Photos added - Bilbao-Monaco-Venice-Cherbourg Tour Ideas, please

[Leadburn]

Hello Everyone, 

I've 2 weeks leave in September and was thinking of taking my first 7 tour in southern Europe.

Provisionally: England to Spain by ferry; across the Pyrenees to southern France; Monaco, Venice; Stelvio pass, then up to Cherbourg. 

The general idea is "interesting roads to interesting places", so the time between driving is as much fun as the driving. I already have a few destinations in mind (Verdon gorge, Ferrari factory, Le Mans, Champagne or wine regions), mostly camping, but with B&B every few days.

Has anyone done something similar? Or know of similar forum posts? If so, any advice about places/roads to go (or avoid) will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation. 

Pete

P.S. - I'll be with a mate in a non-7 "sports" car (apparently, such a thing exists).

[Leadburn]

Wow!

I planned the route, including everything we wanted to do, to find out we'd need 6 months to do it justice  .

Now then, where's that sabbatical application form...? 

[DougBaker]

We drove to Lake Garda and back some years ago. There are lovely roads all over the place, have fun. Main thing is be flexible on the route choice and use autoroutes and ear plugs if you need to do big chunks of mileage to get to the nice bits.

The view down from the Gavia Pass which we went over on route to the Stelvio

[David Bevan]

I work for John Lewis and am taking 6 months off next year (on full pay as a long service award) and will be taking my Caterham across Europe in a similar tour to the one you describe!

 

.... I'll be following your tour carefully and making note of any tips etc!

[Frogman]

I think Doug raises a good point about using autoroute. There I no shame in getting a few miles cracked between the good bits rather than flog through villages, speed restrictions and cameras.

My advice is look at what you want to do where and then map study the hell out of the routes between them. Choice of navigation software and devices makes life a lot easier, annoyingly standard software needs to be tweeted and finessed to help it find those memorable routes. This is easier done with a cup of tea and a lap top rather than sweltering with your feet in a pizza oven by the side of the road.

I have to say I think you are missing out on Spain and I would circle back to get more Spain especially the North Coast and the Picos de Europa in favour of northern France.

Regardless you will ha e a great time, sunscreen, hat, decent sun glasses aggressively long lunches in the heat of the day. All in a 7 what's not to like?

[Alan Reeves]

If the Pau races are on when you go its a nice easy drive from the Ferries in Spain

[anthonym]

" to find out we'd need 6 months to do it justice"

Exactly. 

Yes skip Northern France in favour of Northern Spain. 

I have hundreds of relevant routes in MRA (My Route App) all shared.

I usually reckon on two days on, one day off. And allow time to do a road more than once 

it's about the journey not the destination, until you get there.

Anthony

[Bizzielizzie13]

I'm with some of the others here regarding Northern Spain. We've done the Picos de Europa twice & the Pyrenees all in the Seven going from Portsmouth to Santander. Two of us nine nights each time, all packed into a Seven.

Couple of places that were worth it, Santillana del Mar, Fuenta De, Cangas de Onis. On the way to the Pyrenees you could visit Pamplona, we went as far up as Bielsa famous for the Tunnel that goes to France. Carcassonne is a town we had hoped to get to, another time we hope!

Enjoy!

 

[Leadburn]

Thanks everyone for so many helpful suggestions. Loads to remember for the future 

With our 2 weeks we've decided to Eurotunnel to Calais; blast to Zurich the next day; spend 2 nights in Zurich; then drive to the Mille Miglia museum in Brescia (via the Stelvio pass and Lake Garda, probably), then back home a different way to Calais. We considered doing the Mille Miglia 2022 route, but it's possibly a bit much for the middle weekend. Needs 3 weeks, perhaps...

The 7's being serviced this week, followed by a shake-down camping weekend in a few weeks, which I'm sure will prove everything's perfect! 

[SM25T]

Calais to Zurich is a long day, especially if you avoid toll roads. Take care 

[Leadburn]

Thanks. We plan it to be a necessary motorway day, to get to the good stuff. Long, but straightforward (hopefully).

[SM25T]

Be very aware of the speed limits in Switzerland. Beyond Draconian. Break them at your peril. Exceed them by a big enough percentage and it could be the end of the holiday. But enjoy the great scenery 

[RogNeedham]

Agree with others that the Picos and Pyrenees take some beating, largely in my opinion due to the comparative lack of traffic.

I've still got all of my Picos routes loaded in MyRoute-app which I'll happily share.

And as Alan notes above taking in the Pau Historique races is worth the effort if timings allow. We did so during our 2012 trip from Bilbao to the Pyrenees.

cheers

Rog

[revbob]

Having attended the Pau Classic Grand Prix a few years ago and reading RogNeedham post of the Picos and Pyrenees, the Scenic Car Tours trip to both in May 2023 over 10 days looks good.

