23 replies to this topic

[hairy]

Jonathan, well done for making the trip and I hope you enjoy it. I would echo others here that driving across France and Belgium is a PITA (Germany is better), especially Belgium - however if you have a target in mind go for it! cheers Hairy.

[Chief]

Nice one Jonathan. You took your hardtop! So no wind in your hair then?

I've just come back having done, France, Spain, Italy, Sardegna, Austria, Germany and Belgium. 5,000 miles in 17 days and mostly without the roof on. I would have loved some cruise control and padded seats on some stretches!

So will you do it again?

[siztenboots]

got ferry at 04:20, then drove to Black Forest , it was record hottest day in Germany 42°C , in total 631 miles.

[jonathansouth]

I would echo others here that driving across France and Belgium is a PITA (Germany is better), especially Belgium - however if you have a target in mind go for it! cheers Hairy.

Would definitely agree. The hypnotically straight roads of Belgium and traffic jams around every major city were a real bind. Still, it's not a big country and managed to clear it fairly quickly.

 

Nice one Jonathan. You took your hardtop! So no wind in your hair then?

I've just come back having done, France, Spain, Italy, Sardegna, Austria, Germany and Belgium. 5,000 miles in 17 days and mostly without the roof on. I would have loved some cruise control and padded seats on some stretches!

So will you do it again?

I've only got a hardtop - never actually wanted a soft-top when looking to buy the car but I wanted a VX - I'm not a 'wind in your hair' type of driver.

 

5000 miles is quite a feat. That sounds epic. Would love to do that one day; time & finances permitting.

 

The only thing I would have changed about my trip was the outbound journey. Essex to the Black Forest was a scheduled 12 hours drive - my of the other journeys on the trip were 1-4 hours with a stop off at a city/attraction. The closure of the M25 last Friday morning (motorcycle fatality) and the death of a Syrian migrant on the Calais side of the Eurotunnel added 5 hours to the 12 hour trip. That was exhausting :/

 

got ferry at 04:20, then drove to Black Forest , it was record hottest day in Germany 42°C , in total 631 miles.

42 degrees ouch! Not sure how I would have handled that in my hardtop. Love the Black Forest though. Never been there before but it's such a beautiful area.