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Lauren's Euro Trip over the Alps

By Lauren, in Non GT86/BRZ General Chat

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Lauren    2259

Lauren
Posted
So, ever thought about a Euro Trip? This in my mind means driving a very long way and lots of different stopovers. Sure a beach holiday in the Costa Del Sol is easier to book and whilst sometimes I liken it to going on holiday without thinking which might appear to be a tad harsh, I really think that a holiday should incorporate a number of things. Part of this is to see a bit of the world. You only live once right and so it's fitting to ensure that there is plenty going on. Yes, I know there will be some that love just to read a book sat on the beach looking at their recent pedicure in the distance and contrasting it with lapping waves on the shore, but really, when you can do so much more, why wouldn't you? 
 
Well, in regard to that, I think it's mainly due to a European tour taking a fair bit of organising and working out. This is not without pain and commitment you must surely understand and it will involve long periods behind the wheel at times. But I would contest, if you like driving, why not spend your holiday doing a bit of it? For me, I love to travel, I know some will think it's boring, but really the travelling is simply part of the holiday, it doesn't all need to be long motorway slogs whether on the peage in France or the Autobahn in Germany for example. It can be so much more than that. A lot of it is the quaint places off the beaten track you see on the way and obviously the people you meet. These things don't happen when you board a plane at Manchester airport and arrive at Almeria or Malaga, having seen mostly just clouds. 
 
So where to go? Well there's this place called Europe which has a wide variety of things to look at along the way. It also has this big mountain range called the Alps which is simply spectacular and each side of it offers something different. You could be in France, Switzerland, Austria or Italy and all have their own unique flavour. So why just visit one country when you can visit seven as I have on this trip? 
 
All this helps if you're not driving a diesel Vectra of course, so a decent car capable of doing the trip helps. You could even take your friends and have a laugh along the way. But to the crux of the matter and now I'm going to explain why I love it so much, despite sitting on my hotel balcony in the middle of the Swiss Alps after an eight hour drive, not helped by an accident blocking a road but made somewhat more pleasant by being diverted up a famous Swiss Alpine pass. 
 
Firstly you start at Calais or whatever port of entry you choose. The sensible option is to subscribe to the Sanef Toll tag so there is no queuing when you hit the peage. Whilst I agree that France has some great points, getting down to the Alps is simply where it is at if you like your driving. This enables you to see if you can beat the 30km/h speed limit approaching the barriers to see if they will lift in time. Experience has confirmed they won't but it saves all the faffing around with change and Euros as you make your progress. I would recommens a stopover in France somewhere as you head south. 
 
We chose Strasbourg. Not just for the Tarte Flambee, which is fantastic by the way, but because it offered a break and then we could have a short hop into Germany and the Austrian Alps. 
 
So here we are on the Eurotunnel. We opted for this route rather than the ferry since we had our dog, Indy with us and it was better for her:
 
 
Strasbourg is not round the corner so it's a long old drive down the peage. Using the peage will relieve you of £60 to get to Strasbourg, so it's not cheap, but the roads are fast and relatively empty. We encountered no traffic issues in what was a 430 mile drive. This was a case of sticking on the cruise control at a GPS verified 130km/h and letting the miles or kilometres pass by. 
 
 
One note about France is, don't ever speed. It's easy to get carried away after a few hours and think that you can take advantage of empy motorways, but the French have speed cameras and they will have you. Bear in mind that up to 30km/h over the limit the fine is 90 Euro, but over that and it can be 750 Euro or worse! 
 
We drove from nine am till five at night and arrived in Strasbourg. No issues, just a long day. We were rewarded with a nice cold beer and the local speciality, Tarte Flambee:
 
 
After dinner we had a walk around. The cathedral in Strasbourg was stunning in the evening sun: 
 
 
Here's a tired Indy on the hotel bed:
 
 
We were predictably up early and finally felt like we were on holiday. :)
 
When we booked the hotels, we opted to choose deals with breakfast included. This is a good move as you can eat a whole load for breakfast and not need a lunch as such, which is great when you've got some miles to cover. This hotel even had Epoisse cheese available for breakfast. Only in France! 
 
