phil121081

A few snaps from my recent trip around Europe.

We pretty much replicated the PetrolheadNirvana alpine route, but added a few extras as needed to be at a wedding in Lake Garda.

In Brief;

19 days
2700 Miles on road, around 800 on water
6 countries (Spain > Andorra > France > Italy > Switzerland > Germany > France > Home)
11 stops
3 languages
1 wedding
a couple of mountains
lots of tunnels
lots of fun

approx £500 in fuel and around 30-35 mpg. No incidents other than a knackered sat nav after the 3rd trip.

nomadicS2k

You did very well in fuel for those miles! pics look great! Definitely a trip I would like to do!

phil121081

I was surprised at the fuel myself, budgeted for around £600, so happy to come in under. Considering that most super was around 1.50 Euro/ltr it was not cheap and we even paid 1.90 in Italy near the lakes. There super was 100RON at some places, so pretty fruity stuff though!

It really was a great trip and I would recommend to anyone, although a few of the stop overs I would look elsewhere next time, namely Lleida, Carpentras and Davos. Nice enough, but would see what else was on offer nearby. Most stops were only for 1 night, so not anywhere long enough not to like it!

Adam.B

Great photos.. would love to do something like this!

simonix

fantastic trip by the looks of it.

Where is that mountain road you've shown above? That looks epic!! Is it the road they featured on Top gear a few years back?

mikey k

Good trip!
My recent one I averaged 15.1 mpg
Where is this pic? Looks like it might be Stelvio but its always had snow on it when I've done it.
Riems is becoming a MUST DO on here and PH

AquilaEagle

s2k_Nut

£500 on fuel !!! You weren't trying hard enough!
I calculate it would have cost me £810 in fuel for the same distance

Looks like a great route and drive, thanks for posting.

S2000_sam

Looks a great trip, looking forward to doing the same next year. But I have to agree in thinking the mpg is wey too optimistic. Im afraid those roads would result in the need for sponsorship by Shell!!

phil121081

Mountain road is Stelvio, we also did Petit St. Bernard (better driving road IMO than stelvio). The N85 that runs north from Cannes to Chambery was pretty special too, although we only picked up the last 40-50 miles of it.

There was snow on the tops of the mountains at Stelvio, but none of the actual pass thank god! It was a great experience and would recommend everyone to do it if in the area, but not something I would drive back to do again, plenty of other passes and mountain roads in Europe to try first. Stelvio is surprisingly slow as all first gear switchbacks, you can squirt it along the straights, but no chance to play in the twisties really as they are way to sharp!

As for the fuel, I was genuinly surprised, I assure you we had a great time and where conditions permitted really stretched it's legs. I went to Le-Mans this year also covering around 1200 miles and returned 33mpg that time. Considering most of this trip was off motorway, so open roads, your average speeds are less and so better on fuel, even when you do open it up at every opportunity!

Its the 130kph on the motorways that drink the juice!

Mikey K - Reims was great and at only 3 hours from Calais, worth a little trip on it's own.

We found a gem of a mountain pass just the other side of Andorra, kind of stumbled on it as was trying to avoid motorways, it was great, very quiet, opened up more than Stelvio and we were able to have some fun there. The low cloud set in (very thick!) at the summit, so was steady for a while, but a great road. I'll try and mark up a map showing our exact route.

The big surprise for me was the drive through the foothills of the Pyrenees heading from Pamplona to Lleida. Amazing roads the swept through the valley, no altitude, but great winding roads, clear skies and barely anyone on them!