Tag: europe

The night train south!

The journey down to the south of France with my bicycle by train and via the Newhaven Dieppe ferry was remarkably easy. The total journey time was about 48 hours with two stopovers, –  one in Paris and one on the night train south. An enjoyable trip!

Taking your bicycle on the train through France

From Paris to Nice

The night train south through France is one of Europe’s last true travel pleasures.  Boarding in the cool evening, in a bustling city still in “work mode”, and then effortlessly the world just gradually tilts. The lights fade. The carriage hums. The long black windows become mirrors. You fall asleep and when morning comes you’re in a different place! Your train is taking you along the Côte d’Azur, the French Riviera dressed in sunlight. A series of bays and headlands overlook the beautiful blue sea. The hills are dotted with old pastel coloured villages and bougainvillea climbs sandy coloured walls. No wonder artists like Matisse, Monet, and Renoir made it their home. 

No, I wasn’t travelling in style like Hercule Poirot on board  “Le Train Bleu” as described by Agatha Christie, in the book The Mystery of the Blue Train but just 2nd Class and no sleeping compartment. All the same there is a sense of adventure and magic about a night train.

Planning a long train journey with bikes that are ‘fully assembled’ is quite a challenge whether in the UK or in Europe especially with the heavier electric bikes. Generally, you can’t go on TGV as they require you to disassemble the bike and, and have it packed away.

The journey I had planned was to go from the south of France to the north of France by bicycle. Many people said, why don’t you just cycle down and then you’ve got the wonderful Mediterranean when you arrive there. But I didn’t want to have the train journey before me after I’d done the cycling. I knew I would be tired, so I wanted to be near home at the end of my journey by bike.

The other reason I decided to get the train journey out of the way before I started cycling was that I didn’t know how difficult it would be to travel via the French Intercités de Nuit train. They advertise the service as taking fully assembled bikes, but most of these trains are the old style with very narrow doorways into the carriage. If there were difficulties, I wanted to have plenty of time to get my bike on the train by arriving early so I could fiddle around and even possibly twist the handlebars around to get the bike on board.

You might say this is all a lot of faffing around, just to get to the start of a journey and is just too much hassle. But to me, it’s part of the holiday and it’s cheap, especially if you have a Carte Avantage Senior (for over 60’s) offering 30% off. The crossing from Newhaven to Dieppe was cheap too with 20% off for seniors!  

The journey from the UK Nice to Mediterranean coast

The journey down to the south of France by train and ferry was remarkably easy. The total journey time was about 48 hours with two stopovers, –  one in Paris and one on the night train south. The journey splits into 3 stages:

England to France

I left home about 7 am, crossed by ferry to Dieppe from Newhaven and took the train to Paris arriving about 6:30 pm.

Taking your bike on the train to Paris, changin at Rouen on the TER trains is relatively easy, –  no need to book at most times throughout the year. No ‘hook’ your bike up. If you were travelling from Portsmouth to Le Havre you have the advantage of a direct train to Paris.

At Paris 

As I arrived in Paris by 6:30 pm I could have taken the chance and crossed to the Gare d’Austerlitz, where the night train leaves for Nice at about 8:30 pm, but If anything had delayed me on route to Paris I would have missed a train south. The safer option was to stay the night in Paris and become a tourist for the day taking the night train the next day. The Ibis hotel near the Gare Lazare kindly stored my bike for the whole day. Hotels in France are generally very helpful with bicycles.

Crossing Paris is a lot easier now as the route alongside the River Seine is car-free. Leave the hotel following the cycle path down to the River Seine and then a very pleasant cycle ride all the way past Notre Dame to the Gare d’Austerlitz, (near the Gare de Lyon). 

The night train south to the mediterranean coast via the Intercités de Nuit

Even though I had a booking, I wanted to arrive early for the night train to make sure I could get my bike on the old-style French train. There were three steps up to the train from the platform, (more difficult with the heavier electric bike). Being an old-style train, there were narrow doorways but with help we ‘wriggled’ the bike through. Unfortunately, to get the bike into the actual bike compartment required passing through another bi-fold door, a very awkward narrow gap, but I managed it with the help of others. The reserved cycle compartment took only four bikes to be hung on hooks. Not easy with the heavier electric bikes but again with the help of others the bike was finally put in position. Actually, I needn’t have worried about putting the bike on the hook because when others joined the train they just parked the bike in the space that was available rather than go to the trouble of hanging on the hook! 

