Mahal
05-08-2008, 02:15 PM
I know iv posted it before but now we've got the foundations set! i thought id post it properly! now its all taking effect...
Hi All
After one too many episodes of top gear. Me and 3 Mates have decided to do a Europe Road Trip. Now we didn't want to use our own cars due to the fact we don't know what the areas are like where we're gonna stay over night. Now we wanted a car which was.....German, Spacious, Strong, Auto, Diesel (Run off cooking oil while in the UK). Basically it balled down to a BMW E34 525Tds or a Mercedes W124 300D.. but please dont shoot me I wanted the Merc more... Now we had a Budget off about £fcuk all£ for the car but we were happy to about £1000. After looking and looking we came across this badboy...
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b228/j4tt/Image055.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b228/j4tt/Image053.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b228/j4tt/Image054-1.jpg
1992 Mercedes 300D, Automatic, 190K, Tax till November, MOT until January. Drives Very smooth for a 16/17yr old car. Last owner a 60 year old ex Architect had looked after it quite well and had restored bit and bobs on it. managed to pick it up for £700 with half a tank.. Happy days... So Far we've gave it a good old oil change, changed the brakes...
Now for the Purpose of the car.....
We initially planned to do a short Euro trip Dunkirk, brussles, Amsterdam, Ring, back home. but realised that would be pointless.. so we set a new longer route... once the route was decided we booked the ferry tickets and our schedule is something like this......
Conversion Chart:
If an Indian says a time, Expect them to be at least 2 hours late, I.e GreenwichMeanTime 8am.. DesiMeanTime 10am
Saturday 16th August - Leave Birmingham around Midday, Pop though London/Bluewater for a few hours. before heading to Dover, get on the 8pm Ferry to Dunkirk, France. Then Drive 60 odd miles to Lille, Were we've booked a hotel for the night.
Sunday 17th August - Leave Lille early Sunday morning around 8am and drive into Paris for the day..(Approx 2.5hour Drive, 140Miles) Spend the Day In Paris, then leave Paris around about 4ish and head to Lyon, South France. (Approx 300miles, 5hours) Spend the evening in Lyon and spend our 2nd night in Lyon.
Monday 18th August - Leave Lyon around 8am and head for Milan, Italy. (Approx 300 miles, 5 hours) Arrive in Milan around midday and spend the Afternoon & Night in Milan
Tuesday 19th August - Leave Milan around mid morning and head for Zurich, Switzerland. (Appox 200miles, 3.5 Hours) Spend the Afternoon & Night in Zurich. Were we still need to book a hotel (Anyone have any ideas, cheapish clean place for 4)
Wednesday 20th August - Leave Zurich after breakfast and head for Munich, Germany (Approx 200miles 3.5hours) Spend the Afternoon & Night in Munich.
Thursday 21st August - Leave Munich around 7am and head for Amsterdam, Netherlands. via Nurberg ring.. Okay now this is going to take the piss!!! (approx 600miles, 10hours) and add a couple hours we'll spend at the ring. going to spend the night in Dam... (made sure this was the last night) Still looking for a hotel here, if anyone knows a "clean" cheapish hotel for 4)
Friday 22nd August - god knows what time we'll get up here. Im assuming around 1ish.. then we'll head towards Brussels, (approx 120miles, 2.5hours) Spend the afternoon evening their before heading to Dunkirk (approx 100Miles, 1.5hours) Catch the ferry around 10pm and then I think we're going to head into London and spend the night here.
Saturday 23rd August - head in to Central London for the day and then FoxTrot back to Birmingham
The Route (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr=B91+2JD&daddr=DOVER+to:LILLE+to:PARIS+to:LYON+to:MILAN+to: ZURICH+to:MUNICH+to:Nuerburg,+Ahrweiler,+Rhineland-Palatinate,+Germany+to:AMSTERDAM+to:BRUSSELS+to:DU NKIRK+to:LONDON+to:B91+2JD&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=49.296472,4.702148&sspn=7.982537,23.291016&ie=UTF8&ll=48.370848,8.129883&spn=16.269623,46.582031&z=5)
Now all the above is how we've planned it but id bet the Mercedes that somehow it wont end up like this! but as most of the hotels are already booked I think we might just stick to it.
Does anyone know any hotspots in any of the cities?? Places to see during the day and Good Clubs/Bars/Places to Eat in the evening?
Is their anything we need to beware off?
So far the essentials for the trip are....
TomTom
AA Europe Cover
Good Spare Tyre
Tyre Weld
A Ratchet/Spanner Set
stickers for the beam on lights
GB Sticker
Hi Vis
Tri Angle
Insurance Papers
Driving License
about 5 litres on Diesel
Spare set of car keys
Car Chargers
Fuses
Spare bulbs
Air Compressor
Powerful torch.
