Euro Road Trip

[bab-91]

Ladies and Gents!

A few friends and I are planning a 5-6 week road trip across Europe.

We only have a general idea of destinations at this time but at the moment it is looking to be 4000 miles.... in a e30. I'm not certified I promise!

The general Idea is
Rosslare - Cherbourg
Paris - Lyon
Nice - Genoa
Torino - Milan
Venice - Innsbruck

Then on to Germany, where we plan to perv at a few car factories

BMW/Munich.
AMG/ Affalterbach
etc

We are trying to tie it in with the Nurburgring 24hr race also.

Then eventually finish of in Amsterdam, then home from there!!


I know quite a few have taken on a road trip and I have had a good look through threads so any advice would be welcome.

I've been looking for software that means I can make a detailed journey planner. With MANY destinations, stop off's etc.

Does anyone know of any?

[bab-91]

We plan to camp most of the time & I've heard good things about the facilities in European camping sites. I'm trying to gather together names of recommended sites & roads to take etc. Even Hotels in cities with secure parking would be handy.

Trying to keep a record of it is a pain tho.

The Mountains hadn't even crossed my mind, I was more worried about Paris and German Motorways. Also parts of Marseilles were mentioned as a 'no go area'... which was a surprise.

[gareth]

A fair few pointers on routes etc on here but make sure you take in as many alpine passes as you can! grimsel pass, susten pass, furka pass are all do-able in a day. Staying in switzerland is very costly though.

BadDave and 320 touring are good chaps to get involved with route planning!

google maps can be very handy for laying out routes

[scallyally]

Check out Scallyrally Rally Europe, their 4 day rally (Calais to Rimini) covers the finest roads Europe has to offer including Swiss mountain passes, the Dolomites, the mighty Stelvio pass (top gear) Venice and Rimini. You can easily stretch this journey as long as you want, we returned via the Grossglockner pass (awsome) into Germany and home. Scallyrally isn't running next year but previous routes should be available via their website. Hope this helps.

[bab-91]

Thanks for the suggestions chaps. Ill do some snooping and see what I can throw together.

If it was just myself it would be easy... but keeping everyone happy is like playing mother.

I hadn't included Switzerland simply because we would end up doubling back on ourselves but I would definitely like to take a trip up there.

Keep the suggestions coming!!

[verde]

Me and my friends are planning similar...a four day blast to worthersee...slightly lower budget. it sounds great though bab

[bab-91]

Me and my friends are planning similar...a four day blast to worthersee...slightly lower budget. it sounds great though bab

Friend is a dub fiend so Worthersee was mentioned. If Nurburgring camping turns out to be too expensive .... We could very well end up there but we will see what happens with planning.

I'm annoyed France is in the way. It's adding miles and the only place I want to see there is the French Rivera.

I've seen Paris and its potentially one of the most overrated places I've been. Give me London, Prague or Berlin any day!

[Brianmoooore]

The general Idea is
Rosslare - Cherbourg
Paris - Lyon
Nice - Genoa
Torino - Milan
Venice - Innsbruck

Then on to Germany, where we plan to perv at a few car factories

BMW/Munich.
AMG/ Affalterbach
etc

We are trying to tie it in with the Nurburgring 24hr race also.

Then eventually finish of in Amsterdam, then home from there!!

Similar route to the one I followed on a six week trip, no less than forty years ago, although starting off Dover to Calais!
We stopped off in Milan for the Italian F1 GP, then, instead of going straight to Venice, we went down through Italy to Brindisi, and from there by ferry across to Greece and Athens.
Left the car outside the house of an acquaintance from Uni. and spent a week on a Greek island or two, before driving up through the middle of what was then Yugoslavia, and then across to Venice
Definitely go for it. It's an experience to look back on for the rest of your life.

[Hedley48]

I've wanted to do a road trip just like this your planning since i started driving and couldn't think of anything better than a tour of Europe in your pride and joy however I can barely afford to fuel my car to get to work at the minute maybe next year if someone's doing but not this time , wounded

[spook]

You can book Apartments in Germany for more or less the same as campsite fees

[maggspower]

Similar route to the one I followed on a six week trip, no less than forty years ago, although starting off Dover to Calais!
We stopped off in Milan for the Italian F1 GP, then, instead of going straight to Venice, we went down through Italy to Brindisi, and from there by ferry across to Greece and Athens.
Left the car outside the house of an acquaintance from Uni. and spent a week on a Greek island or two, before driving up through the middle of what was then Yugoslavia, and then across to Venice
Definitely go for it. It's an experience to look back on for the rest of your life.