 
It's almost uncanny that when you drive out of Strasbourg you crosss the border into Germany over a bridge, which is just bonkers as everything changes in the space of a few metres. But worth it to see of course. There happens to be around 300km of most de-restricted autobahn on the way to Austria and chasing high speeds soon becomes utterly addictive and just totally liberating. Getting over 200km/h (120mph) is where it's at and getting a new GPS verified 226km/h (141.25mph) was great fun. Doing it round what became a real bend on two lane autobahn whilst annihilating an A Class was even more satisfying I do admit. But this is what makes road trips so much fun. It's like another world being able to go as fast as you can without fear of being arrested. Those that know me will know I'm no straight line junkie, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't just love cruising at what are normally considered to be silly speeds and not to mention getting every last mile per hour or kilometre per hour out of the car. After all if your can apparently do 140mph, you'd want to test it wouldn't you? 
 
On the way through Germany we picked up the necessary vignettes for Austria €8 and the Swiss vignette €35. These are the necessary passes so you can drive on Austrian and Swiss motorways. There is apparently a hefty fine if you don't have one. I opted not to chance it. Here's the Austrian one, valid for ten days: 
 
 
And the Swiss vignette valid for a year: 
 
 
 

 

After the crazy speeds on the autobahn, we crossed the border in to Austria. What came next was something completely different. The hills turned into mountains and soon we were driving through tunnels. The scenery had changed to something decidedly more Alpine.
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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So, to our first Alpine pass, the Hahntennjoch Pass.

 
 
Naturally it's listed in dangerous roads, but it does have something of a full on start. The road rises very sharply and soon you're into a series of hairpins with steep inclines. Unfortunately only a few minutes after the start, we got stuck behind a local bus. It soon transpired though that the bus drivers was on a bit of a mission! We noted he had only one poor passenger onboard, but still there is a limit to what a bus can do. Eventually the bus stopped, presumably so the passenger could escape and finally I was able to get going. I admit, perhaps I got carried away with the ebb and flow of endless chicanes and hairpins and swooping bends as we climed the pass. This tended to highlight the lack of secured items in the back of the car tending to fly around. After being told to slow down a few times, I eased my pace and soon we were atop the Hahntennjoch. 
 
 
We were met by a Dutch couple who had driven up in their Jaguar XJS V12 and yes, it had overheated, producing it's own Alpine stream of coolant! We wished them good luck and stopped to catch our breath. Here's Mark and Indy with my car:
 
 
From there, the downhill loomed and Mark made it clear that I should curtail my pace somewhat. So I did, but still enjoyed carving our way down the side of the mountain and getting a chance to take in the views. It was thoroughly enjoyable and for me, just what it's all about. From there we had around an hour driving through the valley at the bottom to our destination for the night, Innsbruck, Austria. 
 
It's a pretty city with a medieval feel to it. 
 
 
The big tourist attraction here is the 'Golden Roof'. 
 
 
This was built in 1500 and designed as a 'royal box' whereby royalty would observe tournaments and events in the square below. 
 
 
We always look for traditional dishes for dinner wherever we go and for me anyway it provides a way of knowing we've travelled to somewhere new. This time it was Schnitzel. This is breaded pork and really I didn't find it that amazing, certainly not as fun as the Tarte Flambee or the wonderful Rosti we had in Switzerland. Still, Indy liked it!
 
 
We had a nice walk around the city in the evening and sampled some very good beer. 
 
 
 
The following day we were up early, breakfast had with a wonderful selection of cooked meats and soon we were on our way. We were planning the Gerlos Pass and the famous or perhaps now infamous Grossglockner High Alpine Pass. 
 
For some inexplicable reason the Gerlos Pass was just full of Dutch tourists driving quite slowly. This was ever so slightly infuriating as there was nothing we could do, so we opted to stop off for a walk around halfway up. 
 
 
 
Weirdly they even had a golf driving range here!
 
 
Indy managed to find a stick too:
 
 
There was a cafe by the reservoir which had it's own outside bar and BBQ area, the owner had a Cavalier like Indy, so we got on well! 
 
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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So the Grossglockner Pass. This pass has been in the news recently after two British guys went through a barrier and fell to their death. But I really think Alpine driving is not about trying to set records, it's about enjoying the drive and the scenery and whilst you can drive briskly, it is obviously simply not worth the risk of having an accident or falling off the edge of the road when there is a 2500m drop! 
 
