 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello travel assistance please! My family of four (including 10yo and 13yo) will be driving to Stubai (so the Arlberg end of Austria) at Easter. We will take Le Shuttle on the Saturday lunchtime, then have two overnight stopovers on the way, reaching destination on Monday.
My 10 year old doesn't travel well so we want to break it up and would love any thoughts on nice places to break our journey; probably 2-3 hours from Calais on day one, and then maybe a bit more than half the remaining journey on day two, with a little less than half the remaining on day 3 so we're not too late into the Stubai region - but this is flexible.
Somewhere 'nice' for us would mean somewhere scenic (could be urban or rural as long as scenic), somewhere not too far from the main roads, and not in too big a city that we would get caught in up city traffic/road systems. Any suggestions whether that be specific hotels or just nice places on the route are welcome! We're not set on a particular route, have been researching the options, but would be flexible to allow for nice stopping points. And we don't want to 'visit' anywhere in the sense of museums etc, just a wander round or a nice walk/sights to see and somewhere to get some food. Thank you for any thoughts!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@SkiFamily4, welcome to snowHeads! 
As you'll probably be driving through Belgium you could make your first stop in Waterloo, AA route planner shows it as 2 hours 52 mins from the Calais Eurotunnel terminal. Although you said you don't want to 'visit' anywhere there is the nearby battlefield, you can climb up the Lion mound for a view over it.
Even if you don't stay in Waterloo but elsewhere then for the second stop you could stay in the charming German town of Heidelberg. It's a historic university town with a medieval town square. AA route planner shows it as about 5 hours drive from there to the the Stubaital.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Rothenburg ob der Tauber About an hour west of Nuremberg & I think it means you can avoid Munich ring circle that is notorious for traffic (think M25)
Or maybe stuttgartt if the roads are open to cross the border north west of Innsbruck
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Rothenburg definitely for your second stop. A delightful and historic town.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Gored, Stuttgart ... when the OP said not in too big a city 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Seems a slow journey, we normally do Calais - Munich in one hit of 10 hours but no kids! Did a stopover once when I couldnt drive and my partner did not fancy driving all to way in one go.
I would give Calais a miss, only passed through in recent years (school visits as a teenager when you could still buy flick knives!). I would avoid north eastern France and look to stop somewhere in Belgium, some nice old towns, Charleroi & Namur have nice old centres (avoid the outskirts!) as do a number of other towns. A bit further on, past cheap fuel in Luxembourg, the Saarland is about 4 to 5 hours drive from Calais. We stayed in a small town, Bad Bergzabern, which is typical of many small German towns, cobbled streets, old castle etc which can be nice. Rothenburg is indeed nice but has become rather touristy and is out of your way. I would head for Füssen & the Fernpass, normally I would suggest sticking to the Autobahn via Munich but if taking your time then the Fernpass is more direct route though can be slow. Definitely more scenic than the Munich ring road! Near Füssen is Neuschwanstein castle - the so called Disney castle, I dont think it is worth the fuss (built as a folly by Ludwig II and never finished) but it is in a really nice spot and lots of places to stay around and about. If your 10 year is into Disney then might be a good option.
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The fastest route seems to be through north-eastern France...if you take that you may stop at Metz? But others seem to think that's not a great route.
One of the routes through Belgium takes you very close to Dinant, which is small and pretty and the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, who invented the saxophone - in my view it could make a good stop:
Another route through Belgium takes you close to Spa, which could also be a nice stop.
I second the comment above on Heidelberg being worth a visit as the second stop, but only if you're then happy to drive another 5 hours to get to Stubai.
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I'd definitely recommend Luxembourg. A great city with lots to do, the kids will love it.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Heidelberg is a slight deviation, but much of that's going the longer fully autobahn route rather than cutting cross country through the Pfalzerwald.
Rothenberg o/d Tauber might be pretty but means going the wrong way for a bit.
Ulm is a city that's basically directly on the route. Has an impressively big Cathedral/Minster if that's your thing. Or stop down near the river Danube and have a mooch along there and around the zoo (might have to pay to go in but you can see some stuff from the park)
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We did Shropshire to Vorarlberg this year...
Because we couldn't leave before 11am and didn't want to let M25 traffic make us miss a Shuttle we stayed in a lovely pub 20 mins from the tunnel (The Bowl Inn, Charing). Then we did autoroute vis Reims and Metz to Strasbourg, stayed in the Ibis near the airport (excellent Thai restaurant 200m away!) which was easy to get to. Then we did cross country to the Bodensee, Friedrichshafen, Bregenz, Bludenz to Silvretta - about 3 hours for that leg.
If you want to break a couple of hours from Calais, Reims is lovely.
We did Autoroutes because we've found them to be quicker and generally far more traffic-free than Autobahns - though this year we had a blizzard all the way to Reims which made it all a bit too exciting!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Leonard Smalls, of course if you go via the autoroutes in France you have the tolls to pay, whereas the Belgium and German motorways are free. That may be a consideration for the OP....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@SkiFamily4, Depending on why your 10 year old doesn't travel well, the more direct and smooth route would (IMO) be to use the French Autoroutes. Reims is a good shout for a stop. It's around 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 hours from Calais. There are plenty of hotels. Otherwise another 30 minutes gets you to Chalons. This is just off the A26/A4 interchange.
Into Germany, Ulm or Memmingham may be the places to aim for.
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We’re heading that way at Easter too. Easter Saturday, tunnel then onto to Saarbrucken for an overnight stop then down to Warth Sunday morning. We’re lucky in that our children travel well so going through Belgium and Luxembourg.
If they didn’t, I completely agree with the post above and would pay the tolls (and more expensive fuel) and go via France to Saarbrucken. My niece gets travel sick usually but is fine on French autoroutes, even watching movies non stop, so you maybe surprised unless the issue is caused by something unrelated.
2 hours from Calais, i would stop at Crecy sur serre a lovely little French town in a rural area with nice walks along the river. La Tour de Crecy is a small hotel we’ve stayed at loads of times.
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You know it makes sense.
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| 7ncj wrote: |
| would pay the tolls (and more expensive fuel) and go via France |
We filled up at a cheap place near Ashford in Kent, got all the way to Strasbourg, put in E10 worth to tide us over then filled up again in Bregenz where it was noticeably cheaper than France. Luckily our Peugeot averaged 64mpg for the whole trip! Then we found cheap (for France!) diesel at our overnight on the return in Bethune - total fuel was 2.5 tanks, about £130 altogether.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thank you so much everyone who took time out to respond, we really appreciate it!
We're onto the research to decide which route we'll take, we may get to a few of these places as we plan to go different routes there and back.
Thank you so much, lots to think about!
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