Well it wasn't an e30. So what car were you in Brian?

[Brianmoooore]

I can barely afford to fuel my car to get to work at the minute maybe next year if someone's doing but not this time , wounded

Petrol was around 5.5p/litre when I started on my trip, and had rocketed to not far short of 8p by the time I got home!

[gareth]

Similar route to the one I followed on a six week trip, no less than forty years ago, although starting off Dover to Calais!
We stopped off in Milan for the Italian F1 GP, then, instead of going straight to Venice, we went down through Italy to Brindisi, and from there by ferry across to Greece and Athens.
Left the car outside the house of an acquaintance from Uni. and spent a week on a Greek island or two, before driving up through the middle of what was then Yugoslavia, and then across to Venice
Definitely go for it. It's an experience to look back on for the rest of your life.

Well it wasn't an e30. So what car were you in Brian?

He was probably on foot, waiting patiently for the E30 to be designed!

[verde]

Me and my friends are planning similar...a four day blast to worthersee...slightly lower budget. it sounds great though bab

Friend is a dub fiend so Worthersee was mentioned. If Nurburgring camping turns out to be too expensive .... We could very well end up there but we will see what happens with planning.

I'm annoyed France is in the way. It's adding miles and the only place I want to see there is the French Rivera.

I've seen Paris and its potentially one of the most overrated places I've been. Give me London, Prague or Berlin any day!

Let me know nearer the time what your route is and shit. Might meet u in worthersee or germany. Im not sure the route home wer taking. Kinda wanna hit italy or maybe switzerland

[bab-91]

Similar route to the one I followed on a six week trip, no less than forty years ago, although starting off Dover to Calais!
We stopped off in Milan for the Italian F1 GP, then, instead of going straight to Venice, we went down through Italy to Brindisi, and from there by ferry across to Greece and Athens.
Left the car outside the house of an acquaintance from Uni. and spent a week on a Greek island or two, before driving up through the middle of what was then Yugoslavia, and then across to Venice
Definitely go for it. It's an experience to look back on for the rest of your life.

Was it not difficult to get into Yugoslavia? It being communist at the time.

I am absolutely dying to drive to Dubrovnik but can't convince the others.
Uncle sails the Adriatic every so many years and he is in love with the place!

A road trip is something I've been itching to do and cant think of a better time to do it!

[Brianmoooore]

No less a car than a Mini I'd built from scratch at the age of 17, with a tuned 1000cc engine. Flat out cruising on the German autobahns on the return leg got the better of it though, when it dropped half an exhaust valve. Limped the rest of the way home on three cylinders, then wrote it off the next day!

[Brianmoooore]

Was it not difficult to get into Yugoslavia? It being communist at the time.

No problem with Yugoslavia - it was an 'open' communist state, and we only had to queue at the border and get our passports stamped, which was the same as at most borders back then. Bulgaria, and all the other communist states to the East were all totally off limits though.

[bab-91]

Bulgaria was underdeveloped when I was there 7-8 years ago. God knows what state it was in 40 years ago! So what did you think of Yugoslavia?

If anyone knows of anything interesting happening in Europe this summer drop a comment. Dates could change depending on when my luggage (sorry I mean friends)and I get our holidays.

[Brianmoooore]

Bulgaria was underdeveloped when I was there 7-8 years ago. God knows what state it was in 40 years ago! So what did you think of Yugoslavia?

We went straight up through the middle of the place, then turned left towards Venice, and TBH, it was the biggest sh*te hole I'd ever been in, and still holds that honour to this day.
There was a group of kids at the one camp sight we stayed in who quite obviously were totally unfamiliar with cutlery, and had never seen a toilet pan in their lives.

[bab-91]

We went straight up through the middle of the place, then turned left towards Venice, and TBH, it was the biggest sh*te hole I'd ever been in, and still holds that honour to this day.

You've not been to Northern Ireland then

Sounds rather bleak! Would you not be interested in going back and retracing your steps. See how it's changed? It couldn't of got any worse by the sound of it.

[jmc330i]

Bulgaria was underdeveloped when I was there 7-8 years ago. God knows what state it was in 40 years ago!

