There’s quite a lot to consider when planning a road trip from England to Stoupa in the Peloponnese.
First of all I made handwritten lists of ideas, places to see etc. Then I started to read and discovered so many wonderful places to see that we would clearly need to emigrate! Eventually this list started to condense until it nearly made some sense. I then called in the cavalry [Leashia] who created an exel spreadsheet documenting the route, distance and costs. Many glasses of wine were consumed during this process. With 11 weeks to go to our departure date all our accomodation and ferries had been booked for the entire trip.
Research and Resources
BOOKS:
The Rough Guide to Italy [14th edition]. This book was wonderful and detailed and is the size of the bible. However it was weird that Foggia and Ascoli Pinceno do not even get a mention!
Greece: The Peloponnese [Bradt]- My go to book on The Peloponnese.
The Rough Guide to Greece [16th edition]. Another huge tome that I got second hand. I wanted a book that covered the central mainland.
France Eyewitness Travel Guide [DK] An old edition bought from a charity shop.
Philip’s 2023 Big Road Atlas Europe.
Munich, Bavaria & the Black Forest [LonelyPlanet]. Old edition- Second hand copy from Amazon.
INTERWEB:
We used various Facebook travel groups as well as Tripadvisor which was helpful not only regarding accomodation but also researching restaurants and things to see and do etc.
The Route
In order to plan our route we used a combination of Google Maps, Viamichelin App and Tollguru as well as real maps and guide books. It was a messy affair. I found it less daunting to break up our trip into sections- The Journey south through France to the ferry in Italy, our time in Greece and then the journey home. Both Tollguru and the Viamichelin app were helpful working out the costs of tolls and petrol as well as the time involved travelling from A to B. We decided not to subscribe to the BIP&GO app to get through motorway tolls quickly, we didn’t think it was worth it but other travellers think differently.
How long?
We knew that we wanted to relax in Stoupa for a few weeks and we also knew we wanted to take our time in Italy on the way down as well as the way back. We settled for about two weeks[ish] to get to Stoupa, a month to relax there and another two weeks[ish] to drive back home. 63 days in total.
Budgeting
We never had a budget as such which was a bit scary. When planning we tried to avoid expensive toll routes if the toll free route was not too slow as we didn’t want to be on a boring motorway all of the time, we wanted to see lovely countryside, coastlines and villages. We kept costs down by choosing budget accomodation which had decent reviews. We also chose to stay just outside of some pricey destinations- such as Salerno on the edge of the Amalfi Coast. We used Tesco vouchers to purchase breakdown cover with the RAC which cut the cost a fair amount.
Acccomodation
I generally start by using Tripadvisor when looking at accomodation options. I then turn to Booking.com to make the final booking. Booking.com has always worked well for us on our travels and we get a Genius discount for our loyalty. I also used airbnb and then made a choice based on facilities, location, reviews and cost. I always choose acccomodation that has a flexible free cancellation policy, I think it’s worth the extra pennies. We ideally wanted free parking and breakfast included or kitchen facilities so we could get away quickly in the morning to our next destination or to see the local sights if we were hanging around for a few days. So loads to consider!
Driving abroad.
I don’t have a fear of driving on the wrong side of the road and often hire a car on my holidays abroad. I have also driven abroad in a right hand drive car, but not for a long time.
Every country has it’s own laws and rules to consider. Our Philips Big Road Atlas of Europe listed all the requirements by country which was helpful, but you could Google it too of course. A UK sticker for the rear of the car is now required [not the GB one anymore]. We also needed hi viz jackets, headlight conversion kit, a spare bulb kit, warning triangle thingy, spare spectacles, a fire extinguisher and our car registration and insurance documents docs and driving licenses of course. You do not need to paint your headlights yellow with nail varnish for going through France anymore, thankfully.
What to bring?
It was strange not having to worry about luggage weight restrictions for this trip, but I’m so used to travelling light it wasn’t too hard to resist the temptation to pack everything! We have a holiday checklist that we find helpful and I created a new one for this trip so there was no chance of forgetting to pack our undies, or tea bags. What we did need to consider were overnight bags that had everything we needed for the first few days of travel so we didn’t need to keep digging into our bigger suitcases. We also needed nibbles, lots of nibbles. My trusty ipod goes with me everywhere.
Insurances and documents
The old EHIC card has now been replaced by the Ghic Card which is free and is essential as it gives you access to free state healthcare abroad. We sorted out our breakdown cover with the RAC and used a comparison site to choose our travel insurance and chose a single trip policy that covered us for the length of our holiday. We made sure that our Car insurance.covered us for our trip, there’s insurances out there that cover you for driving in the EU for up to 90 days. It’s important to take all documentation with you. You need to check that your home insurance allows for your home to be vacant for this length of time, we arranged to have our youngest daughter to stay over for a few days while we were away to keep within their rules
And here it is – The completed agenda !
DAY 1 Overnight ferry from Newhaven [England] to Dieppe [France].
DAY 2 Drive to and stay in Culmont France.
DAY 3 Drive to and stay in Annecy, France.
Day 4-6 Stay in Como Italy [2 nights]
DAY 6-8 Stay in Levanto Italy – [2 nights] On the edge of Cinque Terre.
DAY 8- 10 Stay in Lucca Italy [2 nights] [near Pisa and Florence].
DAY 10 Stay in Montepulciano Italy.
DAY 11-13 Stay in Salerno Italy [2 nights, near the Amalfi Coast]
DAY 13 Stay in Matera Italy
DAY 14 Drive to Bari Italy and get the ferry to Patras Greece!
DAY 15-17 Stay in Kalavryta Greece [2 nights]
DAY 17-19 Stay in Levidi Greece. [2 nights]
DAY 19 – 46 STOUPA, Greece and chill [mostly].
DAY 47 Drive to and stay in Galaxidi [Greece]. [Near Delphi]
DAY 48-50. Kalambaka (Meteora)
DAY 50 Drive to Igoumenitsa via Delphi for the overnight ferry to Brindisi, Italy.
DAY 51 Stay in Lecce Italy.
DAY 52 – Foggia and stay the night. Have lunch in Ostuni on the way.
DAY 53 Stay in Ascoli Piceno. Go via San Severo.
DAY 54 Stay in Urbino. Visit the caves- Grotte di Frasassi on the way.
DAY 55-58 Drive to Lake Garda. Stay 3 nights in Salo.
DAY 58 Drive through national park to Bolzano. Stay 1 night.
DAY 59 Drive to Konstanz via Neuschwanstein Castle. Stay one night in Konstanz.
DAY 60 Stay 1 night in Freiburg Germany. Explore the Black Forest. Look for dwarves.
DAY 61 Drive through Black Forest to Baden Baden. Stay one night.
DAY 62 Hack it up to Reims in France. Stay one night. Gawp at the cathedral.
DAY 63 Drive to Calais for 4.30pm ferry to Dover [arr 5.35pm]- Then home for a take away or pot noodle !
Ta da!!!
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