Driving to the South of France - Recommendations

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Dang just realised I fly into geneva the day before the show ends.
Oh well hopefully wont affect us getting out of Geneva. The other year we were flying home whilst the show as ongoing and they added an extra hour+ to the coach travel just in case. Not funny when getting up at like 4am, and having to stand outside in -20 waiting for a coach

 

[jpaul]

Touch and go for some of route Napoleon.

it's a National route so not closed even if there are speed restrictions


.... stay in chamonix and get the ski shuttle from there to Geneva ? autoroutes through italy from Nice and then the tunnel.

 

[Housey]

I’d suggest Beaune as a good stop for some wine and food, then into Nice/Monaco and up to Geneva. If you want luxury I’d recommend Château de Bagnols north of Lyon instead of Beaune on day 1.

 

[geekman]

A few random recommendations:

If you’re going to Monaco, use the underground parking at the Casino (green Casino parking sign) - it’s not well signposted at the border to tends to stay emptier than the others. It’s cheap too!

Drive up to the Tête du chien near La Turbie for a stunning view of Monaco.

If you want to try some excellent, hopefully less snowy roads, drive up from Menton to Sospel / Breil Sue Roya.

Ventimiglia, just across the border in Italy can be a little “interesting” - lots of migrants etc, but has a great market and some proper authentic, Italian restaurants serving great local food.

Personally, I’d avoid trying to save on tolls by using parallel non-toll roads: it always takes more time than you’d think and is often just as boring. Getting the toll tag is a good idea though, really speeds things up.

In terms of winter tyres / snowy alpine passes etc, it’s pot luck really. I’ve done it in summer tyres / RWD a few times and never been stopped although it was a bit lively in places. Not sure I’d want to go too far into the alps without winter tyres in future.

 

[Steedie]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Will play around tonight and see what I can do

A part of me is considering just flying in to Geneva for the car show now and then doing this road trip in May time when I can do a bit more of Switzerland too without the worry of speed restrictions or closed roads. Either way I really want to do it before the sunmer months

 

[BigT]

I did the Route Napoleon in May some years ago as well as a lot of Alpine passes, Tuscany and the Black Forest and it was my favourite part of the European road trip. Fast, epic scenery and just a great driver’s road. You’ll love it if you like driving. Admitedly I was put to shame by a local in a Fiat Panda who I couldn’t keep up with in my Z4M but I still had tremendous fun.

 

[[TW]Fox]

€1000 euros in fuel and toll costs for a trip to Geneva in a C Class is ridiculous, I am amazed you can justify that. It is surely considerably cheaper to fly and rent a car.

 

[Steedie]

€1000 euros in fuel and toll costs for a trip to Geneva in a C Class is ridiculous, I am amazed you can justify that. It is surely considerably cheaper to fly and rent a car.

I don’t see that as much money at all tbh, but yeah... I’m more than happy to spend that on a good road trip

And it’s a bit harsh saying “in a c class” like I’m doing it in a C220D. I’d consider a C43 more than capable of being able to have a good time on those roads.

What car do you need to be in for it to be worth it?

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

What car do you need to be in for it to be worth it?

A BMW

Any BMW

 

[Steedie]

A BMW

Any BMW

Like a diesel 5 series? Having just moved from one of those, I can tell you which I’d rather do a Euro road trip in...

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Like a diesel 5 series? Having just moved from one of those, I can tell you which I’d rather do a Euro road trip in...

Well as someone who also had one I wouldn't disagree. I would also take the Merc.
Personally I have always rated Mercs higher than BMWs, I couldn't put my finger on why, just I find BMWs over hyped. Perceived premium where it doesn't exist.
My other half loves them though, although she prefers my TT despite hating Audis

 

[[TW]Fox]

I don’t see that as much money at all tbh, but yeah... I’m more than happy to spend that on a good road trip

And it’s a bit harsh saying “in a c class” like I’m doing it in a C220D. I’d consider a C43 more than capable of being able to have a good time on those roads.

What car do you need to be in for it to be worth it?

To justify a thousand euros? Probably a Ferrari!

A C43 feels exaxtly like a C220d sitting on the autoroute paying those tolls.

You could probably rent something fun off sixt less money than you would spend in tyres, fuel etc.

I almost did the same thing for a recent trip to Munich but by the time I had looked at the costs it worked out cheaper to fly over and rent a 6 Series, which is what I did in the end. And that's with a car that would probably have used half the fuel of yours

The other benefit is that it will have tyres suitable for winter which will mean you can explore the Alps.

Taking your own car is fun for a longer trip but for a short trip like this the massive cost involved seems totally disproportionate especially given that 80% of the time is spent sat on the motorway with the cruise on racking up tolls whilst consuming twice the fuel of a C220 for basically the same experience

 

[Steedie]

To justify a thousand euros? Probably a Ferrari!

A C43 feels exaxtly like a C220d sitting on the autoroute paying those tolls.

You could probably rent something fun off sixt less money than you would spend in tyres, fuel etc.

I almost did the same thing for a recent trip to Munich but by the time I had looked at the costs it worked out cheaper to fly over and rent a 6 Series, which is what I did in the end. And that's with a car that would probably have used half the fuel of yours

Thing is, it wouldn't feel the same if I rented a car. Part of the appeal for me is that I'm doing it in my own car.

I know a lot of the roads are just motorways, but the chance to have some fun on Route Napoleon and drive along the south of France, even if it's just a C Class, still is a really appealing thing for me. It's a once in a life time thing, not something I'm going to do again (unless I win the Euromillions and can drive some serious exotica across Europe regularly), so while the cost may seem high and not worth it, I'm willing to write it off for the experience.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I've just had a look and for a long weekend Sixt will rent you an S Class Mercedes for 150 quid pickup Friday dropoff Monday. You can drive to Geneva via the Black Forest and through Switzerland, have some Autobahn fun and the flight from London takes an hour and costs under a hundred quid return.

Massively cheaper than taking your car and still a pretty awesome trip!

I have nothing against your own car on a Europe trip. I have done it before and will do it again this year but you need to be going for several weeks for it to stack up as an option against flying and renting something good.

Don't see it as a once in a lifetime thing because it really isn't, there will always be an opportunity to drive your car to Dover and put it on the ferry. Europe is close and accessible.

 

[jpaul]

you could consider using the car-train to somewhere down in South ... and join Napoleon,

but - I concur, nothing like driving Napoleon, or Col de Vence, col du tourrini, col del la madonna in your own car

 

[Terminal_Boy]

A BMW

Any BMW

You’ve got a 1 series with an M Power badge on it, haven’t you?

 

[[TW]Fox]

You’ve got a 1 series with an M Power badge on it, haven’t you?

No he's just jumping on the 'i only said it isn't worth it because it isn't a BMW' bandwagon.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Paging @Kreeeee

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

You’ve got a 1 series with an M Power badge on it, haven’t you?

No, see below..

No he's just jumping on the 'i only said it isn't worth it because it isn't a BMW' bandwagon.

Guilty as charged m'lord.
But many a true word spoken in jest

 

[Kreeeee]

Paging @Kreeeee

Salut toi, comment ça va ?

Yeah in March all the best Swiss (and the surrounding alpine) passes will be closed so I don't advise driving through here at that time of year.