Off Topic Travelling to the Continent - split from Draigflag's A500 thread

[grajo]

Only took a few pics, hope you like them! RE: The one with the Church by the lake (pic one, can't see it that well) that Church was built in remembrance for the Church that once lay in the Valley, now submerged beneath the lake (man made reservoir) Wonder what they did with the old graves? Apparently, you can see the old Church spire poking through the lake in very dry weather, spooky.

Again, great pics. I worked in Italy for 10 years in northern Tuscany, which is gobstoppingly beautiful, and has got SERIOUS A500 roads. There is a lake I know where the village was submerged and when the dam is opened the whole village appeares out of the lake

Just as a random thought mate, I know northern Tuscany very well, if you or anybody else who reads this is interested in a trip down there, contact me, I can sort accomodation, routes, places to go, bars, petrol.

Seriously, if anybody is interested

BTW Paul, didn't mean to go off topic But I can sort out the above

 

[Rawb]

Re: Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

Again, great pics. I worked in Italy for 10 years in northern Tuscany, which is gobstoppingly beautiful, and has got SERIOUS A500 roads. There is a lake I know where the village was submerged and when the dam is opened the whole village appeares out of the lake

Just as a random thought mate, I know northern Tuscany very well, if you or anybody else who reads this is interested in a trip down there, contact me, I can sort accomodation, routes, places to go, bars, petrol.

Seriously, if anybody is interested

BTW Paul, didn't mean to go off topic But I can sort out the above

Count me in if you don't mind me coming along to the above. (if it happens)

Yet again great pictures. I need windows 7 to get some of theses awesome pictures on a rotation on my desktop!

 

[DraigFlag87]

Re: Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

Again, great pics. I worked in Italy for 10 years in northern Tuscany, which is gobstoppingly beautiful, and has got SERIOUS A500 roads. There is a lake I know where the village was submerged and when the dam is opened the whole village appeares out of the lake

Just as a random thought mate, I know northern Tuscany very well, if you or anybody else who reads this is interested in a trip down there, contact me, I can sort accomodation, routes, places to go, bars, petrol.

Seriously, if anybody is interested

BTW Paul, didn't mean to go off topic But I can sort out the above

Thanks Grajo, that sounds cool. I can imagine you will be very popular on the Abarth forum, they've recently organised a trip to the Alps, Nurburgring etc for next month! It takes a lot of organizing. As much as i love driving though, not sure i could do that many miles in a day, day after day if you know what i mean! Will defo let you know though

 

[grimwau]

Re: Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

Again, great pics. I worked in Italy for 10 years in northern Tuscany, which is gobstoppingly beautiful, and has got SERIOUS A500 roads. There is a lake I know where the village was submerged and when the dam is opened the whole village appeares out of the lake

Just as a random thought mate, I know northern Tuscany very well, if you or anybody else who reads this is interested in a trip down there, contact me, I can sort accomodation, routes, places to go, bars, petrol.

Seriously, if anybody is interested

BTW Paul, didn't mean to go off topic But I can sort out the above

Great Idea.

Graham, we (the wife and I) often drive to visit friends in Milan and Bergamo and travel via Zurich to see other friends and to have a stopover. We also like to take a overnight break, both on the way and return trip. If you aim to travel as many miles in a day as possible to spend more time in Italy I don't think the wife would be up for it unfortunately.

Keep me posted though.

 

[306maxi]

Re: Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

Great Idea.

Graham, we (the wife and I) often drive to visit friends in Milan and Bergamo and travel via Zurich to see other friends and to have a stopover. We also like to take a overnight break, both on the way and return trip. If you aim to travel as many miles in a day as possible to spend more time in Italy I don't think the wife would be up for it unfortunately.

Keep me posted though.

Have you considered going through Chamonix and taking the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy?

Seems to only be 30 miles longer to Milan than the most direct route.

Chamonix is a beautiful place. We went all the way from Hawkhurst in Kent to Chamonix in a day. It's a hell of a drive though! At one point early in the day I did honestly think that if I didn't stop within the next few minutes that I was going to fall asleep!!!!!!!! I'd imagine that if you got over the channel in the evening and then drove to Chamonix the next day it'd be a much more agreeable drive.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&s...624512&sspn=3.508526,6.888428&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=6

 

[grajo]

Re: Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

Have you considered going through Chamonix and taking the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy?

Seems to only be 30 miles longer to Milan than the most direct route.

Chamonix is a beautiful place. We went all the way from Hawkhurst in Kent to Chamonix in a day. It's a hell of a drive though! At one point early in the day I did honestly think that if I didn't stop within the next few minutes that I was going to fall asleep!!!!!!!! I'd imagine that if you got over the channel in the evening and then drove to Chamonix the next day it'd be a much more agreeable drive.

I used to do the Tuscany to Calais route 2/3 times a year and always went through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Unfortunately I was drving a 16 seat minibus with trailer limited to 62mph, but the journey was do-able in 2 days. I wouldnt want to do it in one hit in an A500 (did manage Calais to Pisa non stop once in the minibus, 24 hours, stupid but running late) but 2 days should be OK

Tony, this is drifting away a bit from Pauls thread, can you or do you want to move this someplace else where we can all chat about this and not clutter up Pauls thread??

 

[grimwau]

Re: Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

Tony, this is drifting away a bit from Pauls thread, can you or do you want to move this someplace else where we can all chat about this and not clutter up Pauls thread??

Graham, good point, however MM isn't my section so I will ask the section mod to do the honours if he thinks it might be more appropriate.

