2 days in the alps
Discussion
i want to spend 2days in the alps and i dont want to be any further than 10hours away from calais.
i'm a first timer to the alps and have no idea what area to head for. i dont mind spend a day in 2 different areas or just consentrate on one area for the 2days.
any suggestions would be much appreciated.
i'm a first timer to the alps and have no idea what area to head for. i dont mind spend a day in 2 different areas or just consentrate on one area for the 2days.
any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Are you saying you'll spend 1 day geting there and one day getting back, plus 2 days of driving ?
If you've only got 2 days to get there, drive and get back you'll be restricted significantly on what you can achieve.
As a rough guide to give an indication of scale, Calais to Lausanne is a 480mile, 6-7hrs drive away. This gets you to the foot of the Alps at best.
Either way you've got a 1000 mile round trip to the Alps from Calais for a 2 day drive while you're there ?
If you've only got 2 days to get there, drive and get back you'll be restricted significantly on what you can achieve.
As a rough guide to give an indication of scale, Calais to Lausanne is a 480mile, 6-7hrs drive away. This gets you to the foot of the Alps at best.
Either way you've got a 1000 mile round trip to the Alps from Calais for a 2 day drive while you're there ?
Sounds like an awesome plan to me, 1 days drive there, 1 days drive back with 2 in between, perfect.
Luzern is a beautiful town, i stayed in the Lido campsite which was 10 minute bus ride from the centre, and spent a great evening drinking down by the lake with the Alps in the background.
From there you can head down the Furka and Grimsel passes, which are the best i've found so far.....from there though its up to you, i carried on over to Chamonix, spent a night there, then home again, although we did space our return over 2 days.
Luzern is a beautiful town, i stayed in the Lido campsite which was 10 minute bus ride from the centre, and spent a great evening drinking down by the lake with the Alps in the background.
From there you can head down the Furka and Grimsel passes, which are the best i've found so far.....from there though its up to you, i carried on over to Chamonix, spent a night there, then home again, although we did space our return over 2 days.
simonparky said:
i want to spend 2days in the alps and i dont want to be any further than 10hours away from calais.
This time of year, get ready for some seriously coldtemperatures.
I hope you've got your winter tyres on.
simonparky said:
i'm a first timer to the alps and have no idea what area to head for.
I find CH significantly more expensive than A, so I usually recommendas East as possible.
Innsbruck is good, Lienz and Landeck are better, Bregenz nice
but probably a bit too close to CH for my taste.
OTOH, you could try somewhere like Grenoble or Geneva in France.
Camel said:
dcb said:
OTOH, you could try somewhere like Grenoble or Geneva in France.
OTOH I would suggest looking in Switzerland for Geneva
BTW, I notice around Barcelonette, some 20 miles east
of Gap, the following passes with heights
Col de Vars 2109m
Col de Larche 1948m
Col de la Bonette 2802m
Col d'Allos 2247m
Col de la Cayolle 2326m
Col de la Lomarde 2350m
This could be some interesting territory to have a shufti at.
Annecy is an easy 8 hours from Calais and i can recommend it as an excellent place to stay. From there you have a wonderful choice of the most delicious roads.
The only thing i would add though, is that it takes quite a determination to go there and hoon for 2 days, because there are so many sights to see and places and villages to look at and hostelries to sample that it is hard to not keep stopping. If you're going on your own things are easier but if you go with a wife or partner then expect a bit of earache.
Incidentally, the cols mentioned above, apart from Larche which is on a main road, the others are closed for as much as they're open tbh, so it depends on what time of year you travel. We were up Cayolle in May, all the others were closed. Fanbloodytastic up at Cayolle it was though. Marmottes everywhere, big shaggy rodents. We spent hours going to the summit and back, and like i say we just kept stopping all the time, but is was still a fantastic day out nonetheless.
The only thing i would add though, is that it takes quite a determination to go there and hoon for 2 days, because there are so many sights to see and places and villages to look at and hostelries to sample that it is hard to not keep stopping. If you're going on your own things are easier but if you go with a wife or partner then expect a bit of earache.
