Euroblat 2016

[David T]

Too soon?

How about the ferry to north coast of Spain then a few days in the Pyrenees? 24hours each way. Off peak this Autumn is around £500, so I guess similar for Spring next year. Not cheap, but it would offset two hotel nights (£100), Eurotunnel (£90) and fuel/tolls for the North-South-North transit to anywhere interesting.

I think Lord Crunchie Morgan Xenos the Ultima(te) has done it one way previously.

Just a thought. Discuss...

[greenwoo]

OK, here's my 2 penneth.
I can see the appeal of a ferry etc for a longer trip, but this adds 2 considerations; cost plus time. For starters to get 5 days driving means a 7 day 'actual' trip, plus potentially part of a day for those that need a couple of hours to get to Portsmouth/booking in etc.

Unfortunately for me anything over 5 days is pretty much a no no - but that's not to say that others may disagree and feel that there's merit.

I reflected a fair bit over the past days about distance/time - where to go/suggest.
The killer for EU trips is getting far enough away from the Northern part to hit the better roads, and that puts pressure on Day 1. I have been thinking about the merits of actually starting the Tour on the Tuesday, but booking people into 1 Hotel IN france. The idea being that folks can pick the crossing they want and potter down/zoom down to the Hotel on the Tues afternoon/evening. The big 'meet & greet' would either be in the Bar or the 1st morning.
Doing this somewhere like Arras area, would effectively put us 1 hour- 80 miles outside of Calais, and would therefore allow us to knock off a mere 370/400 miles ( part way between last yr and this year ) relatively easily.

IF we did that; there's zero extra cost for those that stay in the Folkestone Hotel anyway, and it gives us a chance to get as far into France or Germany as we did this year, with a shorter 1st day.

I ran some dummy routes over the past 2 nights and it would be possible to visit for example the Rhone Alpes, where we we get some stunning mountain scenery ( yeah scenery ), a couple of balcony roads and gorges.

An alternative would be the Alsace, Black Forest to German Alps. But this is less easy ( i think ) because of the lack of direct motorway which we could use to knock off 40-50 quick miles on the way back...on day 4-5.

I wasn't going to post anything up quite yet, but as the topic's been raised....
BTW - if anyone wants to drop me a note/PM with feedback for this one that has just passed, feel free, won't be offended and helpful as a barometer.

[Tony C]

Mark,

I've enjoyed all four road trips I've been on, and its a great credit to your hard work that they all went so well.

I realise there is a dilemma of miles per day versus the roads that are within reach in just five days. If I'm honest I'd be happy with a few less miles per day, say 200, so an option to get part way into France pre the official start or the ferry to Spain would work for me. I spoke to Jim Giblett who organises a similar trip each year a few years back and he puts a loop in each days run offering the ability to do a short or long route each day, while still ending at the same hotel, but it would limit the reach into Europe or the UK in five days...........

Perhaps I'm just a 'lightweight'