Road trip advice

[porschedude1972]

Hi me and my partner have booked the euro tunnel for june and will have 11 nights to start touring france and italy in the boxster.
What i would like to know is we arrive in france at approx 9.00am and then our first pit stop will be reims for the old f1 stadium then on to our first over night stop at dijon from there i really dont know where to go so need some help, we do want to visit monaco but also do modena and the lakes your help would be great.

forgot to say really would like scenic routes and not to many auto routes.

Thanks in advance

[anonymous-user]

Have a look at the roads section of the forum, there are some useful threads and in particular this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Wozy68]

porschedude1972 said:

Hi me and my partner have booked the euro tunnel for june and will have 11 nights to start touring france and italy in the boxster.
What i would like to know is we arrive in france at approx 9.00am and then our first pit stop will be reims for the old f1 stadium then on to our first over night stop at dijon from there i really dont know where to go so need some help, we do want to visit monaco but also do modena and the lakes your help would be great.

forgot to say really would like scenic routes and not to many auto routes.

Thanks in advance

I was going to do that trip last June, after careful consideration I decided against it and went to Spain instead. Two reasons. 1, the hotels on the Italian riveria were very expensive and not that great and 2, everything I read stated the roads get very busy.
I was staying in Spanish 4&5 star hotels for around 60 euros a night, i found you can treble that for Italy.

[copperman05]

If your going to monaco then you really have to do the route Napoleon (N85), it starts at Grenoble and finishes in Cannes, probably one of the best long stretches of road in Europe, from there you could also visit the Col de Turini or take a different route into the Alps where most of the alpine passes are pretty amazing roads, depends on how much of a detour you wanna make.

In 2011 is did a similar tour down to Stuttgart via the Porsche Museum, then through the Swiss alps, furka pass, susten pass, into italy and accross back into France before taking to route Napoleon. A bit of a detour but much much better than staying on the auto routes. Took me couple night stopping over before reaching South France, def recommended.

[jackal]

Look on my website.

I would recommend the d996 which is amazing. Then head for the black forest or maybe route napolean. There are some good rally stages around monaco, then maybe factor in the andermatt loop in switzerland and around st. moritz, down to the lakes etc. and then head to the dolomites. I have a big trip in june and lots of routes that i can share if you want.

[Hilux2400]

Down through France to Chateau Queras (5,000 ft) and then into Italy over the Col Agnello. It is the highest mountain pass between France and Italy and there is no dual carriageway or motorway. Up on the north side through France on the Route Napoleon, with a coffee at the refuge after C Queras and then over the summit through spectacular corners with smooth tarmac which you can see across. If you go up on a Sunday, and stop at the refuge for lunch on the terrace, you will see the motorcyclists on the way up to the summit dicing with each other. On the way down watch out for the cyclists doing 60mph. As the road rises to about 9,000 ft your car will lose about 30% of its power due to altitude. On crossing the summit look out for marmots on the roadside.

Then down into Italy towards the lakes with an overnight at Gargnano on the western shores of Lake Garda. Try Albergo Gargnano right on the lake - magical watching the morning sun rise over the eastern mountains from your balcony overlooking the lake. Follow with a visit to Verona and the opera in the Roman remains.

I have driven this route three times. It is fantastic.

H

[Hilux2400]

I should have added that the western route around Garda is fantastic for exhaust echo when going through the lakeside tunnels.

H

[porschedude1972]

Thanks guys really have given me some great ideas
I was thinking of using the d996 from reims to dijon do you think we will make it to dijon from calais leaving there at approx 9.30am using that road? i think the hotel check in stays open until 11 pm

Then we are going to stay a night in grenoble and do the n85 to gap for the 3rd night then down to monaco for day 4 and 5 for a rest!

Then head towards modena for the ferrari tour and hotel for a couple of nights then up to lake garda and then head slowly back may be via the mont blanc but open to sugestions for a good drive back to calais over the next 2 days.

Really cant wait just hope the old girl is up to it!!!! Think the longest trip its been on is about 300 miles in one day as really only done 2000 miles last year with work( i know !!!) so trying to make up for it this year

[mollytherocker]

You do know Le Mans is on in June right!!!

Even if you don't go to the race, if you can go before or after, you can drive around most of the track!

Blasting down the mulsanne is epic and was intensely exciting for me. In fact, it was a little emotional!

[Hilux2400]

Calais to Dijon is about 320 miles and the roads in France are much better quality and less congested than UK.

The eastern side of Lake Garda is very commercialised and crowded and there is a 50kph limit along the whole length. However, the town of Garda is very pleasant with its lake side restauarants. However, I prefer to stay either at Gargnano on the west or Riva on the northern edge. In my view the western route around the lake is the better option.

H

[DS240]

Hilux2400 said:

Calais to Dijon is about 320 miles and the roads in France are much better quality and less congested than UK.

