Euro trip and where to begin?

[Frimley111R]

I need a start point (for the drive and the planning!).

I want to do a Euro road trip with Mrs 111R. There's a wealth of advice etc out there and as a result I am struggling where to start. So, maybe you guys can assist with some answers to the below. I'm thinking of about a week or ten days max.

1 Where should I start? I am in the SE and so can get to the South coast easily but will I end up with a long drive to get anywhere 'good'? Or is that inevitable?
2 What are your thoughts on the Amalfie coast? Mrs 111R loves that area (not been to be fair). Could we take a boat to there or realistically is it a bit too long a route.
3. Obviously the mountain passes would be great but could I do a decent/interesting drive to them and if so, which routes?
4. Where to stay along the route? Do we just roughly work out how long to drive and where to stay and then just look and book online all beforehand?
5. Or should we just go with an organised group?

Or any other advice appreciated but I need to start planning ...

[POIDH]

Overnight ferry to northern Spain.
Drive off and you're on nice roads within 20 mins.

[sherman]

I would not drive the Amalfi coast in anything you like.
I drove it in a hired Fiat 500 snd it was some of the craziest driving I have ever seen only topped byvthe lunacy thst is Naples its self.

If your in the Souyh East I would be using the tunnel to Calais and then heading off from there.

Im doing a European road trip soon. Im sheduling about 4 hours driving between stops as this gives us time to stop and see the view etc.
Im also stopping multiple days in each stop as I want to enjoy my holiday abd not be constantly driving.

[paddy1970]

You could consider a route through eastern France into Switzerland and perhaps northern Italy. The Furka Pass, Great St. Bernard Pass, and Col du Grand Saint-Bernard offer breathtaking driving experiences and are reachable within 2-3 days of steady but enjoyable driving from Calais.

A sample route might be: Calais → Reims (champagne region) → Colmar (Alsace) → Lucerne (Switzerland) → Alpine passes → Lake Como → return via a different route through France.

[Frimley111R]

paddy1970 said:

You could consider a route through eastern France into Switzerland and perhaps northern Italy. The Furka Pass, Great St. Bernard Pass, and Col du Grand Saint-Bernard offer breathtaking driving experiences and are reachable within 2-3 days of steady but enjoyable driving from Calais.

A sample route might be: Calais ? Reims (champagne region) ? Colmar (Alsace) ? Lucerne (Switzerland) ? Alpine passes ? Lake Como ? return via a different route through France.

Thank you, I'll have a look

[reefer110]

sherman said:

I would not drive the Amalfi coast in anything you like.
I drove it in a hired Fiat 500 snd it was some of the craziest driving I have ever seen only topped byvthe lunacy thst is Naples its self.

If your in the Souyh East I would be using the tunnel to Calais and then heading off from there.

Im doing a European road trip soon. Im sheduling about 4 hours driving between stops as this gives us time to stop and see the view etc.
Im also stopping multiple days in each stop as I want to enjoy my holiday abd not be constantly driving.

I'll 2nd avoiding the Amalfi, after driving out of Naples to our hotel on the coast for about an hour I'd had enough. Parked up the car for the rest of the stay... fortunately it wasn't a driving holiday.

[RizzoTheRat]

paddy1970 said:

You could consider a route through eastern France into Switzerland and perhaps northern Italy. The Furka Pass, Great St. Bernard Pass, and Col du Grand Saint-Bernard offer breathtaking driving experiences and are reachable within 2-3 days of steady but enjoyable driving from Calais.

Another vote for this, I've done it a couple of times by motorbike. One word of caution though, the valleys or Northern Italy are a bit of a urban sprawl with lots of traffic. We planned to do a circuit of Lake Garda thinking it would be lovely views of mountain scenery across the lake. In reality we got a traffic jam with lovely views of the backs of all the houses that have lovely views. We quickly decided this was a bad idea nd took to the hills, and discovered so many fantastic empty roads once we got out of the big valleys. The road past Lake Valvestino was a highlight. Andermatt, Davos, Livigno, Bormio are would get my vote. So many good roads around there. Just don't get caught speeding in in Switzerland.

[Big E 118]

Frimley111R said:

paddy1970 said:

You could consider a route through eastern France into Switzerland and perhaps northern Italy. The Furka Pass, Great St. Bernard Pass, and Col du Grand Saint-Bernard offer breathtaking driving experiences and are reachable within 2-3 days of steady but enjoyable driving from Calais.

A sample route might be: Calais ? Reims (champagne region) ? Colmar (Alsace) ? Lucerne (Switzerland) ? Alpine passes ? Lake Como ? return via a different route through France.

Thank you, I'll have a look

There is some great scenery and some fantastic roads suggested above but you have to pick the time. Some of the high passes don't open until June and you want to avoid July/August for fun driving as the roads are very busy. September is good but you'll be getting closed passes by October.

The other suggestion of ferry to Spain is a good option, great roads, scenery and food/drink in Northern Spain and the Pyrenees.

If this is your first time at doing a Euro driving tour I'd look at a pre arranged tour with the likes of Scenic Car Tours. We've used them before for their off the shelf tours and they've created custom tours for our group. Their itinerary will have realistic driving days, they'll sort the hotels and crossings for you.

[cherryowen]

We've driven to Italy three times. In 2003 and 2006 we were staying in a small town near Verona so was a two day drive there. 2003 we stopped overnight in Saverne near Strasbourg and that was very agreeable, but getting there was a little boring being all Autoroute.

In 2013 we were staying in a tiny village in the Abruzzo region, so that was 3 days drive. First stop was Freiburg, which was really nice and a good stepping-stone for the Furka / Grimsel / St. Gotthard passes the next day. Next stop was Desenzano on Lake Garda and, again, very agreeable although parking was a bit of a 'mare.

WRT Alpine passes, as someone else has alluded to, be aware that they remain closed until quite late in the year. In 2013, we drove down mid-June and the Furka and Grimsel passes had only just re-opened.

[sunbeam alpine]

reefer110 said:

sherman said:

I would not drive the Amalfi coast in anything you like.
I drove it in a hired Fiat 500 snd it was some of the craziest driving I have ever seen only topped byvthe lunacy thst is Naples its self.

If your in the Souyh East I would be using the tunnel to Calais and then heading off from there.

Im doing a European road trip soon. Im sheduling about 4 hours driving between stops as this gives us time to stop and see the view etc.
Im also stopping multiple days in each stop as I want to enjoy my holiday abd not be constantly driving.

I'll 2nd avoiding the Amalfi, after driving out of Naples to our hotel on the coast for about an hour I'd had enough. Parked up the car for the rest of the stay... fortunately it wasn't a driving holiday.

The Amalfi coast is a brilliant drive at 5 am on a Sunday. I had great fun in a classic Alfa Spider together with an Abarth 500 and some kind of Ducati. I just about managed to keep up with the Abarth but the Ducati left us behind until we stopped.

I also drove it in the middle of the afternoon when it was indeed tortuous - although I don't think I've ever been photographed as much by tourist buses.

Italy is generally a fun place to drive (especially in anything classic and Italian).

You really want PH-er Plenty on this thread. I believe he knows all the good roads in the whole of Europe - he's certainly done loads of road trips!