Switzerland tour 2019

[Ali and Gail]

On 27/09/2018 at 20:19, Terryathome said:

300 miles in a day is pushing it a bit

Hi @Terryathome

That did concern me at first so I did some of my own research. Some of the long days we will be cutting them alot shorter and jumping on toll and main roads and cutting several hours of the day to make it fit us and what we can manage.

 

We will now only have one 8 hour day in the car. The rest of the days we can get down to 5/6 hours which suits us and we still do and see all the main stuff as per Gary original plans.

[Terryathome]

@Ali and GailOn the toll roads you can rack up the miles however can get a bit boring. The main roads or equivalent to our A and B roads are not all that fast.

Factor in 3 fuel stops on a 300 mile section plus getting a bite to eat and that alone will add  at least 1 hour plus to the day.

If you get rain on the day that will make 300 miles a right pain.

The 3 week trip to Italy and back through Switzerland Germany France in Aug this year averaged out in the 100 to 150 with a 250 thrown in for good measure. The 250 was a long day through sunshine rain and traffic jams and from memory took 8 hours. Don't get me wrong i enjoyed it but it was pushing the wifes patience a bit.

We also factored in 2 and 3 day stop overs along the route to break it up and some 1 day stops to get a few miles done. On the 2 or 3 day stop overs we could recharge our batterys in the bars and restaurants or have a drive out and do some mountain twisty roads.

The weather can differ quite a lot depending on which side of the alps your on. Sunshine on 1 side raining on the other. If your going over the alp tops it can get a bit chilly as well, you may see some ground snow.

Plan your route and look at the roads you travelling on with Google maps or something. Check what type of roads they are, single or double track. Single roads will be very slow to travel along and don't realy recommend them.

Enjoy you trip, driving through Europe on a holiday in a Westy has to be done. Done it every year for the past 5 years.

[jonjh1964]

5 hours ago, Terryathome said:

@Ali and GailOn the toll roads you can rack up the miles however can get a bit boring. The main roads or equivalent to our A and B roads are not all that fast.

Factor in 3 fuel stops on a 300 mile section plus getting a bite to eat and that alone will add  at least 1 hour plus to the day.

If you get rain on the day that will make 300 miles a right pain.

The 3 week trip to Italy and back through Switzerland Germany France in Aug this year averaged out in the 100 to 150 with a 250 thrown in for good measure. The 250 was a long day through sunshine rain and traffic jams and from memory took 8 hours. Don't get me wrong i enjoyed it but it was pushing the wifes patience a bit.

We also factored in 2 and 3 day stop overs along the route to break it up and some 1 day stops to get a few miles done. On the 2 or 3 day stop overs we could recharge our batterys in the bars and restaurants or have a drive out and do some mountain twisty roads.

The weather can differ quite a lot depending on which side of the alps your on. Sunshine on 1 side raining on the other. If your going over the alp tops it can get a bit chilly as well, you may see some ground snow.

Plan your route and look at the roads you travelling on with Google maps or something. Check what type of roads they are, single or double track. Single roads will be very slow to travel along and don't realy recommend them.

Enjoy you trip, driving through Europe on a holiday in a Westy has to be done. Done it every year for the past 5 years.

Good advice from Terry; in 2016 we (4 Westfields from the Dorset Area) did Bilboa, Andorra, Millau, St Tropez, Monaco, 3 days of Alpine passes and then the Loire Valley back to Cherbourg, 3,000 miles in 10 days. https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/120171-dorset-wsccers-do-europe/?tab=comments#comment-1262944 and http://2js-westfield-build.blogspot.com/2016/07/euro-tour-2016.html

The original plan was all A/B roads but to get to the over night stops we routinely had to divert to motorways and we ended up with lots of early starts and late finishes.  It was an epic trip and we're planning to do something similar in 2020 but adding 4 extras days/over night stops and deleting some of the diversions, on A/B roads we found averaging 25 mph hard work once traffic, fuel and food stops are factored in so we'll be planning on 150 miles/day.

 

[Ali and Gail]

Thanks for the advice all, we did over 9000 miles in the Westy last year touring the UK and like both of you said 150 miles a day is a comfy distance. When we tour we look to keep it somewhere between 125 and 150 miles which is about 6 hours a day in the seat giving plenty of time for fuel stops and sightseeing. We like to have a lazy breakfast and be on the road by 9/9.30 and be at our next over night stop no later than 6pm giving plenty of time to shower and go for dinner.

It will be horrible using the tolls to cover ground quickly but for us the main thing is the Alps and the passes so the sacrifice of boring roads we must do to keep the driving time shorter. I even hate the motorways in the UK. I used to live in Berlin when I was in the RAF and would drive back to see family in either Oxford or Bristol and do it in about 12 hours, boring as hell but needs must back then.

On motorways I can get around 180 miles from a tank but that drops to 110/120 when driving the "pretty bits" so 2/3 fuel stops a day as you say. We tend not to eat lunch as we eat as much as we can for breakfast and that sees us through till dinner and we always get we're we are staying to fill our flask in the morning and that sees us through.

We are certainly going to be wearing thermals and layering up on occasions and we're are used to the odd spot of rain or 2. Indeed one road trip in Scotland can only be described as "Biblical". We start singing normally to keep moral up then just start laughing questioning how mad we are but we love it. We always try and avoid single track roads, backing up when theres a bl**** big tractor in front of you can be bit of a pain particularly when the cars loaded and visibility is worse.