The Grossglockner is Austria's second biggest tourist attraction as it runs alongside the Grossglockner mountain which is the highest mountain in Austria at 3798m. This road which is the highest surfaced road in Austria at 2504m was started in 1930. The idea was to open Austria to tourism and the road was completed in 1935. It costs €34.50 to drive the Grossglockner but you do get a sticker included with that. Also for another €5 you can get a book with the history of the pass which is a surpsringly good read! I'm sure many would like to hear about how I blasted up the pass with the exhaust richoteting off the mountains, but the reality is, this is not a quiet road. There was a lot of traffic on the first section and sometimes you just have to sit back and admire the view. 
 
There are lots of parking places on the way up where you can pull over and take a picture. We opted to do this, to let the traffic disperse. Here's Mark with my car:
 
 
 
The views are absolutely spectacular:
 
 
As you can see, the cloud was coming in:
 
 
For some reason the traffic cleared for a good five minutes and I was able to get a bit into the ebb and flow of the Grossglockner, heel and toeing down through the gearbox for the inumerous hairpins as we ascended the pass. 
 
Here you can see (well sort of) further up the pass that the cloud was closing in:
 
 
The reality was as we neared the top, the cloud descended and not in a good way. Quickly the joy of the Alpine views dissapeared, but a shame though that was, it just got worse and worse on the way down. In fact it was so bad, I could barely see twenty metres ahead of me. I had to resort to foglights on front and rear which is the first time I've used them in nearly seventy thousand miles. It wasn't safe to drive over twenty miles an hour, visibility was just so poor, I could hardly see where the road went. 
 
Eventually as we decreased in altitude it did clear. I admit, I do feel a little short changed as I only saw half of the pass and the downhill is nearly always my favourite part. Never mind, we had to keep pushing on and into Italy. 
 
We crossed the border into Italy at Winnebach and the Italia sign was on the side of someone's house! We pressed on in what was a long day's driving to Cortina D'Ampezzo in Italy which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and where Cliffhanger, The Pink Panther and For Your Eyes Only were filmed. Cortina is a pretty little town which is obviously rammed come the Alpine skiing season. In the summer, though, it's a little quieter. 
 
We arrived in typical so I hear, Cortina weather, which is rain. The view from our balcony gives you an idea:
 
 
Soon the rain was to be torrential, so we sought solace in an Italian restaurant to sample the first pizza of our trip. It tasted good!
 
 
Indy was predictably a little tired, but not so tired that she couldn't take a little fuss from the waiting staff. 
 
 
From there and after a break in the rain, we dashed along the pedestrianised high street and found a bar suitably not far from the hotel. 
 
 

 

It was a small bar full of locals and very Alpine in presentation. We sampled a few beers and I had a natter with some of the locals, well the ones who could speak English.
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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Our next drive, was possibly one of the best drives I've ever had over Alpine passes. Driving into the Dolomites was simply spectacular and literally as you drive out of Cortina you are hit by endless hairpins on a serious ascent on the Falzarego Pass. This rises to 2105m, but it's the way it does it. The pass is cut into the rock, but generally well sighted. As you climb there are no obvious big drop offs and whilst the road surface varies in quality, with some amazingly grippy brand new surfaces you soon hit old and worn road surfaces with breaks in the tarmac. But it's not enough to slow the pace. 
 
As we descended I found myself getting into a lovely rhythm with the car, just cruising past locals and getting into the flow of the road. It wasn't long before we had to stop take a few pictures as the Dolomites are simply breathtaking. 
 
 
What a road!
 
 
Obligatory picture of my car and I:
 
 
Dropping into the valley and it wasn't long before we were going back up again, this time on the Giau Pass which is even higher at 2236m. This is equally spectacular as the ragged and sheer faces of the Dolomites reveal themselves. Unfortunately we didn't really get any pictures as there was a long way to go, but we stopped off and took a cable car up Col Rodella for lunch and some amazing views. 
 
 
Indy was happy!
 
