The A110 road trip topic
Discussion
This is the A110 road trip topic. Feel free to share any A110 road trip related thoughts (plans/dreams/ideas/pictures/questions etc.). This topic is inspired by discussion by other persons on the mega A110 owner thread. Since nobody else has taken the initiative to start this topic, I took the liberty to start this thread myself.
I'll start with my first planned A110 road trip which is planned to take place when I pick up my new A110 from the dealership in Antwerp, Belgium. My car is already waiting for me at the dealership but I'm planning to pick up the on the last week of April. When my dealer asked me when i want to pick up the car I told him that I'm not yet in a hurry since we still have 50 cm of snow here and I don't want to bring a car with summer tyres to these conditions.
My plan for the road trip is to fly from Finland to Amsterdam on Saturday 23rd April and take a train to Antwerp where I plan to stay for three nights to enjoy the city. Then it's time to pick up the car and start the actual road trip part. The first day of driving should take me to Bremen, Germany where I'm planning to spend two nights. The first day of driving should be approx. 450 km and during that day I'm planning to drive mostly on autobahns/highways.
Once I leave Bremen my next destination is Travemünde which should be only two hours drive from Bremen if I would take the quickest route. However since my ferry to Finland leaves so late that i have to be at the ferry harbour around midnight, I will have plenty of time to do some driving if I find some nice roads around there.
I'm also hoping to find some nice place to visit near Travemünde during that day. I've visited nearby Lübeck twice on my previous similar road trips so I'm probably not visiting there this time. Any ideas on nice places to visit on near Travemünde or on the way from Bremen to Travemünde would be welcome. Hamburg is not an option this time. A natural park or similar for short day hike, a nice small town or something like that would be nice.
From Travemünde it is 30 hour ferry trip to Helsinki and then 1.5 hour drive to my home town. All and all a week long trip is on the cards.
I'll start with my first planned A110 road trip which is planned to take place when I pick up my new A110 from the dealership in Antwerp, Belgium. My car is already waiting for me at the dealership but I'm planning to pick up the on the last week of April. When my dealer asked me when i want to pick up the car I told him that I'm not yet in a hurry since we still have 50 cm of snow here and I don't want to bring a car with summer tyres to these conditions.
My plan for the road trip is to fly from Finland to Amsterdam on Saturday 23rd April and take a train to Antwerp where I plan to stay for three nights to enjoy the city. Then it's time to pick up the car and start the actual road trip part. The first day of driving should take me to Bremen, Germany where I'm planning to spend two nights. The first day of driving should be approx. 450 km and during that day I'm planning to drive mostly on autobahns/highways.
Once I leave Bremen my next destination is Travemünde which should be only two hours drive from Bremen if I would take the quickest route. However since my ferry to Finland leaves so late that i have to be at the ferry harbour around midnight, I will have plenty of time to do some driving if I find some nice roads around there.
I'm also hoping to find some nice place to visit near Travemünde during that day. I've visited nearby Lübeck twice on my previous similar road trips so I'm probably not visiting there this time. Any ideas on nice places to visit on near Travemünde or on the way from Bremen to Travemünde would be welcome. Hamburg is not an option this time. A natural park or similar for short day hike, a nice small town or something like that would be nice.
From Travemünde it is 30 hour ferry trip to Helsinki and then 1.5 hour drive to my home town. All and all a week long trip is on the cards.
Portti said:
...I'll start with my first planned A110 road trip which is planned to take place when I pick up my new A110 from the dealership in Antwerp, Belgium. ...
I have now done this trip to Belgium-Netherlands-Germany to pick up my new A110. A short travel story can be found on my A110 site (section My A110 > Buying/importing the car):https://www.pertti.com/en/alpine/
Here are two pictures from the trip:
Crossing the Elbe river north of Hamburg:
Nice lake view near Plön in Germany:
Miserablegit said:
That’s some trip to collect the car.
I’ve just noticed the “A110” script on the back of the car - are all new models coming with this or only in certain markets. I’ve seen it on the new A110 GT and IMHO it looks a bit busy.
Yes, it was a nice adventure to pick up the car. I’ve just noticed the “A110” script on the back of the car - are all new models coming with this or only in certain markets. I’ve seen it on the new A110 GT and IMHO it looks a bit busy.
With regards to the badge on the back, I think that all 2022 models in different markets now come with the model version badge in the back. And yes, I agree with you that it looks a bit busy. I would've rather have mine without the badge.