I went snowboarding out there about 8 years ago. Was brilliant, no health and safety made it much easier to have fun
I remember the 'temporary' fix to the chair lift was to tie a metal framed school chair to the remains of the broken one and then being told to hold on!

We had a mega trip from Sofia to Pamporovo, mostly in the dark but it was easy to see the change from the cities to the tourist areas. I say tourist areas, but it was basically 3 or 4 hotels, some shops and bars in all one complex with access to the slopes. We were told not to leave the complex and the armed police/guards on the gates kept reminding us

Driving through the cities and built up areas, I can imagine it hadn't changed much over the previous 30 odd years.


I've been thinking about a European tour for when I have a capable car. I have friends who live in Romania, about 100km from Pitești.... Transfăgărășan Highway, yes please

[Gert_8]

Bugger the road trip (which sounds fantastic, by the by) how have you managed to get 5-6 weeks of work?!

[bab-91]

I went snowboarding out there about 8 years ago. Was brilliant, no health and safety made it much easier to have fun
I remember the 'temporary' fix to the chair lift was to tie a metal framed school chair to the remains of the broken one and then being told to hold on!

We had a mega trip from Sofia to Pamporovo, mostly in the dark but it was easy to see the change from the cities to the tourist areas. I say tourist areas, but it was basically 3 or 4 hotels, some shops and bars in all one complex with access to the slopes. We were told not to leave the complex and the armed police/guards on the gates kept reminding us

Driving through the cities and built up areas, I can imagine it hadn't changed much over the previous 30 odd years.


I've been thinking about a European tour for when I have a capable car. I have friends who live in Romania, about 100km from Pitești.... Transfăgărășan Highway, yes please

I was in Borovets skiing, sounds like we had similar experiences! We had two seriously injured in our group. Broken collar bone and broken leg iirc.

We were only 14 or so. Great holiday tho. We got served in the hotel off licence!!

but you got pestered by kids looking money.

I'd like to do road trip in eastern europe, Baltic states, Russia then back through Scandinavia but it would be veryyy expensive!

If you wanta Romanian experience then visit Hanger Lane Roundabout on a weekend

Can't you get that experience in the UK for a WKD

[jmc330i]

I went snowboarding out there about 8 years ago. Was brilliant, no health and safety made it much easier to have fun
I remember the 'temporary' fix to the chair lift was to tie a metal framed school chair to the remains of the broken one and then being told to hold on!

We had a mega trip from Sofia to Pamporovo, mostly in the dark but it was easy to see the change from the cities to the tourist areas. I say tourist areas, but it was basically 3 or 4 hotels, some shops and bars in all one complex with access to the slopes. We were told not to leave the complex and the armed police/guards on the gates kept reminding us

Driving through the cities and built up areas, I can imagine it hadn't changed much over the previous 30 odd years.


I've been thinking about a European tour for when I have a capable car. I have friends who live in Romania, about 100km from Pitești.... Transfăgărășan Highway, yes please

I was in Borovets skiing, sounds like we had similar experiences! We had two seriously injured in our group. Broken collar bone and broken leg iirc.

We were only 14 or so. Great holiday tho. We got served in the hotel off licence!!

but you got pestered by kids looking money.

We were meant to be in Borovets, but a double book by the travel agent had us ending up in Pamporovo. Wasn't all bad though, paid for 3 star half board, ended up all inclusive at a 5 star, feeling right out of place lol - six 20yr olds made the most of the free bar

We ended up becoming well know for the week, after one of my mates got naked on the 1st night during a rep induced drinking game - they had people on stage to attempt pole dancing, then they played the Full Monty tune, so what did they expect?? lol
It was more of a family hotel, but everybody took it in good spirit. For the rest of the week he had people(mums, dads, everyone lol) shouting at him across the slopes, from the chair lifts etc asking when his next performance was lol.

We had no problems with the local kids, but I think the armed guards etc had something to do with that! No broken bones either luckily, although the same naked mate above, got a black eye after turning down one of the many hookers that kept following us around the bars lol


I thought it was great over there, on our third night, there was almost 3ft snow fall overnight. Had that been over here, everything would of stopped. Not over there, pretty much on time the taxis turned up to take us to the ski lift. Only 2 buses that met on a hairpin bend slowed the driver down, and even then not much!
Those drivers were amazing/nuts/brave driving on those roads with that amount of snow. Other than the occasional tourists car, there wasn't one stuck car on any road. Now compare that to the inch of snow we get here!