UK to Monte Carlo?

[elms]

Im planning a trip from Blighty down through Europe to eventually stop at Monaco. Has anyone done this journey before and any recommendations to which routes to take? I'd like to see as much 'drive by' scenery as possible (mountains etc). Spend a couple of nights in Monaco then blast back.

[greeny]

What time of year? Some of the best roads through the alps are closed until late spring! Having said that, still some great roads available all year. Try a search on 'Route Napolean'

[elms]

Im looking at going very soon, but i can wait until the new year if required.

[Greeny]

Check out the 'roads forum' at the moment, re: stevlio pass, just as a taste of what available!!

[Buzzin' Hornet]

If you can wait until next year why not go to the GP in May. Stay somewhere down the coast like Nice or Antibes and then use the coast train to get to race. Did it a few years ago, absolutely superb and not as expensive as you would think. Get a local map and hit the roads behind Monaco, its where they hold the Monte Carlo rally. The Stelvio is great fun but is a long way over as it runs from Austria to Italy.

[elms]

The plan so far was this...
Once into France fill up with Super Unleaded and point the car south, with 100mph+ driving it should need refuelling every couple of hours or so, at every other fuel stop change drivers/grab sandwich and continue. I guesstimate that it will take 10 hours to reach Monaco if we travel direct. But really would like to pass through some nice scenery areas on the way, such as mountain ranges and such like.

[FunkyGibbon]

I'd recommend the Route Napoleon from Grenoble to Cannes, takes about 4 - 5 hours but the scenery is stunning.

Then you just have a simple trip from Cannes to Monaco via Nice and the Moyenne Corniche (RN7)

Stunning.

>> Edited by FunkyGibbon on Tuesday 14th October 09:22

[ellejay]

We did this trip in September. My advice is dont underestimate how long it takes to drive. We wanted to get to outside Nice in the quickest time and were crossing from Portsmouth to Le Havre.

Times were arrive France 15:00(ish) drive via Peage to Nemours just south of Paris arrive there 18:00(ish)
Traffic was busy around Paris but we managed to avoid most of the holdups.

Next morning left 08:00 and arrived 17:30 in Vence (just outside Nice) this was driving as you described stopping for pertol / food as required. I imagine you could do it quicker by stopping for less and driving faster. Total was 700 miles in 12 hours driving time.

If you add in any mountain pass time then you will need to allow much more time. We did one of the moutain passes from France towards Italy and it took 4-5 hours - scenery is fantastic but dont expect to go anywhere fast.

[neilsie]

for good mountain roads see www.alpineroads.com/ maybe biased towards biking, but equally good for cars...

hi btw!

Neil.

[size13]

We did it last year as follows...

Dover - Calais Friday night
Calais to Troyes on Saturday
Troyes - Annecy via Dijon, Geneve on Sunday
Annecy for a few days, then on to Chamonix
Chamonix for a few days then to Nice via Mont Blanc tunnel, Turin and Cuneo (*** Cracking drive! ***)
Nice for a few days (Monaco, Cannes etc) to Montpellier
Montpellier for a few days then to Claremont Ferrand
CF for a few days then to Le Mans for a few days
Finally up to Calais and back home

15 days in all. (Not really flying trip!)
If you want to see any pictures, go to www.richardcraig.info and click on the France 2002 link

>> Edited by size13 on Wednesday 15th October 15:44

[elms]

That looks fantastic!

[jimgiblett]

Down the west coast to Biarritz then parallel to the Spanish / Andorra boarders over the Pyranees down into Perpignan. The D192 over the pyranees is rather nice, unlike the Alps with the walls and crash barriers the D192 allows many more unfettered routes to meet your maker.

Along the coast to Antibes then Monte Carlo. Return via Grenoble and Dijon.

memories 1988 GPZ600R 2up camping one of my best ever holidays

When are we going? :-)

Jim
R1 Phoenix

>> Edited by jimgiblett on Friday 17th October 16:41