Help me plan my Euro-trip of a lifetime, please!

[ScottMc91]

hi guys - i'm doing a similar trip this May for my stag do. I'll post up a different thread so as not to clutter yours but that sounds interesting about missing out Milan - i was planning on stopping there so might be an idea to miss that out if it'd turn out to be a nightmare.

[peter_964rs]

At the moment I am thinking of

Tuesday night - drive to Brussels or Bruge
Wednesday morning - drive to 'ring, drive around 'ring a few times, then on to Baden-Baden
Thursday - drive through Black Forest to Stuttgart (Zuffenhausen) to visit the Porsche factory, then on to Lindau on Lake Constance
Friday - drive across the Stelvio to Italy, stay in Parma
Saturday - to my Tuscan villa via the Ferrari factory in Modena.

Any improvements on that route gratefully considered.....

[slamm]

peter_964rs said:

Anyone have any ideas re: the Black forest? Just Google Earting it, it looks promising.

Yup, have driven through the Black Forest a couple of times and I can't recommend the D500 highly enough. It's a fantastic bit of road. We'll be out in Italy in July too as we're getting married and will be driving down to Lake Como via the Route Napoleon for our honeymoon. The Cols in the south of France are stunning and Mont Ventoux is worth a look too. We're then coming back via the Black Forest and are planning to do the D500.

[Targarama]

peter_964rs said:

At the moment I am thinking of

Tuesday night - drive to Brussels or Bruge
Wednesday morning - drive to 'ring, drive around 'ring a few times, then on to Baden-Baden
Thursday - drive through Black Forest to Stuttgart (Zuffenhausen) to visit the Porsche factory, then on to Lindau on Lake Constance
Friday - drive across the Stelvio to Italy, stay in Parma
Saturday - to my Tuscan villa via the Ferrari factory in Modena.

Any improvements on that route gratefully considered.....

Brussels is a dump. If you're staying around there try Gent - lovely old town, and there seems to be plenty of car parking in the centre too. I think I'd drive all the way to the 'ring though - loads of accomodation, the Dorint overlooks the track.

Another nice place to stay on the way up/down is Trier, just over the border into Germany.

[dcb]

Targarama said:

Another nice place to stay on the way up/down is Trier, just over the border into Germany.

Very nice and very busy.

I like Remich [ just East of Lux City].

Just like any French town, except it's had a lick of
paint and there isn't dog mess everywhere.

The locals speak English, French and German,
frequently in the same sentence.

I've also heard lots of good things about
Lux City itself.

Just a couple of ideas.

[minimoog]

Targarama said:

Another nice place to stay on the way up/down is Trier, just over the border into Germany.

Good xmas market in Trier too, though unlikely to be available to the OP this time Nice place.

Avoid Luxembourg city. It's a shithole.

[F308 MAN]

minimoog said:

Avoid Luxembourg city. It's a shithole.

i would personally avoid luxembourg (and belgium) altogether.
driving standards are dreadful.

d

[notb4eleven]

slamm said:

peter_964rs said:

Anyone have any ideas re: the Black forest? Just Google Earting it, it looks promising.

Yup, have driven through the Black Forest a couple of times and I can't recommend the D500 highly enough. It's a fantastic bit of road. We'll be out in Italy in July too as we're getting married and will be driving down to Lake Como via the Route Napoleon for our honeymoon. The Cols in the south of France are stunning and Mont Ventoux is worth a look too. We're then coming back via the Black Forest and are planning to do the D500.

Which road is this? I can only find the one from the A35 all the way down south just outside of Baden Baden, through Sand, Siebelseckel, Schliffkopf down to the fork of 28s (I'm reading Google map). It's marked as B500 in multimap.

I'm picking up a car from Stuttgart April, planning on driving back through Rheims, so I'm tracking this closely (BTW, hope you have a great trip peter_964rs).

[dom180]

>>St Gotthard Pass is interesting, as not only is the treeline noticeable but the Pass traverses the watershed of Northern and Southern Europe (as you head north, rain falling on your left eventually reaches the River Po while rain falling on your right eventually reaches the River Rhine) - plus the northern side is very well engineered with tunnels and bridges which are breathtakingly different to driving in the UK. Great fun!

After you've descendeded the new St. Gotthard pass, which is great fun, head back up the old cobblestoned pass if its open at that time - tremendous fun, then you can back down again on the new one.

