"D Day"

January 28th 2009 - We set off from home for a leisurely drive down to Folkstone where we were booked into the travel lodge just outside the Channel Tunnel terminal. Accomodation was fine and with an evening meal cost about £60.

Early start next morning to catch the 4am train to Sangatte. The travel Lodge provided us with a packed Breakfast as we were starting out before their restaurant opened, this was acceptable although nothing to write home about. The Tunnel for anyone who has not been on it, is fantastic, it quick and efficient and you have no idea you're really moving when you are on it. The return cost on it for this trip was £96 but be warned when I came back in September I thought rather than book I would see if you could get it cheaper by turning up and just paying at the terminal, you can't it cost me £160 quid, put that down as a lesson learnt!! Total time taken from arriving at the terminal to departing from Sangatte terminal 55 minutes with about 40 minutes moving.

Next stop Germany, we had sort of planned stopping at around Saarbruken but had not booked anywhere as we were expecting to find some Formule 1 hotels adjacent to the motorways, never saw one! In the end we stopped at a place called Grafenhausen which was about 60 or 70 miles further than we had intended but as the roads were so good despite temperatures of -8 outside, this did not worry us much. Euro Hotel was a good overnight stop as it was literally 1/4 mile from the motorway. Good Quality room and good continental Breakfast in the morning about £70. Went into the small town for an evening meal which was smashing but I couldn't tell you what we had it was a local speciality excellent!

Set off at 8:30 for Italy via Switzerland. The Swiss don't have tolls on their motorways the have a Vignette which you stick in the window. It doesn't matter when you buy it it runs out in January. Our therefore lasted us for three trips through Switzerland January, May and September. The cost is 27 Euros which isn't bad if you get your use out of them and they also cover you for the alpine tunnels including Gottard which we went through.

Looking back toward Gottard Tunnel when we stopped for a cupper and a wee!!

When we reached Milan in Italy my sat nav told us to go on the southern orbital motorway, the road signs indicted the Northern Hhhhmmmmm time for a decision. The road signs are the most efficient way arn't they - we'll go around the North of Milan NNNoooooo!!!! it's much easier around the South, there is one place were a couple of Motorways merge were you end up joining traffic in the fast lane not that I mind mixing it with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's but them buggers are 120MPH. oh well have 4X4 and keep nosing in!!. Again we intended staying near Milan but went probably 100 miles or so further to Modena. As we had quite liked the Travel Lodge at Folkestone we saw saw one at Modena and thought we would go with it. Another expensive foe par. Good quality but £120 for BB and Evening meal. Hey ho... Next stop Ancona were the ferry terminal is.

We had a very steady ride to Ancona as we were already over 100 miles nearer than we planned although we needed to be there for 2pm to book in for the ferry. Northern Italy with the exception of the lakes above Milan, is a bit boring but the scenery improves as you get towards the east coast coat. We got there with plenty of time to spare and embarked on the Ferry for Igoumenitsa in Greece.

Sandra and I on the Ferry to Greece just before it started to get choppy and Sandra was confined to her bunk.











Arrived Safely next morning with just a 60 mile drive left to Lefkas. Grand trip with lots to see on the way.

Lessons learnt from this trip was you can do it with only one stop which we did on the way back at the same place in Gafenhausen which we stayed on the outward journey. It does mean a couple of 700 mile trips but as the roads are generally all good and not in general busy apart from around major urban areas this is not a problem easily done in 10 hours per trip. Book the tunnel save £100 quid on a single trip. Don't book the ferry you can get a better deal at the ferry terminal, coming back this September to book online would have cost me £120 more than at the terminal, this also has the advantage of if you miss the planned ferry you can go to another operator and get another ferry which runs later. Check accommodation is available in the area you intend stopping, our stop at Modena cost must more than we had budgeted.

Coming up Stay in Lefkas...