We have got three 2 night stop overs of the 10 days we are on foreign land so will be able to unpack! and take it easier. 

If you think of anything else please let us know.

 

 

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

It it all depend what people want out of a holiday.

For me a hotel is only somewhere to sleep and I am not interested in drinking or sitting in bars.

Me personally, I like to get the earliest breakfast I can and then be gone. 

When we get to the hotel on a night, I just like to book in and be back out.

This is everyone’s holiday and we will just all do what we want and still have a great time together..... as we always have done.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Having done some of the Autoroute/toll roads in France last year, to Le Mans, it's actually not horrendous when you're doing the big mile munching stints between cities. Don't get me wrong, its not like doing the fun twisties, but we found lots of lovely quiet sweeping motorway through some beautiful countryside. Not your first choice on a tour, but fun in its own way, and not the chore it would be in the UK.

[Ali and Gail]

8 minutes ago, Geoffrey (Buttercup) - North Yorkshire AO said:

It it all depend what people want out of a holiday.

For me a hotel is only somewhere to sleep and I am not interested in drinking or sitting in bars.

Me personally, I like to get the earliest breakfast I can and then be gone. 

When we get to the hotel on a night, I just like to book in and be back out.

This is everyone’s holiday and we will just all do what we want and still have a great time together..... as we always have done.

You've got up, had your breakfast, been for a walk, a drive before I've even woke up before 

[Ali and Gail]

9 minutes ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Having done some of the Autoroute/toll roads in France last year, to Le Mans, it's actually not horrendous when you're doing the big mile munching stints between cities. Don't get me wrong, its not like doing the fun twisties, but we found lots of lovely quiet sweeping motorway through some beautiful countryside. Not your first choice on a tour, but fun in its own way, and not the chore it would be in the UK.

I'm sure I've seen a pic of your car with some form of gadget that attaches to your rear wheel carrier to carry luggage?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

18 minutes ago, Ali and Gail said:

We like to have a lazy breakfast and be on the road by 9/9.30 and be at our next over night stop no later than 6pm giving plenty of time to shower and go for dinner.

 I know what you mean, have to be careful not to turn things back into work!

The other thing with Westfield touring is that unless you have inter-vehicle headsets, it can be relatively un-social for all those hours at the wheel. So while it's great when you can get together as a group at the stops, it's also great to get together for the Craic come evenings, breakfasts etc.

Flasks filled at the hotels is a great idea, too. 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Just now, Ali and Gail said:

I'm sure I've seen a pic of your car with some form of gadget that attaches to your rear wheel carrier to carry luggage?

Yep, Caterham luggage rack. For sale soon, well whenever, really! As I'm having a change of bodywork plan!!

[Gary Taylor]

Hi all, first i want to thank everyone for their input, however I don't think I was either grammatically correct or explained myself properly at the outset.

So to hopefully clarify a few points, (we can live in hope)

When I origionally plucked up the courage to make some definite plans instead of dreams about taking our westy abroad, I sat down and drew on my experiences of travelling from way up here back and forth across various parts of europe for work and pleasure, and as mentioned earlier we don't mind early starts and long days , we are used to it living away up here, its part of life and we accept and enjoy it even when we are on holiday as we want to be out and about seeing the area were in,  I realise this isn't everyones cup of tea but i will return to this point

The planning took place and I decided that even for us i would put a limit on the distance in any one day so i plucked 300 miles out as a maximum (certainly not 300 every day), based on that we regularly do that up and down scotland to area events, the car show at Boness was @ 320 miles round trip plus the show.

The route maps that we picked are OUR "ideal" touring days , but, knowing some people like a later start or an earlier finish , or as was pointed out earlier bad weather, road works, whatever, means that there IS ALWAYS an alternative route to either detour  or shorten the day, so the routes are planned to take in a variety of roads but prominently their A roads, the wee windy's are on the whole saved for evenings and stopovers. With this in mind its not a problem if someone wants to catch up at a certain point or cut short and head to the hotel, so anyone can tailor the days to their own requirements and indeed Ali phoned to discuss this very point and i reassured him it is everyones holiday and you adapt to what suits your own particular needs and indeed there are many days that are a lot shorter than the "300" above all its flexible 

the sightseeing/ passes days , i took advice from a good friend who lives and owns the distillery at the northern end of the umbrail pass and yes this is one of our visits, it would be rude not to, and he will give us a local update on high level conditions as we get closer to leaving.

The key to planning a trip like this is to talk and listen to and remain flexible and sympathetic to your travelling companions needs and the local wether/ road conditions, NONE of the routes are set in stone only the start and finish points as thats where we are staying and they're booked now.

Hopefully this helps clear up some points but probably creates a few more..... if anyone fancies the trip but wants to discuss, either pop it on here, message me or be old fashioned and give me a call on 07715554020

now to get the upgraditus finished on the car .....

Gary

[Gary Taylor]

4 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Yep, Caterham luggage rack. For sale soon, well whenever, really! As I'm having a change of bodywork plan!!

intrigued as there appears to be some winter work ahead

[Ali and Gail]

4 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said:

Yep, Caterham luggage rack. For sale soon, well whenever, really! As I'm having a change of bodywork plan!!

I might be interested in it, going to do some research.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

No worries, hadn’t even thought of it till you reminded me.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

29 minutes ago, Gary Taylor - Scotland AO said:

intrigued as there appears to be some winter work ahead

Indeed! Going FW rear.