The Alpine/Euro Trip 2016 : 10 June - 19 June

[Sir Nick]

Just my 2p but should we avoid the tunnel at all costs? 

[toms]

For what it's worth I use the Chunnel about 5-10 times per year for my sons racing/practicing at Dunkerque and although it has been a bit of a pain a couple of times this year it still works OK if you are intelligent with what times you book.  Ferries take so much longer that even if you are delayed for 2 hours at the Chunnel (the longest i've ever had) it still works out quicker than getting the ferry, as you don't have to check in an hour before.  Plus if you are a bit early or late you have flexibility, if you are early for the ferry you have to wait and if you're late you have to wait 4 hours for the next one!

Although it's become more of a pain this year I still think it's the way forward for private cars etc.

(I may live to regret the above statement as i'm booked on the 10.20pm tonight  )

[wasp]

For customers travelling today via our UK Terminal
Our passenger service is currently operating with some timetable disruption, this is due to an incident on the terminal which is in the process of being resolved. There is a waiting time of approximately 2 and a half hours on the terminal. We regret that we are currently unable to sell tickets to non reserved customers.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to your journey.

I hope they have this sorted by the time you get there Tom

I'm going through on Tuesday morning, so even though I'm not expecting it to be as smooth as usual, I agree with Tom that it's generally a much quicker service than the ferries.

Good luck Tom!

Cheers,
Stu

[toms]

[quote="wasp"]
For customers travelling today via our UK Terminal
Our passenger service is currently operating with some timetable disruption, this is due to an incident on the terminal which is in the process of being resolved. There is a waiting time of approximately 2 and a half hours on the terminal. We regret that we are currently unable to sell tickets to non reserved customers.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause to your journey.

I hope they have this sorted by the time you get there Tom

I'm going through on Tuesday morning, so even though I'm not expecting it to be as smooth as usual, I agree with Tom that it's generally a much quicker service than the ferries.

Good luck Tom!

Cheers,
Stu
[/quote]

Fingers crossed - it's never usually more than two hours, they always seem to err on the side of caution with their timings.  The last time we came back they were saying a 4 hour wait, we were on the train in an hour and a half.

I can't see a 'praying' smiley 

[Bruce Fielding]

Remember, we're talking 10 months away...

[Atom120]

Tom has clearly lost his mind.

Ferries have a bar. Chunnel does not.

Ferries are therefore better.

Tom is wrong.

[Alex Brandon-Smith]

[quote="Atom120"]
Tom has clearly lost his mind.

Ferries have a bar. Chunnel does not.

Ferries are therefore better.

Tom is wrong.
[/quote]

Tom obviously forgot to have his morning Jaeger yesterday...

[toms]

I was thinking that i'd lost my mind when I checked the latest Eurotunnel travel info on the way there on Friday and they were quoting 4 hours delay 

But we only waited for an hour in the end - so again Chunnel gets the  from me.  As much as I like a good bar I find alcohol does get in the way of driving somewhat - and there's only so many jagers you can get through on a Dover/Calais ferry (1 hour or something?) 

[woodsypedia]

Yep - I'm game for Bruce's plan too. Unless we've got a pace car I think the drone might end up staying at home. I'm not sure Captain Underpants could face being wedged into the tub again for that length of time

Chris

[deepdurks]

Just a simple refresh of this thread, we're up for a european tour, who else wants to go regardless of any POTENTIAL delays!!?

Crack on WASP lets get some booking done.

Mark & Inga

[Sir Nick]

A list?:

Sir Nick

[wasp]

[quote="deepdurks"]

Crack on WASP lets get some booking done.

Mark & Inga
[/quote]

Fair comment, I have been quiet on this.
I have been waiting to see if Karl could get his diesel taxi on board the train we were looking at but it's a no as it's too fat!!
We've literally decided yesterday to just take the Atom, so that will be cosy then

We are going to go for the motorail train from Dusseldorf to Verona on Fri 10th June, getting the train back to Dusseldorf on Saturday 18th June (getting back in on Sunday 19th.)

I've been flat out at work (except for a cheeky day up to the bike show) so haven't booked a thing yet.

There's a good looking loop route that I need to explore in much more detail and ask advice from those who've been before, but i think it will work well, taking in Monza, Stelvio Pass etc. (Mark & Inga, it's the one I sent you previously)

I'm going to be booking the motorail train first

http://www.railtravelshop.com/motorail/italy/autoslaaptrein-dusseldorf-verona#tab-1

and then sort chunnel etc in the new year, along with asking Inga to help with hotels!!

I'll have lots of free time in January, so will start refining details and giving options then.

Cheers,
Stu

[deepdurks]

Stu, Fantastic,
                    I can't get over how quickly responses occur on our site. We are in for those dates, let us know soonest regarding how to, and which train to book? As soon as we have, Inga will assist in the vetting of hostelries for the trip, which will i'm sure meet the required standard.

Sir Nick, here is the start of the list:

Mark & Inga

[wasp]

Ok,
So I have now actually booked the motorail train.

Ive booked it for the 10th June out, 18th June back.

I've booked a 2/3 sleeper cabin, but they also do mixed or private 5 berths.

I've booked dinner each way.

They ask for Atom dimensions:

Length 3.41 m (11 ft 2 in)
Width 1.798 m (5 ft 11 in)
Height 1.195 m (3 ft 11 in)

My reservation apparently still needs to be confirmed by them but it should be all sorted.

The total for everything was just short of 1,700 euros but for 2 nights acommodation, dinner both ways and the transportation taken care of, i didn't think that was too bad, based on 2 sharing. prices for singles will be about 450 euros less.

I would suggest anyone interested in coming book the train asap and we can easily sort the bookings for everything else in the new year!! Roll on June!!


So....a new list:

Motorail Train Booked

Stu & Karl

[Rocket Man]

sounds like a good trip, sadly i have not got a new atom as yet but i did get a new tomtom ryder 400 and as it happens whilst i was trying it out today i put into it stelvio pass and it ploted the route there for me very nice unit but still need to do a bit of playing with it