[flemke]

peter_964rs said:

At the moment I am thinking of

Tuesday night - drive to Brussels or Bruge
Wednesday morning - drive to 'ring, drive around 'ring a few times, then on to Baden-Baden
Thursday - drive through Black Forest to Stuttgart (Zuffenhausen) to visit the Porsche factory, then on to Lindau on Lake Constance
Friday - drive across the Stelvio to Italy, stay in Parma
Saturday - to my Tuscan villa via the Ferrari factory in Modena.

Any improvements on that route gratefully considered.....

On most Wednesdays, the 'ring opens for public driving at 5:15ish. On a few, it's not open at all. Make sure of which before you pitch up.
This is not an official site, but it will at least get you into the ballpark:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nigel.pinder1/northlo...

[peter_964rs]

Yeah, I was planning to check the 'ring timetable in advance and just treble-confirm it would be open as soon as they published it. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it were altered at the last minute just as I'd pinned down the route in minuscule detail.

A nice man recommended the Col de Vence for the return trip. Having done the Route Napoleon earlier this year I can understand why; it's now on the itinerary.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep 'em coming.

[notb4eleven]

I'd second the comment about avoiding Brussels unless you're dead keen... you can get caught up in pretty horrible traffic there.

[mcgus]

I'm following this one with great interest! Am planning on taking the car "back home" as it were this summer either in June or September.

Having not seen this thread it's interesting to see how similary my plans are. So far, I've got -

Zeebrugge - Luxembourg (we have good friends there)
Luxembourg - Lindau, Bodensee
Bodensee - Bormio (not sure yet about this one, may stop short of the pass to try and do it first thing)
Bormio - Modena (anyone got any nice hotel recommendations for around here please?)
Modena - Lake Como for a few days
Lake Como - Cogne, Aosta valley
Cogne - St Bernard - Martigny - Chamonix valley
Chamonix - Annecy
Annecy - home via Reims/Epernay

Gulp!

[blondemoment]

Nice trip!

How long are you going for?

mcgus said:

I'm following this one with great interest! Am planning on taking the car "back home" as it were this summer either in June or September.

Having not seen this thread it's interesting to see how similary my plans are. So far, I've got -

Zeebrugge - Luxembourg (we have good friends there)
Luxembourg - Lindau, Bodensee
Bodensee - Bormio (not sure yet about this one, may stop short of the pass to try and do it first thing)
Bormio - Modena (anyone got any nice hotel recommendations for around here please?)
Modena - Lake Como for a few days
Lake Como - Cogne, Aosta valley
Cogne - St Bernard - Martigny - Chamonix valley
Chamonix - Annecy
Annecy - home via Reims/Epernay

Gulp!

[mcgus]

[quote=blondemoment]Nice trip!

How long are you going for?

ah! hi Jo...I've noted your website and I may yet come for help!

we're reckoning on perhaps just over two weeks. I'm looking at Relais & Chateaux hotels mainly as they seem to have them dotted around in most of the locations we're planning on going to.

[blondemoment]

Relais & Chateaux - my favourite!

Give me a call if you need advice - happy to help!

[mcgus]

blondemoment said:

Relais & Chateaux - my favourite!

Give me a call if you need advice - happy to help!

thanks, will do.

[slamm]

notb4eleven said:

Which road is this? I can only find the one from the A35 all the way down south just outside of Baden Baden, through Sand, Siebelseckel, Schliffkopf down to the fork of 28s (I'm reading Google map). It's marked as B500 in multimap.

I'm picking up a car from Stuttgart April, planning on driving back through Rheims, so I'm tracking this closely (BTW, hope you have a great trip peter_964rs).

Sorry - meant B500, so you are right. I've been looking at routes recently and must have got confused! Google map route: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Baden+Baden&daddr=48.670106,8.234253+to: Freudenstadt&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=11&via=1&sll=48.61129, 8.325985&sspn=0.337766,0.63858&ie=UTF8&ll=48.613846,8.359222&spn=0.337748,0.63858&z=11 

[notb4eleven]

Tx mate. Any recommendations for places to stay in the Black Forest?

[slamm]

We're staying in the Buhlerhohe Schlosshotel - have stayed there several times and it is spectacular: http://www.buehlerhoehe.de/index.php?country=de  It has the most fantastic terrace and a restaurant with floor to ceiling windows that overlooks the forest.