfast or early in the evening to enjoy a traffic free run.
The Stelvio is well worth a visit in my book - its sheer scale and variety on the very driveable South side (tunnels, hairpins, straights, and more open corners towards the top) coupled with the challenge that is the tighter North side make it a great experience - stay nearby and drive it before breakfast or early in the evening to enjoy a traffic free run.
Edited by dom180 on Monday 1st December 21:58
The Umbrail Pass leads up to the top of the Stelvio and is one of the best - absolutely minimum traffic and a real hoon 
Just a word of warning to anyone thinking of hooning around Swiss mountain passes - the police will be on the lookout for Brits tearing the place up and the locals can call the police to complain about people driving too fast, etc. Many people have been caught in the last 12 months that I know and some received hefty fines...
You can thank the tossers that race around Europe in the Gumball/ Cannonball for that.
Just a word of warning to anyone thinking of hooning around Swiss mountain passes - the police will be on the lookout for Brits tearing the place up and the locals can call the police to complain about people driving too fast, etc. Many people have been caught in the last 12 months that I know and some received hefty fines...
You can thank the tossers that race around Europe in the Gumball/ Cannonball for that.
Stelvio North side is a mission and a half, worth doing once, but not fun to drive at all.
The Fluelapass on the way to Davos is fantastic
St Gotthard Pass is on my list for next year, and looks great.
Apparently a cool museum called Espera Sbarro on Swiss/French border: http://www.espera-sbarro.com.fr/historique/histori... looks pretty cool but i've not been yet.
Not car related, but Berchtesgaden and surrounding areas are very nice and worth a visit.
Do NOT visit Montreaux, i went this year because it was supposed to be a cheaper version of Monaco, but it was actually a cheaper version of Blackpool pleasure beach, aweful except the beautiful lake.
The Fluelapass on the way to Davos is fantastic
St Gotthard Pass is on my list for next year, and looks great.
Apparently a cool museum called Espera Sbarro on Swiss/French border: http://www.espera-sbarro.com.fr/historique/histori... looks pretty cool but i've not been yet.
Not car related, but Berchtesgaden and surrounding areas are very nice and worth a visit.
Do NOT visit Montreaux, i went this year because it was supposed to be a cheaper version of Monaco, but it was actually a cheaper version of Blackpool pleasure beach, aweful except the beautiful lake.
OK -i've updated it, so the list now stands at:
Grimselpass
Monte Blanc Tunnel
Fiat rooftop test track
Italian Job (road from the film)
Ferrari Factory
Lamborghini Factory
Furka Pass
Bugatti Factory
Millau bridge
Stelvio Pass
Monte Carlo Rally
Route Napoleon
Nurburgring Nordschlrife
Klausen Pass
Reims Circuit
St Gotthard Pass
Fluelapass
Passo dell'Umbrail
Gorges du tarn
Route des Grandes Alpes
EDIT - still got to add Gorges Du Verdon and Mont Ventoux
Grimselpass
Monte Blanc Tunnel
Fiat rooftop test track
Italian Job (road from the film)
Ferrari Factory
Lamborghini Factory
Furka Pass
Bugatti Factory
Millau bridge
Stelvio Pass
Monte Carlo Rally
Route Napoleon
Nurburgring Nordschlrife
Klausen Pass
Reims Circuit
St Gotthard Pass
Fluelapass
Passo dell'Umbrail
Gorges du tarn
Route des Grandes Alpes
EDIT - still got to add Gorges Du Verdon and Mont Ventoux
Edited by markmakak on Tuesday 9th December 17:19
Col de Turini (Monte Carlo rally route) well worth doing. Hair pin after hair pin...fine in an Exige though.
I posted a couple of pics in a thread a while back
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
I would avoid Mont Blanc Tunnel if I was you....boring doesnt cover it. Mile after mile of heavly inforced speedlimit of 40 or 50 IIRC. Distance markers, cameras etc. The chap behind us was promptly flagged in by police at the end after he caught us up and that was around 11pm in the worst thunder storm ive ever seen....they must have really wanted to speak to him.
If you want tunnels head south towards Monaco, cant say for heading from the N/West but we dropped down from Modena area and it was tunnel heaven....
I posted a couple of pics in a thread a while back
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...
I would avoid Mont Blanc Tunnel if I was you....boring doesnt cover it. Mile after mile of heavly inforced speedlimit of 40 or 50 IIRC. Distance markers, cameras etc. The chap behind us was promptly flagged in by police at the end after he caught us up and that was around 11pm in the worst thunder storm ive ever seen....they must have really wanted to speak to him.
If you want tunnels head south towards Monaco, cant say for heading from the N/West but we dropped down from Modena area and it was tunnel heaven....
dom180 said:
The Stelvio is well worth a visit in my book - its sheer scale and variety on the very driveable South side (tunnels, hairpins, straights, and more open corners towards the top) coupled with the challenge that is the tighter North side make it a great experience - stay nearby and drive it before breakfast or early in the evening to enjoy a traffic free run.
There's always one, isn't there.FYI.
