My European Road Trip

[mason storm]

Well I am planning my Euro Road trip which will take place end of June beginning of July, heres what i am hoping to do, it's quite alot of driving 3,300 miles in 14 days. It's my first Euro road trip so any advice is welcome:

Day
1 Home to Dover
1 Dover to Calais
1 Calais to Annecy
2 Annecy to Grenoble
2 Grenoble to Cannes via Route Napoleon
3 Cannes to Nice
4 Nice to Monaco
5 Col De Torini
5 La Bonelli to Genova
6 San Bernardino Pass
6 Davos to Stelvio Pass
6 Stelvio Pass to Bolzano
7 Bolzano to Lake Garda
8 Lake Garda to Venice
8 Venice to Modena
9 Maranello (Ferrari Factory)
9 Santagata (Lamborghini)
9 Castelfranco (Pagani Factory)
9 Travel to Florance
10 Stay in Florence
11 Florance to Rome
12 Rome to MIlan
13 Milan to Geneve
13 Geneve to Dijon
14 Dijon to Reims
14 Reims to Calais
14 Calais to Dover
14 Dover to Home


You will notice towards the end of the trip after Rome I am stepping up the mileage as i'm basically travelling home but trying to fit in a few places on the way just to get a feel for what they are like.

[mason storm]

If anyone could recomend good places to stay that are not too expensive that would be great, also I guess it's a bit risky to book hotels in advance in case my scheduale is too optamistic and I need to change plans?

[roofless]

Sounds like a fab trip. Many of the places i haven't been too so will be interested to hear your thoughts and see pics post trip.
Comments, only things i would say are, unless you have a burning desire to stay overnight in each town you mention then Cannes, Nice and Monaco are so close together i would choose one and then drive into the others. Above Cannes St paul De Vence is a beautiful walled town. Cannes, Nice, Monaco all will be reasonably expensive, but expect that along the coast, you could look at campsites, depends how rough and ready you want to be.

The drive along the coast from Nice to Genoa is lovely.

Rome to Milan is a jaunt, You might want to combine Reims and Dijon into one day at the end of the trip and on the way from Rome to Milan stop at San Gimignano, or Bologna or Parma. I would recommend all three for various reasons, Parma is closer to mIlan of course. San Jimmy-Jam-Jar is beautiful, find a hotel with a balcony on the outer wall. If you decide to go there let me know and i'll let you have detaisl of where we stayed.

I would also try and spend an extra night in Venice, it's so beautiful and you want to relax there.

All in all it's an awesome trip, if you want to spend a large chunk of your time behind the wheel it'll be great.
Is it just you or you and your partner. If so how does your significant other feel about long spells in the passenger seat?
You may find that Rome is a trip for another day if you want a little down time along the way.
I look forward to seeing other comments

[Taz]

all very well organised, sure it will be great, sorry i can't help with any recommendations

my plan is:

day 1 - set off
day 2 - 13 drive round europe
day 14 - return

[mason storm]

Sounds like a fab trip. Many of the places i haven't been too so will be interested to hear your thoughts and see pics post trip.
Comments, only things i would say are, unless you have a burning desire to stay overnight in each town you mention then Cannes, Nice and Monaco are so close together i would choose one and then drive into the others. Above Cannes St paul De Vence is a beautiful walled town. Cannes, Nice, Monaco all will be reasonably expensive, but expect that along the coast, you could look at campsites, depends how rough and ready you want to be.

The drive along the coast from Nice to Genoa is lovely.

Rome to Milan is a jaunt, You might want to combine Reims and Dijon into one day at the end of the trip and on the way from Rome to Milan stop at San Gimignano, or Bologna or Parma. I would recommend all three for various reasons, Parma is closer to mIlan of course. San Jimmy-Jam-Jar is beautiful, find a hotel with a balcony on the outer wall. If you decide to go there let me know and i'll let you have detaisl of where we stayed.

I would also try and spend an extra night in Venice, it's so beautiful and you want to relax there.

All in all it's an awesome trip, if you want to spend a large chunk of your time behind the wheel it'll be great.
Is it just you or you and your partner. If so how does your significant other feel about long spells in the passenger seat?
You may find that Rome is a trip for another day if you want a little down time along the way.
I look forward to seeing other comments

Thanks for the advice, just going on my own, small chance my brother may be coming but either way nor problem with spending alot of time in the car.

I think I'll ditch the Rome idea and am now re planning everything as I think i'll now cut through Switzerland then do some passes then onto italy and circle round to south of france and return by Route Napoleon.

[roofless]

Grimsel, Furka and Susten all great scenery and drives, easily accessible from Interaken in Switzerland. The lakes are still a good idea. I wouldn't give up on Venice, it's a great place. Have a fab trip.

