Road trip to Europe - Planning

hotlatte

Good morning, I want to plan a road trip from Manchester to Europe and looking to go March 2015 with 2 others. So 3 people in total.

Also looking to set aside 8 / 9 days for the round trip e.g. Leave on Friday and return on following Saturday leaving Sunday for rest and recovery.

Please, can you provide some ideas where to go, how to get there, share your experiences, plans / suggestions etc so that I can start building my plan.

Thanks

zagfles

Nobody can give you a sensible answer as you haven't said what your interests are. City sightseeing, local culture, food/drink, stunning scenery, sex drugs and rock and roll?

For a short trip it'd be sensible to look at NW Europe eg France, Belgium, Holland, otherwise you'll see nothing but motorways.

martindow

I'm sorry this is too vague - you need to say what sort if things you want to see (cities, beaches, etc.). You are going to spend the best part of a day driving down to a ferry or the tunnel and the same on the return trip so you really only have 6 or 7 days.

I would suggest that you don't go too far or try to do too much. You don't see much of a country thrashing down motorways.

browneyedbazzi

Where are you hoping to go? Are there any places you really want to go or are not keen on? What's your budget?

I did a Europe road trip a few years ago but had more time - we did the ferry to France then drove through to the Czech republic (loved it - beautiful country, nice people, easy to get around and cheap! We did time in Prague, Czesky Krumlov and Orlik) then we stayed a couple of nights in Austria (Salzburg, lovely city), a couple of nights in the Swiss Alps (Grindelwald) then drove back through France, stopping there for a night before getting the ferry back. I can't remember exactly, but I think we were away for nearly 3 weeks. I would have liked more time to stop in Belgium and Germany en-route to Czech.

My main piece of advice would be not to try to squeeze too much in - if you do you'll hardly get to experiences any of the places you stop and will end up like you spent the entire trip driving.

prenton01

Hotlatte

I have just done a 2nd European road trip this July and the fist time we done one was in 2012. I have a brilliant route you could look at with plenty of ideas i could send you which is on word doc as i done a full itinerary before i went. pm me

quick summary went to the romantic road Germany then onto Venice then back up to mount blanc and then over the st bernard pass (amazing) then to Colmar france then home this was done over 9 days

if would like to see my full itinerary with lots of sight seeing ideas i have still pm me

Tony

hotlatte

Sure - some more info to clear things a little for everyone And thanks for the advise so far

Budget : Is not a problem as we dont have guideline however, we want to spend sensibly and save money wherever and however we can. After all is only Europe we are going to.

Purpose: Site seeing and enjoying the local culture and foods (food is not so important). I dont think we have enough time for beaches.

Preferences - we do want to touch Switzerland as part of this tour and enjoy the scenic beauty however, not compulsory and I agree we don't want to squeeze too much in.

regards

InsideInsurance

hotlatte wrote: »

Budget : Is not a problem as we dont have guideline however, we want to spend sensibly and save money wherever and however we can. After all is only Europe we are going to.

Unlimited budget but you want to be sensible?

"Only" Europe from a budgeting point of view? Its one of the most expensive place there is particularly as given timescales you are more limited to western europe. Would understand this comment if it was in the Purpose section that you arent interested in european history/ culture/ luxury as its too similar to the UK (though much isnt) but under budget is odd

hotlatte

Its because its really difficult to pin point on a budget for me I don't really know what budget to set. We just want to see what options we have and pick a sensible option.

zagfles

The options are almost limitless, I think what you should do it spend a lot of time on Tripadvisor, get some Lonely Planet type guide books, have a good read, decide where/what you really want to see and plan a rough route.

As you're going in March there's probably no need to pre-book any accomodation, this leaves your options open and you can change plans if you really like somewhere stay there longer, if you find it boring move on sooner, or if the weather isn't suitable for what you want to do change plans.

Try www.viamichelin.com for route planning - I've found it to be generally more reliable than google maps.

Make sure you're aware of driving requirements, for instance some countries have rules about winter tyres, snow chains etc, eg in Austria winter tyres are compulsory till April, not sure about Switzerland.

If you're going to any big cities I'd recommend looking for hotels on the outskirts and getting public transport in - it can be a nightmare driving and finding parking in big cities - city centre hotels don't usually have parking and where they do it's usually expensive, and often in a public multistory.

If you're going to northern countries eg Holland, Germany etc consider the Hull-Rotterdam crossing rather than driving down south, it'll be more expensive but it could cut several hundred miles off your journey and save time.

Have a look on the likes of booking.com for an idea of hotel prices etc.

Beenie

We usually drive around France and that country alone can take 14days.

Drove to Italy a couple of years ago, and that was interesting and different. We passed through Switzerland -only there a couple of hours - but still had to buy their annual car tax certificate. Not sure but seem to recall it was 70 euro (an expensive couple of hours).

As far as budget goes, with road tolls, petrol, food and accommodation, entrance fees and snacks along the way, it will probably cost you £1000 each.

hotlatte

Thanks everyone for the input so far - how about we fly for outward and return journey which leaves out hassle of driving down south and the tiring journey back upon return. And we hire the car once we get there. Then the question is where do we fly out to France, Germany or elsewhere?