The eastern side of Lake Garda is very commercialised and crowded and there is a 50kph limit along the whole length. However, the town of Garda is very pleasant with its lake side restauarants. However, I prefer to stay either at Gargnano on the west or Riva on the northern edge. In my view the western route around the lake is the better option.

H

I would second gargnano. Beautiful village and remains reasonably quiet. West side is definitely nicer than the east or south.

Google will assist you choosing a village to stay.

Plenty of choice where to stay. Traffic can get heavy around lake, basically one road. Not one for a 'driving experience'.

Marranello is good. I enjoyed staying at the planet hotel opposite the factory, watching the development cars going by. Montana restaurant was lovely. Met jean todt in the cavallino restaurant opposite factory.

Just have a general plan and take it as it comes. That's the fun of a road trip.

[Dave Thornton]

Hope my plans for 2013 inspire you ...

I've always wanted to do a road trip and now with the 911 that time has come. I couldn't decide which friend(s) to invite and felt guilty about doing it without my family as that would be less £ for the family holiday. Then I had a light bulb moment which my wife (who doesn't like long car journeys) and 2 children all agreed to:

I take my oldest daughter on a 3 day drive through 10 countries, from England, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany (Porsche museum in Stuttgart), Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Italy (Stelvio pass), then arrive at accommodation somewhere near Lake Garda. Drop off all the bags then pick up wife and youngest daughter from Verona airport. Spend a week near Lake Garda, including trips to Venice and Modena, then drive youngest daughter back, via Switzerland (Grand St Bernard pass) and France (Mont Blanc and Versailles TBC), while wife and oldest daughter fly back. I'm a wine enthusiast so will try and buy wine from all 10 countries while my children want to buy some souvenirs. And to finish off, shoot some video footage and re-create the opening sequence of The Italian Job (dubbed of course with Matt Monro). No hire car costs, no flight baggage surcharges and (hopefully) 4 very happy people.

The Nurburgring and the RN85 will have to wait for other years.

[Nurburgsingh]

Top plan!!

[Hilux2400]

Garda to Venice is an easy 300km round trip. In recent years when going into the city of Venice I have driven and parked at the large car park next to Camping Fusina on the Brenta Canal. (N4deg 25.206min E12deg 15.258 min) This is on the western side of the lagoon and near the car park there is a vaparreto halt from where a half hour boat ride takes you right into Venice and easy walking distance of St Marks Square. You buy the boat tickets at the campsite entrance. Doing it this way is less crowded than entering the city from the north and having to park in industrial Mestre where parking can be a problem. In some Mestre car parks you have to leave the car open, whereas as Fusina you can lock it up and there is a barrier entry.

H

[porschedude1972]

Hi guys thanks for your great input
We will be doing the n85 route down from grenoble to cannes are you able to do this route in one or is it best to take two days and enjoy the views rather than rush i was thinking of stopping in Gap ?

Thanks for all your help

Edited by porschedude1972 on Wednesday 20th March 14:02

[Nobbles]

Just south of Dijon is Beaune, a very beautiful little town worth a visit. From there take the D981 south, it is basically parallel to the autoroute and goes through the heart of the Bourguoin. Not much traffic and D roads are much less patrolled (hardly any) than the N roads although watch out for tractors and the like. To be honest when I had my boxster I used this road and roof down surrounded by vignobles speed is forgotten, the world is beautiful, life is great and your the luckiest person alive. Also try to stay in the chambre d'hotes, much more interesting and characterful than the chain hotels.

[boringbeige]

Go anywhere and just enjoy the scenery and the sunshine, but forget doing too much 'enthusiastic' driving in Italy, most of the roads are far too busy. For that kind of trip, try spain and portugal.

[SimonOcean]

Biarritz and San Sebastian would be nice for a stop and play on the beach (you said June... so should be good). I don't know if either of you surf?

There is the Guggenheim in Bilbao which is worth a look and plenty of nice places to eat in Bilbao too.

Both of these places are pleasant places to drive to (I also did my trip there in a Boxster in summer). In addition it is easy to swing up to the Pyrenees where there are great windy roads. There will probably be loads of road bike riders going up and down the mountains when you drive it too.

From there I remember visiting Madrid, Barcelona, Figeures / Rosas (for El Bulli which is now unfortunately closed) and then on to Montpellier in France (which is a fun small city with lots of culture).

Have a nice road trip.

[LeighB]

Dave Thornton said:

And to finish off, shoot some video footage and re-create the opening sequence of The Italian Job (dubbed of course with Matt Monro)

Which road number is this one, would love to include it in our trip later in the year.

[Wozy68]

LeighB said:

Which road number is this one, would love to include it in our trip later in the year.

The road is the E27 and between Cuchepache and Saint Oyen and the junction of the S527 is the fab road bridge