I need to get the first year service done to my A110 sometimes at the end of April/beginning May. The nearest Alpine dealer to me is in Stockholm (2-3 h drive + 14-18 hours ferry trip) but I'm also considering an option to take a ferry from Finland to Travemunde in Germany (30 h ferry trip) and getting the car serviced somewhere in northern Germany (perhaps Hamburg or Berlin). This would allow me to combine this trip with some kind of continental European road trip.
I love mountains and driving Alpine in the Alps would be a lovely idea but my question is that how are the weather/road conditions in the Alps at the end of April/beginning of May? I've been to Alps several times during July/August and also during the winter but never around April/May. Would it be in anyway feasible to plan a trip to Alps during that time expecting to be able to drive some Alpine passes on an Alpine with summer tyres and to include some day-hikes to the trip?
Thoughts?
I love mountains and driving Alpine in the Alps would be a lovely idea but my question is that how are the weather/road conditions in the Alps at the end of April/beginning of May? I've been to Alps several times during July/August and also during the winter but never around April/May. Would it be in anyway feasible to plan a trip to Alps during that time expecting to be able to drive some Alpine passes on an Alpine with summer tyres and to include some day-hikes to the trip?
Thoughts?
Thanks for the reply bram070! Good tips and the Swiss alpen-paesse website has very useful info on it. It does seem like most of the passes are still closed in the beginning of May.
Most likely my trip would go to Austrian alps so if anybody would know of similar information on pass openings in Austria, that would be useful. Another option would be to drive to just German Alps.
Most likely my trip would go to Austrian alps so if anybody would know of similar information on pass openings in Austria, that would be useful. Another option would be to drive to just German Alps.
I did a two-week road trip from Finland to continental Europe and I returned from the trip on Sunday. The trip combined holiday, servicing the car and work. It was altogether approx. 3,500 kilometres long trip.
I wrote a travel story on my Alpine pages which can be found here:
https://www.pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-exper...
The trip started with a 30-hour ferry trip from Helsinki (Finland) to Travemünde in Germany.
My Alpine on the ferry with a 911 GT3 Touring. The owner of the GT3 was quite keen on my Alpine.
From there I drove through Germany towards Austria. In Germany I stopped in Seevetal, Bamberg and Nürnberg where I had my Alpine serviced. Then I drove to Munich airport to pick up my stepdaughter. Next step was to drive to Bruck an der Grossglocknerstrasse in Austria which as the name suggests is right at the base of Grossglockner Alpine Road. Unfortunately the Grossglockner Road was closed when we were there.
From Grossglockner we drove to Kranjska Gora in the Slovenian Alps which was to be our base for the next five nights. We did several short hikes on the Triglav National Park in Slovenia and drove a lot on lovely Alpine roads.
An intermediate stop on the way to Vrsic Pass on the Slovenian Alps.
We also visited Italy which was not far from Kranjska Gora.
Lago di Fusine (Italy) and me.
Lovely Pericnik Waterfall in Slovenia.
Lake Bled in Slovenia.
Lake Jasna in Kranjska Gora.
Lovely views on one of the hikes.
We also drove the Villach Alpine Road in Austria which ended here.
From Kranjska Gora we headed to Vienna from where my stepdaughter flew home and I spent three days there for work. Then a quick 1,000 kilometres drive from Vienna to Travemünde stopping overnight in Prague.
My Alpine near Travemünde at the end of the trip.
Last leg of the trip was another 30-hour ferry trip from Travemünde to Helsinki.
Lovely trip and Alpine was great on the trip. No problems what-so-ever with the car.
I wrote a travel story on my Alpine pages which can be found here:
https://www.pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-exper...
The trip started with a 30-hour ferry trip from Helsinki (Finland) to Travemünde in Germany.
My Alpine on the ferry with a 911 GT3 Touring. The owner of the GT3 was quite keen on my Alpine.
From there I drove through Germany towards Austria. In Germany I stopped in Seevetal, Bamberg and Nürnberg where I had my Alpine serviced. Then I drove to Munich airport to pick up my stepdaughter. Next step was to drive to Bruck an der Grossglocknerstrasse in Austria which as the name suggests is right at the base of Grossglockner Alpine Road. Unfortunately the Grossglockner Road was closed when we were there.
From Grossglockner we drove to Kranjska Gora in the Slovenian Alps which was to be our base for the next five nights. We did several short hikes on the Triglav National Park in Slovenia and drove a lot on lovely Alpine roads.
