I'm not sure, but I seem to recall reading that the pass is either closed, or has restricted vehicular access from October to April, weather depending.

 

Had a nice in-depth (ish) chat with Chris from SMACS this afternoon, and he's offered some useful advice on the subject

 

might not be able to come now,,,little busy ,,,, picking car up after work (hopefully) / finishing the garden after i pick car up (hopefully i can get out of this),,etc,etc

what time you going to be there till ???

and dont worry if i cant come ,,,ill just do, what ever other people want to do

stu

 

Sadly another late night at work, again !

Dunx

 

You might be able to get a few ideas from this.

Stelvio or Bust 2006

 

Cheers mate

 

He did indeed Nice to see you sticky, and thanks for the stickers

Contrary to what Al C says, I'm the only member of SMACS who made it on the Stelvio trip back in 2006, pictures are here:
SMACS Image and Members Gallery - South Manchester And Cheshire Subaru's (SMACS)
and a short vid of finally reaching it is here:
http://www.scoobysmacs.co.uk/Videos/...m%20pt%201.wmv
Last year we did the Nurburgring, but that was a lot closer, and a lot cheaper

So, my advice to sticky was:
1. do you really need to go to the millau bridge? This is a simple route taking in millau, stelvio and the nurby: from:Stockport SK92LN to:Millau, France to:Stelvio, Bolzano (Trentino-Alto Adige), Italy to:nurburgring to:Stockport SK92LN - Google Maps
2,627 miles, which with my car, an 03sti, would equate to about 9 full tanks of fuel @ 300 miles per tank = roughly £600 in fuel alone.
2. if you want to do the stelvio, why not drive straight there?
from:Stockport SK92LN to:48.654686,4.954834 to:N333 @48.574570, 6.488020 to:Stelvio, Bolzano (Trentino-Alto Adige), Italy to:A330 @48.632330, 6.182450 to:Carrefour Henri Rollin @48.634400, 4.955220 to:Stockport SK92LN - Google Maps
that route takes in Reims and the gorgeous champagne region of france, which frankly was a bloody joy to drive through, apart from the torrential rain and thunderstorms
3. you need reliable commited people to come on this trip. you can't have someone back out at the last minute when you've spent from now to then booking ferries and hotels all the way along the route. get a non refundable deposit off everyone who is going. (even then someone will pull out at the last minute)
4. if you're going, you need to start practising driving when tired.
5. you need full euro insurance and breakdown cover, all of you.

my preference would be just to go straight back to the stelvio region, and stay in a hotel for a week, heading out every morning at around 7am, beating the swiss rush hour (we did!) and driving up all the passes you can cram in during your time there. If you want, you can include a stop at the nurby on the way back, but you don't have to. what you'll have just done in switzerland will easily make up for missing that other great road

Good luck if you make it over there, you wont regret it, and you will gasp in awe at the sheer scale of those mountains, and cream yourself the first time you get to what you think is the top of a pass, only to find a platau road snaking off into another gorgeous climb.
Oh, and did I mention the tunnels? THE NOISE! HEHEH.

I've emailed stormy and mrk off here, who've just completed a similar trip last month, thread here: https://www.scoobynet.com/internatio...4-30-sept.html who can hopefully share some more insight and info with you guys.

Sticky has a copy of the DVD I made of our holiday back in 06, you're more then welcome to borrow it as it does a good job of conveying the scale of the trip, and the good time we had.

Off to bed now Have a good one.

 

Thanks for that Chris. Your input is much appreciated.



(You work dodging strike-monger) Where's my mail?



I'll be reviewing the DVDs for unsuitable content, and will probably bring them along tonight. Any chance of someone bringing a laptop, as mine is refusing to play anything ATM.


Oh, and can all those who are also wanting to go karting please bring their deposits, as it needs booking asap. Ta.

 

Hope this goes ahead . . just ordered a TomTom with Europe mapping on it

Any ideas on possible dates yet? Just need to know whether to save some holidays at work, as my entitlement runs April to March . . . if its anytime after next April, I can take it out of the next year

 

i also hope it goes ahead

cant wait

stu

 

Work has begun on the route planning. You're gonna love it

Si, I could do with seeing if the Euro maps will work on my TT too

Date wise we're looking at sometime just after the easter school hols, probably to fit in with half term, can't be any more specific at the moment as I don't have a schedule for Jade's school year yet, but this doesn't revolve around me, so any other suggestions will be welcome.