 
 
As you can see, it really is stunning:
 
 
The valley below, which would be our route through:
 
 
At the top of the hill on the mountain there is a restaurant with a sky terrace. What a place to have lunch! You can see the cloud coming in here:
 
 
 
It's mad how the views change from one minute to the next. This peak just seemed to always have cloud around it:
 
 
This was simply an epic day of driving with just incredible scenery. Whilst we were on the road all day, we had a nice two hour break for lunch going up the cable car. The mountains changed as we headed towards Bessano Del Grappa becoming less fierce and daunting in their appearance, but it was time to find the hotel and stop over for the night. The hotel I booked in Nove was really lovely, but it was seemingly on it's own in a pretty non-descript area. The beautiful (well according to the photos) Bessano Del Grappa was a a fifteen minute drive away. Feeling tired and also feeling the heat (it had got progressively hotter as we headed south into Italy), we dropped our bags and headed to the only restaurant in town which was next to the hotel! 
 
Nice room though:
 
 

 

The restaurant was bizarre as we sat out front on a busy intersection without a blade of grass anywhere and trucks coming and going just a few metres from where we were sitting. Still it just goes to show you can't always get it right when it comes to pre-booking all your hotels. It was in stark contrast though to previous nights where we had stayed some where notable and in a different country three nights running.
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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The next day, was for the chill out part of our trip, catching up with Tom in Lake Garda and having a few days off from driving. We had an easy 125kms (and hour and a half) drive to our friend Tom in Desenzano del Garda which is near to Sirmione at the southern tip of Lake Garda. It didn't take long before Indy was in the Lake. Some things never change. We even found a stick!
 
 
After a trip to the local shopping mall to pick up supplies, we went into Sirmione. This is a beautiful part of Lake Garda and features a point that goes out about mile into the lake. It's got ancient Roman ruins at one end and also you have to cross a drawbridge to gain entry. It's a place packed full of piazza's, ice cream parlours and restaurants. A nice place just to hang out. There is also Jamaica Beach which is where the rock extends out like a reef into the lake, keeping the water shallow and warm. 
 
Indy didn't hang around getting into it! 
 
 
Mark in the foreground, Tom behind:
 
 
Soon the heat got to us and we escaped to a bar where the beer was cold and there was shade and a breeze to cool us:
 
 

 

Pizza on the piazza was had that night with lashings of beer, then back to Tom's.
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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On the Saturday, we were to meet up with another intrepid traveller and GT86 owner, Chris. He'd gone the other way round the Alps and was staying in Riva on the north of the lake. Fortunately it was merely an hour or so down the Autostrada to where we were in Desenzano del Garda. 

 
And then there were two:
 
 
Naturally this caused some interest in the car park around Tom's apartment block and soon people were out taking pictures of the cars! 
 
Tom dropped us off in Sirmione and we were soon eating Italian ice cream. Now I must add, that I'm not really that keen on ice cream, but Italian ice cream is a must do! Hazelnut for me. Chris can be seen here clearly enjoying himself! 
 
 
Unfortunately the weather turned and the rain set in, so about all we could do was grab some shelter in a bar and drink the afternoon away. It could be worse I guess. Then the next day it was our turn to meet Chris at his hotel in Riva. Tom drove us, but the traffic was a nightmare and it took two and a half hours to travel what should have taken an hour and twenty minutes, but never mind. 
 
 
 
Chris had told us a lot about his hotel which has it's own resort and I must say having gin and tonic (Sipsmiths Gin as well!) was a bit of an albeit expensive treat. Oh how decadent!
 
 
The weather was mind numbingly hot and it seemed as if there was no escape. Even Indy plonked her belly down in a puddle in a sunken manhole cover on the pavement at one point. We sought solace in the hotel grounds which were beautiful and slept on the sun loungers out of the sun! More pizza and pasta was consumed before a late night trip back. 
 
The next couple of days were 'Indy day's and we found a dog beach especially for dogs. Indy was in her element!
 
Tom and Mark staying out of the sun! 
 
 
On the dog beach and a very happy Indy paws! 
 
 
Baldo beach, the stuff of Indy heaven!
 
