2011 Z4 Road Trip

[Taz]

Help needed

Having booked 2 weeks holiday for April next year I am considering a road trip to and around europe.

So, I know there are quite a few on here who have done this themselves, I also know there are post on here too. Over the next few weeks I will have a good read of them. In the mean time I would appreciate any tips i.e. best routes, roads, stop overs, sights etc

Fanks,

Your lovin Taz

[davegt]

I've done a few Euro trips, French motorways are ok but the tolls soon start to add up, to get into Switzerland you have to pay the road tax at the boarder but the drive across Switzerland into Italy is worth every penny, I stopped near Lazern. There are a couple of Multi story car parks in Venice with secure parking bays if you book in advance, if you stay in Venice the water busses are a great way to see it. Monaco has the cleanest car parks I've ever seen lol. St Tropez is overated IMO but worth a look for the vast number of super cars parked around the harbour. The new roads across Spain (paid for by the EU) are super smooth. Driving in Italy is...............interesting.

I plan my trips by looking at a map of Europe (big paper one on the wall) and then use mappy.com to work out distance, cost etc.

[cj10jeeper]

I've done a huge number of European road trips and suggest start with a destination in mind and type of trip.
Doesn't matter if you never make it but it sets the scene for distance, average per day drive, roughtly where stops could be, which countries, etc.
Type of trip to me dictates am I after mountains and roads to drive, gentle cruise, etc.

I like taking the Santander ferry and playing in the Pyrenees and cutting out what can be boring dash across France. I equally like leaving Calais on D roads and taking forever to get nowhere or just cruising Brittanny, the Loire, etc.

Also think laterally. My best ever road trip was probably a drive across Denmark then from the beach at Ystad in South Sweden to Kiruna in the Artic. Sun never really sets, amazing scenery, etc. etc.

Start with some sort of master plan and fill in for there.

Not detail but hopefully food for thought

[Taz]

davegt, as simple as it sounds, a map is a good idea, i will buy 1 soon

cj10jeeper, I have thought of going down to Malga in Spain but that could be too far, only other thoughts at this stage is that i would like to try and do a couple of good moutain passes

[roofless]

I have been driving round parts of europe since mid 80's, spent 3 months in an MG midget doing a slow jaunt in '89.

Key things i would say are
1 How much time do you want to spend in the car and how much time sightseeing/stopping?
2 Where are the places you really want to see? (do you want scenery or beautiful cities?)
3 How much driving does your significant other want to put up with?
4 What is the longest time you want to make on one driving session?
5 Do you want a few days break in one place?

We visit Provence regularly. 10hour drive from Calais to the house, then spend time around Provence to finish with a 10 hour drive back.
2010 we did France - Switzerland - como - Venice- Florence - san gimignano - Parma - Provence and home in 16 Days. The trip broke down nicely with not too many long jaunts, beautiful scenery and enough time to enjoy the cities.
It's surprising how much you can do but you do need to decide how full on a holiday you want. Sometimes you can return and need a few days holiday to recover.

My knowledge of Spain is limited so if that's your destination i can't help much, my experiences there were pretty unpleasant and my only photo of spain is the road out.

The French side of the Pyrenees is lovely and there are some gorgeous walks to be done in the mountains. Check time of year and weather conditions. April in the mountains, i would imagine, is going to be cold and snowy.
I once got caught in a snowstorm crossing the alps into switzerland from Italy, fortunately met the snow plow coming up from switzerland to the pass and followed it back down into switzerland. That was early september one year.

Good luck with planning your trip, mega exciting and got me thinking about my next jaunt. I'd like to do the romantic road in Germany. Also have along term plan of driving to Norway and Sweden.
Moselle and Rhine trips are fab and you can avoid french tolls by going through Belgium. Easily reached in a morning or afternoon from Dover.

[Taz]

roofless, I have booked off the last 2 weeks in April, i was concerned about weather conditions, if i do high mountain passes i could well end up in snow, if this is the case i would probably avoid these routes

If i do go to Spain, then i would like to get there in 3 or 4 days, stop at my aunties for a few days, do some day trips whilst there, then another 3 or 4 day trip back home

I prefer scenery than cities, 8 and 10 hour driving stints do not worry me at all

[Lance]

Well Mr Taz, lots of good advice already

I too have been doing road trips to/in Europe every year since the mid/late 80's and all trips have been great.

Personally I think April is a little early in the year as the weather could be very iffy in the moutains, but with less then rigid plans mean changes are easy should need be.

I'd suggest not trying to squeeze too much into your trip as driving can quickly become a chore if you're continually chasing time.

I love the pyrenees and agree that the boat is worth considering if you don't fancy the slog through France. However should you wish to drive through France, it is a truely beautiful country, just need to get off the Autoroute and explore a little. Millau and the Massif Centrale are worth a look.

