9-day Euro road-trip Sept-Oct 2013
Discussion
We recently returned from our 2013 Euro road-trip and thought we would share our experiences and some photos.
Day 1 saw us leaving Diss, Norfolk at 4am on a Wednesday morning, heading to Folkestone (in the fog) for an uneventful Eurotunnel crossing, with Destination 1 being the Hockenheimring Hotel Motodrome. A 12-hour, approx. 600 mile door-to-door journey, but this included several miles on derestricted autobahns providing some welcome adrenaline filled breaks from the monotony! Arrived to find a busy trackday ongoing, comprising everything from a Mini Cooper S to a Gumpert Apollo. Dinner was served in nearby Schwetzingen (an excellent find made with Olly86 during our trip in June), a real must for anyone visiting the area.
Day 2 took us on a rainy trip from Hockenheim to Davos (through Austria and Liechtenstein). For Top Gear fans we got a shot of this fabled museum in Vaduz
And whilst still in Liechtenstein we spotted this old Lancia (model unknown) being used as intended (and not collecting rust in a garage!)
Our 6.5 hour journey came to an end in Davos, still in the rain.
On Day 3 we woke up to more rain, but as it turned out this was only temporary. This was to be the day of the passes, and we did as many as we could until TOH cried "Enough, I'm gonna be sick!". The first was the Fluela,
onto the Ofen,
then up the Umbrail
And on to my personal Holy Grail - the Stelvio!
It wasn't an especially busy day there, despite the sunshine, but we did see some rather nice "Golden Oldies" including an Auto-Union, a Lancia Fulvia and an Alfa Romeo Guilia - which all provided good photo opportunities and did not look out of place against my WRX!
And it wasn't long before we heard a very familiar sound coming around the mountain - A very nice 22B look-alike!
After 30 minutes of admiring the views and chatting with like-minded people, and after a failed attempt last year due to snow, it was finally my turn to attack the pass - and we enjoyed it so much we did it twice!!
After taking the trip down to Bormio, we then tackled the Gavia pass - note to self, don't do this one again!! Unless on a bike!! Much too narrow for 4-wheelers unless you can guarantee there's nothing coming the other way.
Final destination on Day 3 was Bardolino on the banks of Lake Garda, where we were greeted by a beautiful sunset over the lake.
Next morning, we had a wander around the town where we spied a wonderful little Fiat 500
And then it was off on a short run, destination being the super-car centre of Italy, Modena, where we fitted in a visit to the (outside of) Pagani and Lamborghini.
Final destination of the day, Maranello, where we had a look around the Ferrari shop - in the spirit of our forum, we found this ...
An early start on Day 5 saw us leaving Modena, our course taking us to the Cote d'Azur, San Remo. Whilst much of the journey saw us on the coastal motorways (in the heavy rain), we did manage to incorporate another couple of passes between Modena and La Spezia. We lost count of the number of tunnels we went through on the way!
A quiet evening in San Remo was followed by a trip to see how the other half live in Monte Carlo - it turns out they live pretty well!! Having had a very low supercar count over the first 5 days of our trip, it didn't take long for the tally to increase significantly. Our first of the day was this ...
During the course of our visit we managed to walk most of the F1 circuit, although the swimming pool section was largely cordoned off - some inconsiderate people had decided to hold a 4-day yacht show .. didn't they know we were coming?? Heading towards the tunnel, we did spot these two (Brit registered) who created a lovely noise!!
Never one to miss an opportunity, we decided to spend the afternoon traversing the Col de Brouis taking us on to the Col de Turini. The road surfaces left a little to be desired in places, but it was nonetheless fantastic!
Day 7 and we're on the north-bound homeward leg of our journey, and based on our starting point for the day, the only thing to do was take the Route Napoleon from Grasse to Saint Egreve. Breath-taking views and fabulous roads took us to Digne-Les-Bains with a lunch-stop in Castellane; thereafter, as many people report, the roads became a little less "fun". And despite claims that there are several, we only spotted one golden eagle!
Day 8 and off to Paris we went - a somewhat dull 5-hour uneventful motorway journey, ended with the chaos which is the centre of Paris - thank God for sat navs!! Of course, all of the sites had to be visited, but it turned out that the walk from our hotel to visit them all comprised a 12-mile round trip!! But there was still opportunity to admire some rather lovely cars ...