 
Indy with her favourite uncle in Lake Garda:
 
 
A dog's life, she even has her own sun lounger:
 
 
Meanwhile, Mark found it all a bit too much:
 
 
We stayed in a hotel for our last two nights in Lake Garda, it was getting very humid and we needed aircon. The view from the balcony could have been better, but at least I could see my car:
 
 
It turned out that next to the hotel there was a classic car hire place, I went round and took some pics of what they had:
 
 
 
Alas no Ferrari's. Well it is Italy!
 
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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For our last day around Lake Garda, Tom drove us to one of his favourite haunts the quieter Lake d'Idro. This is a much quieter lake with no real powerboats and is a quiet and tranquil place. It was still sizzling in the mid thirties though:
 
 
A quick stop for liquid refreshment by the lake:
 
 
 
We then went to a mountain village called Bagolino. How very Italian and just beautiful:
 
 
The houses seemed to be hanging off the hillside:
 
 
 
 
Being on the mountainside there were lots of steps:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We took the road on from there and for Tom this was new territory. The beauty of being able to drive around is that you can simply stop wherever you want. We picked a cafe in a small fairly non-descript town for lunch. We were about to experience the best Italian meal we had on the whole trip! 
 
Mark had this wonderful Gnnochi that was simply sublime and Tom and I tucked into this incredible pasta with a béchamel sauce, just wow! 
 
 
Mark and I were encouraged to have a liqueur which was said to have 'a taste of the mountains'! It seemed a lot like ameretto to us, but was very nice! 
 
 
After a wonderful lunch we hit the road again and soon we were climbing:
 
 
This time towards the Baremone Pass. This pass is listed under Italy's most dangerous road at 1450m, http://www.dangerousroads.org/italy/254-passo-baremone-italy.html
 
This is about half unpaved and would have been difficult in my car, but thankfully Tom's car has much better ground clearance, so it was no issue. The pass is mostly single track and was built during the First World War by the military to move artillery towards the Italian borders in the Alps. 
 
 
 
Stopping for a breather and Mark takes a walk:
 
 
 
 
Mark looking a tad unhappy after suffering vertigo on the Baremone Pass!
 
 
 
A well protected outer edge of the pass, typical of what we were to experience. This is a road less travelled I think! 
 
 
 
 
Mark in the midst of vertigo!
 
 
 
 
Atop the Baremone Pass:
 
 
 
Indy manages to find a stick, but there is nowhere to throw it!
 
 
 

 

We took a long drive back and stopped at Lake d'Idro, Tom and Indy had a swim, then out for more pasta that night.
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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Thursday and we had a long drive to Grindelwald in Switzerland. The plan was to take the Simplon Pass as recommended by a friend. Though the pass had quite nice views, it was a busy main road and not the driver's road I was expecting. There were a lot of road works and subsequently a lot of traffic too. Never mind, it was an easy drive. Due to a road being closed ahead, my satnav re-routed us, adding some 40 kms to what was already a 400km+ drive, but there was a bonus that we only became aware of us we climbed away off the valley floor. 
 
Imagine my delight when I realised we were heading for the Furka pass. Now we didn't do all the Furka Pass, as halfway up we took the turn for the better (I think) Grimsel Pass. Oh wow. There were a lot of bikes on the road and these can be a bit of a pain when you're pressing on. They tend to overtake you on the straights then are obviously slower round the corners and I seemed to caught up in a throng of bikes in front and behind me. I admit, it was unsettling and did interfere with the flow, so I opted to pull in for a latte at the top of the pass. 
 
 
The start of the fabulous downhill is what you can see ahead. 
 
 
 
 
What can I say? The downhill was an absolute blast, the brakes on the car held up well and we were just running around the tourist traffic. The road is well sighted and it was just a joy to be able to attack the road on the way down. From there it was a couple of hours to our hotel. We had left Lake Garda at 10.30am and we didn't arrive due to the detour at our hotel in Grindelwald until 6.45pm. I had done all the driving and I was feeling pretty tired by this point. 
 
The view from our hotel balcony was simply breathtaking though, straight at the Eiger!
 
 
We ventured into town which is a favourite haunt for Japanese tourists, they seem to arrive by the coachload. Switzerland is beautiful, but oh so terribly expensive as we found out. 
 
