Hi
thinking of going to the monaco gp. whats the best route to take. autoroute says a26,a5,a6,a8 9 (via channel tunnel) and looks okay on the map. from any french port (have not decided on ferry yet)
michael

 

I think it's best done in a DB9

(apologies to those who don't watch Top Gear)

 

Or you could catch the train. Not much in it really.

UB

 

bob t
i wish...
but a temporary renault megane cabriolet will have to do for now!

Michael

 

Fastest is probably through France. However, if you go to Belgium you can get a cheap tank of fuel in Luxembourg and then go down the German autobahns (with the limitless fun that entails!) and avoid paying the tolls in both countries, as well as seeing the Rhine valley.

True that you'd have to cut back in by Geneva, so perhaps not much point after all...

 

Straight out of Southampton into the Bay of Biscay, through the straits of Gibralter and across the Med... there in no time !

 

Apparition, you must have a notion of a particularly waterproof Renault Megan Cabriolet?

 

The question was "The best route to Monaco"..... just giving my honest opinion gauged on experience....)

 

Bay of Biscay - I remember that - 24 hour crossing that turned into a 29 hour crossing following a force 9 gale. I would have to think long and hard before doing that again.

Chris

 

Yeah.... no doubt about it, it can be a b1tch..... but that just adds to the excitement. Hey ho.... been through it once when they had to provide ropes in the ships gangways to hang onto, strange sensation walking along with the deck suddenly disappearing from under one's tootsies ! ha ha

 

Regularly do Calais to St Tropez and I currently go overnight as some of the autoroute is 2 lane and can seriously slow you up. I go from Calais straight to Paris, Paris to Lyon and then Autoroute de Sud to Var. You can bypass Paris by heading East but to me that feels so much longer as the signs start mentioning Lyon at 600ks or something which I find affects my morale !!
Breaking the trip into logical steps is much easier, Calais - Paris, Paris - Dijon, Dijon - Lyon, Lyon - Aix and then onto St Tropez.

Overnight you can generally go as fast as you like but 700miles or so of fast night driving does get to you - trust me !

On a good run I usually do it in 8 - 9 hours which is comfortable, sitting around 100mph most of the time.

The autoroute from St Tropez to Monaco is as good as it gets in my opinion, tight bends at high speed, tunnels etc etc

 

thanks everyone
Bakerman. any reason you go through paris then onto dijon rather than use the A26 to dijon, which bypasses paris.
michael

 

Purely to keep me interested, Paris is great to drive around at night when most other people aren't around. Also I seem to remember but could be wrong that the other way involves a lot of dark dual carrigeway with hardly any towns en route to relieve the boredom.
Just be prepared with your credit card for the tolls and you hardly stop !

 

Always found it a bit quicker going east of Paris, less traffic

James

 

The Route Napeleon from Grenoble down to the med is a fantastic route if you have the time. Its slow, and twisty but some fantastic views. Your post doesn't say if best is quickest or most scenic!

 

thanks Chrisgr31. i have 2 days to get down so any type of route will suffice