Anything else we need to take????
Hi All
After one too many episodes of top gear. Me and 3 Mates have decided to do a Europe Road Trip. Now we didn't want to use our own cars due to the fact we don't know what the areas are like where we're gonna stay over night. Now we wanted a car which was.....German, Spacious, Strong, Auto, Diesel (Run off cooking oil while in the UK). Basically it balled down to a BMW E34 525Tds or a Mercedes W124 300D.. but please dont shoot me I wanted the Merc more... Now we had a Budget off about £fcuk all£ for the car but we were happy to about £1000. After looking and looking we came across this badboy...
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b228/j4tt/Image055.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b228/j4tt/Image053.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b228/j4tt/Image054-1.jpg
1992 Mercedes 300D, Automatic, 190K, Tax till November, MOT until January. Drives Very smooth for a 16/17yr old car. Last owner a 60 year old ex Architect had looked after it quite well and had restored bit and bobs on it. managed to pick it up for £700 with half a tank.. Happy days... So Far we've gave it a good old oil change, changed the brakes...
Now for the Purpose of the car.....
We initially planned to do a short Euro trip Dunkirk, brussles, Amsterdam, Ring, back home. but realised that would be pointless.. so we set a new longer route... once the route was decided we booked the ferry tickets and our schedule is something like this......
Conversion Chart:
If an Indian says a time, Expect them to be at least 2 hours late, I.e GreenwichMeanTime 8am.. DesiMeanTime 10am
Saturday 16th August - Leave Birmingham around Midday, Pop though London/Bluewater for a few hours. before heading to Dover, get on the 8pm Ferry to Dunkirk, France. Then Drive 60 odd miles to Lille, Were we've booked a hotel for the night.
Sunday 17th August - Leave Lille early Sunday morning around 8am and drive into Paris for the day..(Approx 2.5hour Drive, 140Miles) Spend the Day In Paris, then leave Paris around about 4ish and head to Lyon, South France. (Approx 300miles, 5hours) Spend the evening in Lyon and spend our 2nd night in Lyon.
Monday 18th August - Leave Lyon around 8am and head for Milan, Italy. (Approx 300 miles, 5 hours) Arrive in Milan around midday and spend the Afternoon & Night in Milan
Tuesday 19th August - Leave Milan around mid morning and head for Zurich, Switzerland. (Appox 200miles, 3.5 Hours) Spend the Afternoon & Night in Zurich. Were we still need to book a hotel (Anyone have any ideas, cheapish clean place for 4)
Wednesday 20th August - Leave Zurich after breakfast and head for Munich, Germany (Approx 200miles 3.5hours) Spend the Afternoon & Night in Munich.
Thursday 21st August - Leave Munich around 7am and head for Amsterdam, Netherlands. via Nurberg ring.. Okay now this is going to take the piss!!! (approx 600miles, 10hours) and add a couple hours we'll spend at the ring. going to spend the night in Dam... (made sure this was the last night) Still looking for a hotel here, if anyone knows a "clean" cheapish hotel for 4)
Friday 22nd August - god knows what time we'll get up here. Im assuming around 1ish.. then we'll head towards Brussels, (approx 120miles, 2.5hours) Spend the afternoon evening their before heading to Dunkirk (approx 100Miles, 1.5hours) Catch the ferry around 10pm and then I think we're going to head into London and spend the night here.
Saturday 23rd August - head in to Central London for the day and then FoxTrot back to Birmingham
The Route (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr=B91+2JD&daddr=DOVER+to:LILLE+to:PARIS+to:LYON+to:MILAN+to: ZURICH+to:MUNICH+to:Nuerburg,+Ahrweiler,+Rhineland-Palatinate,+Germany+to:AMSTERDAM+to:BRUSSELS+to:DU NKIRK+to:LONDON+to:B91+2JD&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=49.296472,4.702148&sspn=7.982537,23.291016&ie=UTF8&ll=48.370848,8.129883&spn=16.269623,46.582031&z=5)
Now all the above is how we've planned it but id bet the Mercedes that somehow it wont end up like this! but as most of the hotels are already booked I think we might just stick to it.
Does anyone know any hotspots in any of the cities?? Places to see during the day and Good Clubs/Bars/Places to Eat in the evening?
Is their anything we need to beware off?
So far the essentials for the trip are....
TomTom
AA Europe Cover
Good Spare Tyre
Tyre Weld
A Ratchet/Spanner Set
stickers for the beam on lights
GB Sticker
Hi Vis
Tri Angle
Insurance Papers
Driving License
about 5 litres on Diesel
Spare set of car keys
Car Chargers
Fuses
Spare bulbs
Air Compressor
Powerful torch.
Anything else we need to take????