[mason storm]

Grimsel, Furka and Susten all great scenery and drives, easily accessible from Interaken in Switzerland. The lakes are still a good idea. I wouldn't give up on Venice, it's a great place. Have a fab trip.

Well after reconsidering and reading various road trips by others including "RoadTrip" Dave here's my new route

Day
1 Home to Dover
1 Dover to Calais
1 Calais to Interlaken
2 Iterlaken to Grimsel, Furka & San Bernadino Passes To Davos
3 Davos to Stelvio
3 Stelvio to Lake Garda
4 stay at Lake Garda with possible visit to Bresca for Mille Miglia Museum return to lake garda
5 Lake Garda to Venice
6 Venice to Maranello
7 Maranello to Santagata (Lamborghini)
7 Santagata to Castelfranco (Pagani)
7 Pagani to Maranello
8 Maranello to Florance
9 spend day in Florance
10 Florance to Piza
10 Piza to Genova
10 Genova to Monaco
11 Brief run up and down the Cold De Turini & Return to Monaco
11 Travel to St Paul De Vence for overnight stay
12 Visit Nice & or Cannes
12 Return to St Paul De Vence
13 Route Napoleon to Grenoble
13 Grenoble to Annecy
14 Annecy to Calais with various stop off points
14 Calais to Dover
14 Dover to Home

I may add an extra day so I can do more of the Passes in Switzerland/Itally but I think I am getting closer now to what i will actually do.

Does anyone have any good places to stay overnight they could recomend, and is it worth booking everything in advance or would this be a bad idea as won't be able to change my trip if i have a change of mind? Where possible i would like to keep the costs down but i may spoil myself with a nice hotel in Venice, Florance and Monaco.

[mason storm]

Oh also any other advice as it's my first time driving my own car in Europe, how important is it to get the headlights sorted as i see this as a real pain?

Also what other bits do i need? Hi vis vest etc?

[Boogle]

I'm watching this thread with interest since it's almost exactly what I'm planning on doing this year.

The lights according to the manual are easy, just a switch inside the wheel arches. You'll need all the usual European legal stuff - I just got an AA travel pack which includes everything. I got an additional vest for the passenger too - just put them in the little storage pouch on the back of the seats (not the alcoves, they're on the seats themselves - have a feel about!). There's an alcove in the boot too for the warning triangle. Make sure to take a map of Europe in case the sat nav breaks.

I'm not sure about going on my own though. I went to Bruges on my own and it was rather boring without having someone to share it with. But on the other hand, few people are willing to sit in a passenger seat for long periods of time, and few enjoy spirited driving. People who like both those things have their own performance cars

Oh, forgot to mention. Make sure you have a European health card. A few people have ended up on slopes with broken bones having to hand over credit cards before they'll be carted away to hospitals apparently. The health card is free from the NHS and you can just hand that to the paramedics. EU travel insurance tends to be cheap too, so can be worthwhile to cover bad things happening (like missing passports, possessions stolen). Make sure you have proper EU insurance too, not all insurers are valid in EU states and the EU cover of comp insurance is only '3rd party' outside of the UK. For your mobile phone, do some searching to see what you can do about trips to the EU. With O2 (my network) on PAYG you can send an SMS to O2 to activate roaming. This costs £10 (I think) and dramatically reduces the call charges. Also it may be worth getting the Post Office credit card. VISA / MasterCard currency conversion rates are very, very good. Unfortunately the commission is shocking - the Post Office credit card doesn't charge commission, but you still get the standard credit card currency conversion rate. I prefer to cart around plastic I can cancel with a free phone call, than carrying around large amounts of cash. Don't travel over 50kph over the speed limit in France. Plenty of people getting caught now, and over that speed the fine is unlimited (aka. your car). Might be worthwhile keeping a fairly large amount of Euros in the car to cover any fines and tolls as you make your way around. The AA site lists the tolls / vignettes for the EU.

[mason storm]

I'm watching this thread with interest since it's almost exactly what I'm planning on doing this year.

The lights according to the manual are easy, just a switch inside the wheel arches. You'll need all the usual European legal stuff - I just got an AA travel pack which includes everything. I got an additional vest for the passenger too - just put them in the little storage pouch on the back of the seats (not the alcoves, they're on the seats themselves - have a feel about!). There's an alcove in the boot too for the warning triangle. Make sure to take a map of Europe in case the sat nav breaks.

