RebeccaYouSee

Bacci Tutti
Hello fellow Fodorites!

We're coming to the end of 3yr military duty in Italy, so its time to plan the Farwell Europe Tour! Its jam packed, but we've got a lot to see. For personal reasons, we must see:

1.Bern, Switzerland (DH ancestors)
2.Eindhoven, Netherlands (My ancestors)
3.Drilandipunt Labrynth in Vaals, Netherlands
4.Oktoberfest

Input from those who have "been there, done that" is most welcome. The dates and places are largely firm, but there's always wiggle room.

Sept 2 2008 we're taking delivery of our new Lightning Blue Mini Cooper S, with sport suspension. Let's break in the Mini in style, transecting Europe.

A little about us: we're crazy about renaissance history, love castles and love car rides. We've got a GPS and no kids. The cities are firm for personal reasons.

Sept 5-6-7 Arezzo Tuscany for the Joust of the Saracens
Staying at Hotel Planet in Rigutino and Hotel Continental in Arezzo
(http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/t...e-jousting.asp)

Sept 8-9 Leave Arezzo for Bern, Switzerland. This is the portion I'm looking for feedback. From IT to CH, which pass should we take? Must I put the car onto rail? Is it easy to navigate (i.e. Autostrada with mountain passes)? Alpineroads.com helps but I'm shaky here...I’ve read everything I can find and am uncertain about this portion.

Sept 10-11 Leave Bern for Eindhoven, Netherlands. Stopping at Drielandipunt labyrinth! (recommended in “1,000 places to see before you die”)
http://www.drielandenpunt.nl/

Sept 12-15 Amsterdam, staying with a friend for free, helps the budget!

Sept 16-18 Heidelberg Germany (staying on the US base-price, the reason for Heidelberg) Would like to explore portions of the Romantic Road, any particular routes not to miss?

Sept 19-23 Edelweiss Lodge in Garmisch, commuting into Munich daily for Oktoberfest!
Oktoberfest itself has lots of threads on Fodors.com and various sites. I know Garmisch to Munich is a trek, hopefully public transport can be arranged. (Edelweiss is a govt. facility-price, the reason for it)

Whew! I know its a lot, it skims the surface, but it hits the major sites we want for personal reasons (i.e. Bern CH, Eindhoven, Oktoberfest) It’s the "must see while we still have some disposable income, no kids, and live here” trip.

Your input is gratefully appreciated.

hetismij

Haven't been to the Drielandenpunt Labyrinth for a few years, but it was fun when we went, and must be even better now it is fully grown. Hope you don't mind getting wet! Climb the tower nearby too.
Where are you planning on stopping between Bern and Vaals?
Can I suggest you stay in Maastricht after Vaals, and before going to Eindhoven and on to Amsterdam. It is a two and bit hour drive from Maastricht to Amsterdam so you could easily do Eindhoven (about an hour from Maastricht) on the way, it isn't worth staying there I don't think.

RebeccaYouSee

Wasn't planning on stopping on the driving day between leaving Bern and checking into the hotel in Eindhoven.
The 11th would see us sorta doubling-back by only an hour or so, from Eindhoven to Drilandipunt maze.

Do you think its too much to travel from Bern to Eindhoven in one day?

THANKS for the input!

Cowboy1968

Would you like to avoid mountain pass roads (which is easy), or are you looking for a scenic pass?

There are no mountain pass roads (just tunnels) if you stay on the main route (motorway only) via Firenze, Bologna, Milano, Lugano, Luzern.

If you have just one day to drive 730km from Arezzo to Bern, it might be a challenge to have enough time on that last leg in Switzerland for scenic but time-consuming mountain roads.

speckles

The Mini sounds nice, but will you be able to fit your luggage in?

RebeccaYouSee

Luckily,
The friend in Amsterdam has laundry facilities, as does the hotel in Heidelberg and Garmisch, so we only need minimum luggage. No kids helps too.

Is the drive <b>Pretty</b> using only the autostradas (avoiding mountain passes)? I'm debating the whole speed and distance vs. views thing with which Route to take from Italy to Switzerland. I want the &quot;pretty and easy&quot; route!

Thanks for the input
Will take photos and post a trip report, so future drivers from IT to CH can learn more about the drive.

RebeccaYouSee

YouTube has the following, is this fairly accurate of what the drive might look like?

Just turn the speakers OFF. You dont need the bad soundtracks.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2tTqSdo3HQs

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7XL-FB-P1Wk

Results from a search &quot;driving in switzerland&quot;

quokka

Not really.
You'll probably take the Gotthard freeway. Your drive will look like this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=latjAwiib3c (horrible quality) - and you'll be on the OTHER side of the road.

kleeblatt

Mini Coopers are the rage in Switzerland. Lots and lots on the roads. They feel like a sports car and would be great for doing mountain passes. It would be a shame if you didn't do at least one pass. The easiest pass would be the Gotthard. You could also include the Furka and Grimsel or Susten before coming into Berne.

kleeblatt

Thanks for the video quokka. Did you notice the traffic jam on the other side of the road? That can happen on Friday evenings, Saturday evenings and Sunday evenings, depending on the time of year and holidays.

Everytime I'm about to enter the Gotthard tunnel, I pray a silent prayer. It's a long tunnel with SOS stations and small pullouts along the way. Personally, if I have the choice and time, I prefer driving over it.

RebeccaYouSee

Thanks for the feedback!
I can hardly wait for September!!

Weekender

I have a Mini S. Mine is chili red/white top. You will have a ball!

historytraveler

My mini S is red with the Union Jack on top. Boy is it fun to drive. I envy you!

RebeccaYouSee

Ours is Lighting Blue, black roof with black racing stripes. We got most of the packages. With tax free and military savings it came in $1 K under MSRP.

Otzi

I'm picking up my Mellow Yellow Mid-Life Crisis Mini later today. The only way this day could be more exciting is if I were doing a trip like yours. It looks like you've already begun. Please keep us posted on how things are going or went. Lucky dog.

And thank you for giving 3 years far away from home for our country. Your sacrifice is appreciated. Hopefully you are being paid back in some small way with a great adventure.

RebeccaYouSee

Hi all, Here's the photos from our MINI Cooper S car ride adventure through Italy, to Bern, to Drilandipunt, to Nurburgring, to Netherlands!

Phase 2 of photos is still uploading, will need to edit and compose captions.

Pull up a chair, waste a few fun (hours?) with me surfing the MINI in Europe!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...6_381376874603

RebeccaYouSee

And, to finish off the set of photos, here's the link to the 2nd and final load of photos from the trip. There's photo captions for them all, so you can follow along!


http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...localeid=en_US

Otzi

I want more European MINI stories.

I've had mine now for a couple months and I still get excited everytime I squeeze inside. Truly my favorite car ever. And getting 38 mpg.