Euro blast route advice
Discussion
All,
Currently planning a euro blast in early May. Having never done this before I wanted to check my route plan with those of you who've done this before. The basic route takes us down through France on the toll road all the way down to Fontaine. At Fontaine we pick up the north end of Route Napoleon and take that all the way south heading towards Monte Carlo. From Monte Carlo we'll head back north through Switzerland heading in the direction of the Black Forrest and the Nurburgring. From the Nurburgring we then head home through Belgium.
Our 'high level' plan has been plugged into autoroute and given us 8 pages of directions, way to much to post here. I'd be eternally grateful if someone could look at the detailed route plan and let me know what tweaks should be made, any hotel recommendations etc....
www.box.net/public/7pgk5yr04x
Thanks!
Currently planning a euro blast in early May. Having never done this before I wanted to check my route plan with those of you who've done this before. The basic route takes us down through France on the toll road all the way down to Fontaine. At Fontaine we pick up the north end of Route Napoleon and take that all the way south heading towards Monte Carlo. From Monte Carlo we'll head back north through Switzerland heading in the direction of the Black Forrest and the Nurburgring. From the Nurburgring we then head home through Belgium.
Our 'high level' plan has been plugged into autoroute and given us 8 pages of directions, way to much to post here. I'd be eternally grateful if someone could look at the detailed route plan and let me know what tweaks should be made, any hotel recommendations etc....
www.box.net/public/7pgk5yr04x
Thanks!
Only had a very quick flick though, but my only comment is 1800 miles driving in 5 days plus the day you will actually want at the Nurburgring is quite a lot. I can do 400 miles a day for the forst couple of days, but can imagine it becoming a chore by day 3-4. I think I'd stretch it out to a week.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
willdew said:
Only had a very quick flick though, but my only comment is 1800 miles driving in 5 days plus the day you will actually want at the Nurburgring is quite a lot. I can do 400 miles a day for the forst couple of days, but can imagine it becoming a chore by day 3-4. I think I'd stretch it out to a week.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
You're right about the distances. We may need to stretch the holiday out a bit. We thought about Stelvio pass but i didn't think it was open in early may?
torch, nerv and i did an euro blast late last year.
We did the run down to Grenoble, stayed the night, drove the route napoloen and headed to Monaco where we stayed the night.
The next day we reversed our trip back up the N85 and headed for Lyon thereafter driving back to Calais
Warning. The treck down to Grenoble is a very long one.
The N85 is stunning.
Dont mention my name in Monaco......
Have fun. It was the greatest holiday of my life. the alpine driving is simply stunning.
and if you are going the whole way down the N85 dont forget to stop off in Gap for lunch. it is a beautiful town.
We did the run down to Grenoble, stayed the night, drove the route napoloen and headed to Monaco where we stayed the night.
The next day we reversed our trip back up the N85 and headed for Lyon thereafter driving back to Calais
Warning. The treck down to Grenoble is a very long one.
The N85 is stunning.
Dont mention my name in Monaco......
Have fun. It was the greatest holiday of my life. the alpine driving is simply stunning.
and if you are going the whole way down the N85 dont forget to stop off in Gap for lunch. it is a beautiful town.
wetwipe said:
torch, nerv and i did an euro blast late last year.
We did the run down to Grenoble, stayed the night, drove the route napoloen and headed to Monaco where we stayed the night.
The next day we reversed our trip back up the N85 and headed for Lyon thereafter driving back to Calais
Warning. The treck down to Grenoble is a very long one.
The N85 is stunning.
Dont mention my name in Monaco......
Have fun. It was the greatest holiday of my life. the alpine driving is simply stunning.
and if you are going the whole way down the N85 dont forget to stop off in Gap for lunch. it is a beautiful town.
We did the run down to Grenoble, stayed the night, drove the route napoloen and headed to Monaco where we stayed the night.
