Weekend Winter Road Trip?
Discussion
Hi everyone.
Hoping some veterans in here can help a newbie out. Myself and two friends are planning a rather spontaneous, first ever Euro road trip, aiming for the first weekend of December. I was hoping someone in here might have an idea for a good itinerary we can follow that suits our cars/amount of time we have.
For context, we have booked the Eurotunnel for 8am on Friday and 10:30pm return on Sunday. We will be taking two Mini JCWs and a Civic Type R. All our cars are on PS4s which may complicate things for some mountain passes at this time of year so we may be best to avoid them?
What would you do given the cars we have and the time we have?
Thanks in advance!
Hoping some veterans in here can help a newbie out. Myself and two friends are planning a rather spontaneous, first ever Euro road trip, aiming for the first weekend of December. I was hoping someone in here might have an idea for a good itinerary we can follow that suits our cars/amount of time we have.
For context, we have booked the Eurotunnel for 8am on Friday and 10:30pm return on Sunday. We will be taking two Mini JCWs and a Civic Type R. All our cars are on PS4s which may complicate things for some mountain passes at this time of year so we may be best to avoid them?
What would you do given the cars we have and the time we have?
Thanks in advance!
sherman said:
Do you not need winter/all season tyres for certain areas of france, germany and switzerland in winter?
Most/all alpine passes will be closed or impassible to a certain extent.
👆Most/all alpine passes will be closed or impassible to a certain extent.
Indeed - either closed and/or need winter tyres by law.
You might be better to head south into France and some of the lower hills, but even then it could be 'interesting'.
With less than three days you don't have enough time to get to the south of France. I'd do something like this:
Day 1: Calais to the Ardennes then follow the N10 which starts at the top of Luxembourg where it meets Germany - an excellent driving road along the Moselle River that runs along the Germany/Lux border to Trier, which is a great place to spend a night.
Day 2: From Trier head southeast to Baden-Baden then south through the Black Forest which has picture-postcard towns and decent driving roads, then back west to overnight in Mulhouse. Many people recommend the B500 in the Black Forest but it's a really busy road so I'd suggest staying off it as much as you can and taking alternatives - 'L' roads in Germany are like British B-roads but better-surfaced.
Day 3: Head back to Calais on the autoroutes. You have time for a pit stop at the photogenic old GP track at Reims-Gueux then head to Ypres for the Last Post ceremony at 8 pm before catching your 10.30 Eurotunnel.
If it were another time of year you could drive back across the Vosges mountain passes, but they'll be closed in December. And the Cite de l'Automobile museum in Mulhouse is well worth it, but you won't have time.
You may need winter tyres depending on weather conditions in the Black Forest. If you don't want to bother, then on Day 2 instead of Black Forest and Mulhouse head southwest from Trier to explore the WWI sites around Verdun and overnight in Reims which has a nice old town centre. This option is less interesting from a driving perspective, but is more relaxed, covers fewer miles and Reims is 3 hours from Calais as opposed to 7.5 from Mulhouse.
Remember the days are short at this time of year so you'd want to be on the road at daybreak ideally.
Day 1: Calais to the Ardennes then follow the N10 which starts at the top of Luxembourg where it meets Germany - an excellent driving road along the Moselle River that runs along the Germany/Lux border to Trier, which is a great place to spend a night.
Day 2: From Trier head southeast to Baden-Baden then south through the Black Forest which has picture-postcard towns and decent driving roads, then back west to overnight in Mulhouse. Many people recommend the B500 in the Black Forest but it's a really busy road so I'd suggest staying off it as much as you can and taking alternatives - 'L' roads in Germany are like British B-roads but better-surfaced.
Day 3: Head back to Calais on the autoroutes. You have time for a pit stop at the photogenic old GP track at Reims-Gueux then head to Ypres for the Last Post ceremony at 8 pm before catching your 10.30 Eurotunnel.
If it were another time of year you could drive back across the Vosges mountain passes, but they'll be closed in December. And the Cite de l'Automobile museum in Mulhouse is well worth it, but you won't have time.
You may need winter tyres depending on weather conditions in the Black Forest. If you don't want to bother, then on Day 2 instead of Black Forest and Mulhouse head southwest from Trier to explore the WWI sites around Verdun and overnight in Reims which has a nice old town centre. This option is less interesting from a driving perspective, but is more relaxed, covers fewer miles and Reims is 3 hours from Calais as opposed to 7.5 from Mulhouse.
Remember the days are short at this time of year so you'd want to be on the road at daybreak ideally.
That is a great post from 'plenty'
East Belgium and Luxemburg have some great roads. Should include the old circuit at Chimay (good but powerful beers too)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dc4RrcDA2JMCLjkS6
East Belgium and Luxemburg have some great roads. Should include the old circuit at Chimay (good but powerful beers too)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dc4RrcDA2JMCLjkS6
magpies said:
That is a great post from 'plenty'
East Belgium and Luxemburg have some great roads. Should include the old circuit at Chimay (good but powerful beers too)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dc4RrcDA2JMCLjkS6
Great post from you too, I don't recall hearing about the track before. You've just given me another excuse to go back to the area, might as well stock up whilst we're there. East Belgium and Luxemburg have some great roads. Should include the old circuit at Chimay (good but powerful beers too)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dc4RrcDA2JMCLjkS6
Thank you for all the brilliant suggestions. I will be putting everything together this weekend and figuring out a viable route which I will put in here!
Eurotunnel has been booked already else I'd highly consider Ireland! A mate has also made it a requirement we visit Geneva as he has some family there so will need to incorporate somehow.
Eurotunnel has been booked already else I'd highly consider Ireland! A mate has also made it a requirement we visit Geneva as he has some family there so will need to incorporate somehow.
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