Last minute Euro trip... things to do??
Discussion
I've been on a couple of Euro trips before and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wasn't planning on going this summer, but I've found I've got some time off allocated so was thinking of sorting out a last minute trip. This would be late August, early September sort of time.
One thing I found on previous trips, was that I didn't plan enough. It was quite difficult to find good roads and keep of the motorways. Unfortunately sat navs aren't brilliant at finding the lovely scenic routes. Ideally I'd love to pootle my way through some lovely twisting roads, visit some interesting attractions as well as ensure that there are plenty of coffee stops in nice little villages as opposed to motorway service stations.
Does anyone have anywhere to recommend or events to recommend from late august to early september sort of time to help me with my route planning. As the extent of my route planning so far is to close my eyes and point my finger at a random place on google maps.
I realise I've missed the boat on the majority of things, Le Mans, N24, Spa 24, Spa GP race Nurburgring GP race etc etc, but I thought I'd give asking you guys a whirl.
EDIT: I'd like to spend the majority of time in central western-europe. Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium etc if that makes any difference.
Cheers chaps/chapesses.
One thing I found on previous trips, was that I didn't plan enough. It was quite difficult to find good roads and keep of the motorways. Unfortunately sat navs aren't brilliant at finding the lovely scenic routes. Ideally I'd love to pootle my way through some lovely twisting roads, visit some interesting attractions as well as ensure that there are plenty of coffee stops in nice little villages as opposed to motorway service stations.
Does anyone have anywhere to recommend or events to recommend from late august to early september sort of time to help me with my route planning. As the extent of my route planning so far is to close my eyes and point my finger at a random place on google maps.
I realise I've missed the boat on the majority of things, Le Mans, N24, Spa 24, Spa GP race Nurburgring GP race etc etc, but I thought I'd give asking you guys a whirl.
EDIT: I'd like to spend the majority of time in central western-europe. Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium etc if that makes any difference.
Cheers chaps/chapesses.
How long are you going for? How many miles do you want to do? How much driving do you want to do per day?
How about heading down through the B500 in Germany, on to Andermatt (to do the "Andermatt loop"), then head accross to Chamonix and do the St Bernard passes, and then head north to Mulhouse and the Bugatti museum before heading home through northern France?
As to road planning, this does take lots of time and patience. Once you have roughly worked out your stops, look at www.alpineroads.com and www.bestbikingroads.com which provide details of good roads. Use trip advisor to find somewhere to stay each evening (I prefer to have everything booked in advance, but you might be happy to do things more flexibly - bear in mind that August is peak holiday season).
How about heading down through the B500 in Germany, on to Andermatt (to do the "Andermatt loop"), then head accross to Chamonix and do the St Bernard passes, and then head north to Mulhouse and the Bugatti museum before heading home through northern France?
As to road planning, this does take lots of time and patience. Once you have roughly worked out your stops, look at www.alpineroads.com and www.bestbikingroads.com which provide details of good roads. Use trip advisor to find somewhere to stay each evening (I prefer to have everything booked in advance, but you might be happy to do things more flexibly - bear in mind that August is peak holiday season).
Got the Monza GP early sept if that's your thing 
I'm off there at the end of the month also following this approx route;
route
Having the GF in tow I've had to be alot more organised than I would have been otherwise and we've yet to find some nice places to stop when passing through Belgium/Luxembourg. Castles on that route were the OH's suggestion also but definitely look like they'd be worth a stop at least with nice roads around also. Hotels are easily booked but costs do add up (alot of places on my route, some hotels wanted 35+ euros just for parking!)
Hope it helps a little and if you see a UK plated blue S2000 give us a wave
I'm off there at the end of the month also following this approx route;
route
Having the GF in tow I've had to be alot more organised than I would have been otherwise and we've yet to find some nice places to stop when passing through Belgium/Luxembourg. Castles on that route were the OH's suggestion also but definitely look like they'd be worth a stop at least with nice roads around also. Hotels are easily booked but costs do add up (alot of places on my route, some hotels wanted 35+ euros just for parking!)
Hope it helps a little and if you see a UK plated blue S2000 give us a wave
Some ideas from me
We did it a similar time aswell
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
We did it a similar time aswell
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Have a read of the below thread, it contains write up's of other Pistonheads Euro road trips. Should give you a few ideas
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If classics are of interest try this http://www.gpnuvolari.it/defaultit.aspx.