The next day we reversed our trip back up the N85 and headed for Lyon thereafter driving back to Calais
Warning. The treck down to Grenoble is a very long one.
The N85 is stunning.
Dont mention my name in Monaco......
Have fun. It was the greatest holiday of my life. the alpine driving is simply stunning.
and if you are going the whole way down the N85 dont forget to stop off in Gap for lunch. it is a beautiful town.
Cheers Darren. Can you recommend any hotels?
BEWARE!
Just travelled back from Senlis only a couple of hours and passed six speed traps. If you are new to it you will find small blue Gendarmerie vehicles parked innocently on hard shoulder they have speed guns that look like binoculars, also check the bridges. Also the motorways have fixed cameras set to get on coming vehicles, they are located in central reservation, are square grey boxes with black and yellow bordering, you also find these in the country side.The fixed ones were not much of an issue previously because there was no information sharing between countries, but DVLA is now opening its drivers data base to other EEC agencies (don't know date that is/was effective)
Just travelled back from Senlis only a couple of hours and passed six speed traps. If you are new to it you will find small blue Gendarmerie vehicles parked innocently on hard shoulder they have speed guns that look like binoculars, also check the bridges. Also the motorways have fixed cameras set to get on coming vehicles, they are located in central reservation, are square grey boxes with black and yellow bordering, you also find these in the country side.The fixed ones were not much of an issue previously because there was no information sharing between countries, but DVLA is now opening its drivers data base to other EEC agencies (don't know date that is/was effective)
wetwipe said:
torch, nerv and i did an euro blast late last year.
We did the run down to Grenoble, stayed the night, drove the route napoloen and headed to Monaco where we stayed the night.
The next day we reversed our trip back up the N85 and headed for Lyon thereafter driving back to Calais
Warning. The treck down to Grenoble is a very long one.
The N85 is stunning.
Dont mention my name in Monaco......
Have fun. It was the greatest holiday of my life. the alpine driving is simply stunning.
and if you are going the whole way down the N85 dont forget to stop off in Gap for lunch. it is a beautiful town.
We did the run down to Grenoble, stayed the night, drove the route napoloen and headed to Monaco where we stayed the night.
The next day we reversed our trip back up the N85 and headed for Lyon thereafter driving back to Calais
Warning. The treck down to Grenoble is a very long one.
The N85 is stunning.
Dont mention my name in Monaco......
Have fun. It was the greatest holiday of my life. the alpine driving is simply stunning.
and if you are going the whole way down the N85 dont forget to stop off in Gap for lunch. it is a beautiful town.
mind the steps too in Monaco, they're really deceptive and sneaky
Take the motorway from Monte Carlo in the direction of Genova. It has loads of tighter turns as well as tunnels. The tighter turns are fantastic fun with a 911 at higher speeds as you can really feel the weight shifts as well as how accelerating through the turn actually helps to tighten your line where you didn't think you'd made it through the turn at all... The tunnels allow for proper aural stimulation. Many Italians demonstrate spirited driving and show lots of understanding when overtaken by a decent sports car.
Places depend very much about what you're looking for. One of the best seafood places on all the coast is Antica Maddalena in Bordighera on the coast. Go for the lukewarm pulpo salad as one of the starters, unbeatable
Places depend very much about what you're looking for. One of the best seafood places on all the coast is Antica Maddalena in Bordighera on the coast. Go for the lukewarm pulpo salad as one of the starters, unbeatable
Edited by Dr S on Friday 16th February 12:09
Dr S said:
Take the motorway from Monte Carlo in the direction of Genova. It has loads of tighter turns as well as tunnels. The tighter turns are fantastic fun with a 911 at higher speeds as you can really feel the weight shifts as well as how accelerating through the turn actually helps to tighten your line. The tunnels allow for proper aural stimulation. Many Italians demonstrate spirited driving and show lots of understanding when overtaken by a decent sports car.
Might I add, you should then continue along the A12 past Genova until you reach La Spezia and the turning for the A15 towards Parma. THE most challenging piece of motorway in Italy. From there take the A1 towards Milan and then... the hell hole they call Shitzerland.
jonnydangerous said:
Currently planning a euro blast in early May...
Wotcha Johnny D!
Have done this a few times before and it's looooooooads of fun
You may be interested in my piccies (and route) from last year in a Cayman here (and, in 2005 in an unfortunately unreliable S2000 here )
I get a fair few mails from people wanting to do the same thing, so I put together a bit of a guide. Never finished it, but there are some tips from someone who's done it twice... click
Both times we've started off the journey the same, and will do again - which is to "pop" over the channel the night before and stay in an Ibis (type thing). Leave at about 6am and drive in one long slog down to Lugano staying at this lovely place Click, which you'll arrive at at about 3pm.
THAT is the point I regard my holiday starts from! You're in luxury, perfectly placed and anywhere you go will be enjoyment
This year, we're going on the Dettaglio to Spain. It's about the same cost, someone else is doing all the organising and he knows the great driving roads
Enjoy!
Ben
blueyes said:
Might I add, you should then continue along the A12 past Genova until you reach La Spezia and the turning for the A15 towards Parma. THE most challenging piece of motorway in Italy. From there take the A1 towards Milan and then... the hell hole they call Shitzerland.
whole heartedly seconded
adamt said:
I would be worried about belgium at the end of your journey, its a hellish place to drive, and wont be fun at the end of such a long journey
agreed! Whilst the motorway from the Ring to just near Liege is nice the stretch then to Calais (Liege-Brussels-Ghent) is of shocking road quality (noisy tarmac, ridges, bumps etc)
ism123 said:
adamt said:
I would be worried about belgium at the end of your journey, its a hellish place to drive, and wont be fun at the end of such a long journey
agreed! Whilst the motorway from the Ring to just near Liege is nice the stretch then to Calais (Liege-Brussels-Ghent) is of shocking road quality (noisy tarmac, ridges, bumps etc)
Why go that way from Liege (E40)? Take the E42 Liege - Mons - Namur - Tournai - Lille - Calais. I always use that route as there are far fewer HGVs and the traffic in general is pretty quiet. It's also about the same in km/miles.
jonnydangerous said:
willdew said:
Only had a very quick flick though, but my only comment is 1800 miles driving in 5 days plus the day you will actually want at the Nurburgring is quite a lot. I can do 400 miles a day for the forst couple of days, but can imagine it becoming a chore by day 3-4. I think I'd stretch it out to a week.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
You're right about the distances. We may need to stretch the holiday out a bit. We thought about Stelvio pass but i didn't think it was open in early may?
me an a couple of chums are off to the stelvio over the may bank holiday catching the 5.30/6.00am eurostar N85 (I think it's the N85) reims (30min stop at Gueux old reims circuit) metz, mulhouse, basel finishng at luzern for about 4.30pm for a plate of meat and cheese and a stein of beer. day 2: 9am off to stelvio via gotthard pass (16.3km tunnel longest in the world) then through the St. Bernard pass into the stelvio national park then up the mighty Pass itself arriving about 12.30pm just in time for lunch staying about 2 hours then a blast down to Como arriving about 7pm just in time for a little alfresco pizza/wine lakeside, I've done this route twice now once in may once in september, may it was sunny and totally clear of snow, september it was snowy pas was open and clear of snow, but it would probably be wise to check...anyhows it's a hellva drive you'll love it
As your heading down the N85 may I suggest - nay, implore - you to take in the Col 'd Vence (D2) on the way down. Heading south on the N85, not too far from Grasse you will happen upon a junction where you turn left (east) onto the D2211:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=740000&Y=5402500&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=100000&multimap.x=332&multimap.y=211
After a handful of kms you'll arrive at the junction for the D2, where you must bear right:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=738750&Y=5402500&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=50000&multimap.x=477&multimap.y=108
