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Jun 23, 2015 10:52:13 GMT
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Hi there, longtime lurker & first time poster here in urgent need of suggestions for a 1-2 week roadtrip in continental Europe. I'll be shortly coming southbound from Northern Europe and I'd like to see some parts of Italy (maybe lake Garda?) as well as southern France (perhaps Nice) but that's as far as my plans go. The general idea is to drive through Sweden and Denmark and spend some time in Germany once I get there. If you could kindly suggest some nice, convenient scenic routes to follow as well as places to visit somewhere around Bavaria-Switzerland-Austria-Italy-France etc I'd be most grateful. I'm a bit clueless when it comes to the above mentioned region but I'm sure I can manage with some guidance from more experienced roadtrippers. My carriage of choice will be a CG Accord, so nothing too retro unfortunately. But at least it's British  |
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Jun 23, 2015 20:20:08 GMT
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We drove down to lake garda last year
Went via luxembourg over night stay
Then down to Evian les baines on lake Geneva for another night
Then over the Alps in to Italy via the grand St bernard pass
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Jun 24, 2015 11:29:30 GMT
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In 2012 I did Cortinas to Cortina - www.fordcortinamk2oc.co.uk/cortinas_to_cortina.htm
We travelled from Dover to Reims (check out the old Grand Prix circuit out of town)
Reim to Dijon
Dijon to Montreaux
Montreaux to Varese
Varese to Riva del Garda (lake Garda)(calling in at the Monza GP circuit)
Riva del Garda to Cortina
Cortina to Davos via the Stelvio Pass
Davos to Weingarten
Weingarten to Hockenheim
Hockenheim to Nurburgring
Nurburgring back to the UK.
We did it all without using motorways unless there was no alternative.
It took us 14 days in total, and was an awesome experience.
Advice - use your gears not your brakes going down the mountain passes!
Places to visit:- Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, near Hockenheim.
good luck!
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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Jun 25, 2015 11:05:52 GMT
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on Saturday I'm sailing to Hook of Holland with my 54 Cadillac then driving 1000 miles through Holland, Germany, Denmark and up through Sweden to Vasteras for a big car show we attend every year, then down the East coast of Sweden and back the week after
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Fake patina sucks!
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Jun 25, 2015 13:39:17 GMT
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In 2012 I did Cortinas to Cortina - www.fordcortinamk2oc.co.uk/cortinas_to_cortina.htm
We travelled from Dover to Reims (check out the old Grand Prix circuit out of town)
Reim to Dijon
Dijon to Montreaux
Montreaux to Varese
Varese to Riva del Garda (lake Garda)(calling in at the Monza GP circuit)
Riva del Garda to Cortina
Cortina to Davos via the Stelvio Pass
Davos to Weingarten
Weingarten to Hockenheim
Hockenheim to Nurburgring
Nurburgring back to the UK.
We did it all without using motorways unless there was no alternative.
It took us 14 days in total, and was an awesome experience.
Advice - use your gears not your brakes going down the mountain passes!
Places to visit:- Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, near Hockenheim.
good luck!
Cheers mate. Did you stay overnight in those cities or was some other reason why you chose them as waypoints (except for Cortina, obviously)? Also, any other tips on driving in the Alps? I think I might first attack Germany from the north, make a stop near Bodensee, cross the border there, drive to Lake Garda and from there head west towards Nice. Perhaps a bit ambitious for me but I have time  |
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Jun 25, 2015 14:29:14 GMT
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In 2012 I did Cortinas to Cortina - www.fordcortinamk2oc.co.uk/cortinas_to_cortina.htm
We travelled from Dover to Reims (check out the old Grand Prix circuit out of town)
Reim to Dijon
Dijon to Montreaux
Montreaux to Varese
Varese to Riva del Garda (lake Garda)(calling in at the Monza GP circuit)
Riva del Garda to Cortina
Cortina to Davos via the Stelvio Pass
Davos to Weingarten
Weingarten to Hockenheim
Hockenheim to Nurburgring
Nurburgring back to the UK.
