route to the alps and back

[aidy rallye]

hi guys, hoping some of you can help. my old man and i have decided we're finally getting my little 106 track car to the alps. we've been out mountain biking for the last 8 years and have always said how good my little tarmac terrier would be on those smooth alpine roads so in the 1st week of september its happening.

we usually stay in les gets in the portes du soliel resort and plan to head down to that area via some nice french roads, explore the mountains and do stelvio pass in there too. just for a giggle you understand. now as i have no radio in the car motorways on the french side of the tunnel are a no no and it's all about the nice driving roads. i've no intentions of going silly but i dont want to be sat behind a caravan for 19 hours straight.

our usual route to the area from memory is

a26 from calais to reims,
from there a4-a26 to troyesa5.a31 to langres and down to dijon
down to bourg en bresse
from there to cluses then on to les gets.

so anything of interest road wise following that rough plan would be greatfully received as would any help on getting to stelvio, tho we may hit stelvio first. i understand its normally busy and was closed for top gear, but if we're going all the way out there we may as well go drive it.

suggestions, ideas etc all would be great and also how readily available is v-power in france?

cheers guys

aidy

[smifffymoto]

Try giving Marcellus a shout in the cycling forum,lives in that neck of woods if I recall

[aidy rallye]

cheers mate

[Marcellus]

so many questions, where to begin!!

1stly Les Gets to Stelvio is a two day trip imo, one day there, drive it a couple fo times and stop over for a dusk and dawn attack and then the next day drive back... I've not actually done it from Home although we've had friends who have.

2ndly the route down.... as you know you've got about 550 from calais and there is soem great country inbetween The Alps and Calais... if you're not worried about how quickly you're going to do it I would get the map, draw a straight line across it from Calais to Les Gets (or where ever) your staying and then see how closely you could stick to the line... it certainly won't be the quickest, probably won't be the cheapest... you will see parts of France that you didn't know existed... you will have some great food and there's a challenge in sticking to the line.

HTH

[aidy rallye]

cheers for that. we've come back from the alps via non motorway routes a couple of times and while hte roads are pleasant nothing has ever made me think "WOW".

food wise i'm a pleb and i hate eating in france and survive on jambon emmemtal baguettes, or omlettes. once we've headed for stelvio i doubt we'll be heading for anywhere other than home. rather than basing everything around a base area we'll probably just do it as a big loop.

i've also heard about ferries from the uk to the south of france which could be interesting but i haven't managed to find any info about them

[PottyMouth]

Portsmouth - Bilbao

Plymouth - Santander

[aidy rallye]

sweet cheers pottymouth, will hit em up on google

[geordieexpat]

Ferry to Santander is a good one, in France in a few hours

[Nobbles]

Go further south than Dijon. Get off the autoroute at Beaune (about 5 hours normal speed from Calais) and follow the D981 south to Macon. Stay in a Chambre d'hote on the way and enjoy the scenery and wine. Then hop back on the A40 to Bourg en Bresse. Good roads, fast sweepers but fantastic scenery surrounded by vineyards etc. I have been told that the Police typically leave the D roads alone to concentrate on the N roads and autoroutes. I had no trouble but pay attention for tractors etc..

[The_Doc]

My brother runs a bar in Morzine (AKA MTB central of Europe)

if you need a contact.....

he also needs some parts for his crashed motorbike taking out there......