Still there was the reward of traditional Swiss Rosti, this is a fried potato dish (think hash browns) and tends to have melted Swiss cheese and can have bacon and pretty much whatever else you want. I had mine with spinach and as is traditional a fried egg on top! Wonderful. 
 
 
It's amazing how mucky dog paws can get, as Indy had cut her paw at Lake Garda a few days earlier, she demanded a paw wash!
 

 

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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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Friday loomed and a day off from driving. I think on trips like these it's good to have a break and take in the scenery as you go. So with that in mind we thought we'd head up to the Schilthorn and Piz Gloria at 2970m which is where On Her Majesty's Secret Service was filmed in 1968 and Blofeld's lair. This involved taking four cable cars on the ascent and it wasn't cheap at a cost of £137 for the both of us! 

 
Still, we had to do it and though expensive I think it was worth it. We spotted a Swiss registered GT86 in the car park. Obviously I left a club postcard under the wiper:
 
 
 
Here's the view from Murren which is after the second cable car: 
 
 
And after the third, we stopped for coffee at Birg:
 
 
Incredible views:
 
 
Indy has a look at the view:
 
 
And on the glass floor of the viewing deck extension:
 
 
The view towards Piz Gloria:
 
 
Mark and I at Birg:
 
 
And from the top at Piz Gloria, looking back to Birg:
 
 
You can see Jaungfraujoch to the right, it's the saddle between the two peaks:
 
 
 
There was a lot of references to the James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It kind of made it a bit cooler still and they had a lovely exhibition on the lower floor of Piz Gloria. 
 
 
Film scenes:
 
 
Indy checks out 'Sir Hilary Bray's' foot! 
 
 
The view back to Piz Gloria. Pity about the crane:
 
 
We opted for dinner at our hotel that night. We realised that all the restaurants in Grindelwald were basically hotel restaurants and with the incredible view of the Eiger from the outside dining on the hotel balcony, we figured it was a good option to eat yet more Rosti and get a little drunk!
 
 
 
And one tired, Indy, it had all been a bit too much!
 
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Lauren    2259

Lauren
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Hitting the road on Saturday, to leave Switzerland and drive a bit of Germany and then back to Strasbourg again. We booked the same hotel as we did on the way down as it suited us well. 
 
I thought the satnav would take us from Switzerland and into France, but it didn't we crossed into the German border and the delight of yet more de-restricted autobahn. It wasn't quite as good as the run from Strasbourg to Innsbruck, but nonetheless I had a go! 
 
 
I did actually achieve faster on the aforementioned run, but a genuine GPS verified 138.25 mph is none too shabby! 
 
We got to Strasbourg in good time and crossed the border again into France over a bridge, which is always very odd, crossing from one country to another over a bridge is just odd. But very cool nonetheless. It was a mere 32C here, but the humidity made up for it! Lunch and a beer beckoned:
 
 
Indy was really struggling at this point and conked out at hotel reception when we awaited to check in:
 
 
We had more tarte flambee which was fantastic with some very strong Munster cheese. We also looked a bit of the history of Strasbourg as we wondered how it's proximity to the German border affected it in WWII. Well, it turned out that when war was declared the whole city was evacuated for ten months, then only those with Alsatian heritage could return. The men were subscribed to the German army under duress and their wives and family were used as a threat. It's a poignant story because when they returned home after the war they were treated as traitors, but little did the locals realise of their impossible situation. 
 
Sunday and last day of the holiday and so we had a long distance to cover to Brugges in Belgium. This actually added another country to the mix as we passed through Luxembourg. This also meant tackling the tricky Brussels ring road. Think of it as a bit like the M25. Tons of junctions, traffic all over the place and easy to make a mistake is how I always remember it. Whilst the run the previous day involved high speed runs, there was no speeding outside of Germany, best just to hit the cruise control where you can and sit there and go as fast as you legally can. 
 
 
I opted for a real bit of luxury for our last night away. This hotel is the hotel Die Swaine right in the historic heart of Brugges. We needed it and it was easily the best hotel we have stayed in for a long time! 
 
 
Indy found her spot alright! 
 
 
We were soon holed up in our favourite bar in our known universe, Cambrinus (King of Beer). 300 odd beers are for the taking, so we started with a La Trappe Tripel. Cheers. 
 
