Going on a Euro Road Trip. Where to?

stylgeo

stylgeo

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Hi, I am going on a 10 day (very little I know) road trip around 4-5 countries in 3 weeks and I was wondering if anyone could suggest any particular places of interest. Beginning from Amsterdam, there aren't any strict plans, only that we would like to go to Prague and possibly Brussels. I don't want to book any hotels because it's very restrictive. What I was thinking about was something along the lines of Amsterdam (Holland), Hannover (Germany), Dresden, Prague (Czech Republic), Linz (Austria), Numberg (Germany), Frankfurt, Leverkuzen, Brussels (Belgium), Rotterdam (Holland) and back to Amsterdam.

The problem is that I won't be alone :p. We'll be a party of 9, with only 2 photographer hobbyists. So, I'll be needing some advice on places with general interest, maybe something beautiful for both togs and non-believers to enjoy :naughty:. I will be willing to change the above plans, I can go further on eastern Europe and avoid Austria, or I can just stay in the area around Germany. As you can see, the trip is very flexible. I've never been to most of these countries so I'm open to any suggestion.

Furthermore, it's the first time I'll be doing such a long road trip around Europe, I'm actually hiring a car from the Netherlands. Anything I should keep in mind? Any advice on people who have done something similar? What should I take with etc.
Thanks in advance
George
 
air con and gps!
 
Strasbourg (France), a nice city with a very famous cathederal and nice old quarter

Arles/Camargue (south coast of France) Beautiful city with a Roman coliseum surrounded by the Camargue, a very nice area with the Camargue horses that run wild.

Ardeche (south central France) A beautiful mountainous area of white limestone wth beautiful gorges and blue rivers.

Black forest (south-west Germany) more swiss than Switzerland, with beautiful houses and clock making everywhere (essentially what you imagine Switzerland to be). Contains some beautiful waterfalls and is generally a beautiful place to go. Also see Titsee lake, the area around that is really nice from what I remember.

Luxumbourg - Worth a look

Tuscany - There is a reason everyone knows about it, beautiful with some very rugged coastline. The coastal roads (even the main motorway from Nice/France) are beautiful, with the motorway hardly touching the ground the entire way and the smaller roads are even more spectacular. It's also only a short distance from Pisa, which aside from the tower is a very nice old town as well. Lucca, just to the north of it is also a very nice old town.

Those are probably a bit in the wrong direction for your already proposed ones but may be worth a look. :)
 
Have fun! I'm interrailling round Europe this summer for 16days! Cant wait!
 
We did Magny Cours (France), Spa (Belgium) and the 'Ring in 5 days. 5 very mental days etc

:)

Oh yes - air con is essential! Would recommend Austria and Switzerland though - amazing places.
 
I've driven to the 'Ring and back a few times. Usually takes about 3 hours each way from Calais.

Have a look on www.nurburgring.org.uk for essential info, including what you generally need to drive in Europe.
 
I vote for switzerland too. I toured france, switzerland and italy for 3 weeks last year and it was an amazing trip.

My other advice is take a water container, gas stove, kettle, and tea & coffee. As much as I enjoyed the local brews there were times when I would stop for a brew and take in the breathtaking scenery etc. There's also nothing quite like british tea!
 
stylgeo said:
Hi, I am going on a 10 day (very little I know) road trip around 4-5 countries in 3 weeks and I was wondering if anyone could suggest any particular places of interest. Beginning from Amsterdam, there aren't any strict plans, only that we would like to go to Prague and possibly Brussels. I don't want to book any hotels because it's very restrictive. What I was thinking about was something along the lines of Amsterdam (Holland), Hannover (Germany), Dresden, Prague (Czech Republic), Linz (Austria), Numberg (Germany), Frankfurt, Leverkuzen, Brussels (Belgium), Rotterdam (Holland) and back to Amsterdam.
Click to expand...

I suppose it depends on why you've mentioned the places you have and what you think is attractive about them. Rotterdam, for instance. A bloody big port and lots of industrial facilities and oil refineries. I may be wrong but I can't think of any particular attractions there.

Frankfurt - hmm. I don't know much about it other than that it's Germany's hub of business, especially financial services. How about the medieval city of Freiburg in the Black Forest, or the medieval university city of Heidelburg, both of which are in the same general area (loosely speaking) of Germany?