Stay on this road, and enjoy the most thrilling piece of multi-faceted & traffic free driving you're likely to have anywhere. I cant emphasise enough just how utterly wonderful this road is (BTW was the scene of EVOCoTY last year and many other tests), it has everything from fast and sweeping to winding hairpin after hairpin, all with amazing scenery. Only problem is once you've done it once, you'll want to turn straight back and do it again
I did Vence > N85 and back again almost daily whilst were there last year. D2 = driving opiates
The D2 will take you all the way into the town of Vence:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=791250&Y=5397500&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=1&scale=100000
Which is pretty easy to traverse down onto the autoroute into Monaco via D36 then A8:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=825000&Y=5390000&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=200000&left.x=8&left.y=217
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=740000&Y=5402500&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=100000&multimap.x=332&multimap.y=211
After a handful of kms you'll arrive at the junction for the D2, where you must bear right:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=738750&Y=5402500&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=50000&multimap.x=477&multimap.y=108
Stay on this road, and enjoy the most thrilling piece of multi-faceted & traffic free driving you're likely to have anywhere. I cant emphasise enough just how utterly wonderful this road is (BTW was the scene of EVOCoTY last year and many other tests), it has everything from fast and sweeping to winding hairpin after hairpin, all with amazing scenery. Only problem is once you've done it once, you'll want to turn straight back and do it again
I did Vence > N85 and back again almost daily whilst were there last year. D2 = driving opiates The D2 will take you all the way into the town of Vence:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=791250&Y=5397500&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=1&scale=100000
Which is pretty easy to traverse down onto the autoroute into Monaco via D36 then A8:
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=825000&Y=5390000&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=200000&left.x=8&left.y=217
Edited by trackdemon on Friday 16th February 17:01
You can't miss out on the stelvio pass, also stop and have a play around castillia (sp) on the N85 and if you are anywhere near gronoble drive the road up to alpe d' huez 21hairpin bends on a smooth wide road with good vision! do it, my best time was 9mins from bourg d ousan to alpe!
Go have a play.....
p.s Italy is a proper free for all!
Go have a play.....
p.s Italy is a proper free for all!
ninesixfourrs said:
jonnydangerous said:
willdew said:
Only had a very quick flick though, but my only comment is 1800 miles driving in 5 days plus the day you will actually want at the Nurburgring is quite a lot. I can do 400 miles a day for the forst couple of days, but can imagine it becoming a chore by day 3-4. I think I'd stretch it out to a week.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
Do you include the Stelvio pass at present? If not, might be worth adding it. I think that also takes you onto quite a long stretch of de-restricted autobahn in southern Germany too.
You're right about the distances. We may need to stretch the holiday out a bit. We thought about Stelvio pass but i didn't think it was open in early may?
me an a couple of chums are off to the stelvio over the may bank holiday catching the 5.30/6.00am eurostar N85 (I think it's the N85) reims (30min stop at Gueux old reims circuit) metz, mulhouse, basel finishng at luzern for about 4.30pm for a plate of meat and cheese and a stein of beer. day 2: 9am off to stelvio via gotthard pass (16.3km tunnel longest in the world) then through the St. Bernard pass into the stelvio national park then up the mighty Pass itself arriving about 12.30pm just in time for lunch staying about 2 hours then a blast down to Como arriving about 7pm just in time for a little alfresco pizza/wine lakeside, I've done this route twice now once in may once in september, may it was sunny and totally clear of snow, september it was snowy pas was open and clear of snow, but it would probably be wise to check...anyhows it's a hellva drive you'll love it
Er!! I was talking Tosh it's not the N85 (route Napoleon)it's the A26 to Reims then A4 to Strasbourg picking up on the A5 to Basel then a quick blast along the A3 picking up the A2 to Luzern....I'd like to come back via the Route Napoleon but I think it will be too much for a long weekend
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