 

[Stuart J]

For anyone considering it the Abarth is a great car for it so dont worry about getting tired. 2years ago we did 10 countries in 9 days & most of the Mille Migla for good measure, between leaving & returning to calais we clocked a whisker over 4000 miles A couple of snaps below when a couple of Italian owners found us where we were staying

 

[306maxi]

to be fair grajo, there were two of us sharing the driving. We could have kept going if we wanted to

 

[Stuart J]

Driving large distances in Europe isnt too difficult if you plan carefully, avoid things like the Continental holiday season, plan the route carefully, check out for events like the tour de france, I hit that once & twas a complete nightmare.
For huge distances drive at night, if on your own stop when tired, 30 mins kip is all it needs, Ive fuelled a car & then parked at the back of the services for a kip before now. With 2 sharing there is no real limit to how far you can go, With a co driver Ive done Poole to top of Morocco & Kent to Oland (Sweden), both just over 1000 miles without stopping. The worst time I find is the early hours, around 4am & then its an idea if you & the co driver are awake,

September is a great month as the weather in the South is still very good & all the tourists have gone home. One leg straight south is IMO the way to do it, it can be reduced by getting across the channel the night before & grabbing a hotel a few miles south of Calais (cheaper than in calais) If you think that will be hard, do it but have a gentle day or even a rest day the next day before continuing with the run.

For anyone who hasnt driven over there It dosent compare to the UK, its so much easier with planning to cover huge distances quickly, the roads are good & usually have a lot less traffic than the UK, obviously City rush hours etc are a pain as here.

On a long journey theres little to be gained from slaughtering the speed limits, more time can be saved by reducing the amount of time spent in the services, refuelling, a drink, sandwich & a pee seems to take some about 40 mins, sandwiches & drink should be on board, refuel, pee & driver change should take 5 mins max, if you are in a convoy & others arent ready, leave, they soon get the message, carry radios & dont drive in a group of more than 3, larger groups tend to raise your profile.

 

[grajo]

I agree wtih everything StuartJ said. Long distances on the continent can be nailed if you plan, esp if you have a co driver.

I used to stop overnight at the Formule 1 hotels, cheap as chips, but always incredibly clean and you can get away first thing in the morning (but if you do use them make sure there is somewhere to eat and drink close. IE walking distance, got caught out one or two times) However, if you're trying to impress the other half then maybe they might be a tad basic

 

[grajo]

A couple of snaps below when a couple of Italian owners found us where we were staying

Where was this??

 

[306maxi]

Yeah, if you've got a co-driver then I think you could go on indefinitely.

People drive far better on the continent and even in a 1.2 which in getting near its limits cruising @ 90mph, people aren't tailgating you or flashing you to get out of the way like the ****heads here in the UK tend to. My wife thought I was weird to take a pillow with us on the trip but it was invaluable. We had to wake up at about 3:30am after only getting a couple of hours sleep and drive to dover and a 7:30 when we were an hour or so out of Calais I was completely dead. 2 hours kip in the passenger seat and I was as alert as I've ever been

 

[grajo]

My wife thought I was weird to take a pillow

NO!! Surely not lol.

My fave roads are Germany because everybody expects to get a move on and Italy where everybody is a nutter:devil:

 

[306maxi]

NO!! Surely not lol.

My fave roads are Germany because everybody expects to get a move on and Italy where everybody is a nutter:devil:

they were a little more pushy in germany but still not as bad as here

 

[bravo jtdM150]

Me and my dad did London to Salerno a couple of times ( south of italy by the Amalfi coast ) in 24 hours in our diesel Bravo, that was with plenty of stop overs and a 5 hour kip. 1300 miles each way. Continental motorways freeflow much better than the UK ones. Alot of tolls though
we went though the gottard tunnel on the latest trip.

If we go in the A500 we would have to fill up 5 or 6 times each way, when the bravo did it in 3 tanks each way, 80 mph at 2,100 rpm with the cruise control on.

 

[306maxi]

Me and my dad did London to Salerno a couple of times ( south of italy by the Amalfi coast ) in 24 hours in our diesel Bravo, that was with plenty of stop overs and a 5 hour kip. 1300 miles each way. Continental motorways freeflow much better than the UK ones. Alot of tolls though
we went though the gottard tunnel on the latest trip.

If we go in the A500 we would have to fill up 5 or 6 times each way, when the bravo did it in 3 tanks each way, 80 mph at 2,100 rpm with the cruise control on.

The skill of driving distances is balancing economy and speed though

We made it all the way from the M25 to Chamonix (650 miles) with only one fuel up and when i arrived in Chamonix I still had half a tank left. Only one more fuel up and I could have made it to Salerno. As it was I made it to Turin on the fuelup I did in France

Less stops for fuel means doing things a bit quicker and having time to rest rather than putting go go juice in the tank. I also made a point of brimming the tank every time I filled up so the car would go as far as possible.

 

[arorat]

I feel like taking the new TA for a spin to Europe but want to include mountains and do some hill walking, What would be a good trip for 4 nights (inc 2 days for travel).



Was thinking Zurich as the 1st stop after an overnight in France and on from there. Like to stop at foothills of Italy, but not in deserted towns. Any ideas ?

 

[306maxi]

I feel like taking the new TA for a spin to Europe but want to include mountains and do some hill walking, What would be a good trip for 4 nights (inc 2 days for travel).



Was thinking Zurich as the 1st stop after an overnight in France and on from there. Like to stop at foothills of Italy, but not in deserted towns. Any ideas ?

Chamonix is beautiful I'm sure you could get some walking done there, or pop throuh the Mont Blanc tunnel and you're in Italy

 

[arorat]

Chamonix is beautiful I'm sure you could get some walking done there, or pop throuh the Mont Blanc tunnel and you're in Italy

better choice of hotels on French side, that will prob work for us, is the tunnel toll ?