We did it all without using motorways unless there was no alternative.
It took us 14 days in total, and was an awesome experience.
Advice - use your gears not your brakes going down the mountain passes!
Places to visit:- Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, near Hockenheim.
good luck!
Cheers mate. Did you stay overnight in those cities or was some other reason why you chose them as waypoints (except for Cortina, obviously)? Also, any other tips on driving in the Alps? I think I might first attack Germany from the north, make a stop near Bodensee, cross the border there, drive to Lake Garda and from there head west towards Nice. Perhaps a bit ambitious for me but I have time The overnight stays were really based on being at about the right distance and for a days travel, without being too long, and availability of a hotel with secure parking for 30 odd Cortinas! Reims had the old GP circuit, which still has the grandstands etc in place and is a public road. At Hockenheim we stayed at the F1 Circuit (the hotel is part of the grandstand) and saw the Jim Clark memorial - there seems to be track days going on most evenings, but I guess such things need to be pre-booked. The Sinsheim museums are like nothing else - a Concorde and Tupolev (Concordski) mounted on the roof of the museum, which you can walk through! linkThe road from Cortina to Davos via the Slevio is something else (I think Top Gear rated it as one of the best driving roads in the world). If you go into Austria you need a sticker to use the roads - which is cheaper if bought in advance but you can buy it at the border. Driving in the Alps - keep your wits about you and your eyes open - listen for the coaches! Like I said above, on the downhill stretches put it in a low gear and don't ride the brakes. The number of people on our trip who boiled their brakes by riding them all the way down a mountain pass was extraordinary! Those of us who used engine braking didn't have any problems! Davos is a bit weird out of the skiing season (we stayed in an ex sanatorium) and not worth visiting. Riva del Garda at the top of Lake Garda is a great place to stop and gives good ferry access to the rest of Lake Garda. Feel free to ask any more questions. |
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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Operation "Overheat" will commence next Tuesday.
I'll apparently have to find a way to switch off the daytime running lights so that I won't blind Central Europeans with my blazing 55W halogen dipped beams...
To get the most out of Stelvio Pass, where should I start, where should I head and should I go from north to south or vice versa?
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I only just saw your post, so you are probably there already!
We did the Stelvio coming from the Italian side, which is the most spectacular - so you are climbing up through the dozens of hairpin bends. The Swiss side is a less steep but still pretty epic, and with some dirt road sections. One of our party managed to approach it from all three possible directions having got lost - at least one at night!
Good luck with the trip.
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Old Fords never die they just go sideways
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Jul 27, 2015 11:38:17 GMT
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A few stray observations ex-post:
A vignette for driving in Switzerland costs 40 € and the Austrian one about 8-9 €. From Germany, a budget-conscious traveler can get to Stelvio pass also by driving through Austria. I drove from Bodensee towards Innsbruck on the E60 and got off at Landeck to continue south towards Stelvio. Some pretty sweet lakes there just as you cross over to Italy. Didn't need to pay separate road tolls (Maut) between Bodensee and Italy (on the E60), but on the way back from Trento to Munich there was a 9 € fee to use the Austrian motorway (can't remember if it was the A13 towards Innsbruck, the E45 east of Innsbruck or both, as I was pretty tired).
Many places in Germany, Italy and Austria didn't approve credit cards. Not unusual in 1985, a bit weird in 2015.
North shore of Lake Garda was exceptionally pleasant and beautiful. Definitely worth a longer stay. A little bit to the west was Lake Ledro that would've been ideal for camping. Sirmione on the south shore was great too, with good views from the castle. Parking was in short supply in some cities surrounding Lake Garda, usually costing around 1,00-2,20 €/hour.
Austria was full of nasty, grumpy people and I wish it would sink to the bottom of the sea some day. There's no sea nearby, but one can always wish. Gas was clearly cheaper there than in Italy, but knowing the Austrians it was probably poisoned or at least diluted with seawater.
Caorle was okay for one night, so you might want to consider it as a waypoint on a trip toward Trieste.
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