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

[wasp]

[quote="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
[/quote]
I've just picked up one of these too.
I'm hoping it will be a good help with the route planning!
Cheers,
Stu

[julian]

I am hoping to come on this one. I have a rider 4 also, had a v2,  glad that others are starting to get them as I have spent 6 or 7 years following Steve Gibson around many a foreign car park asking him to Bluetooth the days route to me, useless when it comes to technology.

I contacted Tomtom who stated that v2 and v4 are not compatible when it comes to transferring routes via Bluetooth, something about devices with SIM cards and those without.

Tomtom are working on this issue so fingers crossed one day soon v2 & v4 will be compatible.

Regards

Julian

[Steve Gibson]

I have a few questions...

Is the plan to catch a ferry to the Hook of Holland from Harwich and drive across to Dusseldorf? Or drive the four hours from Calais to Dusseldorf?
Is the train 10/11th June down and 18/19th June back? What are the dep/arr times?
How far into Italy do people want to drive?

Thanks, Stu.

P.S. I think the dates are going to be a problem for Rob, who booked his leave for the dates at the top of the thread, and for Holly and Andy who've booked a kennel for Cooper dog for the same dates – it also can't be moved.

[Atom120]

Our strong preference is for the original dates mentioned at the beginning of the thread, as we've started booking things based on those dates already. Also, early June can be a bit risky for some of the mountain passes - keen to avoid the 2012 passes-still-closed incident!

In terms of where we go, I'm yet to find roads as good (and as empty) as the Swiss alps, so I would love to be able to incorporate a visit back there for at least part of the trip.

[wasp]

Just to try and answer a couple of the questions above:

I don't have a definitive plan for how we cross the channel yet. Normally we all barrel through the tunnel but given that the departure time for the train is not until 18.36 (arriving 09.45 the next morning) we could have a leisurely ferry crossing and arrive in Holland or France at say 10am depending on preferences, already to go having had breakfast (and in Bruce's case another snooze )

Yes, the dates are 10th June train from Dusseldorf, arriving Verona on the 11th.
Coming back departing Verona on 18th at 18.05, arriving in Dusseldorf at 08.55 on the 19th.
At this point, I'm aiming to get back to the UK asap, not least because it's Father's Day and I've been told if I'm not back for dinner don't bother coming back at all :-

The journey in Italy will hopefully be around 5-600 miles, depending on how twisty we go, naturally some days we'll need to cover ground, others just hoon for fun.

Andy, I'm really sorry that I didn't talk to you about the dates. I missed the fact that you had date issues . I had pm conversations with Rob about 6 weeks ago as I had a immovable work clash that meant these were the only dates that I could do. I'm still hoping that he and you may be able to work something out. It will be so much better to have everyone if possible.

Inga's said she'll help with hotels, so that's one less thing for me to stuff up. Her record on organisation is just scarily good. I can't see me getting info packs all laminated for everyone like she did last time!!

I'm really going to start work on this properly in January (I'm in retail so you know how it is at the mo) and hope to have definitive crossings and hotels organised by the end of Jan, so we have no availability problems.

Any opinions on routes etc will be gratefully received and I'll start a new thread with definitive plans when they are in place.

Cheers,
Stu

[deepdurks]

Stu, What's the website for booking the train?
Regards, Mark

[Steve Gibson]

Just looking a bit closer at the rail journey.

The drive from Calais to Dusseldorf to pick up the train is roughly half the drive from Calais to Meiringen (the heart of Switzerland). So the train is halving the road miles out there and back, but adding about £600, for a driver-only car.

Whilst the train looks like fun, it's a bit pricey if you're going solo.

[deepdiver]

Steve are you thinking of driving it? 

i was also thinking it was a tad expensive to get the train going on my jack jones.

the V8 hotel is about half way to Verona where we met julian and simon last year.

G

[deepdiver]

the ferry from Hull on the thurs 9th to Rotterdam. rtn  Mon 20th. the price is £382.75 and that includes a 2 berth premier cabin and breakfast each way

then its only a night and breakfast their and back to and from Italy, ok  if the weather is fine, completely shite if its raining.

just putting alternatives out their to think about.

G.

[wasp]

[quote="deepdurks"]
Stu, What's the website for booking the train?
Regards, Mark
[/quote]

Hi Mark,

This link should work:

http://www.railtravelshop.com/holidays/motorail

I fully understand that it's not a cheap option, especially for those traveling by themselves but I personally didn't want to do the drive all the way too and from Verona.

If people want to make their own arrangements to get there, we can still all start off at the same point in Verona for the fun part of the journey?

Cheers,
Stu

[julian]

Shame there is a potential split here, if Rob and Andy can't switch then we would be looking at 2 trips, half the amount of people on each one.

I can see Stuart has booked but I am going to wait to see what others are intending.

Are you able to switch at all Stu to the original proposed date?

Regards

Julian

[wasp]

[quote="julian"]

Are you able to switch at all Stu to the original proposed date?

[/quote]

Sadly, no.
I've got work commitments which stuff it up for me on the later date. They are immovable.

I know that my dates don't work for Rob and aren't good for Andy & Holly too but it's just a case of work getting in the way of fun.

I don't know which way Steve is thinking yet but if you need to do a trip which works better for Rob, I understand.
Will this be a case of no big Euro trips for three years then 2 coming along at the same time?? Could be!!

Cheers,
Stu

[julian]

Pain, I hate buses.

[Steve Gibson]

I think it would be rotten of me to go on an early June trip and leave two or three parties behind. I gave the late June dates to Holly, Rob etc, so that they could fix leave and stuff. Although I don't think I mentioned them to you at Atomic Mass, Stu, to be fair.

I think we'll have to run a second trip.

It's not as much fun as one big group, but at least everyone gets to go.

[wasp]

[quote="Steve Gibson"]

I think we'll have to run a second trip.

[/quote]

Steve,

That's a shame but we all have to do what works best for us individually.

I couldn't have made a later date, so for me, it's do this trip or do nothing, so really it was a no-brainer for me.
If anyone wants to join us in the Alps then you're more than welcome but if Steve has an alternative that suits others better then it's not an issue at all.

It's just a win-win for Atomclub members who will have a choice of where to hoon this summer.

I'll still be tapping you for route info though Gibson, so you're not getting away with it entirely

Cheers,
Stu