The train leaves Paris about 9:30 pm and arrives in Nice the next morning at just after 8 am. 

I recommend having a meal before you depart. You can then settle in and get some sleep overnight. I travelled second class and didn’t choose a sleeping compartment. Ear muffs so that you can get some sleep.

We could have got off the train at Cannes to commence our journey north, but the stopping time was only two or three minutes and we had a lot of luggage and it was difficult to get the bikes in and out of the train. So by going to the end of the line at Nice we had plenty of time to get the bikes and our luggage off the train. Yes, it meant cycling along the coast to Cannes to start our journey, but I foresaw that wasn’t going to be a hardship. It was only a short distance and added to the enjoyment of the trip. 

Train & ferry journey costs:

From the UK to the South of France the total cost was  €72 plus the hotel cost in Paris:

  • £35 for the ferry crossing (including the 20% seniors discount, only available by phone booking or at the port). 
  • Less than €17 to Paris with my SNCF Carte Avantage Senior travel card. Other cards are available such as the Carte Avantage Jeune for 12 to 27 year olds or with 20% off Interrail in most cases.
  • €25 from Paris to Nice via the Intercité de Nuit. Prices start from €19 per single journey. 
Planning a journey by train with your bicycle

Planning a train journey with bikes that are fully assembled can be a challenge. Hopefully the following will make in easier:

TER Trains

In previous trips I have learned to look out for the regional trains, – ‘TER’ (Transport Express Régional).  You can travel quite a long way on TER trains. Normally you don’t need to book a place for your bike but in peak season it may be necessary. Check when you book your advance ticket.  

Here are examples of TER train bike compartments:

‘Intercités’ and ‘Intercités de Nuit’ trains 

The ‘Intercités’ trains also allow fully assembled bikes for a fee. Check out the French national railways (SNCF) website for more info and the INTERCITÉS train website

For night trains check out the SNCF web site for night trains to the Hautes-Alpes, the Pyrenees or the Occitanie region.

TGV trains

While a few TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) trains will now carry fully assembled bikes, on most TGV trains your bike has to be packed in a bag no larger than 90 by 130 cm.

However if you book ahead you might be able to take your fully assembled bike on either the INOUI TGV or OUIGO Train Classique trains.  Checkout the SNCF website. 

Europe by bike

Finally, check out the website ‘The Man in Seat 61‘ for a guide to taking your bike by train from the UK through mainland Europe

The lads on a 1960s road trip to the Italian Riviera!

You can also listen to this adventure on my podcast CLICK HERE

An amazing trip across Europe!

This podcast is dedicated to my great friends Graham Brooks and Pete Jeffries who sadly now passed away. My adventures with them will always live in my memory.

Graham Brooks had been my friend from childhood. Later as we became lads about town, when I was about 17/18, we teamed up with Pete Jefferies, who was a friend of Graham’s.

In 1966, Graham bought a wonderful car, a Sunbeam Rapier, which was cream and red, where all the side windows opened giving you the feeling that you were in an open topped car.  It had dual ‘SU’ carburettors, which was all the rage in those days. Graham, being very adept at technical stuff, was able to maintain the very complicated engine. We had trips out in the car in England, but during one discussion around the table, probably in the Jolly Farmer pub in Guildford, we three set down a plan to travel across the continent, to Italy. Pete had suggested it. Perhaps he had been there before with his parents. We agreed on Italy as our destination. And so over the months that followed, we planned our route.

Continue reading “The lads on a 1960s road trip to the Italian Riviera!”

Skiing Trip – March 2024

Once again, I was able to enjoy a very pleasant hotel and beautiful surroundings in the mountains of the Savoie region of France. We had a very enjoyable trip with convivial evening meals for the group. 

Once again, I was able to enjoy a very pleasant hotel and beautiful surroundings in the mountains of the Savoie region of France. We had a very enjoyable trip with convivial evening meals for the group.  Of course, there were one or two glasses of vin chaud consumed. 

As in previous years I was invited along to the joint Lewes/Sevenoaks mens church group ski trip. This time I didn’t ski as the snow conditions were poor, – icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon. There hadn’t been much snow before the trip so the piste bashers had their work cut out.

