European Drive
Discussion
Evening All,
Next summer after graduation I want to hit Europe on a road trip. I am going to book the time unpaid off work so probably have up to four weeks and at the moment I have come up with this "rough" route on Google Maps:
Starting off in Birmingham (A), across the Chunnel to Ypres (B) to have a wander around the battlefield, then onto the Reims circuit ruins (C). Then heading across to Germany via Aachen and Cologne (E) to have a look at the architecture mainly (went there when I was 11/12 and thought it was impressive...). Then a stop via the Ring. Would probably want to spent two days or so there, though would only do a few laps myself obviously I want to walk/drive around the outside checking out the other metal.
The next stop is the Simplonpass (F to G) and then a couple of the other major roads that Top Gear drove (H & I) on their hunt for the best driving roads in Europe. Next stop is Rome (J) before heading along the coast to Marseille via the Col de Turini (TG road - K) and Monaco (L). I then wanted to go across to Lourdes (M) before returning to Le Havre (O) via Le Mans (N). I'd want to spend some time looking at the Normandy Beaches and some of the Museums etc in this area. Then across to Portsmouth and home to Birmingham via Wales (P)
It all adds up to almost 4,000 miles and I'm sure there are loads of places I would like to visit but it's taken me several hours to come up with this map over the past few weeks so it's over to you lot for some inspiration. In particular I am lacking places to stay between the Ring and the Simplonpass and also between Rome and Monaco...
Cheers!
Next summer after graduation I want to hit Europe on a road trip. I am going to book the time unpaid off work so probably have up to four weeks and at the moment I have come up with this "rough" route on Google Maps:
Starting off in Birmingham (A), across the Chunnel to Ypres (B) to have a wander around the battlefield, then onto the Reims circuit ruins (C). Then heading across to Germany via Aachen and Cologne (E) to have a look at the architecture mainly (went there when I was 11/12 and thought it was impressive...). Then a stop via the Ring. Would probably want to spent two days or so there, though would only do a few laps myself obviously I want to walk/drive around the outside checking out the other metal.
The next stop is the Simplonpass (F to G) and then a couple of the other major roads that Top Gear drove (H & I) on their hunt for the best driving roads in Europe. Next stop is Rome (J) before heading along the coast to Marseille via the Col de Turini (TG road - K) and Monaco (L). I then wanted to go across to Lourdes (M) before returning to Le Havre (O) via Le Mans (N). I'd want to spend some time looking at the Normandy Beaches and some of the Museums etc in this area. Then across to Portsmouth and home to Birmingham via Wales (P)
It all adds up to almost 4,000 miles and I'm sure there are loads of places I would like to visit but it's taken me several hours to come up with this map over the past few weeks so it's over to you lot for some inspiration. In particular I am lacking places to stay between the Ring and the Simplonpass and also between Rome and Monaco...
Cheers!
That looks like a pretty sweet route you got yourself there, only bit i wouldn't do personally would be the trip down to Rome, purely because the city itself is mental for cars, and the Italian road manners are the worst in the world, i have never been so scared in all my life as driving on their motorways.
But maybe thats just my experience, either way, if your going down to Rome, you may aswell stop off in Modena, and Maranello for a quick stop at Ferrari or Lambourghini factories.
Some of the destinations will depend what you want to do between them, so getting down to Simplonpass i'd always do Nurburgring - Luzern in switzerland in 1 day, then we stay in a campsite in Luzern, its a beautiful town, Alps in the background, and bordered by a lake, plenty of nice hotels if you've got a bigger budget. Then you can take a route via the Furka and Grimsel passes to Simplon, the Furka and Grimsel are the best roads i've found in the Alps, highly recomended.
Alternatively, approach it from the other direction, so last year i drove Nurburgring - Salzberg in a day, stayed in a beautiful town called Werfern, visited Berchtesgaden(Eagles Nest), and then avoided all motorways and went through the Alps to Füssen, where the Neuschwanstein Castle lies. From there we went down to the Stelvio, up the north side, then back down, and round to Davos via the Fluelapass(Top Gear's greatest road). We only came back down Stelvio because of time restraints, otherwise i think there's a way of going down the South side of the Stelvio, round to St Bernardino Pass, then back up to Davos from there.
I'll share some of my maps from previous trips if i can find them.
The Normandy part sounds cool aswell, am a bit of a history geek, but never did the Normandy trip at school, so would love to check out some of the museums up there.
I hope some of that is helpful, as i said, Luzern is definately recomended, and if your doing it on a proper low budget i can recommend cheap places to stay/camp in Luzern, Nurburgring, Monaco, Davos.
But maybe thats just my experience, either way, if your going down to Rome, you may aswell stop off in Modena, and Maranello for a quick stop at Ferrari or Lambourghini factories.
Some of the destinations will depend what you want to do between them, so getting down to Simplonpass i'd always do Nurburgring - Luzern in switzerland in 1 day, then we stay in a campsite in Luzern, its a beautiful town, Alps in the background, and bordered by a lake, plenty of nice hotels if you've got a bigger budget. Then you can take a route via the Furka and Grimsel passes to Simplon, the Furka and Grimsel are the best roads i've found in the Alps, highly recomended.
