Ph1 172 + Combo van
Euro Roadtrip. 17th-23rd June 2010
Took me ages to write this up!
Decided as I hadn’t really planned a summer holiday to do something adventurous and head into Europe in the car. A mate was well up for it so we decided to give it a go and start planning places to go. We had planned to stay with a few friends in the south of France but at the last minute we realised they had their dates wrong as wasn’t going until July.
We had already booked the time off and the ferry, so we picked a few places on the map that we could visit and tried to make it into a route.
Car was stripped and packed the day before as well as filling up with fuel.
4.15 Am Thursday 17th
Up, washed, dressed. Grabbed a quite bite to eat before throwing the last few bits in the car. Shortly after picking up my mate we was on the road. 30 seconds after, we had hit a magpie.
I HATE birds. Couldn’t face pulling it out there so we carried on, a mile up the road to the petrol garage. Grabbed a glove and pulled it out. Leaving it on the petrol forecourt lol.
On the motorway, down to Dover for a 6.40 ferry.
Hour and a half on the boat, grabbed some breakfast and strolled around a bit. Bit choppy though!
Once we got off the boat in Calais there was a lot of diversions and roadworks. The TomTom didn’t like it. Not so long after we was on the motorway. This is the first time ive driven abroad and it really is a world apart from the motorways of England.
Saw some interesting machinery playing in the skies.
Managed 370 miles before stopping for fuel. Didn’t want to run it too low the computer said I had another 70 miles. Brimmed the tank again and grabbed some food before heading back out for the second leg of the journey.
Once off the motorway we started heading into the mountains. Scenery was getting better.
Arrived in Morzine, France at around 5.30. Had already booked the hotel so checked straight in and bought in some gear. Quick shower, change and head out for some dinner and a few beers. Goes down very well after being in the car all day and driving 600 odd miles.
Room was simple but perfect TBH. With a great view
The real view:
The next morning we packed everything back in the car, grabbed some breakfast then headed out towards the ski lift. Few Euros later we was on the Gondola heading up the side of the mountain.
Pictures from the top never came out too well. Was some fantastic views though.
Our original plan was to hire out some mountain bikes and stay here most of the day riding but the ground was a bit wet at the top. We headed back down in the gondola and back to the car.
Around 1pm we was on the road with Genève, Switzerland on the TomTom.
We made sure the tomtom was on avoid motorways so we could sample to roads.
Some very nice winding roads before jumping on a motorway for around 30mins.
We came off right on the lake and could see right across it.
We found some underground parking and then headed round the town on foot.
Looked around some shops and bought a few bits. It was very expensive here we worked it out that we payed £9.50 for a big mac meal!
We had a book of campsites and found one just up the road which was the best rated in the whole of Switzerland. Drove up there and booked a spot. 21.50 Euros got us a space with the car next to the tent.
The campsite gave us cards which was free for all the busses and trams in the area so we got changed and jumped on the bus back into town which was only a few minutes. Straight to the pub for a few beers then we went and grabbed some food. Back into the pub in time for the England game!
Back on the bus to the campsite, then we was soon fast asleep in the tent. Was lashing down with rain too but we had airbeds and a twin skinned tent to it wasn’t unpleasant atall.
Next destination was Stuttgart. Which he planned the night before.
Wasn’t in a rush to leave so with no alarm set, we woke up at around 10am.
Shower facilities were very good. This made the camping experience a whole lot more bearable.
Packed up and headed off to a local supermarket to grab some breakfast. We filled up with fuel too. You had to pay the money first so we put in 30 Swiss francs and began to fill up. The pump stopped at only 10! A woman from the supermarket gave us a form to fill in to claim back the money. A bit frustrating.
We got onto the motorway and stopped for fuel. This time it was a successful stop. Thankfully.
IIRC it was around 4 hours to Stuttgart from Geneva.
Hour and a half or so and we was at the Swiss/ Germany border. The stickers on the car obviously didn’t help here, we got asked quite a few questions but thankfully we were allowed in LOL.
German motorways. Were a very good experience! We were quite confused at the start on where the speed limits stopped started but after a while we reconised the signs and just copied other people. Although it was empty most of the time.
Big Audis and BMW’s just cruising past at 130+.
Car pulled to 140mph on the speedo. Full of gear and 2 people. I didn’t fancy pushing it further.
Arrived in Stuttgart at around 3.30pm.
Once again like Geneva. We found an underground car park as close to the centre as possible. Then we headed out to get familiar with the area. Strolled around, saw some sights, looked in some shops. Its quite a big place. We found a tourist information centre and asked for a hotel. There was a twin room for 80 Euros which was right near the centre of town. Had a parking space too. We walked there and checked in. Then back to the car to grab our luggage and get washed changed.
