Euro-roadtrip

[Pelle]

Hi everyone,

I am 20 years old, and have recently bought my first merc, a 1987 W124 (230 E).
I live in Denmark, and car prices here are roughly double when compared to the UK.

Me and two mates are currently planning a european roadtrip. Due to our age (early 20's), renting anything is either impossible or ridiculously expensive. Therefore we are planning on doing the trip in my W124 which, despite its old age, is in very good condition.

We quickly sketched out a route, which can be seen here:

The reason for going that far to the east is that we think it'd be an excellent adventure, and I personally really want to visit chernobyl, where you can get guided tours through the ghost towns where nature has taken over completely.
The above route is approx. 5000 miles.

Inspired by Steve (***)'s posts on his 2010 euro-trip, I sent him an email where he suggested the following trip:
aarhus denmark
munich
salzburg
davos
bormeo
lago di garda
monaco
nice
barcelona
madrid
grenoble
zurich
aarhus denmark.

What do you guys think, any recommendations, must-sees, no-go's, route suggestions etc?

Thanks in advance!

Pelle Harris, Denmark

 

[st4]

To make sure the route is enjoyable. Avoid motorways where possible. Keiv wouldn;t be on my list personally, but would hit Spain instead.

The 124 will be great. Mine broke down and a member here offered me their 124 which I would have gladly taken...if there are 2 or more of you in the car, pack light but a 124 will take 4 folk all day long

 

[ed_d82]

Looks cool! sounds like a real adventure, have fun.

 

[MD5]

Hi Pelle,

Great first post, and welcome to the forum. The trip looks fantastic, and I always like to allow for flexibility, as sometimes the best places are discovered by accident! People's choices are always personal and subjective, of course, and my view is if you haven't seen it before, then it's all good.

Looking at your route, one place that didn't live up to my hopes was Grenoble. Rather than make a detour from your route, I wish we had more time on our last trip to spend longer in Arles, an old Roman town between Marseilles and Montpelier.

I read a great signature on here once, which was "if you don't know where you are going, every road will take you there!".

 

[bpsorrel]

Avoid Ukraine at all costs, unless you have very deep pockets to pay off the corrupt road police. This advice is based on personal experience, so beware!

 

[Ted]

You're not far from the Pyrenees/Spain.
Take the back road over the top to Isaba.
Fantastic driving road and fantastic vistas you can see the whole moutain range - we also saw the wild horses.

 

[Dichtung]

Hi Pelle,


Looking at your route, one place that didn't live up to my hopes was Grenoble. Rather than make a detour from your route, I wish we had more time on our last trip to spend longer in Arles, an old Roman town between Marseilles and Montpelier.

Agreed, Grenoble ; but Chamonix

 

[SimonsMerc]

Personally I would modify your route slightly so that from the Czech republic you go into Slovakia, through Bratislava, and then cross into Poland over the Tatra mountains, going into Zakopane and up to Krakow before rejoining your original route in Czestochowa. The Tatras are *beautiful* and you'll love the journey, and a stop in the Krakow old town is well worth it (I'd also suggest the Wieliczka salt mine near Krakow).

Any way you do it, you're going to love it!

-simon

 

[GordonTarling]

I think you really ought to include a bit more of Northern Italy - maybe as far down as Sienna or Florence - there's some wonderful driving roads in the mountains.

 

[sportyreptile]

I'd say take in Northern Italy too and as it looks like your passing close to Vaduz take the Stelvio Pass into Italy, great round and a good test for your brakes going downhill and the cooling system uphill .
Have a great time, a W124 in good nick is an excellent car for the job.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

Hi,welcome to the forum,and good luck on your adventure.

 

[Benzmanc]

If you do go north via Grenoble then be sure to take the 'Route Napoleon N 85' one of the best roads around then continue up through the stunning Verdon Gorge.

Daz

 

[Benzmanc]

I'd say take in Northern Italy too and as it looks like your passing close to Vaduz take the Stelvio Pass into Italy, great round and a good test for your brakes going downhill and the cooling system uphill .
Have a great time, a W124 in good nick is an excellent car for the job.

Did the stelvio last year in August, there was snow at the top

 

[tonywashere]

Have done the upper road (La Grande Corniche - don't do a Grace Kelly) along the coast Cannes, Nice to Italy, fabulous views. Going through the tunnels then coming out into the blazing sun over a viaduct, back into a tunnel in a red convertible with the roof down and the aircon on full with Ferrari hardtops blasting past...
I would go a little further past Genova round to Portofino, if budget permits there are great hotels all along this coast with lots of celeb watching if that's your thing Plenty of camp sites too.

 

[st13phil]

Steve's (***) advice about keeping off motorways is sound. Just remember to factor in lower average speeds when you're working out how long it's going to take. In some countries (e.g. Romania) and in the mountains it's very hard to make good progress so don't plan to get too far in a day: I've spent all day driving mountain passes before and only covered 150 miles!

How long are you planning to spend on the trip? Unless you have lots of time you risk missing many fantastic places by planning to cover so many miles. If you're generally avoiding motorways, I'd estimate there's around 140 hours of driving in that trip, i.e. around 20 - 25 days sat in a car without any days off or any sightseeing excursions. My advice would be to plan something a little less ambitious distance-wise unless you have lots of time available.

 

[Benzster]

If your W124 is sound, you will make more trips!

 

[goodpw]

So Jealous, have a pint for me in Waynes bar in Old town Nice. (yeah I know, an Aussie bar in France, but what a laugh)

 

[Charles Morgan]

How long do you have for the trip?

 

[bolide]

Personally I'd avoid Paris and maybe go down via le Mans. You have the opportunity to visit lots of historic race tracks along the way, like Montlhery, le Mans, Rouen, Dijon, Monaco, Hungaroring, Nurburgring, etc. You could also go to Maranello to the Ferrari factory and to the Mercedes HQ in Stuttgart. If you arranged that one before you left you might bet a good reception when you arrive

As someone else suggested, I'd definitely go up in the the hills in the Basque region between France and Spain. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and the surrounding area is lovely

Have a good trip!

Nick Froome

 

[DITTRICH]

The main point I can see is that you want to go to the ukraine. Nothing wrong with that but do your research on border crossing times into and out of the ukraine as well as the paperwork and insurance required. The ukraine is not in the EU and therefore customs and immigration and a long queue of cars may cause delays. I go to russia every year and although I know it all now the one thing I cannot control is the time to cross the border. It can be 4 hours or 16 hours - you never know until you get there. On waytorussia.net talklounge (now closed for new comments but still available) there was a dutch person "chris rein" who has used border crossings to ukraine in that part of the world. Also horizons unlimited bulletin board (HUBB) - a forum for motorcycle travellers northen asia and european forums will be a good start for getting information.
Within the EU you are perfectly capable of choosing the route yourselves.
Les