However I enjoy some mountain walks, visiting Crystal and Gavin for lunch in Bourg-Saint-Maurice and the superb facilities of the Hôtel La Vanoise with its indoor heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna and hammam along with its convivial bar, sun terrace and restaurant!  

The other thing that attracts me is travelling by train rather than by air using high speed electric trains. A one-way flight from London to Geneva emits between 176 to 200.7 kg of CO2 per person travelling in economy. On average electric trains produce up to 96.5% fewer CO2 emissions than flights.

Our Eurostar and Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) transport us to the very heart of the French alps at Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Elevation: 815 m) and not at an airport 3 hours away!

The funicular railway links the town to the Arc 1600 where the Les Arc ski area is situated. At Arc 1600 I can get a connecting bus to my hotel at Vallandry.  

The group now have a stopover on they way out in Paris at the Mercure Hotel next to the Gare de Lyon. This time it was particularly pleasurable as we had dinner at the iconic La Belle Époque restaurant, Le Train Bleu, in Gare de Lyon. Hercule Poirot would have been very much at home here! Superb dinner! HERE are my restaurant photos 

HERE are my photos up in the mountains & meeting up with Crystal & Gavin

Madrid! 

Grenoble to Madrid by train – super train journey across France & Spain + meeting James + a pint in Lewes!

Meeting James + super train journey across France & Spain + a pint in Lewes! Fantastic!

July 10th and 11th 2024

Whilst in  Grenoble I had a call from James who said he was going to be in Madrid for a conference  in early July.  I was invited to join him. So I took the opportunity to go by train, – a wonderful journey. From Grenoble I took the local train to Lyon and then got the TGV all the way to Barcelona. Changing trains I boarded another high-speed train – the Frecciarossa (Italian) train operated by the Spanish railway company Iryo. It took all day but I didn’t care because I had a wonderful journey.  I think the top speed was about 300 km/hr. The distance covered was over 1,200 km.

I arrived in time to have drinks and a dinner with James and his colleagues. Super on both counts!  The next day James and I went to the grand Plaza Mayor and enjoyed some fantastic seafood at the ancient Mercado de San Miguel. 

Click HERE for more photos.  We flew to England on the 12th July and ended the day with a pint and dinner with James at the Swan Inn in Lewes.  Super! 

Cottenham Ients cycle trip to Normandy!

Cottenham Ients cycle trip to Normandy! We had some fantastic rides through the countryside, by the coast and along the river Vire and on to Bayeaux

22nd to 28 of July 2024

For this trip I decided to give my  son and my grandsons a  chance to visit the Cherbourg peninsula. We travelled to Portsmouth on the train with our bicycles and not the overnight ferry to Cherbourg.  The ferry arrived at 8:00am the next morning so we took the opportunity to go and have a look at the La Cité de la Mer Is a maritime museum in the former cruise liner massive art-deco transatlantic liner terminal building constructed in 1933. We visited the submariners centre.  Well worth a visit. 

We had some fantastic rides through the countryside, by the coast and along the river Vire.  We had a great stopover on the west coast of the peninsula and dined at a superb restaurant overlooking the sea. 

It was William’s birthday, so I treated them to a fine meal and William had fruits de mer which he really enjoyed. During the trip I let the grandsons do the navigation between the towns we were staying at. They did a jolly good job of this.  We had great weather for the trip so it was nice to be able to sit on the roadside or near a village centre and have our midday baguette in the sunshine.

Apart from visiting the west coast of the peninsula we went on to Saint-Lô. On the way we passed through a number of towns and villages which still had the exhibits up in the streets commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of this part of France just after the 6th of June 1944.  I found these particularly interesting.  The devastation at Saint-Lô and these villages was considerable as the battles during the liberation were quite fierce.

From Saint-Lô we travelled on to Bayeaux, firstly via the scenic towpath of the river Vire, where we visited the tapestries. We stayed here two nights in the superb youth hostel right in the centre of the old city. 

Great prices and great facilities.  I fully recommend this hostel. During a coastal  cycle ride  William and Edward took time out to do some kayaking in the calm sea and in the lovely sunshine.

