UKC

Afternoon all,

Looking for some recommendations for an eight night road trip. We're starting in Calais but not sure where to go.

Do we stay in France? If so, do a big loop taking in the coast or head straight to the Alps? Been to Cham before so that's already been done.

Do we concentrate on the national parks? If so, which ones?

Do we head into Switzerland or Italy or Spain?

Activities needs to include either walking, running, swimming and easy single pitch climbing. The only restriction is we're taking our pooch so won't be able to do anything if we have to leave her in the van for more than a couple of hours.

Any suggestions???

Dave

In reply to Dave McKechnie:

My suggestion: avoid the French holiday crowds and go somewhere different: head north east and explore Belgium, the Netherlands and see how far you can get up towards Denmark. Not sure about climbing (Dutch Alps anyone?) but there ought to be swimming, bike hire, walking, great food and great drink.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Yeah, the Dutch Alps are always quiet at this time of year.

In reply to Dave McKechnie:

Thanks and no offence but that doesn't really float my boat (never even heard of the Dutch Alps!!) and we're not too worried about avoiding the crowds.

Any other suggestions?

In reply to Dave McKechnie:
Slovenia is great but a beast of a drive, so only worth doing if you visit Austria and maybe Italy. I drove Dovje (northern Slovenia) to Dunkirk yesterday, and it took around 14 hours.

Bear in mind there are a *lot* of roadworks on german autobahns at the moment. They seemed far worse going S than N.

[edit] On activities: The country has good walking, some via ferrata (mostly easy mountain type), hard sport climbing, good kayaking/rafting rivers, amazing lakes, friendly people and good food & wine.

Downsides: Long way, and hard to get good info in english.

In reply to Dave McKechnie:

Any more ideas? What about just sticking to France or the Alps at a push? Any particular national parks worth a visit?