An intermediate stop on the way to Vrsic Pass on the Slovenian Alps.
We also visited Italy which was not far from Kranjska Gora.
Lago di Fusine (Italy) and me.
Lovely Pericnik Waterfall in Slovenia.
Lake Bled in Slovenia.
Lake Jasna in Kranjska Gora.
Lovely views on one of the hikes.
We also drove the Villach Alpine Road in Austria which ended here.
From Kranjska Gora we headed to Vienna from where my stepdaughter flew home and I spent three days there for work. Then a quick 1,000 kilometres drive from Vienna to Travemünde stopping overnight in Prague.
My Alpine near Travemünde at the end of the trip.
Last leg of the trip was another 30-hour ferry trip from Travemünde to Helsinki.
Lovely trip and Alpine was great on the trip. No problems what-so-ever with the car.
bram070 said:
Wow, such an amazing trip, the Triglav region in Slovenia is great fun to drive, if you don't mind the bad conditions of the roads...
Thanks, yes it was a great trip. It is true that some of the roads on the Slovenian Alps were in quite bad condition. For example the road leading from Kranjska Gora to Vrsic Pass was quite bad occasionally. There were however also some roads that were in good condition like the road from Bovec in Slovenia to Lago del Predil on the Italian side which was mostly on good condition and offered l a lovely driving experience.It was again time to get my Alpine serviced in the beginning of May 2024 and that meant another road trip to Europe. The plan was to take a ferry from Helsinki to Travemünde and then continue to Netherlands with planned stops in Den Bosch and Breda. Then short drive from Breda to Antwerp to Alpine Antwerpen. Once the car would be serviced, then plan was to drive to Northern Netherlands to Groningen. Then from Groningen to Hamburg and from there back to Travemünde. It was altogether 8 day trip and 1,700 km of driving.
More detailed report on my trip can be found here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-experienc...
View over Travemünde seen from the ferry.
St. John's Cathedral in Den Bosch, the Netherlands.
Antwerp railway station.
Kinderdijk windmills in the Netherlands.
Alpine in Frederiksoord, the Netherlands.
Drawbridge near Delfzilj, the Netherlands.
Lovely Lamborghini Miura at the Car Museum Prototyp in Hamburg, Germany.
Nice encounter with a German A110 owner near Travemünde.
More detailed report on my trip can be found here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-experienc...
View over Travemünde seen from the ferry.
St. John's Cathedral in Den Bosch, the Netherlands.
Antwerp railway station.
Kinderdijk windmills in the Netherlands.
Alpine in Frederiksoord, the Netherlands.
Drawbridge near Delfzilj, the Netherlands.
Lovely Lamborghini Miura at the Car Museum Prototyp in Hamburg, Germany.
Nice encounter with a German A110 owner near Travemünde.
This spring's European road trip with my A110 took place at the beginning of May. The trip was a combination of holiday, car maintenance trip and work.
The route was via the Via Baltica route to Berlin. First I took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn and then drove through the Baltic countries. After staying one night in Kaunas, Lithuania, I continued to Gdansk, Poland where I spent three nights.
From Gdansk I drove to another Polish town called Szczecin and from there to Berlin. After work commitments and having the Alpine serviced in Berlin, I continued to Rügen Island by the Baltic Sea. From there I drove to Travemünde in Germany and took the ferry back to Finland.
Gdansk was an interesting and lively city, and since the weather was kind while I was there, it left a very positive impression on me. Another place that left a very positive impression was the island of Rügen. Beautiful landscapes and nice little villages.
The entire trip was 13 days long, and the Alpine clocked 2,673 km during the trip. 203 litres of petrol was used on the trip, and the average consumption based on those figures was 7.6 l/100 km. Now I have driven the Alpine in eleven countries in three years, so the car has already seen many sides of Europe. It remains to been seen where to visit next.
Longer version of my travel story can be found here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-experienc...
Here are some pictures from the trip:
Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Kaunas.
Malbork Castle in Poland.
Alpine safely parked in the parking garage of the accommodation in Gdansk.
There were plenty of restaurants on both sides of the Motlava River in Gdansk, and a lot of people on the move.
Sopot beach resort near Gdansk.
Slowinski National Park in Poland.
St. James Cathedral in Szczecin.
A couple of Alpine A290s in the Alpine Store Berlin where I had my A110 serviced.
Berlin Reichstag Building
Alpine at the Jasmund National Park parking area at the Rügen Island in Germany.
