So we have finally booked the ferry for next months road trip, going via Dunkirk as we didnt fancy going to Calais for obvious reasons. Wife me & 2 kids and we have decided to wing it regarding stopovers, we have done it before and it worked a treat. Take a small tent if we decide we dont fancy a hotel. Reckon 2 stopovers until we reach our destination of Trieste in northern Italy. Tunnels & mountain passes, the A45 should be just as good if not better than when we did it last time in my Focus ST. Cant wait, just need to plan a route now, thinking down through Germany and either take the Stelvio or Gothard pass. Just hope most euro petrol stations have super unleaded

 

Just out of interest what are the Focus ST like,i looked at them today and the cupra but £26000 i still quite can't decide and the jag xf is also tempting.just couldn't imagine paying 26k for a ford or seat ? Good luck with trip don't think would have much trouble calais its clear on the French side at the moment just friday was still queuing trucks english side..

 

We have done a similar trip a few times (always skiing and in a fully loaded 4x4 so no chance for spirited driving)


But we always go a similar route, belgium, Namur, Luxembourg,(cheap fuel) saarbrucken ,Karlsruhe, Stuttgart - then South to Kempten and onto Innsbruck

Or stay on the E54 and through Munich, onto Salzburg, then turn south on the A10 (although we finished in Flachau - that particular trip)

All fast roads an no tolls

 

We did Calais to the Black Forest in the M135i last May - superb fun. Did France all the way there then crossed over through Strasbourg then Luxembourg and Belgium back. Belgium has truly awful roads! The rest of it was great fun and the hoonage opportunities in Germany were many.

 

I have always been tempted to do a Europe road trip over the xmas period but I change my mind and fly abroad. I got flights into Germany for £300 for my family in a couple of weeks it also made it not worth the hassle of the drive. I'm sure I will do it sometime though

 

We did five weeks last Summer (and the Summer before) in our camper; definitely well worth the effort. Did the ferry to Santander both times; it's like a mini cruise - very well equipped boat!
Flying to Italy this year; I think we'll miss the adventure of the ferry/driving.

 

it was the mk2 ST, standard apart from the re-map. Totally different to the Focus RS that i had after that, i couldnt even imagine making that trip with the family in that car.

 

Recently got back from trip to Italy and Austria

+1 for Hodgy0_2's routes. Basically, we took the first option going down (via Lille rather than Brussels) to just West of Trento in Italy (Beware travelling from Innsbruck to Italy on a Saturday during holidays) and second option coming back from Murau in Austria. We stayed over in the small German town of Annweiler.

WARNING when driving on Austrian motorways - first you need a to get a Vignette (most people know that) secondly, if you see a 100km/h temporary limit with the letters IG-L do NOT disobey. Initially, I assumed it was a lorry thing but it's something to do with their air pollution act and if you get caught speeding the fines rocket from low hundreds to 2-3,000 Euros.

Petrol cheapest in Luxembourg, high in Germany and astronomic in Italy.

 

Head to Munchen(Munich) Salzburg by far the best and quickest route, then forget Triest, it's just a big port town and the sea is filthy (dirty side of the Adriatic due to tides and industry) head to my bit which is Istria in Croatia another 2hrs, you won't be disappointed.

As above, I obey the speed limits everywhere, it's not worth the hassle and cost if you get caught.

 

Stopping just outside Trieste, wifes family are from there

 

We went to Como via The Ring, Garmische the the Stelvio last year and back via Monaco, Col d Var, Frejus Tunnel and Reims.

This year as the other half is coming, we are going to Bruges because she wants to on the first weekend, down to Freiburg for a night before the schlep to Lake Como, we are coming back via Trier with a two night stop over.

Having spent a number of years living on the continent I never find driving there an issue and seek alternative routes off the normal Motorway type roads.

 

For me it's just a get here as quickly and cost effectively as possible, I'll be heading back to UK in a short while and I'll go straight up through Slovenia €15 for vinjeta but worth it for the fuel saving and other tolls going through Italy and Switzerland, then I head for Austria €7 and into Germany, there's another toll of about 5 euro at Luxembourg for a tunnel I think but beyond that it's free, all the other routes are way more costly, it doesn't look the quickest route on the map but there's about 4hrs difference. It's not the most exciting route but it's easy to navigate with plenty of service stations, quite a few of them are shell too, it's possible to do it all the way on shell stations but I also use 'Petrol' or OMV svc stations as they have 99/100 ron too, avoid INA.

I avoid the Gottard at this time of year as you can end up stuck there for hours in 10+miles of traffic and it's pointless trying to take the pass then as that will be log jammed too.