Not sure about Linz either. What is there there that made you think of it? Salzburg is worth a few days (Mozart, castle, catacombs, olde-worlde streets etc, plus the Salzkammergut lake district nearby, and I understand that Graz, Austria's second city, is worth a visit too.

Agree Amp34's suggestion of Strasbourg. Also Colmar about 50 miles further south on the Alsace wine road. If you're in that area Haut Koenigsburg Castle is worth some time. http://www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Western_Europe/France/HtKoenigs4_small.jpg

To be honest, given the time you have available, I think you'd be better off picking an area and sticking to it, otherwise you'll spend all your time driving and see nothing. Alsace in eastern France is very under-rated by Brits and is almost Brit-free. So is the Auvergne in the Massif Central.

When are you thinking of going? If it's the third week of September (?) you could all have a terrific time at the Fetes Renaissance du Roi de l'Oiseau in Le Puy en Velay in the southern Auvergne. Basically a Renaissance festival on a vast scale completely takes over a medieval cathedral city for 4 days.

http://www.roideloiseau.com/ (Sorry, it's all in Frog)
 
Thanks everybody for the replies. The reason I chose that particular route is mainly because we all want to go to prague to spend a couple of days and it's the fastest route back to amsterdam.
I've already hired a car with english speaking Sat/Nav and aircon.

Amp34, unfortunately, all destinations you suggested (except maybe from luxemburg) are a bit out, considering the number of days we all have available. Maybe we should've booked a different starting point than Amsterdam:bang:.

I think we'll take Frankfurt out of the equation and go to Freiburg as woadrage suggests. It sounds like a beautiful place indeed. Oh, how I wish we had more days available. Maybe next year.

The problem is that we'll be a party of 7 people (not 9 as I stated before) and it's too many people to be flexible. And because only two of us have driven in Europe before and the rest don't feel confortable driving on the right we'll only hire one big car
This one.
sofia-renault-traffic-8+1.jpg

:lol::clap:

Thanks everybody for your suggestions. Do you reccon i should take this car for a drive at 'the ring'? :thinking:
 
Do less and travel less. I would hate to do a trip like that. Quality not quantity. And if you have nine people and not booking hotels in advance then expect to pay high rack rates and pull your hair out finding a place every time you arrive somewhere. I'd suggest prioritise and plan, book in advance using the discount hotel web sites. You'll get nicer, better located places and have way more freedom to enjoy the towns. A bit of good planning makes a trip.
 
Thanks condyk. i am currently booking hotels, already booked hotels in amsterdam and prague, the only two sure places for now. I just need to decide where to go next. I think if we stay in 4 places in 10 days that would be ok.
We are all young people in our early to mid 20s, really a happy bunch, all greek;) and I don't think we tire easily:). I know what it's like to drive for long hours since I really enjoy road trips. i know it can get tiring (it hasn't been 2 months when I was on the road for 13 hours straight, with only 2 half hour breaks, back in Greece).
Getting tired isn't an issue really. Two people will be driving, so there will always be a driver resting, waiting his turn.
So, I think the final plan would be Amsterdam, Prague, Freiburg, Strasbourg, Brussels and back to Amsterdam.
Anything interesting on that route?
 
You won't be far from Cologne on your travels.....the cathedral there is one of the most awe inspiring structures that I've ever been in.

Bob
 
I travelled a lot when I was younger and I would say a group of seven trying to cover that many miles without hotels booked will all want to kill each other by day 3 :lol:

You'll do nothing else than spend your time in the car arguing about where you are going/where you are going to stop/how long you are going to stop. Make firm plans now before you go so everyone knows what the plans are.
 
Thanks Bob and JB for the advice. Yeah JB, that's what I'm planning to do and that's why I am asking for places to visit. Since none of us has been to most of the places I'm saying, I'm just looking for interesting places so that I can book the hotels from now! But because I am organising this trip I don't want to take everybody somewhere that's not that interesting!

Bob, Cologne sounds like a nice place. It's actually only 1.5 hours detour from our way to brussels. We might just go through that route.
 
