Euro Trip - Wisdom Required....

[Woody]

Chaps,

Just reading through the thread on the Swiss trip started by Paul L. Looks like my timing is a little out, but having just convinced the bride that Italy is doable and a must when having a Maserati, looks like I've got the goahead to do the trip (she's not a good car passenger, so I'm pretty pleased!)

Got no real clue how to do it though....

Rough itenerary is...

Leaving Friday 16th

Ideally, we would:
- spend a day or two in Southern France
- be in Italy near Lake Garda on the Tuesday 20th
- ideally pop to Maserati factory on Wed/Thurs 21st/22nd
- be in Luxembourg Saturday 24th
- home Sunday. Boo.

I've never done this before, so would like to take in a few decent roads if possible....and baring in mind you lot seem to have, literally, been down this road before, I thought I'd ask for some advice.

As a rough start, I thought:
Friday - Day 1 - Home - Folkstone/Calais - Lyon (big day, 600+ miles)
Saturday - Day 2 - Lyon to Grenoble (Route Napoleon ) - good idea on a Saturday? 270 miles
Sunday - Day 3 - trip to Monaco
Monday - Nice to Genoa - 121 miles
Tuesday - Lake Garda - 160 miles
Wednesday - bride stays in Lake Garda, me and a mate drive to Maserati - 190 round trip
Thursday - maybe another day on Lake Garda
Friday - drive to Luxembourg - via where?
Saturday - cont. to drive to Luxembourg - 530 miles total
Sunday - Luxembourg home - 400 miles.

Roughly 2,200 miles.....apparently, £423 of fuel, according to Google

Any thoughts on that? Bits worth missing,.....bits not to be missed? Any tips on places to stay? Happy to do a couple of camp sites, particularly around the Lakes.

I know these type questions have been asked a thousand times and I'm reluctant to put them on PH as a result but as I know some of you guys are well versed in this, some are even there now, some are in the midst of planning....any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Woody

 

[BigFoot]

Swing by Milan and have coffee with BigFoot

 

[lozcb]

Swing by Milan and have coffee with BigFoot

Will certainly give you a shout Maurizio when i do it again next year , Training the car down from Dusseldorf to Turkey then doing Greece Romania Croatia Italy and back through the alps and home through Germany Via the NB-ring , Perhaps i can drop your handy cam back at the same time


Oh Woody , Its a must to pre arrange masser factory tour via a dealer or direct with spa , and Stelvio doing it early in the morning to avoid other traffic, its better to do Stelvio to Bormio rather than the other way round

regards loz

 

[marcos]

Route looks fine but ALWAYS Como over Garda!

Also 600miles in a day is too much, even in a Maserati. I drove from Cobham to Strasbourg in a day in my 4200 which was prretty much 500miles. The 4200 is one of the world's best tourers as far as I'm concerened, however we were shattered when we got there, even with plenty of stops. It's just that bit too much I think.

Breaking the journey up for a couple of days with no driving will pay-off big time as well. You'll be sick of the car after a few long drives!

Route Napoleon on a Saturday should be fine late in the year like that, and also no trucks on the road and caravans should be where they need to be already. Nice wide road with plenty of overtakes

Picking a route... literally get on google maps and zoon in, if it looks winding then it is! If she's not a good passenger, Stugeron is a must to stop car sickness!

 

[Emtee]

Hi Woody,

I've just done a similar run myself. Now settled for the week in Lourmarin just outside Aix-en-Provence. We drove down to Dover for an overnight and then caught the 9.45am ferry on Friday.

Then it was Calais to Beaune just south of Dijon, and even on the auto-routes this was enough. I do think that extra mileage down to Lyon would be hard work.

Unfortunately next weekend we have to drive from here to Reims, which based on the journey down, is going to be grisly. 760 kms and about 8 hours driving. Then Reims to Loughborough on Sunday.Wish we'd added in another overnight for the return to be honest, but time didn't allow.

When I do it next time, I'll be budgeting 600 -650 kms per day max as it's meant to be a holiday, particularly for Mrs Tee.

 

[DaveT]

Sounds a great trip Miles.

Hope you and Linda enjoy!

Cheers

 

[Emtee]

Sounds a great trip Miles.

Hope you and Linda enjoy!

Cheers

Thanks Dave. It's raining at the moment!!

