Somerset to Saxony in a Citroen C2. Pic heavy, and a video.
Discussion
Hello. I've recently returned from a couple weeks break in East Germany which I did in my old Citroen C2. It's the fourth time I've taken it to Germany but only the second time to the east and the first beyond Leipzig. This time I went as far as Bad Schandau, a small town on the Elbe river south east of Dresden and very close to the Czech border for a nice trip up the Elbe on a steam paddle boat.
I would never have even considered driving the car into Europe a couple a years back, but then I watched a Hubnut video on Youtube where's he took a 2CV to Europe with very few issues. I thought if that car can do it then so can mine. I now much prefer driving than flying. So much more freedom and not worrying what I take or can bring back.
This was the route I did end up doing, the vast majority of it in one day, the 700 miles or so from Yeovil to Merseburg. It was a sunny and very warm Sunday and apart from some traffic and a detour around Antwerp (which made a nice change to be honest) and similar near Dortmund, the usual busy areas, it was a nice smooth drive. I chose Sunday because it means virtually no lorries in Germany and it really makes for a more relaxed drive. The first week was in and around Merseburg, Halle, and Leipzig. Then three days in and around Dresden and then a drive down to Bad Schandau for the boat trip on the Elbe. I did film the journeys with a gopro from Merseburg to Dresden and then onto Bad Schandau as well as the main Yeovil to Merseburg on the first day and merged them into the one long timelapse video I'll post below.
Waiting for boarding the train for the tunnel.
I left at 0400 and apart from a quick stop at Fleet on the M3 and at the channel tunnel this was the first real stop I made, the Drongen services just before Ghent. Only stopped once more near Soest before getting to Merseburg in the early evening aound 1830ish
As mentioned I spent the first week or so in Merseburg and the surrounding area.
The man made giant lake Geiseltalsee. The water is filtered and very clean. It was quite hot that day! A beautiful place for a picnic.
The upside down house at Nova near Leipzig
I should have picked some shade to park here while visiting the above and doing some shopping. It was stifling inside the car when returning later!
Telephone box I found while in Halle.
The City-Hochhaus in Leipzig. The tallest building in the city. I'd previously visited here earlier in the year but was worth another trip up to the viewing deck.
From the viewing platform. The Red Bull Arena in the distance, Home of RB Leipzig.
I love the colour of this building
A very small village near Merseburg. It was hot and dry for the first week and the dusty cars here evidence of little rain for a while before that even.
Couple pics from the same village
The second week I drove the 2 hour or so down to Dresden for three days, staying at a lovely little place on the outskirts of the city. It was the first time I'd driven to Dresden and I was looking forward to it. It was the first time it rained that day too, and it rained a lot, pretty much the entire journey. Luckily it eased up for the afternoon allowing for some quality sightseeing.
On route to Dresden. A stop for a coffee.
Arriving at the accommodation. Very nice it was too. Opposite the local firestation.
Off to Dresden. A capture from the gopro. A very nice city to drive in. Traffic not bad at all.
Just like Leipzig there are a lot of Trams. Driving along next to one is pretty cool!
First stop was to the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, home of SG Dynamo Dresden. I like to visit football stadiums in cities I visit and get something from the fanshops. The all glass front is very impressive.
A tram with Dynamo colours
Police Station. A very big one.
I think it was real!
The Frauenkirche Dresden. A beautiful building. I was too tired to go up the first day but did the second. There is a lot of steps but the views are amazing.
Inside
This was an interesting shot. The bridge in the foreground, the one with the tram on it, collapsed 11 hours after I took this photo. Luckily it was at 3am so no one was on it or below it (many boats pass under it during the day) to be injured or worse. That morning was the drive down to Bad Schandau so I didn't hear about the collapse until arriving there mid morning.
Off to Bad Schandau. A gopro capture on the road. The Lilienstein in the middle. This road down into the Saxon Switzerland national park was very enjoyable.
Arriving at the town
Parked up ready for the boat trip. The Lilienstein in the distance
The lovely paddle steamer. Would be on it for the next 6 or so hours.
