European Road Trip Advice

[Ap1848]

Hi All!

Looking at taking the new toy across to the continent in June next year and looking to see if anyone has done a similar road trip and would be willing to share their itinerary/advice. Currently toying with 2 different plans both starting with a ferry to Bilbao/Santander. Route 1 would take us north along the western coast of France with maybe a detour into the Dordogne with a return ferry from somewhere like Cherbourg/Le Harve. Route 2 would be along the Pyrenees and back to get the same ferry from Bilbao/Santander home.

Any thoughts/suggestions/experiences welcomed along with any left field ideas which might change our plan altogether

TIA

 

[Delpel]

Hi there,
I have done several roadtrips into Europe in an SLK, MX5 and 124 Spider Abarth. I planned everything individually as it works out much cheaper than an organised tour. Have done the car train from Paris St Tropez then along the south coast to Carrcisone, through Andorra into Spain, along the Pirennes to Pampolona and onto Bilbao. Fantastic trip. You can also go Portsmouth to Caen or St Malo then bob down to La Rouchelle and tour that area. Also think of the mountain passes over on the Austrian.Italy side. Fantastic roads.

Things to think about is what time you land at your port of arrival and how far you've got to drive to your first stop off point. If your going into any big cities you may the the French clean air certificate in your windscreen. Tolls on the motorways if your using them to cover big distances. We did AirB&B's. Stopped in places for 3 nights then moved on. That way your just driving everyday so you get a chance to explore. You can also wash clothes so you don't have to take the full trips worth.

Half the fun is in the planning. Enjoy

Derek

 

[Anonymous]

My previous trip is here.
Long time ago now!! So prices way out.

https://www.ftypeforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=20815&hilit=Here+is+our+plan.......+Hope+it+all+makes+sense.#p20815

 

[Ap1848]

Thanks both - some good info there to work with! The car train idea sounds amazing but sadly it looks like they’ve stopped running! Would be a great way to get down through France quickly and work out way back up!

Current plan is looking like a blast along the n260 in the Pyrenees one way or the other coupled with the opposite direction across the northern edge of the Pyrenees. May five further north into France if time allows - Millau definitely on the radar!

 

[Jimmyrn85]

I'm back from an epic Europe trip, started as soon as school holidays ended. Roads were very quiet, mountain passes almost to myself bar Stelvio which was horribly busy.

We did:

Home -> Folkestone
Foklestone -> Reims
Reims -> Thun
Thun -> Lucerne
Lucerne -> Como
Como -> Monaco
Monaco -> Nice
Nice -> Como
Como -> Davos
Davos -> Stuttgart
Stuttgart -> Mons
Mons -> Calais

Think we took in about 9 countries (visited Luxemburg and Lichtenstein on way to Stuttgart) many mountain passes. Epic.

 

[Anonymous]

https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1Fy-1PDDN_evILUpkcfxDrR0p0ZGkaWo&ehbc&ll=47.47374739843809%2C4.652384999999981&z=6
Did this one end of the summer, very enjoyable, f-type performed admirably, A Great GT car.
Despite all the jokes about jaguars reliablity, not had a single issue in 2 years of doing these long distance road trips.

 

[Jimmyrn85]

Looks similar to mine Jon! Great work

 

[PaulWildsmith]

A topical subject for us as we're planning such a trip next year, around Sept/Oct time. So far, travel across via Eurotunnel (I don't like sea voyages), drive down through mostly western France, across into Spain, Barcelona, then car ferry (oh dear, at least not many waves on the Med) to Majorca for 10 days, car ferry back to Valencia, travel to Alicante to visit friends for a week, then journey back through interesting countryside etc,,

All in my tentative budgeting is around £6K (for about a month or so in duration).

Any recommendations for breakdown insurance?

 

[NavigatorNI]

If travelling by Euro tunnel, book as a "high vehicle", as the carriages are wider and you're less likely to kerb your wheels!

 

[Anonymous]

Indeed, It's impossible to avoid hitting the kerbs in the double decker trains, but if you've got 19" or 18" wheels its not a problem as the kerbs are not tall enough to hit the wheel itself, just rubs against the rubber of the Tyre. Therefore I always use the low vehicle carriages, less chance of delays if things aren't running well, there is more capacity for low vehicles.
If you've got 20" or 21" I can't advise further, maybe others can comment.

 

[Steveglenlee]

I was lookimg at a visit to Mons on our return joirney from Germany.
Is it worrh a visit?

 

[MajorTom]

simpleR and Jimmy have some really good routes there. I live a bit closer to all those nice roads and have done many of them loads of times. Went down to the Riviera through the Alps twice this year.

I'd generally speaking recommend the alpine region with all the incredible roads in the French, Italian and Swiss alps. Some hidden gems on the continent in terms of driving roads are northern Luxembourg and the Route des Cretes through Alsace. More known but IMHO overrated driving areas are the Belgian Ardennes and the black forest in Germany.

If you'd aim for the Alps and eastern France you could also squeeze in a visit to the Nürburgring.

Definitely go for the tall vehicle option on the train. If I recall correctly you had to watch out a bit when entering and exiting the train but inside there's loads of space and absolutely safe for 20" wheels...

 

[Ratboiler]

I did a run from Bilbao by picking up the Dura valley in Spain followed it into Porto had a lovely meal and trip round Taylors, before returning back on the ferry.