Incidentally, the cols mentioned above, apart from Larche which is on a main road, the others are closed for as much as they're open tbh, so it depends on what time of year you travel. We were up Cayolle in May, all the others were closed. Fanbloodytastic up at Cayolle it was though. Marmottes everywhere, big shaggy rodents. We spent hours going to the summit and back, and like i say we just kept stopping all the time, but is was still a fantastic day out nonetheless.
heebeegeetee said:
Annecy is an easy 8 hours from Calais and i can recommend it as an excellent place to stay. From there you have a wonderful choice of the most delicious roads.
The only thing i would add though, is that it takes quite a determination to go there and hoon for 2 days, because there are so many sights to see and places and villages to look at and hostelries to sample that it is hard to not keep stopping. If you're going on your own things are easier but if you go with a wife or partner then expect a bit of earache.
Incidentally, the cols mentioned above, apart from Larche which is on a main road, the others are closed for as much as they're open tbh, so it depends on what time of year you travel. We were up Cayolle in May, all the others were closed. Fanbloodytastic up at Cayolle it was though. Marmottes everywhere, big shaggy rodents. We spent hours going to the summit and back, and like i say we just kept stopping all the time, but is was still a fantastic day out nonetheless.
+1 for Annecy, was there a couple of weeks ago. Gorgeous place, sits at the base of a lake with fantastic views. Lively as well, plenty of places to eat and some great bars with late opening hours. The only thing i would add though, is that it takes quite a determination to go there and hoon for 2 days, because there are so many sights to see and places and villages to look at and hostelries to sample that it is hard to not keep stopping. If you're going on your own things are easier but if you go with a wife or partner then expect a bit of earache.
Incidentally, the cols mentioned above, apart from Larche which is on a main road, the others are closed for as much as they're open tbh, so it depends on what time of year you travel. We were up Cayolle in May, all the others were closed. Fanbloodytastic up at Cayolle it was though. Marmottes everywhere, big shaggy rodents. We spent hours going to the summit and back, and like i say we just kept stopping all the time, but is was still a fantastic day out nonetheless.
Spent some time driving the mountain roads as well. Condition's not too bad, similar to the roads over here at the moment; covered in a greasy layer of cold salty sludge. Still had some awesome drives though. Can recommend the route Napolian between Grenoble and Nice, as you get nearer the Med it warms up a fair bit and you can really have some fun...
Check out the advice given to Johno on his Team Peach Melba thread. There are some superb roads in the French/Swiss Jura that are traffic free, quite testing and not as far as the high Alps. A full-blooded hoon up the Col de la Faucille is fantastic if you can catch it with little traffic, and the descent to Geneva has some awesome views of the Alps.
Get a decent large scale atlas (such as a Michelin) and be brave enough to go "off piste" on to minor roads (D roads etc), which you'll find in good condition.
Oh, and going to & from Calais, take the autoroute to Reims then take the N44/D944 then N67/N19 to Longeau. It runs parallel to the autoroute, so saves you money on tolls (and gendarmes
) yet is quite quick The D67 towards Besancon is great fun - super straights, undulating with fast bends.
You could continue past Longeau to Dijon or Beaune and cut across to Poligny - or take the A39 to Poligny (see my notes on Melba's thread) - the roads start getting challenging at Poligny.
Enjoy!
Get a decent large scale atlas (such as a Michelin) and be brave enough to go "off piste" on to minor roads (D roads etc), which you'll find in good condition.
Oh, and going to & from Calais, take the autoroute to Reims then take the N44/D944 then N67/N19 to Longeau. It runs parallel to the autoroute, so saves you money on tolls (and gendarmes
) yet is quite quick The D67 towards Besancon is great fun - super straights, undulating with fast bends.You could continue past Longeau to Dijon or Beaune and cut across to Poligny - or take the A39 to Poligny (see my notes on Melba's thread) - the roads start getting challenging at Poligny.
Enjoy!
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