 

better ask for more pocket money, cant wait

 

School hols sound best... May bank? Seems to fit in with a few peeps who need this to get the time off...

 

Was with CW yesterday, talking Wales routes, and he mentioned this thread.

Watching with interest, assuming it is open to SMAC-heads

 

Certainly is Dai, more than welcome mate (Just watch out for the mountain sheep )

 

Route planning is well under way, and boy do we have some treats in store.

Looking to finalise a date and book the ferry crossings in the next couple of weeks, so we could do with another little meeting at some point to talk (and collect) deposits, amongst other things.

I'm away during the week for the next 2 weeks, but I can do a weekend or give all the relevant info to Al or Si.

 

If most of the people interested in the trip are going to AET tomorrow, we could have a chat down there?

Or could meet up over the weekend 3/4th November? Give people a few weeks to find some cash to cover the ferry bookings etc . .

 

Right, as discussed with most of those interested yesterday, here's an update.

I've checked crossing prices this morning, Dover-Calais is £95 return, 1 hr crossing, Dover-Dunkirque is £45 return, 2 hr crossing

We're pretty much agreed that the week commencing 5th May would be the best to be 'over there', which means setting off from home on Friday 2nd, and sailing just after midnight to arrive in Frog in the early hours of Saturday.

Allowing for a steady drive through Frog during Saturday, with plenty of time to stop and have a nap for the older ones amongst us, I have found a decent looking hotel just on the Frog side of the Swiss border, rate is e49 for room only for 2 people.

Day 1 route is planned already, taking in 299.4 miles of lakeside, valleys and mountain passes, as well as some very tasty looking little extras, ending up in Italy at another reasonably priced hotel.

Just beginning to look at day 2 now, and I'll probably work on planning 2 routes for each of the following days, we can then discuss the pro's and con's of each over a beer during the previous evening. This would allow us to perhaps take a shorter or longer option depending on weather, fatigue, and estimated time taken.

With all this in mind, and in order to move things on and get some firm numbers, can we have a meeting in the near future to secure deposits from everyone. This will allow us to book the ferry and start looking into booking hotels. May is fairly off-season for the Alps, obviously, but it would still be better to make sure that everything is booked in good time.

 

sounds good to me mate

i think the dover to dunkirk would be better,,
and the £50 what we save will pay for the fuel down

stu

 

Agree with Stu... weekend 3/4 looks good too...

 

Just did a quick quote with the AA for breakdown cover, its about £40 for a weeks cover, maybe less if your already an AA member

European Breakdown Cover : roadside service across Europe - The AA

Also, once we have some dates, I'll check ferry crossings with seafrance, as I get 15% off with them now

 

Is everyone ok to meet either Saturday 3rd or Sunday 4th November to discuss this further and part with some cash?

Looking to get a £50 deposit from those interested so we can book some ferry crossings

Once we have the ferries booked, we'll look to start booking the hotels, approx £45 per night, so get saving

 

Day 2 knocked up and saved

Onto day3, and the big one. Stelvio

I'm gonna allow for us going up and down a few times for some nice shots and video footage

 

Why.. you dating a French bird now?

 

pmsl

That link I sent you, check out the membership benefits

 

Really looking forward to this - have we got a list of whos going coz i havent heard of any of the female members going yet - come on girls!

(Its Ellie not andy by the way)

 

Day 3 done, and limited to 'just' 204 miles, but BUGGER ME! You'll be blown away boys and girls

The list so far...

Me & Jade
Si and a cushion
Scott and Brett
Stu (poss +1)
Al (+ Sean?)
Meek (probably as a passenger!)
Possibly one or two SMACS lads aswell

BUT, don't think that you'll get away with not going just 'cos you'll be the only laydee, Andy says he's gonna take 'that' outfit, just in case you get lonely

If anyone has Autoroute and would like a copy of the routes just give me a shout.

Combine that with Google Earth and... WOW!

 

Sorry Ellie, bailing out on this one, leaving it up to Scott to go off and do his thing, cannot leave Kaine for a week and he would be bored if he came with us,

Anyway i have 5 days in benidorm booked on a hen night in June, figured it was a fair swap !!!!



Sarah x

 

I really wish I could do this one. Cant plan that far ahead at the moment though. Damn Shops!

 

Can you confirm which days you plan to be away for, just need to check holiday etc.