The car from the boat. I had visions of it rolling into the river by the time I came back.
I took many pictures of the trip, too many to post here so here's a small selection. It was a great experience.
On the return the weather took a turn for the worse. The C2 hadn't rolled into the river and had gained a C3 neighbour
I did drive the 5 miles or so across the Czech border just because I had never been there and it was so close. Handily there was a small car park close by opposite a petrol station. Weather was wet and windy so took this snap and then drove the 2 and half hour journey back to Merseburg for the last few days.
Final shopping trip the day before the long trip back to Yeovil.
Finally, here's the 4K timelapse of the entire journey. It's quite long still and it's dark for the first 12 mins or so, but the last 2 mins are worth watching for some great views. The telemetry data was added in the gopro app first. It's a nice feature.
As a bonus go to 1:04:26 on the video and you'll see 4 cars fly past me. One of them was this lovely R8. What a lovely noise they all made!
That was a huge post so hope it wasn't too boring. Cheers!
I would never have even considered driving the car into Europe a couple a years back, but then I watched a Hubnut video on Youtube where's he took a 2CV to Europe with very few issues. I thought if that car can do it then so can mine. I now much prefer driving than flying. So much more freedom and not worrying what I take or can bring back.
This was the route I did end up doing, the vast majority of it in one day, the 700 miles or so from Yeovil to Merseburg. It was a sunny and very warm Sunday and apart from some traffic and a detour around Antwerp (which made a nice change to be honest) and similar near Dortmund, the usual busy areas, it was a nice smooth drive. I chose Sunday because it means virtually no lorries in Germany and it really makes for a more relaxed drive. The first week was in and around Merseburg, Halle, and Leipzig. Then three days in and around Dresden and then a drive down to Bad Schandau for the boat trip on the Elbe. I did film the journeys with a gopro from Merseburg to Dresden and then onto Bad Schandau as well as the main Yeovil to Merseburg on the first day and merged them into the one long timelapse video I'll post below.
Waiting for boarding the train for the tunnel.
I left at 0400 and apart from a quick stop at Fleet on the M3 and at the channel tunnel this was the first real stop I made, the Drongen services just before Ghent. Only stopped once more near Soest before getting to Merseburg in the early evening aound 1830ish
As mentioned I spent the first week or so in Merseburg and the surrounding area.
The man made giant lake Geiseltalsee. The water is filtered and very clean. It was quite hot that day! A beautiful place for a picnic.
The upside down house at Nova near Leipzig
I should have picked some shade to park here while visiting the above and doing some shopping. It was stifling inside the car when returning later!
Telephone box I found while in Halle.
The City-Hochhaus in Leipzig. The tallest building in the city. I'd previously visited here earlier in the year but was worth another trip up to the viewing deck.
From the viewing platform. The Red Bull Arena in the distance, Home of RB Leipzig.
I love the colour of this building
A very small village near Merseburg. It was hot and dry for the first week and the dusty cars here evidence of little rain for a while before that even.
Couple pics from the same village
The second week I drove the 2 hour or so down to Dresden for three days, staying at a lovely little place on the outskirts of the city. It was the first time I'd driven to Dresden and I was looking forward to it. It was the first time it rained that day too, and it rained a lot, pretty much the entire journey. Luckily it eased up for the afternoon allowing for some quality sightseeing.
On route to Dresden. A stop for a coffee.
Arriving at the accommodation. Very nice it was too. Opposite the local firestation.
Off to Dresden. A capture from the gopro. A very nice city to drive in. Traffic not bad at all.
Just like Leipzig there are a lot of Trams. Driving along next to one is pretty cool!
First stop was to the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, home of SG Dynamo Dresden. I like to visit football stadiums in cities I visit and get something from the fanshops. The all glass front is very impressive.
A tram with Dynamo colours
Police Station. A very big one.
I think it was real!
The Frauenkirche Dresden. A beautiful building. I was too tired to go up the first day but did the second. There is a lot of steps but the views are amazing.