Click HERE for photos of the trip

Click HERE for more information about cycling in France

Click HERE for Remembering the D Day Landings

Maps and Stats:

France Day 1
France Day 2
France Day 3
France Day 5 (Day 4 was sightseeing in Bayeaux)
Stats

French Coast to Coast + Canal du Midi cycle trip 2024- diary notes

French Coast to Coast + Canal du Midi cycle trip 2024. A great trip cycling 631 km!

10th to the 24th of May 2024 by Vic Ient

We cycled coast to coast starting in Royan on the Atlantic coast (Bay of Biscay), firstly along the Gironde, then the Garonne and then the Canal du Midi to Béziers and the river Orb to the Mediterranean coast!

This was a great trip – we cycled 631 km (392 miles). Over 400 miles if you include the trip we did further east in Languedoc near Nimes in order to visit the amazing Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard.   Click: Photos trip details HERE. 

Pond du Gard – Roman Aqueduct

Once we had arrived at Royan the task was relatively simple, –  cycling 400 miles and enjoying visiting great places like the beautiful walled city of Carcassonne. 

The hard work in setting up this trip was arranging the logistics and booking tickets for the train journeys across France to and from St Malo. Arranging the crossing was really a piece of cake and getting to and from Portsmouth was no problem. 

The real problem was travelling by train with bicycles that will ‘fully assembled’.  If we had bicycles which could be disassembled the journey would be relatively simple but electric bikes are not easy to disassemble and they don’t fit into a box or bag of a maximum size of 130 cm x 90 cm. Therefore, we had to find railway routes which allowed us to take our bikes on and off just in the same way as you would on local trains here in Sussex.  The difference is we were covering much longer distances. From St Malo to the start of our journey was about 400 km (250 miles). However, with my growing knowledge of the French railway system I was able to achieve this, and we had the added benefit of staying overnight at the atmospheric old town in Nantes and at La Rochelle which is a beautiful ancient port on the west coast of France on our route. 

Historic Town Hall at La Rochelle

Tour de France by Train!

A great trip which took us to Paris, the Pyrenees, Perpignan, Figueres (Spain) and the Dalí Museum, Béziers near the ‎Mediterranean coast, Nimes with its Roman colosseum and through the through the beautiful hills of Languedoc and the Massif Central. 

Including a night train from Paris to Latour-de-Carol in the snow-clad Pyrenees!

23rd February to 1st March 2024

A great trip which took us to Paris, the Pyrenees, Perpignan, Figueres (Spain) and the Dalí Museum, Béziers near the ‎Mediterranean coast, Nimes with its Roman colosseum and through the beautiful hills of Languedoc and the Massif Central. 

We journeyed over 2000 miles (3000 km) by train through France and Spain, (incl 250 miles on cross Channel journeys and in England).

After an evening meal at the Bistrot de la Gare near the Gare du Lyon we boarded an overnight train with the Intercités de Nuit from Gare d’Austerlitz, in Paris departing at 9:40 pm. By just after 10am the next day we were about 850 km south in the Pyrenees! The night train was a bit of a letdown as the sleeping compartments were really no more than cushettes with a light duvet.  If  we had booked earlier enough we could have been travelling for about €30 but we left it too late and had to pay a lot more.  However, I’m very grateful to the English speaking service of SNCF for actually getting us on to the train because of its popularity. I had forgotten that in February the Pyrenees is quite popular for skiing and the train would be quite full.  Sleeping cars consist of 6 berth for 2nd class and 4 berth for 1st class. The other dissapointment was that the buffet car had been disconnected at Toulouse, so no morning coffee and croissant for us! Thankfully we were able to have our petit dejeuner at the station café in Latour-de-Carol. Despite these inconveniences the journey we arrived on time in the heart of the beautiful Pyrenean snow-topped mountains, bathed in sunshine!

Click HERE for the photos of the journey including the Pyrenees

Below are some photos of special interest: (click the heading of each section for photos and or the link in the text for more information)

Le Petit Train Jaune in the Pryenees

The Ligne de Cerdagne, usually referred to as Le Petit Train Jaune, (the Yellow Train) is a 1m gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrenees.

I had miscalculated things in my researches as I thought the Little Yellow Train was  operating but when we got to Latour-de-Carol I found it was closed for winter maintenance.  However there was a silver lining.  We were soon able to board a bus costing only €1 which would take us on a road parallel to the train route so we could see all  the many amazing railway viaducts cut into the mountainside.  When we arrived at Villefranche-de-Conflent we were able to see these wonderful little trains all sitting in sideings ready for use in the spring and summer. Our onway train journey to Perpignan was also only €1 !!