Kap Arkona lighthouse at the northern tip of the Rügen Island.
The short Priwallfähre ferry trip took me straight to the centre of Travemünde.
The route was via the Via Baltica route to Berlin. First I took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn and then drove through the Baltic countries. After staying one night in Kaunas, Lithuania, I continued to Gdansk, Poland where I spent three nights.
From Gdansk I drove to another Polish town called Szczecin and from there to Berlin. After work commitments and having the Alpine serviced in Berlin, I continued to Rügen Island by the Baltic Sea. From there I drove to Travemünde in Germany and took the ferry back to Finland.
Gdansk was an interesting and lively city, and since the weather was kind while I was there, it left a very positive impression on me. Another place that left a very positive impression was the island of Rügen. Beautiful landscapes and nice little villages.
The entire trip was 13 days long, and the Alpine clocked 2,673 km during the trip. 203 litres of petrol was used on the trip, and the average consumption based on those figures was 7.6 l/100 km. Now I have driven the Alpine in eleven countries in three years, so the car has already seen many sides of Europe. It remains to been seen where to visit next.
Longer version of my travel story can be found here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-experienc...
Here are some pictures from the trip:
Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Kaunas.
Malbork Castle in Poland.
Alpine safely parked in the parking garage of the accommodation in Gdansk.
There were plenty of restaurants on both sides of the Motlava River in Gdansk, and a lot of people on the move.
Sopot beach resort near Gdansk.
Slowinski National Park in Poland.
St. James Cathedral in Szczecin.
A couple of Alpine A290s in the Alpine Store Berlin where I had my A110 serviced.
Berlin Reichstag Building
Alpine at the Jasmund National Park parking area at the Rügen Island in Germany.
Kap Arkona lighthouse at the northern tip of the Rügen Island.
The short Priwallfähre ferry trip took me straight to the centre of Travemünde.
AL Peen said:
Some impressive old buildings there Portti ! How is the Alpine in Finland ? Do you fit winter tyres or put it into storage over winter ?
Yes, I especially liked Gdansk and also Rugen Island in Germany. There were some nice driving roads in Rugen. I put the A110 to winter storage every winter for about six months. It might be fun to drive Alpine on snow and ice but the winter conditions are so harsh in here that I don't want subject my Alpine to those conditions.
Alpine in Finland during the summer is great fun, we have some very nice roads with very little traffic in here. However since there is no Alpine dealers in Finland, it does require a bit commitment to own an Alpine in here.
Maxym said:
Great trip and great pictures there. I calculate your fuel consumption to be 37 mpg, so pretty good I reckon. (Another calculator gave me 31 mpg but I suspect that’s for US gallons.)
Thanks!With regards to the fuel consumption, one contributing factor to the relatively low consumption was the fact that the first driving day from Tallinn, Estonia to Kaunas, Lithuania which was about 600 km did not have motorways, speed limits were 90 km/h or lower and there were lots of traffic. Therefore the driving was mostly just driving peacefully on a queue. The fuel consumption on that day was 6.4 l/100 km according to the trip computer.
bigglesA110 said:
Anyone got any great road trips planned this summer? We're off to Modena in July, via Holland, Germany, Switzerland and back via France. . Given global events I'm feeling a bit smug that we can have so much fun and also average some good mpg.
Your trip sounds nice. How long are you planning on being on the road?I do have a three weeks road trip from Finland to Pyrenees planned starting from mid May. I've asked for some advice for the trip here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Safak said:
Wow, all the recent posts in this thread are mentioning quite interesting trips. Please post some photos after your trips. I'm not that good with photography but I'll do my best, too.
I will definitely write a travel story from my Pyrenees trip to my Alpine site and write a summary of the trip here. Travel stories from my previous Alpine road trips can be found here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/ (and then My Alpine experiences)
I arrived back home to Finland from three weeks road trip to Pyrenees a week ago.
I have written a detailed travel story with lots of pictures (and some videos) on my Alpine website here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-experienc...
I have also written a summary with few photos in Pistonheads my reader's cars thread so I won't duplicate it here. This is my reader's cars thread:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
In numbers, the trip looked like this: 23 days, 5,500 km of driving, 6 countries (Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Andorra and Switzerland). Fuel consumption totalled 437 litres, which meant 8.0 l/100 km (7.5 l/100 km according to the trip computer), with an average speed of 61 km/h. Fuel cost 830 euros, and the entire trip came to just under five thousand euros (+ the car service on top). As for hiking: 7 hikes, 84 kilometres, 3,035 metres of ascent, and 33 hours on the trail.