I've lived in Germany for 11 years - and I've done a couple of road trips with mates since. But not a ten day one. Unfortunately they were 4 day tours around Benelux and Germany. I'd love to do a longer run.

Ten days... ummm. Consider Luxembourg. Heidleberg is my favourite German city. Freiberg was beautiful - but that was 30 yrs ago although I'm sure it is still worth a visit. If you're doing Freiberg then go on into Switzerland and go to Geneva, Lausanne, Montreaux or all three.

Something not so far west would be Friedrickshaven then into Switzerland turning either east into Austria - Innsbruck/Salzberg/Linz (its just as beautiful as Switzerland - just different) or south to the San Bernadino pass and beyond. Go over, not through the tunnel. Pop into Liechtenstein if you can.

Prague is good but tends to fill up with drunken brits these days. I loved the place but I'm not sure I'd want to do 2 days there in a tour like this.

And I couldn't do a ten day tour without including Berlin.
 
forgot to mention - trying to do too many things at once.

Koln - I wasn't particularly impressed. Visited several times - drove around it many more times. The cathedral is impressive if you are into that sort of thing. The only other impression it left on me was the traffic!!

I'd much rather stop off at small villages along the banks of the Rhine. Consider visiting the bridge at Remagen. The visitors centre is on the west bank ;) See the film then do the bridge :D

When are you visiting and what sort of age group are we talking about?

/edit - just seen age group thing. Maybe forget Remagen unless you're into WW2 history. But if you're that age why not consider Berlin?
 
THanks 2b4u for your advice! The thing is that we all have so many different tastes so I'll just decide on a route that will cover most of everybody's needs.
I really want to go to switzerland, don't know if we have the time. we'll probably stay for 2 nights in Freiburg and go on a day trip to switzerland and back.
Will decide on this with the others. Can't wait really!
 
Final plan,
Well, I booked an apartment for two nights in Amsterdam. Then a 6 hour drive will bring us to the beautiful city of Freiburg in Germany (thanks everybody for recomending it). We'll stay there for 3 nights-4 days, in a beautiful spa-hotel just 15km out of the city. The plan is to spend the first day exploring the area around Freiburg and the Black Forest. Second day in Germany we won't be in Germany, we'll visit Strasburg in France, where the ladies of the company want to go, don't ask me why but I actually heard that it's beautiful. Fingers crossed.
Well, as for the third day, we will either visit Switzerland or spend another day in the Black Forest, depends on our mood. Next day, early in the morning we'll get back on the road for Brussels, spend the remainder of our vacation there (2 days-the ladies again). Then back to Amsterdam to catch our flight late in the evening.

So, important question. WHat gear should I take with me? The other tog of the company said that he will be travelling extra light, just his camera and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. As for me, the gear I'll deffinitely take with me is this:
One camera body, Sigma 10-20, nifty fifty, external flash, 055XPROB.
The maybe, and I really want to take it with me, is the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8. I know it will be quite heavy to lugging it around but I will be in the Black Forest after all. What do you guys think?
 
Sounds like a plan. :)

I would take the 120-300mm, you can always leave it in the car, and the Black forest has lots of black squirrels so a long lens would be good (having said that when we tried to shoot a black squirrel with a compact all we got was dark, was almost impossible to see the squirrel, I suppose that's why the call it the BLACK forest :lol:)
 
Amp34 said:
Sounds like a plan. :)

I would take the 120-300mm, you can always leave it in the car, and the Black forest has lots of black squirrels so a long lens would be good (having said that when we tried to shoot a black squirrel with a compact all we got was dark, was almost impossible to see the squirrel, I suppose that's why the call it the BLACK forest :lol:)
Click to expand...

Thanks Amp, now, let's check out the weight limits of EasyJet...:rules:
 
Just got back from my trip. It was amazing really. Lots of beautiful places, some mishaps due to the fact that I speak only very little German. It involves a funny misunderstanding, an angry hotel owner and the police:p. Thank God my French is a little better.
Lots of photos which I'll need some time to process. Thanks everybody for your help. Cities visited were Amsterdam, Freiburg, Zurich, Strasbourg and Brussels. 5 countries in just a week isn't bad, and not as tiring as expected.
Photos coming up.
 
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