Villefranche-de-Conflent

This heavily fortified village in the Pyrénées-Orientales is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the territory was ceded to the French in the 17th C the town became an important French defence against possible Spanish incursions. We had a great lunch in a restaurant which was had very thick stone walls. Atmospheric and very welcoming!

Perpignan

Some of its older buildings

Dalí Museum – Figueres

This was the highlight of our trip! – I was blown away by the number of artistic pieces, their variety and quality! See the special page for photos on the link as above.

Béziers to Clermont-Ferrand

Through the beautiful hills of the Mediterranean in the Languedoc region to the Massif Central leaving behind small stations and villages with red terracotta roofed houses and far ranging views into the hills, some with beautiful limestone escarpments and fast flowing rivers in gorges lined by trees below us.  In the far distance I even caught sight of the snowy tops of the Massif Central mountains.

Route Map Sketch

click to enlarge



Dalí Museum – Figueres

This was the highlight of the train tour through France and Spain which my friend Norman Baker and I took in February. I was blown away by the number of artistic pieces, their variety and quality.

Dalí Museum – Figueres, Cataluna Spain
25 Feb 2024

This was the highlight of the train tour through France and Spain which my friend Norman Baker and I took in February 2024. We were blown away by the number of artistic pieces, their variety and quality.  It is the best art exhibitions I have ever seen in the whole of my 78 years on this planet.  You have just got to go and see it to believe the fantastic art!

Click HERE to see my photos

I quote from one guide “The Dali Theatre Museum is definitely something worth experiencing, if not to get a better understanding of Dali, then at least to enjoy the opportunity to witness the creative eccentricity of an artist like no other”.

Figueres is the birthplace and final resting place of iconic Surrealist artist Salvador Dali. The town is also home to the Dali Theatre-Museum, a masterpiece of surrealism that the artist designed himself.

Inside the museum:

Touring northern Spain with our fully electric car

A 2 week touring holiday in northern Spain, visiting 3 historic and beautiful cities with our EV car. 600 miles and zero global warming emissions. A fantastic visit to three beautiful ancient cities

A two-week touring holiday in northern Spain: visiting 3 historic and beautiful cities with our EV car

Just over 950 km (600 miles) -Three time the distance between London and Manchester. One charge en route an 2 short charges at hotels (one free!). Zero CO2 emitted and zero global warming emissions from our car!

April 2023

By Ferry from Portsmouth to Santander

For some time we had wanted to visit the wonderful historic cities of Salamanca,  Segovia and Ávila in western Spain and in 2023 we decided to make it happen by travelling first by ferry to Santander in northern Spain. We decided to check out Brittany Ferries new low emissions ship, Santoña (fuelled by LNG instead of dirty old marine diesel oil). It certainly  was a much more pleasant experience as when on deck you didn’t get that smelly smoke in the downdraft depending on which way the wind was blowing. We then had the question of shall we take the car or shall we go by train to these cities?

Travelling in Spain by electric car or train?

It is certainly possible to travel by train, on the often new, electrified service.  However I wanted to experiment in taking my electric car abroad. It’s a Kia Niro with a 64.8 kWh battery with a range of about 285 miles. Over the three years that I’ve had this car I’ve found that the manufacturer’s range prediction to be pretty accurate.  

Having done some research on recharging stations, I was confident that we could make the journey despite the fact that the distances on the rural sections of our trip were sparsely populated with charging stations. My confidence was boosted by the relatively good range of our Kia Niro EV car  as it was clear that whilst we may not find a charging station out in the countryside or going through the Picos de Europa mountains we would certainly find stations in the bigger towns. For day one of our journey in Spain I was fairly safe in the knowledge that we could call into the large city of Burgos to refuel before going on to Salamanca. The total distance between Santander where the ferry arrived and Salamanca is 265 Miles (426 km).  I realised the range of my car would not cover this distance in one hop.  