We went out for dinner then after a stroll round the town again we found a bar and had a few drinks. On the way home we went in Starbucks to use there free wifi!
We also went there for breakfast the next morning.
Used the wifi again to find a hotel. Our next destination was the Nurburg ring. We found a hotel and gave it a rang. Room for the night only 80 Euros including breakfast.
A few hours on the motorway we had to stop for lunch. Guess where we went.
We arrived at the hotel, parked up then walked up to the track to be greated by this!
#
The hotel we stayed in was great. 3 beds in a very large room. They had two r27 clios outside which were for hire.
http://www.hotel-an-der-nordschleife.de/
We headed up to the race track part and had a look round a few little shops inside the new centre. Some Formula 2 cars were going around the GP track.
We then headed off to the Nordschleife which was just down the road. There was old jags and alfas going round and there was no open track that day. So the place was very quiet, quite a disappointment but I never planned on doing any laps anyway.
We grabbed some dinner then went back to the hotel for a nap.
There are some very nice roads in the surrounding areas so we headed back out to sample them and get a few pics of the track before it got dark.
We found this tunnel which went under the track in the corner of a large car park. We headed through and then up to the track.
We got onto the track again near out hotel.
We carried on trecking round the edge of the track for quite a while.
A beer in the hotel pub, then off to bed.
Our plans for today were to head to Bruges, Belgium, look around for the day and then catch an 11pm ferry.
A few hours on the road, motorways were pretty busy.
We got to Bruges in time for lunch. Once again we found and underground car park then walked around. Found a nice little restaurant for some food. Couple more hours seeing the sites and sampling some shops.
It was still pretty early and we didn’t know what to do for the next few hours. So we headed back towards Calais which was only around an hours drive.
City of Europe wasn’t very great and the time was around 6 pm. We decided to just go the the ferry and we were booked on an earlier one for around 30 Euros.
Few last photos in Calais. We peeled the stickers off. Well most of them.
Ferry was calm and went quite quickly. We spent most of the time on the back. Watching the alarm go off on my car!
Once off the ferry it was around an hour home. Safe and sound. Car made it with no problems whatsoever. Few snapshots of the computer to give you idea of figures.
Travelled 1672.7 Miles.
Overall I spent Only 350 Euros. My mate spent 420 Euros.
Fuel, tolls and hotels were split. We payed for out own food and drink.
Such an adventure and I will definitely be going again. Definitely recommend it to anyone. Wanted to do it for a while but never thought I would. Took the plundge and had an epic time.
Took me ages to write this up!
Decided as I hadn’t really planned a summer holiday to do something adventurous and head into Europe in the car. A mate was well up for it so we decided to give it a go and start planning places to go. We had planned to stay with a few friends in the south of France but at the last minute we realised they had their dates wrong as wasn’t going until July.
We had already booked the time off and the ferry, so we picked a few places on the map that we could visit and tried to make it into a route.
Car was stripped and packed the day before as well as filling up with fuel.
4.15 Am Thursday 17th
Up, washed, dressed. Grabbed a quite bite to eat before throwing the last few bits in the car. Shortly after picking up my mate we was on the road. 30 seconds after, we had hit a magpie.
I HATE birds. Couldn’t face pulling it out there so we carried on, a mile up the road to the petrol garage. Grabbed a glove and pulled it out. Leaving it on the petrol forecourt lol.
On the motorway, down to Dover for a 6.40 ferry.
Hour and a half on the boat, grabbed some breakfast and strolled around a bit. Bit choppy though!
Once we got off the boat in Calais there was a lot of diversions and roadworks. The TomTom didn’t like it. Not so long after we was on the motorway. This is the first time ive driven abroad and it really is a world apart from the motorways of England.
Saw some interesting machinery playing in the skies.
Managed 370 miles before stopping for fuel. Didn’t want to run it too low the computer said I had another 70 miles. Brimmed the tank again and grabbed some food before heading back out for the second leg of the journey.
Once off the motorway we started heading into the mountains. Scenery was getting better.
Arrived in Morzine, France at around 5.30. Had already booked the hotel so checked straight in and bought in some gear. Quick shower, change and head out for some dinner and a few beers. Goes down very well after being in the car all day and driving 600 odd miles.
Room was simple but perfect TBH. With a great view
The real view:
The next morning we packed everything back in the car, grabbed some breakfast then headed out towards the ski lift. Few Euros later we was on the Gondola heading up the side of the mountain.
Pictures from the top never came out too well. Was some fantastic views though.
Our original plan was to hire out some mountain bikes and stay here most of the day riding but the ground was a bit wet at the top. We headed back down in the gondola and back to the car.
Around 1pm we was on the road with Genève, Switzerland on the TomTom.
We made sure the tomtom was on avoid motorways so we could sample to roads.
Some very nice winding roads before jumping on a motorway for around 30mins.
