Road Trip to Monza F1 2015 - Need advice

[SAJ]

Hi Folks,

I'm planning a road trip to Monza for the F1 Gran Prix this year with a few friends but I've never done a Euro road trip before so was hoping the SE Contingent who have done a Euro trip could provide a few tips on what I should think about while planning it. Also what pit falls to avoid and also best places to stay.

I think the route we'll be taking UK > France > Switzerland > Italy and perhaps a similar route back but I'm open to any an all suggestions at this point.

Thanks in advance for any guidance

[graeme]

Best seats are stand 6c (with the Tifosi, awesome atmosphere and lots of pile-ups into turn 1) or stand 13 (Ascari).

We stayed in a hotel in Milan to get better choice of decent hotels, and more nightlife. On race day they put on frequent free trains to/from Lesmo corner. Dead easy. Just follow the sea of red shirts and prancing horse flags. Thurs-Saturday, trains to Lesmo corner are nearly non-existent (not all trains to Lesmo town stop at the circuit!), so you have to bus it to Monza, which is hard going... hot, cramped, standing only, crazy traffic, and a long walk at the other end, but I don't think there's a better way unless you have the funds to chopper in. If you wanted to drive your own car to the circuit, leave three times as much time as you think you'll need.

Choice of restaurants in Milan is fantastic... Brera district was great for night-time food/drinks/totty (it also happened to be Vogue fashion week too, which was nice. Perfect 10s everywhere! )

As a spectator circuit, Monza was awesome. During practice, seating is unreseved, so take time to wander to all corners and especially to the fence at Lesmo, where you're spitting distance from the cars. Don't know how the V6s will be, but the V8s were ear-splitting!

Can't advise on the road trip... we flew SleazyJet, which was f*cking horrible as always.

[j2 lot]

Can't comment on the road trip aspect but as above we booked tickets for the first corner - ideal place to be. Train travel is best option to get to and from the track, but gets incredibly busy on race day, one of the best European tracks for atmosphere- the whole place gets behind Ferrari, every shop has F1 related displays. Another good option for a road trip to a lclassic circuit would be Spa

[graeme]

Other tips I remembered:

Take a cushion... everyone but me seemed to know this already. Temporary grandstand seats are bumpy, non-slip, buttock-destroyingly uncomfortable.

Prepare for the mid-day sun...there's no shade in the best seats, and it's always 30C and sunny at Monza.

[Fluoxetine]

We drove to Como in August last year - Took a day trip to Milan, passing through Monza on the train, so a similar route might work for you?

We took the ferry from Newcastle - Not the cheapest choice, but saves the slog through Englandshire and deposits you in Ijmuiden around 09:00 the next morning.

Plenty of options from there - We elected to head straight to Stuttgart, which was around 400 miles, but good time can be made on the autobahn at an easy 110-120 mph cruise.

Porsche museum definitely worth a look (no velvet ropes there!), and so is the MB museum apparently. We stayed at a Park Inn by Radisson which had an excellent secure underground carpark.



From there you could head due south to Milan via Zurich (around 300 miles), or take a detour via Austria and catch a few of the passes over there (we stayed in Innsbruck which was excellent, and drove over the Timmelsjoch to Merano which is a lovely little spa town just over the Italian border).



From Merano you can either take the direct route to Milan (3 hrs), or take a detour via Stelvio (which is worth doing if you haven't before, but will be very busy at that time of the year!!)

(BTW, Italian driving is, erm, interesting - Tailgating and ambitious overtakes are order of the day - You do need your wits about you )

[martins]

Get to Switzerland and then Stelvio to Lake Como and stay in a place called Lecco. Other leg of the lake from the town of Como. Lecco is only 25 mins by train from Monza and a few more from Milan. The train service is regular and during the f1 weekend there are no crowds. On race day we even got a seat which you will not get on any train coming out from Milan. On days other than the Sunday you can get direct to the Lesmo corners. On the Sunday you have to go to Monza and either walk or bus in. If you are fit make the walk and stop in Monza as there are some great hostelries en route. You can then enter the circuit at parabolica, walking under the old banked circuit. Train fares are minimal and may have been free on race day. Cannot remember exact detail.

Stands 6 and 8 are the best for action.

Lecco as a town is also very Italian and although there are some f1 fans about it is not overrun like Milan and Monza. You also have easy access to the attractions of Lake Como which are many.

We did this a couple of years ago but flew and hired a car and did Stelvio etc. Also did staying in Milan in 2011 but the crowds on race day were just too much as I hate waiting or being herded about.

One positive with taking your own car is that you will be able to easy gauge the proximity of the guard rails and bollards when the locals come hurtling down the middle of the road...

[SAJ]

Thanks everyone, loads of information for me to process which I'll do over the next few days and come back with any questions I have.

I knew SE wouldn't let me done. Much appreciation to you all for chiming in.

[Dominic]

Saj, I would highly recommend a trip to supercar valley - especially the Pagani factory (which is advance bookings only AFAIK). This is a wee review from when I went a few years ago;

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... ly#p374096

[douglasgdmw]

Saj,

We did a similar trip a couple of years ago in the Evora but it was down to Mugello rather than Milan. However we have been their a number of times for the World Superbikes at Monza. We stayed at Casa Clelia which was fantastic http://www.casaclelia.com/index_eng.php and we have returned many times as we enjoyed the place so much. It may however be a little bit too far out for the F1 as it does get a lot busier than the WSB.

Will give you some more info later on various aspects of the trip.

George

[avdb]

Stayed here in Milan last year and took the train to Monza: http://www.ecohotelresidenzamilano.it/

If you have a day or two to spare it is worthwhile to drive South to visit the Lamborghini and Ferrari museums...

[douglasgdmw]

Saj,

We also had a similar trip when the Italian gods aligned (Rossi on a Ducati at Mugello).

Stuggart
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn which is right beside the Mercedes museum and also has an underground car park (which has an additional charge).

Obviously if you got to Stuggart then you must visit both the Porsche and Mercedes museum. However a lot of people do not know about Motorworld which is a must visit http://www.motorworld.de/stuttgart/. It is a complete entertainment complex for car lovers with prestige dealers and Meilenwerk (which is a storage company for cars but everything is on display). You will find all kind of exotica on display and a number of car related retail outlets (like Grand Prix legends) and dealerships. They also have a V8 hotel in case you fancy staying in a themed car related room.

Stelvio
We stayed in Bornio for the trip at Agriturismo Rini. Another fantastic find with lovely rooms and great breakfasts http://www.agriturismobormio.it

Train transport
When we did the trip down in the Evora but ended up taking the Evora on the way train back. This was so that we could extend our trip by a couple more days. In reality it did not cost us much more than driving back if you take into account petrol/mileage depreciation etc. Also meant that even though it was a driving holiday I could relax a bit on the way back and did not have to do 1.5 days driving to get back home. Their are a number of train companies that will take your car but the only ones which gave a cabin with a shower were DB Autozug (we do like our modern conveniences ). We took the train from Alessandria in Italy up to Dusseldorf.

George

Ps Happy to chat about any aspect of the trip. Unfortunately I see you have had to cancel your Rev Limits meets

[SAJ]

Thanks again, even more options and info to digest

[douglasgdmw]

Saj,

One thing to remember is to get new rears for the Evora before you go. We worked it out that we would be on the limit on the tread for the way back.

To be honest I was glad we got new rears as we had a biblical storm on the 1st day and even the full tread depth meant that the car was rock solid (although I did take it easy so we did not spoil our holiday before it even began).

Was looking forward to the max out run on the Autobahn but due to traffic and bad surfaces (yep they do exist in Germany) we did not achieve V Max. However it was good fun going into Holland at 140mph before realising we had crossed.

George