Day 9 sadly brought us back home, but what a 9-days!! Planning for 2014 is already underway.
Day 1 saw us leaving Diss, Norfolk at 4am on a Wednesday morning, heading to Folkestone (in the fog) for an uneventful Eurotunnel crossing, with Destination 1 being the Hockenheimring Hotel Motodrome. A 12-hour, approx. 600 mile door-to-door journey, but this included several miles on derestricted autobahns providing some welcome adrenaline filled breaks from the monotony! Arrived to find a busy trackday ongoing, comprising everything from a Mini Cooper S to a Gumpert Apollo. Dinner was served in nearby Schwetzingen (an excellent find made with Olly86 during our trip in June), a real must for anyone visiting the area.
Day 2 took us on a rainy trip from Hockenheim to Davos (through Austria and Liechtenstein). For Top Gear fans we got a shot of this fabled museum in Vaduz
And whilst still in Liechtenstein we spotted this old Lancia (model unknown) being used as intended (and not collecting rust in a garage!)
Our 6.5 hour journey came to an end in Davos, still in the rain.
On Day 3 we woke up to more rain, but as it turned out this was only temporary. This was to be the day of the passes, and we did as many as we could until TOH cried "Enough, I'm gonna be sick!". The first was the Fluela,
onto the Ofen,
then up the Umbrail
And on to my personal Holy Grail - the Stelvio!
It wasn't an especially busy day there, despite the sunshine, but we did see some rather nice "Golden Oldies" including an Auto-Union, a Lancia Fulvia and an Alfa Romeo Guilia - which all provided good photo opportunities and did not look out of place against my WRX!
And it wasn't long before we heard a very familiar sound coming around the mountain - A very nice 22B look-alike!
After 30 minutes of admiring the views and chatting with like-minded people, and after a failed attempt last year due to snow, it was finally my turn to attack the pass - and we enjoyed it so much we did it twice!!
After taking the trip down to Bormio, we then tackled the Gavia pass - note to self, don't do this one again!! Unless on a bike!! Much too narrow for 4-wheelers unless you can guarantee there's nothing coming the other way.
Final destination on Day 3 was Bardolino on the banks of Lake Garda, where we were greeted by a beautiful sunset over the lake.
Next morning, we had a wander around the town where we spied a wonderful little Fiat 500
And then it was off on a short run, destination being the super-car centre of Italy, Modena, where we fitted in a visit to the (outside of) Pagani and Lamborghini.
Final destination of the day, Maranello, where we had a look around the Ferrari shop - in the spirit of our forum, we found this ...
An early start on Day 5 saw us leaving Modena, our course taking us to the Cote d'Azur, San Remo. Whilst much of the journey saw us on the coastal motorways (in the heavy rain), we did manage to incorporate another couple of passes between Modena and La Spezia. We lost count of the number of tunnels we went through on the way!
A quiet evening in San Remo was followed by a trip to see how the other half live in Monte Carlo - it turns out they live pretty well!! Having had a very low supercar count over the first 5 days of our trip, it didn't take long for the tally to increase significantly. Our first of the day was this ...
During the course of our visit we managed to walk most of the F1 circuit, although the swimming pool section was largely cordoned off - some inconsiderate people had decided to hold a 4-day yacht show .. didn't they know we were coming?? Heading towards the tunnel, we did spot these two (Brit registered) who created a lovely noise!!
Never one to miss an opportunity, we decided to spend the afternoon traversing the Col de Brouis taking us on to the Col de Turini. The road surfaces left a little to be desired in places, but it was nonetheless fantastic!
Day 7 and we're on the north-bound homeward leg of our journey, and based on our starting point for the day, the only thing to do was take the Route Napoleon from Grasse to Saint Egreve. Breath-taking views and fabulous roads took us to Digne-Les-Bains with a lunch-stop in Castellane; thereafter, as many people report, the roads became a little less "fun". And despite claims that there are several, we only spotted one golden eagle!
Day 8 and off to Paris we went - a somewhat dull 5-hour uneventful motorway journey, ended with the chaos which is the centre of Paris - thank God for sat navs!! Of course, all of the sites had to be visited, but it turned out that the walk from our hotel to visit them all comprised a 12-mile round trip!! But there was still opportunity to admire some rather lovely cars ...
Day 9 sadly brought us back home, but what a 9-days!! Planning for 2014 is already underway.
Gassing Station | Roads | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff