6 Day Euro Tour

[Siy]

I wonder if anyone could share their wisdom....?

Am looking at a 6 day euro tour in May '23... will leave Sunday morinng, and aim to be home mid afternoon on the Friday.

Happy to do a fairly long stint on day 1, so that we can have a few early finishes (long lunches), and enjoy some of the mountain passes.

Have just put together a starting map - but really don't know what I am looking at...Can anyone add any interesting points for us to take in please?

thanks in advance

[595Heaven]

Can you share your map? Are you heading straight to the mountains?

[Siy]

hahah - yeah that may help!!!

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Calais+Eurotunnel+...

[hiccy18]

A couple of obvious ones:

Champagne at Reims, oh and the old pits https://www.amis-du-circuit-de-gueux.fr/
If you like old cars https://www.musee-automobile.fr/en/

[Doofus]

The Schlumpf Collection at Mulhouse

[595Heaven]

Looks like a fun route.

Take a toll tag with you - saves loads of time on the Autoroutes

Worth a detour into Lauterbrunnen - big waterfall and epic scenery

Hopefully the passes will mostly be open for you

[Siy]

Thanks for this.. will try to add them in... Have done Reims many times - but you are right, a shame to bypass it!

Not sure if I have missed any decent passes that would kind of fit into the current itinerary?

[glenrobbo]

OP, I see from your map that you are passing through Andermatt.
It would be rude not to spend a day driving the Andermatt Loop:

https://driveeurope.co.uk/2014/07/27/sunday-4/

We did it a few years ago on a TVR S Club Eurotour, and it was truly one of the best days driving of my life. Magnificent roads and breathtaking scenery.
Our lunch stop was at a Cafe/Restaurant near the summit of the Nufenen Pass, with great views down the valley and across to Italy opposite.

Best to check if the passes are open before setting out, and don't forget your Swiss Vignette if you intend driving on any of their motorways.

Enjoy your trip, and best of luck.

[skidskid]

The route looks a good starting point!

I would smash out France on the way out and back in almost one go, the trip across to the German border is really dull. A great first and last stop would be Colmar, a great little historic town with great restaurants and market, and Mulhouse for the The Schlumpf Collection as Doofus said.

Como is beautiful and has some lovely places to visit and eat but for driving its not very good, best to use that as a night time stop or some tourist days. Albergo Villa la Mirabella is a good place to stay on Como, the water taxi goes across to Bellagio from a few mins walk away.

The rest of the passes you've picked cover lots of the famous ones. From these you can almost pick any and not be disappointed. The normal things apply to all of them, dont speed in Switzerland and they will be busy in summer.

[Siy]

Thanks all for the input - a few tweaks, it now looks like this....

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Calais+Eurotunnel+...

Now I need to look at this Andermat loop!

[M1KEY]

Definitely include the Susten Pass (part of the 'Andermatt Loop').
IMO Susten & Grimsel are better than the Furka.

I'd also recommend the St Gotthard and San Bernardino Passes too as very close.

There's a lot of good passes around St Mortiz too.

[M1KEY]

IMO 6 days is quite tight for all that so unless you're happy for some long days, it might be worth prioritising what/where you want to go.
Enjoy!

[M1KEY]

Just noticed that you're going in May. That's pretty early in the year so be prepared for some of the passes to still be closed due to snow.
We been over to the alps in early June and some passes were still closed.

[Far Cough]

Been organising these for years. In my experience avoid the interior of Switzerland. They are a car hating culture and progress is frowned upon and will actively block you. Their passes however are superb and empty if hit at the right time so I tend to dip in and out rather than cross large areas to get from one to the other.
Try and do as much mileage on day 1 just to get you in the right zone. We have done Andermatt in a day and you are right on top of it all from there. You could come back via Germany and utilise the unrestricted roads.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

What car are you doing this in anyway? Previously, I've done the mind-numbing drive down from Calais to a start point but after changing things last year and flying to Milan Malpensa and instead hiring a car, I'll never drive from Calais again. Obviously not applicable if you are keen to take your own car but it was fun doing all the usual passes and Italian lakes in a Fiat 500C last summer (hired 5 days for £110).

[Siy]

Thanks - even more food for thought... We are three cars.... a friend in a 4 Series Convertible, one in a Jag XKR Convertible and I am in a Ferrari California T

Yes, early May - so need to be prepared for last minute changes etc....

still trying to fine tune - but keen to book this week.

[gazza5]

I would change your route completely if going early may - nothing worse than driving all that way and then finding most of the roads you want to go on are closed.

I haven't done the alpine routes myself - I am oping to this year - however will venture down mid june (from my reading of the interweb most passes are open by then). ALso with the lighter morning, hoping for a good run.

My car isn't as exotic as the cars you have on your trip (golf r estate) but I will echo other thoughts - drive as far as you can on day 1, if thats a 12 hour stint so be it - you are far fresher, and will be fine. Pklenty of places to stop if need be, we drove to munich last year from London, although that was two of us splitting the driving.

[Siy]

Thanks all for the input.
Trying to pay attention to as many bits of advice as possible - but timings are fixed, so we have a firm route now - but we are prepared for that to change last minute.

Doesn't matter what car you do these trips in... doesnt need to be exotic... I think you have as much fun in the most basic car as anything else... It's all about the drive and the scenery.

We dont really have enough time to squeeze more in - but quite happy with the current itinerary... I will leave it here, just in case anyone else wants a starting point for a trip.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Calais+Eurotunnel+...

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Siy said:

Thanks all for the input.
Trying to pay attention to as many bits of advice as possible - but timings are fixed, so we have a firm route now - but we are prepared for that to change last minute.

Doesn't matter what car you do these trips in... doesnt need to be exotic... I think you have as much fun in the most basic car as anything else... It's all about the drive and the scenery.

We dont really have enough time to squeeze more in - but quite happy with the current itinerary... I will leave it here, just in case anyone else wants a starting point for a trip.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Calais+Eurotunnel+...

Absolutely. You could be doing it in a Zonda or a Daewoo Matiz and you'd still have a laugh, see some great scenery and enjoy delicious food and drink. Have you got walkie talkies? Nothing fancy, just some 16-channel Chinese Baofeng jobbies all set to the same channel.

You can basically just zoom into any part of the map there, and when the road zig-zags back on itself about 20 times you know you're onto a winner. Pick two roads like that and click to calculate the route and disable motorways / tolls roads and it usually gets good results. That's the way I've always done it, then zoom in a bit and click to drag the routes to detour to some points of interest of particular roads.

[n1colas]

Indeed, zooming to find interesting roads does work. Personally I do enjoy the old fashioned Michelin maps too, works better for me than a smart phone screen and easier to gather around with your friends during a coffee break. Nürburgring is also less than 2 hours away from Metz if this floats your boat. Check opening time on their webpage if you plan to drive the track.