Who's done a European road trip?

[frosted]

Zed 44 said:

I'm planning on doing some of the passes in and around Andermatt in mid June but will need to book at least one overnight hotel stop. Some of the booking sites indicate some hotels are already full. Not knowing exactly what date I would be there presents a problem for pre-booking. Has anyone had experience or difficulty of finding hotels at that time of the year?

I don't believe you will have a hard time finding somewhere to stay locally without booking in advance, It's also very boring !

[Robert Burns]

If yo drive in france,

This is well worth it, makes life sooooooo much easier.

https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/how-does-it-work?gc...

[m3jappa]

Some fantastic advice in this thread....

We are driving to Italy in June to a wedding in Sienna. We have 4 nights iirc at the venue with friends, sadly it looks like we are the only couple driving with me being the only petrolhead

I think i'll make a rough route using some of the above recomendations, its about 1000 miles to Sienna, should i do that in 2 or 3 days? I'm thinking 3 days?

Return journey i definately want to take in the Stelvio pass and i have heard that there are some which are a lot better but i have forgotton the names.

Any suggestions/tips/advice is welcome. Alos we will need some overnight stays so if anyone could recomend any which are en route that would be appreciated.

[Zed 44]

m3jappa said:

Some fantastic advice in this thread....

We are driving to Italy in June to a wedding in Sienna. We have 4 nights iirc at the venue with friends, sadly it looks like we are the only couple driving with me being the only petrolhead

I think i'll make a rough route using some of the above recomendations, its about 1000 miles to Sienna, should i do that in 2 or 3 days? I'm thinking 3 days?

Return journey i definately want to take in the Stelvio pass and i have heard that there are some which are a lot better but i have forgotton the names.

Any suggestions/tips/advice is welcome. Alos we will need some overnight stays so if anyone could recomend any which are en route that would be appreciated.

For suggestions of passes, check out this thread.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Alpine hoon in the planning

[DMarks46]

I have driven around Europe many times, but my favourite is the south of France. What i did last time was to hire a luxury car in Cannes and then drove along the whole French Riviera and into the Italian Riviera - stopping in Positano, and then across northern Italy to Switzerland via Stelvio. Awesome trip - and definitely worth doing in a cabriolet!

[DMarks46]

I have to say, I thought the Stelvio pass was awesome. I was worried it would be congested full of tourists, but it was fine and the drive and the views are incredible - so don't listen to those that say it is terrible!

[dave stew]

Miglia 888 said:

Did this European road trip with the family back in August 08:

Koln - great steak, and hilarious Baboons in the city zoo

Prague - via the brilliant Sinsheim Auto und Teknik museum ( amazing car & aircraft collection)
http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/en/highlights...
and the Audi Forum factory / museum in Neckarsulm
http://www.audi.com/com/brand/en/experience/audi_f...

Krakow - superb old town & square, and you could live like kings for £15 a day

Budapest should have been next (great city), but we liked Krakow too much to leave. Polish A roads are hilarious and made our crap roads look smooth

Vienna - best looking city in Europe imho - even a McDonalds is like Buckingham Palace there

Munich for beers in the Marienplatz square, via picture postcard Salzburg for lunch

Strasbourg, via the excellent Mercedes museum in Stuttgart http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com/content/class...
and AMG in Affalterbach, then maximum attack on the relatively empty Autobahns west to France

Paris via the N4, with a diversion to Reims to drive as much of the old GP circuit as is left - well worth a visit

Don't worry about the cost - the memories are priceless, and the family enjoyed it all so much that they are pleading for another one next year...

So, more great empty cities while the residents are all at the beach, more car museums & factories, and more old GP circuits coming right up next year then

Koln - told you the steak was good, and the Baboons were funny
Berlin - like no other city - a must see again, and for the Avus old GP circuit
Hamburg - our 2nd favourite German city
Copenhagen - good friends there
Gothenburg - worth a return visit, and for the Anderstorp old GP circuit
Oslo - just to take the kids back to Norway now they're old enough to remember it
Stockholm - good friends there, and our favourite Swedish city
Will be returning via Wolfsburg for the Autostadt VW museum and Amsterdam for the Zandvoort old GP circuit

Just get in your car and drive wherever you want to go - you'll have a great time

Some great recommendations there... I've visited about half of the cities mentioned and enjoyed them for the same reasons. I fancy Vienna (never been) and Scandinavia. I'm a big fan of Germany too.

[cruise control]

1988... three friends and myself had a three week holiday traveling. initially it was supposed to be a week in the black sea resorts of bulgaria, but developed into a 7500 mile round europe road trip.

friday morning at 3am start from the midlands 8 am stenna crossing dover-calais, drive to Hamburg germany for a day and overnight at my aunts flat. sunday on to Warsaw poland to visit friends who we were at school with three years previous. stayed overnight there and following a long discussion our friends followed us on the drive to Varna where we all stayd for four nights soaking up the sun on the black sea beaches. our friends then returned to Warsaw and we carried on to Athens for an overnight and half day sightseeing. an afternoon and night driving to Venice where we stayed 2 days. then to Naples for a day and a half. Toulon France to meet up with one of the guys parents who flew out for the weekend. Pamplona Spain for a night to look where they do the bull run we went back in 2000 to see the sight. Lisbon Portugal for some time on the beach where we had 2 days. Cartagena spain to my parents villa for 2 days. a full days drive to Le Mans to visit the track of the 24 hour race., back to calais the following morning for the noon ferry home again. back home in the midlands for tea. all of the accomodation was tenting or sleeping in the car. the only major cost being fuel and the 1980 Diesel Passat we bought for the trip.

since then we have visited all of the destinations again but stayed a little longer. it was great fun and a shame when it came to an end. but this year we are taking the family to spain and portugal 14 nights camping and cycling

[Xeno]

Did this last Summer, quite fancy going further afield this year (Greece on the ferry from Italy maybe).