 

[Woody]

Thanks for the replies chaps. As a bit of a compromise, we're looking at possibly getting an overnihgt train on the way South....

Funny thing is, reading on PH, poeple saying about the width of the cars. I go to site to have a look an see this pic - what are the odds!?

 

[Emtee]

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with the car train Woody, as if it's safe I'll consider it myself next time around. Keep us posted?

 

[Woody]

Definately. Heard some good things about it. Used to do it as a kid on family holidays. Used to go from Calais in them days.

Will report back if thats what we end up doing.

 

[lozcb]

Thanks for the replies chaps. As a bit of a compromise, we're looking at possibly getting an overnihgt train on the way South....

Funny thing is, reading on PH, poeple saying about the width of the cars. I go to site to have a look an see this pic - what are the odds!?

Definately the way to go Woody, win win in my book , makes for a more pleasurable journey , saves a few miles on the car , plus you can eat in relative comfort , whats not to like

regards loz

 

[Woody]

Yeah, its looking like a strong possiblilty after a morning of looking.

A quick trip to Dusseldorf (would that take in some derestricted Autobahn?) then a slow train down to either Trieste or Verona. Miss out France, but spend more time smoking around Italy and the lakes, take in the nice roads on the way back...

 

[MAF260]

I've just driven from Hertfordshire to Barcelona and back - both trips completed in 1 day, about 1,000 miles each way. Not doing that again, even with a Mediterranean cruise followed by a week at a luxury villa in between. Funnily enough, the drive back was quicker. I did this in a LWB Shogun Warrior (wife's car) big, heavy diesel 7-seater with 4 passengers and luggage. Was amazed that the car achieved 28mpg average over the whole trip which is not bad for what I think is an agricultural 3.2 diesel engine and auto box. Hardly relaxing driving or cruising though.

Woody, my other tip for long road trips is to take a spray bottle of good glass cleaner (I use Meguiars) and a couple of micro fibre cloths - 1 to clean and the other to polish. I used mine a few times per day to give the windscreen and lights a good clean - makes a massive difference when driving IMO to have nice clear glass & the stuff left out to use at foreign service stations is generally rubbish.

 

[lozcb]

Yeah, its looking like a strong possiblilty after a morning of looking.

A quick trip to Dusseldorf (would that take in some derestricted Autobahn?) then a slow train down to either Trieste or Verona. Miss out France, but spend more time smoking around Italy and the lakes, take in the nice roads on the way back...

Definately Woody, Aarchen to Dusseldorf will give you chance to hit that 150 plus , did it many times on my kwacka Z1200 , thats if there is no roadworks so keep your eyes peeled



regards loz

 

[safrane]

Did the Route Napoleon a few years ago as per You-Tube type in Maserati Drive Route Napoleon if you want to view.

It was fantastic and as stated in the earlier very clear of traffic but lots of places to pass in a V8.

 

[BennyD]

Recently found the answer to an age old question as mentioned above;

Why did Napoleon plant trees down the sides of French roads? So the German army could march in the shade!

 

[Woody]

MAF, thats an interesting thought. I usually take the cloths, but oddly havent thought about taking the cleaner. Thanks

Loz, I'm not sure I have the stones to do 150 with the bride, but you never know...she does occasionally nod off

 

[lozcb]

MAF, thats an interesting thought. I usually take the cloths, but oddly havent thought about taking the cleaner. Thanks

Loz, I'm not sure I have the stones to do 150 with the bride, but you never know...she does occasionally nod off

I thought that the first time i went to France with the Missus down to LeMans in the 4200 Woody, after x amount of miles of late tens early in the morning she started egging me on to go faster , at 125mph the car started to waiver just a tad , and so did my bottle , kept going and at 140 the car seemed to drop an inch or two and felt as if it was being sucked to the road and very very stable , carried on all the way to 165 car felt safe as anything , with the missus leaning over into my lap to look at the speedo her bottle went and we re-settled back down to a more relaxing sensible speed, what a wheeze tho


regards loz

 

[dem maser]

My mrs dont like me speeding.....put my foot down yesterday only to reset the throttle mind you and she hated it....not great company for going fast....she drives like a nutter though

 

[2b1ask1]

Put her in the A/C driving seat, have a few pints & get driven home enjoying the ride Dem... Win win...!