 
The food is excellent here and I opted for the 'Brouwers Menu' which meant a three course meal with beer added to everything. Finishing with creme brûlée of course. 
 
 
We had a bit of a walk around, then drunk more beer:
 
 
Poor Indy, she was quite tired by this point!
 
 
That didn't stop her making me chase her round the market square in Brugges, much to everyone else's amusement!
 
Back on the Chunnel the following day and home to Blighty:
 
 

 

In all we covered 2631miles with an average of 38mpg which I think is good going. The car was faultless as always and though as we set off for the trip, I realised the Milltek exhaust had cracked for the fourth time and I had a knocking from the driveshaft, all survived despite all the Alpine passes in three different countries and seven countries in all. All was good and rectified by RRG Macclesfield under warranty upon my return. The car got it's 70,000 mile service and a new set of tyres too!
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Nicebiscuit    655

Nicebiscuit
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Cracking pics... Just recovering from 3000miles plus myself, but in the Citroen! Calais, Angouleme, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Picos de Europa, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Costa Brava, Toulouse, Dordogne and home again with family in tow.

Agree - it's the only way to travel - you actually see a country - and found some decent non-autoroute routes this year through France...

As for the Piz Gloria - I've skied off that. f***ing terrifying!

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shiftspark    41

shiftspark
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I drove from Manchester to Pont Aven in Brittany a few weeks back, it was in the family SMax but it was very enjoyable drive.

The traffic flows very well and it's mostly 2 lanes, I think us Brits could learn a thing about lane usage !!

I have never fancied such a long trip before but now looking at WRC Spain and Le Mans next year if I can persuade Mrs Shiftspark to stay at home and my youngest petrol head can have a road trip.

Great write up Lauren.

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Keethos    842

Keethos
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I'm hoping now that I've got my car sorted, I can now start to save for a big Euro trip since I missed my chance last year. I was supposed to drive down to the south of France for a wedding, then pick up mate to venture over to Switzerland, Germany and then back home again. But alas the fateful Lydden event happened and was not able to do my trip so will be silly keen to do it next year assuming I've saved up enough money.

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tre87    3

tre87
Posted

Looks like a superb alpine trip and great pictures!  :)

 

I was on a an alpine trip last year and also came by Furka Pass and Grimsel Pass. In the Top Gear's road trip to the alps they also mentioned the Stelvio Pass which we tried. Great roads, but it was packed with traffic. If only we could close the roads like on the show :D

 

Furka Pass and Grimsel Pass, along with Gotthard Pass, was alot more fun and there were little to no traffic at all. However, we found a hidden gem when heading to our hotel! Susten pass!!! It had everything, except traffic - and that equals the perfect combination. Large and small tunnels, long stretches, hairpins, great visibility, fantastic view and many opportunities to stop and take pictures. Also there was a glacier on the top of the surrounding mountains which was something we didn't expect - it was gorgeous. We drove over Susten Pass again the day after even though it added another hour of driving to our next destination. It was worth it! ;)

 

Mikael and I have been talking about an Alpine trip next year, so maybe we can meet up somewhere in the south next year  :)

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Lauren    2259

Lauren
Posted

Cheers all. :)

 

Yes, it may be possible, Tom. That would be very cool!  I too agree the Stelvio is over-rated. It is the highest Alpine pass though. I never much enjoyed the 'staircase' of the Stelvio as it's just so tight. We drove it twice two years ago and the first time was like national Stelvio day and was horrible. Then the second time it was deserted and much better. The Grimsel and Susten are my favourite, though the Fluella pass is also very good. I drove these roads extensively two years ago. 

 

The Italian passes in the Dolomites, on the lower sections, have some amazing roads, fast flowing, where you can really get the car moving along. We enjoyed them all though and doing the classic Austrian passes was a real treat too. :)

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Keethos    842

Keethos
Posted

Special K was mentioning at Rob's BBQ that we should do a club Euro trip and plan it so everyone can join in while being able to split off at any point (for those who can't get enough time off work for example), while trying to meet up with more of our European members, maybe even try, possibly even getting Toyota involved and get sponsorship or something....but I think Keith's main plan was to end up in Malta to meet up with iddrew again to try and at least double to population of 86/BRZ's there

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