Another European road trip planning thread

[Rallye James]

After coming back from a euro trip back in May, I decided I needed to start arranging something for next year. I've made a good start although I'm at the stage that I could use some PH input

First off, I'm going with an Italian Job theme to the trip, a friend who is coming is a big big fan of the (original of course) film and I've seen that Muira doing the passes so many times that I need to drive that route with a copy of Matt Munro playing. I like the idea of doing as many countries as possible and have worked out I could do nine in all (France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Austria). I've planned it for July, so I've got plenty of time for getting it all ready and we should be OK weather wise (we were disappointed with the Alps in May due to weather). Cars are likely to be a Megane 225, Clio 172 and S2000 (if I get my ass in to gear!)

With that in mind, I've decided that these are the 'must dos'

Nurburgring - It may as well be my second home, it's 'on the way' pretty much
Grand St Bernard - Italian Job connection
Petit St Bernard - As above
Monaco - We went here in May, but only for an afternoon. We want to make a full day of it this time to give us a day off driving
Lingotto - Italian Job connection, we want to walk the test track
Monza - We were meant to do this in May, but ran out of time due to arsing about in the snow on top of the St Gottard. Oops!
Como - Another stop from this May's trip, we found a nice hotel and enjoyed the place so it's worth stopping again
Nurburgring, again - Well, it's on the way back up
Spa - Another 'on the way' that's worth stopping at

I also want to include Stelvio and Route Napoleon, but I want to know whether these are worth doing. I also keep considering the Andermatt loop (we only managed St Gottard in May due to the weather) but this would mean cutting out Stelvio and Austria. Though we could possibly head up towards Baden Baden on the B500?

Here's the map I've drawn up so far

So questions...

Is the Route Napoleon worth doing, or should I reroute somewhere else?
Is the Stelvio worth doing, or should I do the Andermatt loop? (I'd like to do Stelvio just to have done it, and because of the height of it)
Where can I route day 7 and 8 to join between Como and Adenau?
Likewise, does anyone know a good cheap hotel between the two to split the two days? (to give you can idea, we're staying mainly in F1s and Etaps, though there aren't many of either in Germany)
Does anyone know a good relatively cheap hotel in Menton with parking? (I'm sure I've seen one mentioned on here but couldn't find it with the search)
Is there a certain direction we should do the route? (i.e. Are Stelvio or Route Napoleon best done in a certain direction?)
Am I missing anything else that could be added in without too much extra time or distance? (I'm aiming for no more than 7 hours on the longest day, plus we've done Turini and will have done the Stuttgart museums before this trip)

Think that's all for now! Cheers

[MartinQ]

Don't forget Liechtenstein for another country to tick off since you're going that way.

Nothing else to add other than have a great time and hope to follow in your footsteps at some point.

[G Man]

You want to go up the Stelvio from the Trafoi side which the the classic picture side of the pass, stay in Bormio the night or do the Gavia pass which is better than the Stelvio IMHO

Andermatt loop is well worth doing Grimsel in a car is best ...

[Janosh]

When we were at the top of the Stelvio, there was a Swiss British classic car meet, so the atmosphere was amazing with an incredible amount of exotica on display - for that alone it was worth it, but the driving itself is much better elsewhere!

The Andermatt loop is the best driving I've done, anywhere, so highly recommended

If you're after driving roads, do Andermatt loop. If you want to put a tick on the board, do Stelvio.

To answer your other question re: Route Napoleon - it's awesome in both directions, so it doesn't matter which way round you go...

[Rallye James]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I suppose Janosh puts it best, Andermatt loop is better, but Stelvio's a tick off the list. I need to work out which I want more.

I think Andermatt (from south: Gotthard, lunch in Andermatt, Furka, Grimsel, Susten) and then a trip up the B500 is looking most favourable at the moment. I just need to work a hotel into the route somewhere south of Freudenstadt.