1. The Stelvio runs East/West not North/South
2. Potholes aren't really a feature depending on the amount of traffic.
For my money, this
http://www.alpineroads.com/engadin.php#stilfser
says it all. To quote
"Unfortunately, if you're coming up this side, the hairpins are nearly all blind and extremely steep. Coupled with the awful surface I think it's a nightmare. If you do this and can honestly say you enjoyed it then I take my hat off to you. I'd recommend going down the east side rather than up."
Perhaps you would be wise to educate us after you've done let's
say more than twenty different Alpine passes.
I've visited the Stelvio 4 times in the last 3 years and on each occation it has been brilliant fun - just my own opinion of course.
NE/SW I didn't take a compass!
[Parenthetically, I've driven over 100 Alpine passes so far from the standard Grimsell/Susten/Furka/Tremola/San Gottardo to less travelled passes like the mostly unpaved col de finestre (a bit bumpy but great views) - lots more still to do :-) . AlpineRoads is a great site but people should be encouraged to see for themselves.]
Edited as I can't spell!
FYI.
1. The Stelvio runs East/West not North/South
2. Potholes aren't really a feature depending on the amount of traffic.
For my money, this
http://www.alpineroads.com/engadin.php#stilfser
says it all. To quote
"Unfortunately, if you're coming up this side, the hairpins are nearly all blind and extremely steep. Coupled with the awful surface I think it's a nightmare. If you do this and can honestly say you enjoyed it then I take my hat off to you. I'd recommend going down the east side rather than up."
Perhaps you would be wise to educate us after you've done let's
say more than twenty different Alpine passes.
NE/SW I didn't take a compass!
[Parenthetically, I've driven over 100 Alpine passes so far from the standard Grimsell/Susten/Furka/Tremola/San Gottardo to less travelled passes like the mostly unpaved col de finestre (a bit bumpy but great views) - lots more still to do :-) . AlpineRoads is a great site but people should be encouraged to see for themselves.]
Edited as I can't spell!
dcb said:
dom180 said:
The Stelvio is well worth a visit in my book - its sheer scale and variety on the very driveable South side (tunnels, hairpins, straights, and more open corners towards the top) coupled with the challenge that is the tighter North side make it a great experience - stay nearby and drive it before breakfast or early in the evening to enjoy a traffic free run.
There's always one, isn't there.FYI.
1. The Stelvio runs East/West not North/South
2. Potholes aren't really a feature depending on the amount of traffic.
For my money, this
http://www.alpineroads.com/engadin.php#stilfser
says it all. To quote
"Unfortunately, if you're coming up this side, the hairpins are nearly all blind and extremely steep. Coupled with the awful surface I think it's a nightmare. If you do this and can honestly say you enjoyed it then I take my hat off to you. I'd recommend going down the east side rather than up."
Perhaps you would be wise to educate us after you've done let's
say more than twenty different Alpine passes.
Edited by dom180 on Tuesday 9th December 21:38
richard90 said:
Hi Mark,
I went over the Italian job pass this summer, though I didn't realise it was the road from the film until I read your post!
This road was the best part of a 2,500 mile trip, it is totally stuning. I didn't get to see many views as it was dusky when I went over, in fact by the time I got to the bottom of the French side it was totally dark, and I nearly ran out of fuel, but thats another story!
Cheers,
Richard.
?????I went over the Italian job pass this summer, though I didn't realise it was the road from the film until I read your post!
This road was the best part of a 2,500 mile trip, it is totally stuning. I didn't get to see many views as it was dusky when I went over, in fact by the time I got to the bottom of the French side it was totally dark, and I nearly ran out of fuel, but thats another story!
Cheers,
Richard.
The Grand St Bernard Pass is on the Swiss/Italian border. (As is the Petit St Bernard)
I drove it this summer and most of the Italian side is being rebuilt so not great to drive. However the drive up the swiss side is awesome, and coming over the top with Matt Munroe on the stereo is pretty cool.
Make sure you put together some good driving playlists before you go!
Yep the Grand St. Bernard has been ruined by roadworks on the South side since 2007 (It was brilliant in 2006) - by the rate of progress, it will take another 2/3 years to finish...
[In addition to the Grand St. Bernard, the col de Nivolet was used to film the ending of the Italian Job where the coach was left hanging over the edge of the cliff - I drove it in September and it was great fun despite some roadworks at the bottom (although these had the welcome effect of closing it to other traffic as I made several runs up and down the pass!) The Nivolet was particularly scenic and a great drive although slightly narrow with plenty of first gear hairpins (It was fully paved to the top - in the Italian Job it looked partially paved with some loose gravel.)]
[In addition to the Grand St. Bernard, the col de Nivolet was used to film the ending of the Italian Job where the coach was left hanging over the edge of the cliff - I drove it in September and it was great fun despite some roadworks at the bottom (although these had the welcome effect of closing it to other traffic as I made several runs up and down the pass!) The Nivolet was particularly scenic and a great drive although slightly narrow with plenty of first gear hairpins (It was fully paved to the top - in the Italian Job it looked partially paved with some loose gravel.)]
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