Alternatively, approach it from the other direction, so last year i drove Nurburgring - Salzberg in a day, stayed in a beautiful town called Werfern, visited Berchtesgaden(Eagles Nest), and then avoided all motorways and went through the Alps to Füssen, where the Neuschwanstein Castle lies. From there we went down to the Stelvio, up the north side, then back down, and round to Davos via the Fluelapass(Top Gear's greatest road). We only came back down Stelvio because of time restraints, otherwise i think there's a way of going down the South side of the Stelvio, round to St Bernardino Pass, then back up to Davos from there.
I'll share some of my maps from previous trips if i can find them.
The Normandy part sounds cool aswell, am a bit of a history geek, but never did the Normandy trip at school, so would love to check out some of the museums up there.
I hope some of that is helpful, as i said, Luzern is definately recomended, and if your doing it on a proper low budget i can recommend cheap places to stay/camp in Luzern, Nurburgring, Monaco, Davos.
Wow thanks for that Gillet 
.
The main reasoning for going to Rome was that I went there a couple of years ago - but didn't take many photographs so I have virtually zero photos of things like the Colosseum - I wanted to head back and get some proper memories! I'll admit I didn't drive there but was driven (by a mate) and it was somewhat scary... I like the idea of going to Modena too.
Stopping in Luzern before heading through the Passes sounds like a good idea - if you have any recommendations of where to stay that'd be great (I'll be spending a fortune on fuel so if I can camp every other night it might save a bit of money) - if you don't want to post them up feel free to PM them. We drove the Grimselpass on the way to Italy last time but I don't remember what other roads we went on though (thanks for jogging the memory though - the views were amazing! - I'll put a few photos from the last trip through the alps below...
And where we broke down...
.The main reasoning for going to Rome was that I went there a couple of years ago - but didn't take many photographs so I have virtually zero photos of things like the Colosseum - I wanted to head back and get some proper memories! I'll admit I didn't drive there but was driven (by a mate) and it was somewhat scary... I like the idea of going to Modena too.
Stopping in Luzern before heading through the Passes sounds like a good idea - if you have any recommendations of where to stay that'd be great (I'll be spending a fortune on fuel so if I can camp every other night it might save a bit of money) - if you don't want to post them up feel free to PM them. We drove the Grimselpass on the way to Italy last time but I don't remember what other roads we went on though (thanks for jogging the memory though - the views were amazing! - I'll put a few photos from the last trip through the alps below...
And where we broke down...
Looks fantastic.
The only thing I would say is from point M (Lourdes) I'd suggest head south into Spain, via Oloron-Sainte-Marie rather then heading straight back up the French west coast. You can get a ferry from Santander to Plymouth, or Bilboa to Portsmouth. Both are overnight and a nice way to wind down from all the fun you would have had. Also, fuel and tolls are much cheaper in Spain then France!
From Oloron I could give you about 2-3 days of nice drives. If you have a look at my video in my European road trip post the bit where we are playing around on the hairpins is there.
Also with regards to the Col Du Turini, I'd suggest you spend a little less time on the A8 from Arles and have a play in the mountains. There are so many great roads down there and the backdrops nothing short of spectacular. Personally I thought the Col Du St Martin (which is just after Turini) is better, but my fellow road trippers would disagree.
Feel free to drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to tell you what little I know.
The only thing I would say is from point M (Lourdes) I'd suggest head south into Spain, via Oloron-Sainte-Marie rather then heading straight back up the French west coast. You can get a ferry from Santander to Plymouth, or Bilboa to Portsmouth. Both are overnight and a nice way to wind down from all the fun you would have had. Also, fuel and tolls are much cheaper in Spain then France!
From Oloron I could give you about 2-3 days of nice drives. If you have a look at my video in my European road trip post the bit where we are playing around on the hairpins is there.
Also with regards to the Col Du Turini, I'd suggest you spend a little less time on the A8 from Arles and have a play in the mountains. There are so many great roads down there and the backdrops nothing short of spectacular. Personally I thought the Col Du St Martin (which is just after Turini) is better, but my fellow road trippers would disagree.
Feel free to drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to tell you what little I know.
Thanks Mark - I will be in touch!
I've done a bit of rejigging of the route, added a few of the suggested locations in and taken out visiting Ypres as it didn't seem to fit any longer.
What do people think: http://tinyurl.com/ao2n5c
I've done a bit of rejigging of the route, added a few of the suggested locations in and taken out visiting Ypres as it didn't seem to fit any longer.
What do people think: http://tinyurl.com/ao2n5c
rfn said:
Thanks Mark - I will be in touch!
I've done a bit of rejigging of the route, added a few of the suggested locations in and taken out visiting Ypres as it didn't seem to fit any longer.
What do people think: http://tinyurl.com/ao2n5c
Looks like you'll have an amazing time! I'll have a look for my route through Spain. Shouldn't add too much time on to your current plans.I've done a bit of rejigging of the route, added a few of the suggested locations in and taken out visiting Ypres as it didn't seem to fit any longer.
What do people think: http://tinyurl.com/ao2n5c
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