Bob

 

[Leadburn]

Brescia or Bust 2022

Wow...that was easy! Technology makes navigation and booking last minute an absolute piece of cake.
After we left home on the Friday evening for Eurotunnel I became so immersed in this trip that 2 days later it seemed like we'd been away a week. Having arrived back home after 2 weeks it feels like we've been away for months: superb!
We soon realised one day driving/one day not driving (2 nights at most places) worked best for us.

Eurotunnel to Calais then Basel; Zug; Simplon pass; Lakes Maggiore, Como, Garda and Iseo; Stelvio pass; Flüela pass; Lucerne; Stuttgart; Black Forest (B500); Calais and Eurotunnel home. 2,500 miles in total. Phew!

Memorable Moments
Continual unplanned exploration.

Basel - drinking beer in the sunshine cruising along the Rhine, then discovering an excellent WW2 river-side crane converted into a bar, playing pumping House music.
Delicious pastries and coffees for breakfast.

Camping on the shore of Lake Zug and watching the kite-foilers whilst we snorkelled and cooked evening dinner with a bottle of wine.

Stunning scenery and twisty roads to Andermatt & Simplon pass.

Blasting past numerous German executive saloons during the twilight evening rush hour on an Italian motorway heading into a lightning storm, only to be chased down by a builder's Fiat van.

The beautiful and charming Stresa, by Lake Maggiore and discovering the 2022 Geneva-Cannes classic rally participants, whilst out for a sunrise blat.

Improbably glamourous Bellagio, by Lake Como.

Italian hospitality and enthusiasm for the "pretty car". We felt like celebs, being papped wherever we went. The addition of our small, cute dog was more than some could cope with.

The quaint and absorbing Mille Miglia museum in Brescia. Discovering its supercar festival and being invited on their police-escorted blat around the lakes and mountains. If only I'd refuelled that morning.... :-( ....but perhaps I'd have just ended-up scratching the top of my roll cage.

Getting lost in the narrow twistiness approaching the Stelvio pass, summitting the pass and being reminded just how refreshing 0°C really is, among spectacular cliffs and peaks.

Coffee with 4 bikers from Aylesbury and Watford at the Flüela pass.

Beautiful Lucerne.

The Mercedes museum in Stuttgart. Impressive, full of social history and a complete contrast to the tiny Mille Miglia museum. You don't get a discount by showing your C&L7 Club membership card, but you do get a priceless look of distain ("Wot is this?").

The smiles, greetings and hospitality of everyone who saw the car.

What went well.
The car: 2018 270S SV was comfortable and reliable, with just enough space for 2 weeks including tent and limited camping gear. A 4-year service a month beforehand uncovered some potential holiday-stoppers that were fixed before departure.

The dog: Tiny Tim was an entertaining companion and conversation-starter. 2 week's supply of his own dog food ensured no tummy upsets. Pre-departure and return health checks were easily organised. Earplugs and seatbelt harness kept him comfortable and safe.

A thick inflatable mattress with mini-compressor, rather than closed-cell foam or thin self-inflating mat. Pillows, too.

Lessons learned.
Switzerland is expensive, especially Lucerne. Camping in Switzerland was the same price as B&Bs in France and Italy where proper accommodation is plentiful and cheap.

Circumnavigating Lake Garda is mostly pretty, but a chore as it's 50km/h virtually all the way round, prone to traffic jams and the southern shore is an industrial estate. 

Old Fiat Pandas are the 4x4 of choice in Italy.

Take fewer clothes, although we did feel compelled to dress stylishly in Italy.

It is possible to sleep in a 7 when your sleepy "other half" locks you out of the B&B during a 2am dog walk on the first night of the holiday, but not ideal.

Thanks for all of your suggestions and advice. See you at Beaulieu :-)

[SM25T]

Just tap on this icon and add photos

 

[SM25T]

Write up with photos for LF magazine ?  Email to lowflying lowflying@caterhamlotus7.club

[Jonathan Kay]

Sounds great. Thanks for sharing.

Our last tour crossed yours at Basel and Andermatt, although it wasn't in a Seven. And we didn't have a dog.

We nipped out of Switzerland several times for campsites, meals and to buy food!

On the photos:

There are three ways of posting images: two by uploading them to this site, and one by linking to them on another site eg Dropbox. They're all described in the Forum User Guide:
https://www.lotus7.club/forum/chitchat/forum-user-guide

Most Members now use the shortcut upload, as suggested by Ian above:
https://www.lotus7.club/comment/2252151#comment-2252151

That's quick and comparatively easy, but it does limit the resolution of the image.Not usually a problem for photos but can be for screen dumps, images of documents etc.

The other two methods don't have that limitation.

Please let me know if you need any help or want to practise.

Jonathan

[paul_w]

What a brilliant trip and an entertaining write up - do please send an article to LF as not everyone will see it here. We do long drives round France every year, and once down to Bilbao, but I can't imagine finding space for a dog as well! Superb 

[Leadburn]

Thanks for the encouragement.  

Story published in LF April 2023