I'm not sure about going on my own though. I went to Bruges on my own and it was rather boring without having someone to share it with. But on the other hand, few people are willing to sit in a passenger seat for long periods of time, and few enjoy spirited driving. People who like both those things have their own performance cars

Oh, forgot to mention. Make sure you have a European health card. A few people have ended up on slopes with broken bones having to hand over credit cards before they'll be carted away to hospitals apparently. The health card is free from the NHS and you can just hand that to the paramedics. EU travel insurance tends to be cheap too, so can be worthwhile to cover bad things happening (like missing passports, possessions stolen). Make sure you have proper EU insurance too, not all insurers are valid in EU states and the EU cover of comp insurance is only '3rd party' outside of the UK. For your mobile phone, do some searching to see what you can do about trips to the EU. With O2 (my network) on PAYG you can send an SMS to O2 to activate roaming. This costs £10 (I think) and dramatically reduces the call charges. Also it may be worth getting the Post Office credit card. VISA / MasterCard currency conversion rates are very, very good. Unfortunately the commission is shocking - the Post Office credit card doesn't charge commission, but you still get the standard credit card currency conversion rate. I prefer to cart around plastic I can cancel with a free phone call, than carrying around large amounts of cash. Don't travel over 50kph over the speed limit in France. Plenty of people getting caught now, and over that speed the fine is unlimited (aka. your car). Might be worthwhile keeping a fairly large amount of Euros in the car to cover any fines and tolls as you make your way around. The AA site lists the tolls / vignettes for the EU.

Good tips thanks.

I'm trying to decide between £89 for ferry crossing or about £145 for Chunnel crossing.

Does anyone have experiance with either, I do seem to remember that when i went with a mate in his Z4M Coupe that there isn't much room for error driving onto the train and I was sure he was going to kerb a wheel.

[roofless]

Just personal with me but i like the ferry, i like to see space appear between the stern of the ship and the dock, i know i'm leaving England. Only tried the train once and it broke down as we were boarding, never tried it again. I know lots of people who swear by the train though.

[Red Law]

IMO there's a serious point in Taz's comedy reply; strike a balance between the adventure + freedom of no plan and pressure that a thorough plan can bring that could compromise the experience. Ideally have a rough plan / direction to start and let the dice roll.

I found my first roadtrip, which was planned to the half day, turned too much towards a time challenge. Not just that, but the weather is key (I've sat in cafes checking forecasts for cities at a 200+ mile radius to find the sun a couple of times, as far as even switching from northern Italy to Spain). Some places you get to and 'nail' in an hour or so, others (majority) are an unexpected pleasure and should be given the time and depth they deserve. Experience a place or pass through like flicking through a picture book to be forgotten.

Suggest you don't book accommodation for these reasons, it is easy to get places to stay even on a weekend if you are prepared to be flexible. We now have a sat nav that include hotels - Etaps etc on the outskirts of towns/cities are usually a good last resort.

We now take a range of Rough Guides... I will be taking 8 on my up and coming trip to cover key bases - a heavy investment in the Z boot! But they will advise you on places you never heard of, showing treasures or just great stopping places near buy.

Most of all, relax, enjoy and go with the flow... enjoy

[lacroupade]

Excellent points from Boogle.....if you can'd find the light adjuster just lower them a bit with the levelling switch....I've been doing that on regular trips in all sorts of vehicles for ten years without a problem. I think the legal stuff Boogle refers to also includes a spare bulb set BTW.

Cameras in France are not a problem as theres no reciprocal arrangement - in any event they are warned with huge signs you simply can't miss. But the speed traps on the autoroute ARE a problem and they tend to hide on the bridges just before the peage toll booths as they can pull you off there...so as SOON as you see a PEAGE sign, slow down.

I also agree with Taz and Red Law....to me one of the great joys of holiday driving is just to turn off the main road when I feel like it and pootle around exploring - no need to worry about where the hell you are when you have satnav to get you back on track......I've discovered some amazing things doing that, so don't be too anal about sticking to your route will you, and have a great time!

[mason storm]

Thanks for all the feedback guys but the downside to leaving the hotel to chance is getting ripped off and paying more than I want to.

So far I have booked accomodation in

Interlaken
Davos
Lake Garda 3 nights (used as central base for travelling to Venice etc)

My sat nav has Google search so should find loads of hotels which is a bonus. I could leave the rest untill the day but I do worry about paying over the odds for a room also don't want to spend all my time trying to find accomodation, I did this in Scotland and it was a pain on a couple of the days rather than enjoying the holiday.

Opinions please especially on price and not getting ripped off.

Also I gave got as far as deciding to come back through Cannes then route Napoleon but have three days left to travel back to Calais and just wondered which direction i should take? Either east or west (Provence) then up. just after the best driving experiance and scenery really.

[roofless]

Gorge Du Verdon is beautiful, in the Var, about 1hr 30 mins from Cannes, depends where you join it. Takes about 10 hours from that area to Calais, just done the drive from there today.
Personally i'd be tempted to say pay the tolls and do the drive back in one hit then have the time to enjoy an extra day on the Cote D'azur. It is beautiful !!!