Inside
This was an interesting shot. The bridge in the foreground, the one with the tram on it, collapsed 11 hours after I took this photo. Luckily it was at 3am so no one was on it or below it (many boats pass under it during the day) to be injured or worse. That morning was the drive down to Bad Schandau so I didn't hear about the collapse until arriving there mid morning.
Off to Bad Schandau. A gopro capture on the road. The Lilienstein in the middle. This road down into the Saxon Switzerland national park was very enjoyable.
Arriving at the town
Parked up ready for the boat trip. The Lilienstein in the distance
The lovely paddle steamer. Would be on it for the next 6 or so hours.
The car from the boat. I had visions of it rolling into the river by the time I came back.
I took many pictures of the trip, too many to post here so here's a small selection. It was a great experience.
On the return the weather took a turn for the worse. The C2 hadn't rolled into the river and had gained a C3 neighbour
I did drive the 5 miles or so across the Czech border just because I had never been there and it was so close. Handily there was a small car park close by opposite a petrol station. Weather was wet and windy so took this snap and then drove the 2 and half hour journey back to Merseburg for the last few days.
Final shopping trip the day before the long trip back to Yeovil.
Finally, here's the 4K timelapse of the entire journey. It's quite long still and it's dark for the first 12 mins or so, but the last 2 mins are worth watching for some great views. The telemetry data was added in the gopro app first. It's a nice feature.
As a bonus go to 1:04:26 on the video and you'll see 4 cars fly past me. One of them was this lovely R8. What a lovely noise they all made!
That was a huge post so hope it wasn't too boring. Cheers!
Boring, not a bit of it. I love to read about a road trip, irrespective of the car of choice, but also because of it, if that makes sense; supercar, classic car, daily car all are interesting in my view.
It makes me smile, when people ask, “Can I do this trip in ……..” People have driven from the UK to mongolia in a Fiat Panda, I think your Bini, will go from Reading to Sheffield.
Great choice of car, certainly looks different, those seats look very comfortable. Enjoyed the pictures and write up, somewhere a bit different.
Thank you for taking the time to post.
It makes me smile, when people ask, “Can I do this trip in ……..” People have driven from the UK to mongolia in a Fiat Panda, I think your Bini, will go from Reading to Sheffield.
Great choice of car, certainly looks different, those seats look very comfortable. Enjoyed the pictures and write up, somewhere a bit different.
Thank you for taking the time to post.
daqinggregg said:
Boring, not a bit of it. I love to read about a road trip, irrespective of the car of choice, but also because of it, if that makes sense; supercar, classic car, daily car all are interesting in my view.
It makes me smile, when people ask, “Can I do this trip in ……..” People have driven from the UK to mongolia in a Fiat Panda, I think your Bini, will go from Reading to Sheffield.
Great choice of car, certainly looks different, those seats look very comfortable. Enjoyed the pictures and write up, somewhere a bit different.
Thank you for taking the time to post.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. The interior was the main reason I chose the Code over the standard VTS when I looked at C2's originally. The seats are comfortable enough that I have had no aches or pains after these long trips. Ideal for going into the cities though, as it was designed for I guess. It got a lot of attention too, I doubt many had seen a right hand drive C2 in East Germany before haha. Cheers!It makes me smile, when people ask, “Can I do this trip in ……..” People have driven from the UK to mongolia in a Fiat Panda, I think your Bini, will go from Reading to Sheffield.
Great choice of car, certainly looks different, those seats look very comfortable. Enjoyed the pictures and write up, somewhere a bit different.
Thank you for taking the time to post.
EDIT. I forgot to mention that I changed the steering wheel before the last trip. The original, apart from being ugly, was starting to peel and was getting quite sticky and not very nice to hold. So I got one from a 2nd gen C3 exclusive. It was a straight swop. It's much nicer to hold and made the journey that much more enjoyable.
The original wheel.
The new wheel.
Edited by SilverShamrock on Sunday 22 September 12:26
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