I have written a detailed travel story with lots of pictures (and some videos) on my Alpine website here:
https://pertti.com/en/alpine/01c-my-a110-experienc...
I have also written a summary with few photos in Pistonheads my reader's cars thread so I won't duplicate it here. This is my reader's cars thread:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
In numbers, the trip looked like this: 23 days, 5,500 km of driving, 6 countries (Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Andorra and Switzerland). Fuel consumption totalled 437 litres, which meant 8.0 l/100 km (7.5 l/100 km according to the trip computer), with an average speed of 61 km/h. Fuel cost 830 euros, and the entire trip came to just under five thousand euros (+ the car service on top). As for hiking: 7 hikes, 84 kilometres, 3,035 metres of ascent, and 33 hours on the trail.
Thanks bigglesA110 and Safak. It was really great trip and it was absolutely fantastic to drive Alpine on the Spanish Pyrenees mountain roads. Very little traffic and roads in good condition.
bigglesA110 said:
...Long road trips in an Alpine is more than possible if you pack carefully! ...
Absolutely. We managed fine on our two person three week trip. It did require careful planning what to take with us though. We had also hiking equipment including two pairs of high hiking shoes which take a lot of space. But we managed. Very interesting story bigglesA110, thanks!
I drove the B500 road with my A110 to other direction from south to north early June this year. I found the sections in the south closer to Titisee more interesting than sections closer to Baden-Baden. Less traffic and higher speed limits in south vs. lots of traffic and low speed limits near Baden-Baden.
Another interesting observation on your story to me was the bits near Chambery. My partner's sister lives near Chambery and we visited there on our May/June road trip. I did one hike on the Chartreuse natural park with my partner's sister's husband and he was driving then. While we were driving I saw the same Caterham Lotus dealer along the way in the middle of nowhere.
We were there again just a while ago late July (not with Alpine) house-sitting and did two hikes in Chartreuse with my partner and drove past the dealership. This time we stopped at the dealership. I had never sat in a Lotus before and I tried to get into one of the Elise's they had but no success (I'm 191 cm). I then tried to get into an Exige and did manage to fit into the seat but then my feet were so big that I couldn't get my foot to the gas pedal. Very nice experience to see the Lotuses, Caterham's and few Aston Martin's anyway.
While we were driving in Chartreuse region (in an Toyota Yaris), I thought that some of the roads in there would be great for A110. Yes, there were some very narrow roads but also some which would be great driving roads.
We also ended up watching Tour de France by accident near the village of Saint-Beron on 22 July. So I think we were in the same area at the same time.
I drove the B500 road with my A110 to other direction from south to north early June this year. I found the sections in the south closer to Titisee more interesting than sections closer to Baden-Baden. Less traffic and higher speed limits in south vs. lots of traffic and low speed limits near Baden-Baden.
Another interesting observation on your story to me was the bits near Chambery. My partner's sister lives near Chambery and we visited there on our May/June road trip. I did one hike on the Chartreuse natural park with my partner's sister's husband and he was driving then. While we were driving I saw the same Caterham Lotus dealer along the way in the middle of nowhere.
We were there again just a while ago late July (not with Alpine) house-sitting and did two hikes in Chartreuse with my partner and drove past the dealership. This time we stopped at the dealership. I had never sat in a Lotus before and I tried to get into one of the Elise's they had but no success (I'm 191 cm). I then tried to get into an Exige and did manage to fit into the seat but then my feet were so big that I couldn't get my foot to the gas pedal. Very nice experience to see the Lotuses, Caterham's and few Aston Martin's anyway.
While we were driving in Chartreuse region (in an Toyota Yaris), I thought that some of the roads in there would be great for A110. Yes, there were some very narrow roads but also some which would be great driving roads.
We also ended up watching Tour de France by accident near the village of Saint-Beron on 22 July. So I think we were in the same area at the same time.
DasChin said:
...any tips for driving the B500 or just follow your nose and a semi planned route?...
As I wrote on my message on this thread (few messages up) I found the northern part of the B500 not-as-good as the southern part from the driving perspective. Speed limits were 50 km/h or 70 km/h and there were more traffic on the northern part of the B500 than on the southern sections where there were also many sections with higher speed limits.Nice views on the northern section though, so worth a drive in my opinion anyway. I don't know if there would be some other roads nearby which would be better suited for driving enjoyment?
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