Hello all!

Would like to drive through Europe with the B and land in the sunny Island of Cyprus where my parents live, enjoy the sunshine topless for a while and come back again.

I believe i would have to catch a ferry crossing from either Italy to Greece, to Cyprus but not sure which route would be best.

Would like the drive to be interesting and scenic but at the same time cost effective.

Can anyone help with some pointers and guides as where i should drive / stop through .

Back to the B,s homeland would be nice.

Sounds excellent, can't help with the route but can't wait for the pictures!!

Fly !?!

Has anyone drove through Europe upto Italy or even further to Greece and if so please give us some pointers as to their experience, good or bad.

If there is places i should not miss on route or avoid.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've driven to Milan, via Turin, the Mont Blanc tunnel was still shut at the time and ended up going through Mount Frejus [the border sign is in the middle of the tunnel!]

You can have an easy drive from Calais down the A26 to Reims, toll road, about two and half hours to get there.

Of course you can go further than that on the first day, depends on your time scale.

Most towns in France are good for cheap hotels

If you want to notch up countries you can always go through Switzerland, but remember you will have to pay for the priviledge. You will of course have a nice sticker in the windscreen to prove you've been there.

You'll love the driving through the mountains, but good idea to wear long sleeves if the sun is out and the top down, You tend not to notice how hot it can get.

With all the little tunnels up there you will have to put your lights on through each one. Easy for those cars that have auto lights these days. You could leave them on all day?

Motorway speeds in Italy can be excessive and you do have to be wary of things appearing in the rear view mirror all of a sudden. When pulling onto them, do not be pushed into the storm gutters by the person behind going quicker than you and obviously desperate to join the 'race'

Done the euro thing a couple of times, although not for a while. First time was Glasgow to Budapest in my first Thema - dover, ostende then a straight run through belgium, germany, austria, hungary. Second time was a round europe jaunt from france, belgium, holland, germany, austria, italy, switzerland and back up through France. Great fun, that was in a rented Renault 19 diesel so shows you how long ago that was. Wouldn't fancy doing it at todays fuel prices all the same......

If you feel like staying a little south of Limoges (8hrs from Calais - I have just driven it in the Barchetta today), we would be happy to offer a discount from our normal room rates - www.chateau-marotte.com

Good luck with the journey planning.

Glynn

KC forgot that we were only 8 miles from the Greek border when we drove to Turkey but if you want to do that route leave plenty of time spare unless you want to drive the boring motorways

ok, thanks for replys.

What what be a good route. I have been told that there is no longer ferry crossings from Greece to Cyprus accompanied by car and that if i go there, the B would have to ferry alone while i catch a flight over to Cyprus.

I,m looking into this further but would appreciate any further guidence.

The destinations would be Ancona,Italy or Brindesi,Italy. then ferry to patra, Greece and onto Cyprus.

Just trying to work out best cost effective scenic route.

Just found TDMB's European thread,

Looks like a great trip to do and lovely places to see.

Any idea how much this trip would cost in todays prices.

Depends on the price of the ferries you could skip the top part of Italy via turin milan etc then head down croatia etc and drive the whole route.

The roads through to Mont blanc are superb I have lots of pics if you wish them although it's not cheap going through there at 20 odd euro but at least you can always say you have been through it. If you travel slightly further north there are tunnels even longer but are free.

Unless using the mountain roads I would avoid switzerland as the main route systems are very tedious, lovely but tedious all the same.

Only problem using the eastern europe is the roads are sometimes missing without warning and you can drop into a hole if not consentrating fully but it's worth travelling through and the fuel costs are much lower.

you could consider the "italian job" route, esspecially the road where the Miura came to a sudden stop with the help of two bulldozers

Crossing the Alps is nice, but i would suggest to take the passes and not the tunnels.. much nicer and more fun

If going through Switzerland.. remember they dont like loud pipes overthere

>>>>>Would like the drive to be interesting and scenic but at the same time cost effective<<<<

No matter what route you use going to Italy & Greece it'd not fail to be interesting and scenic but never cost effective. At 35mpg plus hotels tolls & ferries your credit card will get a severe caning. Dare I suggest too that the B is overly small for 2 peeps with not enough luggage space, ultra long haul, too small a tank range, maybe too insecure for dastardly Eastern Europe with a ragtop. The viability would depend on how many weeks away, otherwise it'd be far too much marching and not enough fighting in my humble opinion. I might add I love long schleps but I'd be tempted to fly, hire a car and spend all the petrol money and time saved on loose wild women & booze.