Charging your car abroad

The other question which arises is how do you charge your car abroad? It was clear one had to get a charging card from one or other suppliers.  I didn’t want to get tied down to a supplier for only one country as this would be limiting on future visits to other European countries.  After some brief research I found that taking up membership with Chargemap   would give us access to a wide range of charging stations across Europe no matter who the local supplier was. You have to sign up for their card which costs €19.90 for a one-off purchase.  Their app also provides you with a map of all compatible stations in the country you are driving through. I decided that it was worthwhile getting this card rather than relying upon the possibility of just using a credit card or using my European Shell Recharge card. Shell had lots of EV recharge stations in Europe but didn’t have any in Spain. On the other hand the Chargemap service seemed to have loads of stations on their map. This turned out to be correct as the main Spanish petrol and diesel fuel supplier, Iberdrola, also provided most of the intercity and motorway charging stations. It was clear that the Chargemap service was compatible with the Iberdrola stations. 

At Portsmouth we recharged at the Instavolt fast charging station which is within the ferry port area. This was hugely convenient as we didn’t have to stop on the way to Portsmouth and we would be ready to go immediately on arrival in Spain.

Santander to Salamanca

After a very pleasant crossing we arrived at 8 am. We set off on the old main road south towards Salamanca.  It was a lovely journey through the Picos de Europa and the road was relatively quiet as most of the traffic uses the autopista (motorway). Once though the mountain range we entered the high plains of the Castile and Leon province. We called into Burgos to recharge the car. We had looked for charging stations on the road down to Burgos but the few we saw were still in construction. It was a bit confusing in Burgos because my onboard map system didn’t make it clear where the charging stations were. I believe it was out of date, So we used the Chargemap map on my smartphone. This made things a little difficult because I was the driver and couldn’t look at the app and drive at the same time. After a number of stops we  eventually found an Iberdrola co located with a fuel station.  

We were pleasantly surprised when we got to our hotel in Salamanca (the NH hotel Palacio de Castellanos ) as it had two charging stations in the garage.  The concierge helped me load down their own app so we were able to charge up ready for when we left Salamanca. 

Salamanca is a beautiful ancient university city and is well worth a visit. The central part of the city is a UNESCO world heritage site because of its important historical and architectural heritage. It has many stunning buildings, pedestrianised streets and great restaurants. 

Photos and videos:

Salamanca – Amazing buildings!

Plaza Mayor, Salamanca

Salamanca – Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Mercado de Salamanca

Ávila

Our next stop was the ancient fortified town of Ávila. It was only just over 100 km away, well within the 400 + km range of our car. ‎ Again, we were pleasantly surprised when we got to our hotel, the Parador de Ávila, as this also had charging stations in the garage and this time they were free! Avila is absolutely worth visiting for its remarkably well-preserved mediaeval walls and historic architecture.

Here is a link to some photos:

Ávila

Segovia

Our next stop was just 65 km  east to Segovia. Our hotel was in the central plaza mayor and they operated valet parking so we were unable to charge.  However we weren’t worried about this as we had over 350 km range remaining. Segovia is another world heritage city; a must see is the massive  Aqueduct of Segovia. It is the defining historical feature of the city. It was built by the Romans in the first century AD to channel water from springs in the mountains 17 kilometres away. Another must see is the Alcázar (palace). It may have had Roman origins but certainly by being called ‘alcázar’ it was probably a Moorish palace prior to the ‘reconquista’. It has been much modified over the centuries and now resembles a German castle more suited to the banks of the Rhine in Bavaria with its tall towers overlooking the surrounding plains and countryside on the edge of the city. It was one of the favoured residences of the kings of Castile.

Here are links to some photos:

Photos of Segovia

Aqueduct of Segovia

Alcázar of Segovia

Inside the Alcázar

After a fantastic visit to these three beautiful ancient cities it was time for us to journey back to Santander to get the ferry home. The distance to Santander is just over 360 km (226 miles)so we didn’t need to charge on the way back to Santander. 

Conclusion

Since the trip to Spain my car has been in for a service and the onboard map has been updated.  I should have made sure it was updated at the previous service. However the Chargemap app was very good and using their mapping tool was accurate. You just have to plan things a bit more carefully to avoid having to keep on stopping to look at the app. 

I was very impressed with two of the hotels we stayed at who had their own charging points.  This made life a lot easier.  As far as charging on the motorways are concerned I expect that those we saw under construction are now working and that should also make life a lot easier as driving around a city trying to find a charging point in a country you don’t know very well isn’t easy. 

Map of our Journey: red is the outward journey and blue the return