We came off right on the lake and could see right across it.
We found some underground parking and then headed round the town on foot.
Looked around some shops and bought a few bits. It was very expensive here we worked it out that we payed £9.50 for a big mac meal!
We had a book of campsites and found one just up the road which was the best rated in the whole of Switzerland. Drove up there and booked a spot. 21.50 Euros got us a space with the car next to the tent.
The campsite gave us cards which was free for all the busses and trams in the area so we got changed and jumped on the bus back into town which was only a few minutes. Straight to the pub for a few beers then we went and grabbed some food. Back into the pub in time for the England game!
Back on the bus to the campsite, then we was soon fast asleep in the tent. Was lashing down with rain too but we had airbeds and a twin skinned tent to it wasn’t unpleasant atall.
Next destination was Stuttgart. Which he planned the night before.
Wasn’t in a rush to leave so with no alarm set, we woke up at around 10am.
Shower facilities were very good. This made the camping experience a whole lot more bearable.
Packed up and headed off to a local supermarket to grab some breakfast. We filled up with fuel too. You had to pay the money first so we put in 30 Swiss francs and began to fill up. The pump stopped at only 10! A woman from the supermarket gave us a form to fill in to claim back the money. A bit frustrating.
We got onto the motorway and stopped for fuel. This time it was a successful stop. Thankfully.
IIRC it was around 4 hours to Stuttgart from Geneva.
Hour and a half or so and we was at the Swiss/ Germany border. The stickers on the car obviously didn’t help here, we got asked quite a few questions but thankfully we were allowed in LOL.
German motorways. Were a very good experience! We were quite confused at the start on where the speed limits stopped started but after a while we reconised the signs and just copied other people. Although it was empty most of the time.
Big Audis and BMW’s just cruising past at 130+.
Car pulled to 140mph on the speedo. Full of gear and 2 people. I didn’t fancy pushing it further.
Arrived in Stuttgart at around 3.30pm.
Once again like Geneva. We found an underground car park as close to the centre as possible. Then we headed out to get familiar with the area. Strolled around, saw some sights, looked in some shops. Its quite a big place. We found a tourist information centre and asked for a hotel. There was a twin room for 80 Euros which was right near the centre of town. Had a parking space too. We walked there and checked in. Then back to the car to grab our luggage and get washed changed.
We went out for dinner then after a stroll round the town again we found a bar and had a few drinks. On the way home we went in Starbucks to use there free wifi!
We also went there for breakfast the next morning.
Used the wifi again to find a hotel. Our next destination was the Nurburg ring. We found a hotel and gave it a rang. Room for the night only 80 Euros including breakfast.
A few hours on the motorway we had to stop for lunch. Guess where we went.
We arrived at the hotel, parked up then walked up to the track to be greated by this!
The hotel we stayed in was great. 3 beds in a very large room. They had two r27 clios outside which were for hire.
http://www.hotel-an-der-nordschleife.de/
We headed up to the race track part and had a look round a few little shops inside the new centre. Some Formula 2 cars were going around the GP track.
We then headed off to the Nordschleife which was just down the road. There was old jags and alfas going round and there was no open track that day. So the place was very quiet, quite a disappointment but I never planned on doing any laps anyway.
We grabbed some dinner then went back to the hotel for a nap.
There are some very nice roads in the surrounding areas so we headed back out to sample them and get a few pics of the track before it got dark.
We found this tunnel which went under the track in the corner of a large car park. We headed through and then up to the track.
We got onto the track again near out hotel.
We carried on trecking round the edge of the track for quite a while.
A beer in the hotel pub, then off to bed.
Our plans for today were to head to Bruges, Belgium, look around for the day and then catch an 11pm ferry.
A few hours on the road, motorways were pretty busy.
We got to Bruges in time for lunch. Once again we found and underground car park then walked around. Found a nice little restaurant for some food. Couple more hours seeing the sites and sampling some shops.
It was still pretty early and we didn’t know what to do for the next few hours. So we headed back towards Calais which was only around an hours drive.
City of Europe wasn’t very great and the time was around 6 pm. We decided to just go the the ferry and we were booked on an earlier one for around 30 Euros.
Few last photos in Calais. We peeled the stickers off. Well most of them.
Ferry was calm and went quite quickly. We spent most of the time on the back. Watching the alarm go off on my car!
Once off the ferry it was around an hour home. Safe and sound. Car made it with no problems whatsoever. Few snapshots of the computer to give you idea of figures.
Travelled 1672.7 Miles.
Overall I spent Only 350 Euros. My mate spent 420 Euros.
Fuel, tolls and hotels were split. We payed for out own food and drink.
Such an adventure and I will definitely be going again. Definitely recommend it to anyone. Wanted to do it for a while but never thought I would. Took the plundge and had an epic time.