The pyrenees can be driven west to east or criss crossed between France and Spain for some epic scenery. Andorra is worth a visit, however it is a nit manic in the capital. The N260 is just in the Spanish side of Andorra and is one of the great driving roads. Well worth a visit.

From here you can be in Provence and the Route Napolean within half a day, leading to the Alps and a whole new set of stunning views and roads, this of course puts you where a route home could include the Nurburgring.

Do some research on Slovenia and Croatia as well, I went to Slovenia by bike a couple of years back and was very impressed. Beautiful scenery, stunning roads and a nice relaxed feel to the place. Not been to Croatia, but people I know who have, highly recommend it.

If you're going south as far as Italy/Slovenia, consider the motor-rail from Dusseldorf. You can get off the train at your furthest point south on day 1 - 2 of your hol and spend all the rest driving back.

Numerous roads trips mean many many memories and experiences and far too many suggestions to put on here but any questions, just ask. If you require more info about paticular regions, again, just ask

Just remembered, Berchesgarten, Dachau ............

Good luck fella

[cj10jeeper]

Malaga makes a great target. I spend at least 2 weeks every year in Andalucia. Great clear mountain roads around Ronda. Plus of course sun and harbourspuerto Banus, Gibraltar etc. For that trip I'd sail to Santander take in Andorra and some great Spanish cities.
All depends on what you want.

[Rach*]

Will the big passes be open that early in the year?

My 2 fave Euro drives so far have been:

Down to Croatia then following the coast road

Following the original Mille Miglia route

Slovenia, Slovakia are also gorgeous and do really yummy sandwiches at the services


I want to head up t'other way next time, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia or Sweden, Norway ish....

[roofless]

I think you're going to get some great advice on here definitely and i'm looking forward to reading some ideas from other posts in this thread.

I do think it would be a good idea for there to be a dedicated section on the forum for people to log their travels, an easy way for people to look at ideas for planning their own trips. I have already seen some great trip threads both europe and the USA.

We have a section for the monthly photo comp but i would like to be able to go and find old travel threads easily. I think the aptly named roadtrip posted some fab pictures recently and others have too. What do people think ? Perhaps this is the wrong place to post this thought? Sorry if it is, still a bit of a newbie here

[BMWZ4MC]

I've driven from Barcelona over the Pyrenees, through Andorra into France in mid April. Maybe I was lucky, but there was still snow on the ground yet the air temperature was in the high teens. Sadly I was in a Citroen at the time That said, rental cars are known to be the fastest on the planet, and will go over any terrain

This year, I drove to Annecy, meandering through eastern France from the ferry at Calais. It was a great trip, but the 700 mile home journey from Annecy to London was a big of a flog to do in one day. Next time, I think I'll use the Motorail to get to the south of France, and drive on into Italy or Switzerland from there.

[petach]

The "Perched" villages in South of France are a good drive on twisty hilly roads. Agay to Mons (43.695431,6.70887) via Bagnol en Foret is a nice run, Also, if in Italy.....San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Montalcino have very twisty turny roads.

[mikedav]

Another vote for Slovenia here. Ljublijana is stunning and it's somewhere a bit different. A lake in the town of Bled:



Its only about 1500 miles from Dover to Split, Croatia actually, via Luxemborg and Munich (I did it back in July). Roads are good throughout, lots of nice alpine passes etc. I didnt take a Z but would be happy taking mine all the way down to Slovenia. I'm not sure I would take it to Croatia. Split is lovely but I think Slovenia is prettier than Croatia anyway and far enough. I'd be tempted to do something that incorporated that and then went for a Mile Miglia / Italian route myself on the way back.

I wouldn't recommend Serbia Romania or Bulgaria... A) The roads can be total cack, and B) something like a Z4M on UK plates will stand out like a sore thumb and in the 'dodgier' countries you probably would worry about leaving it anywhere. Otherwise so much of Europe is really very easy on a leisurely basis in a 2 week period. For comparison, myself and two friends did London to Istanbul in 4 days last year and that was with party stops in Brugge, Czech, Budapest and Belgrade, so not exactly full on driving.....

[Taz]

My big concern at the moment is if end of April is too early, I do want to do some mountain passes

Not thought of Slovenia and such places, could be very interesting

[roofless]

Provence, weather will be cool but should have clear skies generally, may get some rain but there are some great drives through the Massif des Maures, a chain that runs parallel with the coast. Tight narrow roads, steep drop offs but glorious scenery.
Collobrieres is famous for chestnuts and cork, the drive from there through to Bormes Les Mimosas is wonderful, scares the wife everytime but very pretty. Reaching the top and looking out to the med is fabulous. Le Lavandou is great as is all the coast along there. The drive to Ramatuelle, a ville perche is also nice and St Tropez old town is actually quite pretty. The old town of Grimaud, inland also lovely. The Var in Provence is one of my favourite places in the world and i can bore for england on the subject but it may be worth a thought.