>Home > Europa-parc > Munich > Bled, Slovenia > Venice > Maranello > Monaco > RN > Valence > Paris > Home
Found the Route Napoleon overrated compared to some of the Swiss passes I've done before. Italy is a lovely place to blast through, as is the Cote d' Azur. French auto routes are boring and expensive. Might make a thread about it actually, got loads of pictures.

[Davidonly]

Did v similar to above in 2010, we did:

Cambridge>Calais>Nurburg>Salzburg>Grossglockner (awesome)>Verona>Monaco> then Route Napoleon to Castellane. Home leg was Verdon to Digne les Bains then a plod back to Calais on yawn-tastic French auto route.

3rd such roadtrip, last year we stuck to Germany (Sudsee Euro-camp with visit to Hamburg, then down to Munich before heading home again past Nurburg.

This year we are 'doing' Germany too (I really love Germany)

[Xeno]

Davidonly said:

This year we are 'doing' Germany too (I really love Germany)

It's totally underrated, esp. with the British, I love it there.

[m3jappa]

I have set my route eventually after much aggor trying to work it all out

Essex to calais

Onto rheims for the night.

Onto Zurich via b500 for the night

Onto Lake como via st bernadino

Tuscany for 4 days at a wedding

onto Interlaken for the night, hopefully do as many passes as i can, wanting to do grimsel and furka- it appears i'm staying right near the grimsel so may have to do it the following morning.

Onto Basel for the night, short drive between Interlaken and Basel so i can do a few passes hopefully.

Back to Rheims for the last night possibly via the b500 if i'm not too tired.


I'm hoping its a nice holiday, i understand the Tuscany roads are awesome too so it looks like i'm going to have some fun.

Now to get the Tvr checked over and fingers crossed no breakdowns (has been good as gold the last 5k so touch wood will be fine).

[infrasilver]

I just posted my road trip Blog up on another thread but thought I would also be of interest on this one too. Its got pics, vids and some Wikipedia links to the places we went.

http://euroroadtripper.blogspot.co.uk/

[pingu393]

infrasilver said:

I just posted my road trip Blog up on another thread but thought I would also be of interest on this one too. Its got pics, vids and some Wikipedia links to the places we went.

http://euroroadtripper.blogspot.co.uk/

Many memories rekindled - thanks.

I did the reverse trip in 2010 when I went to Monaco GP. I did only the Italian half of the Stevlio upto the closed gate (Turn 40 approx) as it doesn't open until 1st June.

[Hooli]

fivetenben said:

One fantastic European drive which hasn't been mentioned yet is Norway's Arctic Highway. It's probably a bit of a push to do in a week now the ferry from Newcastle to Bergen doesn't run anymore, but it is about as memorable as roads get, passing through endless beautiful wilderness, crossing the Arctic circle to the land of the midnight sun (summer) or northern lights (winter), and finishing at Nordkapp, mainland Europe's most northerly point. In summer the route is perfect tarmac, while in winter it is a thousand miles of graded ice; just be warned about the speed cameras and the price of beer!

I drove most of the highway a few years back over one New year, covering about 4,000 miles in 10 days, and it remains my most memorable Euro-roadtrip by a comfortable margin.

Trip report here: http://www.bencoombs.net/hell_tripreport1.html

Thanks for that. I thought it was all gravel up there, good to know it's tarmac as the only way I'd get Mrs Hooli to come with me (on bikes) is if it's gravel free.

[Tin Hat]

Xeno said:

Davidonly said:

This year we are 'doing' Germany too (I really love Germany)

It's totally underrated, esp. with the British, I love it there.

Totally agree, great place, great people!

[redback911]

Lordy lordy, one of the best things to do in your car (at least while the engine is on). We did a European tour last month. Started with a ferry to Bilbao and took in Northern Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany (including laps of the Nurburg Ring and GP circuit), Netherlands and Belgium. The entire trip is blogged on (plenty of videos and images as well):

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

Overall 3600 miles, the N260 in Spain was the highlight of the trip. Here is a video of N260 segment of our trip http://youtu.be/eTx7u0XCcMc?hd=1







The entire trip map:

Edited by redback911 on Friday 11th May 12:36

[Hooli]

Tin Hat said:

Xeno said:

Davidonly said:

This year we are 'doing' Germany too (I really love Germany)

It's totally underrated, esp. with the British, I love it there.

Totally agree, great place, great people!

much much much much much better than frogshire for example.

[redback911]

Hooli said:

much much much much much better than frogshire for example.

French Government has declared war on the fast-tourist I would definitely steer clear of France these days unless you absolutely have to. Since they banned the use speed camera location devices (including the databases on Sat Navs) and gave discretionary car confiscation powers to local magistrates, speeding can land you in big trouble.

[Xeno]

redback911 said:

French Government has declared war on the fast-tourist I would definitely steer clear of France these days unless you absolutely have to. Since they banned the use speed camera location devices (including the databases on Sat Navs) and gave discretionary car confiscation powers to local magistrates, speeding can land you in big trouble.

Got caught, they could have taken the car but let me off with a fine (€90 I think) because it was a Sunday. They then posed for pictures haha.