Some amazing vehicles (just have a look at previous years' results lists) and they visit some interesting venues.
Also you can follow them as it nearly all takes place on open public roads.
Maybe a bit late for you but bear in mind the comment above that most Europeans are back to work by then.
We're due to go on the Friday for the start and visits to Modena and St Agata - can't wait!
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe.
Some amazing vehicles (just have a look at previous years' results lists) and they visit some interesting venues.
Also you can follow them as it nearly all takes place on open public roads.
Maybe a bit late for you but bear in mind the comment above that most Europeans are back to work by then.
We're due to go on the Friday for the start and visits to Modena and St Agata - can't wait!
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe.
I've got a Philip's Europe road atlas, yes an actual paper atlas, not an app or online map, which has a green band running alongside every road that is a "scenic route". So, wherever you are or wherever you want to drive to, you can look for scenic roads in that area.
Also if you use http://www.viamichelin.com/ you can plan routes and choose the "sightseeing" option, instead of fastest or shortest.
Also if you use http://www.viamichelin.com/ you can plan routes and choose the "sightseeing" option, instead of fastest or shortest.
Cheers for the replies! Definitely some food for thought.
Ideally I'd want to spend as much time off the motorways as possible, save the odd stretch of de-restricted autobahn.
As some have said, planning the route and which roads to take is a complete nightmare. One thing I'd like to avoid is the sensation of having to get to X place by X time that plagued my last trip. I'd have loved to done a couple of the alpine passes again on my last trip, but I simply ran out of time to get to the hotel before booking in finished. Seemed a bit of a waste to come all that way to not be able to fully enjoy it in hindsight.
I'd be looking to go for about 5-7 days I think, so could cover a fair old distance in that time.
Are the ski resorts such as chamonix etc worth a visit? Even in the off season?
Oh and DougieMC. The mini is awesome
.
Ideally I'd want to spend as much time off the motorways as possible, save the odd stretch of de-restricted autobahn.
As some have said, planning the route and which roads to take is a complete nightmare. One thing I'd like to avoid is the sensation of having to get to X place by X time that plagued my last trip. I'd have loved to done a couple of the alpine passes again on my last trip, but I simply ran out of time to get to the hotel before booking in finished. Seemed a bit of a waste to come all that way to not be able to fully enjoy it in hindsight.
I'd be looking to go for about 5-7 days I think, so could cover a fair old distance in that time.
Are the ski resorts such as chamonix etc worth a visit? Even in the off season?
Oh and DougieMC. The mini is awesome
.Doodles19 said:
Cheers for the replies! Definitely some food for thought.
Ideally I'd want to spend as much time off the motorways as possible, save the odd stretch of de-restricted autobahn.
As some have said, planning the route and which roads to take is a complete nightmare. One thing I'd like to avoid is the sensation of having to get to X place by X time that plagued my last trip. I'd have loved to done a couple of the alpine passes again on my last trip, but I simply ran out of time to get to the hotel before booking in finished. Seemed a bit of a waste to come all that way to not be able to fully enjoy it in hindsight.
I'd be looking to go for about 5-7 days I think, so could cover a fair old distance in that time.
Are the ski resorts such as chamonix etc worth a visit? Even in the off season?
Oh and DougieMC. The mini is awesome.
Chamonix definitely worth a visit and there is a good loop from there.Ideally I'd want to spend as much time off the motorways as possible, save the odd stretch of de-restricted autobahn.
As some have said, planning the route and which roads to take is a complete nightmare. One thing I'd like to avoid is the sensation of having to get to X place by X time that plagued my last trip. I'd have loved to done a couple of the alpine passes again on my last trip, but I simply ran out of time to get to the hotel before booking in finished. Seemed a bit of a waste to come all that way to not be able to fully enjoy it in hindsight.
I'd be looking to go for about 5-7 days I think, so could cover a fair old distance in that time.
Are the ski resorts such as chamonix etc worth a visit? Even in the off season?
Oh and DougieMC. The mini is awesome
.To avoid rushing I'd limit yourself to less than 200 miles cross country per day. That's 4-5 hours in the car at average speeds, plus time for a decent lunch, and a few "repeat" roads if the mood takes you.
Gassing Station | Events & Meetings | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff