Discussion
Thinking along the same lines myself. Get the ferry to Amsterdam, then visit Zandvoort, Spa, then the Nurburgring, down to Geneva then over the Alps (through the Mont Blanc tunnel) into Italy and then to Monza.
At that point I'm thinking about hanging a right to Monte-Carlo and then Barcelona (drove some fantastic roads in Catalunya at the WRC round a few years back) and eventually north to Le Mans, Rouen and Reims, and back to the 'dam for the the ferry home. About 3k miles all in.
At that point I'm thinking about hanging a right to Monte-Carlo and then Barcelona (drove some fantastic roads in Catalunya at the WRC round a few years back) and eventually north to Le Mans, Rouen and Reims, and back to the 'dam for the the ferry home. About 3k miles all in.
A couple of years ago we took the scooby on the ferry to Bilbao, cut across the Pyranees, through the French riviera, up into provence, back down to Nice through some fantastic roads, over to italy and up to Lake Garda for a few days the blasted back through Austrian alps, Germany Belgium and home... Great drive, great roads, great car great holiday!!!
would love to do it all again in my S3...
would love to do it all again in my S3...
Have done this for the last few summers. Drive from Toon and stay with mates or rellies just north of London then get crossing early-ish following morning. This year used chunnel for the 1st time so was on the road in France by 11:00 local time, only £150 for peak crosing which I thought was good value. An easy blast down non-toll autoroute and back roads (being too cheap to pay for the peage) got us to Langres by the end of day 1, if we'd pushed on we could probably have made Annecy which is a nice place to visit. From there we cut across the alps into northern Italy, another blast eastwards along the autostrada past Turin and Milan and you can be safely in Bellagio on Lago di Como by close of play on Day 2.
Alternative cheapskate route is through Belgium to Jeemany past Trier then down the autobahn to Heidelberg (coming back this year drove Heidelberg to Leicester in one day, 600 miles with a banging hangover. Heidelberg is great for a pissoop
), Stuttgart, Ulm and cross into Austria near Fussen. You can take in the Bavarian castles (Neuschwanstein etc) while you're in the area. Then meander through Austria and pick your route into Italy. You can also do Switzerland e.g. Autobahn down to Freiburg and the Black Forest, maybe take in the Schlumpf Collection at Mulhouse then through Switzerland to say Interlaken (or better yet Lauterbrunen and Grindelwald) then over the Grimselpass, down the Rhone valley then Simplon Pass bringing you into Lago di Maggiore. We like to stay at the Hotel Pironi in Cannobio. From there you can drive over the hills to lake Como. Como town itself is a bit lacking but Bellagio is lovely, if a little genteel.
Did Garda for the first time this year and wasn’t hugely impressed, at least not by the southern end or Sermione which apart from the historic core was a bit of a dump I thought. Stayed for an hour then drove round to Malcesine which is much more like it (in a tourist hell kind of way) and well worth a night or two. If you’re going to Garda there’s plenty of other places to visit too – you’re not that far from Venice, Bergamot looks well worth a visit, etc. Oh and Luzzago Classic Cars are in nearby Brescia
It’s definitely a good idea to leave some time to return via the Dolomites. Drive north out of Garda and head towards Cortina. The mountains around the Val di Fassa and Val Gardena area are absolutely stunning. We stayed on a campsite in Campitello, the next town up (Cannezia?) looked a bit more lively. Then back up through Austria again towards Fussen (test your head for heights on the Zugspitz cable car near the border) and home through Germany. Reckon on about 3000 miles for the round trip. If you don't fancy all that you could do a cheap Ryanair flight into Bergamot and hire a car.
Nearly forgot - the Mercedes and Porsche museums are both worth visiting in Stuttgart. I think both have been re-done since I was last in them but the Merc one in particular can keep you busy for hours. The Porker museum was just one rectangular room with maybe 25 cars in it. But what cars...
Alternative cheapskate route is through Belgium to Jeemany past Trier then down the autobahn to Heidelberg (coming back this year drove Heidelberg to Leicester in one day, 600 miles with a banging hangover. Heidelberg is great for a pissoop
), Stuttgart, Ulm and cross into Austria near Fussen. You can take in the Bavarian castles (Neuschwanstein etc) while you're in the area. Then meander through Austria and pick your route into Italy. You can also do Switzerland e.g. Autobahn down to Freiburg and the Black Forest, maybe take in the Schlumpf Collection at Mulhouse then through Switzerland to say Interlaken (or better yet Lauterbrunen and Grindelwald) then over the Grimselpass, down the Rhone valley then Simplon Pass bringing you into Lago di Maggiore. We like to stay at the Hotel Pironi in Cannobio. From there you can drive over the hills to lake Como. Como town itself is a bit lacking but Bellagio is lovely, if a little genteel. Did Garda for the first time this year and wasn’t hugely impressed, at least not by the southern end or Sermione which apart from the historic core was a bit of a dump I thought. Stayed for an hour then drove round to Malcesine which is much more like it (in a tourist hell kind of way) and well worth a night or two. If you’re going to Garda there’s plenty of other places to visit too – you’re not that far from Venice, Bergamot looks well worth a visit, etc. Oh and Luzzago Classic Cars are in nearby Brescia
It’s definitely a good idea to leave some time to return via the Dolomites. Drive north out of Garda and head towards Cortina. The mountains around the Val di Fassa and Val Gardena area are absolutely stunning. We stayed on a campsite in Campitello, the next town up (Cannezia?) looked a bit more lively. Then back up through Austria again towards Fussen (test your head for heights on the Zugspitz cable car near the border) and home through Germany. Reckon on about 3000 miles for the round trip. If you don't fancy all that you could do a cheap Ryanair flight into Bergamot and hire a car.
Nearly forgot - the Mercedes and Porsche museums are both worth visiting in Stuttgart. I think both have been re-done since I was last in them but the Merc one in particular can keep you busy for hours. The Porker museum was just one rectangular room with maybe 25 cars in it. But what cars...
Edited by minimoog on Monday 11th December 14:40
Thanks Guys. I'll have to pull the map out and study thos routes. 3k miles sounds fine. We want to wander down and enjoy the route as we go rather than thrash-it to get there in 24 hrs or so.
It'll take a bit of planning and I have to get Mrs Bomb to keep the luggage to a minimum so the car can be loaded with goodies on the return!
off to check the maps.......
It'll take a bit of planning and I have to get Mrs Bomb to keep the luggage to a minimum so the car can be loaded with goodies on the return!
off to check the maps.......
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