Czech 2008 discussion

[devonutopia]

I'm a little bored after having filed and/or shredded 8 months of worth of piled up paperwork so my mind got thinking about CZ 2008. My thoughts on the matter are

Firstly! I'm GOING! But another thing I thought about was:

Travelling

It is a bit of a pain having to travel on a weekday, so to take the pain out, why not do the travelling on a saturday/sunday when there's little or no lorries and no rush hour/s to worry about. Makes dashing for the ferry less arduous anyway. Convoys can also be less stressful to maintain. Also, with the pain taken out of travelling, I believe we can get ferries at more sociable times as well. The journey back is definitely more sleep-pattern friendly. I reckon a 7am/8am ferry to Dunkerque would be ideal, getting there at 11am, leaving a decent 12 hours to do the 650 odd miles. Sure we arrive in Prague a bit later, but we only end up having a beer and going to sleep anyway.

I think this thread could be a good Q & A with opinions for next year's trip.

[expostmanpat]

Main advantage of travelling mid-week at a stupid time is the price, haven't checked but would imagine travelling at peak time sat/sun will bump up the price massively and result in a much busier boat, tighter parking etc. ?

[devonutopia]

I just did a sample booking on norfolkline using a sunday and following saturday in January '08 and the saturdays are more £24 one way, but the sundays seem to be the same price, £19 at odd hours, but up to £40 one way for sociable hours - they only vary more in price for the less anti-social crossing times it seems, not the actual day of the week. I agree they might be a bit busier, but a small price to pay for uncluttered autobahns, surely.

[cheezemonkhai]

Ok I'm actually going to make this next year

[devonutopia]

This trip was also about the perfect length, but next year I wouldn't mind building in an extra day or two. Perhaps travelling on the same day of the weekend? At least that brings in 1 extra day over the last trip, and 5 complete days in Czech.

Oh, and hands up for camping at Doksy.

[Makefish]

Hmmm, you cant seriously be thinking about next years trip already?

[devonutopia]

Hmmm, you cant seriously be thinking about next years trip already?

Nowt wrong with mulling over some things. Of course i won't seriously be thinking about it until next March or so. IIRC weren't some plans thought up just days after CZ 2006?

[apd007]

TBH, camping at Doksy I think would be like so many things, sounds cool in theory, but in practice would suck big time. If the Cz is on next year (count me in btw) then I would like to suggest we try and incorporate a proper day at the ring, perhaps stop overnight close by.

[pixi]

We drove from the chunnel to Amsterdam on a sunday and drove back on a wednesday. The difference in the weight of traffic was noticeable but minimal.

[VRStu]

Audi Forum at Ingolstadt should be in your plans - You'll get an awesome factory tour there.

[ncarring]

But we don't own Audis .... :ne_nau:

[Neo_VR]

well steve will have to set off a day before us to get there on time anyway

personally id like more days in cz without having to drive so i can fully sample the CZ nightlife

[VRStu]

But we don't own Audis .... :ne_nau:

I suspect you don't own a brewery but I'll wager you visited and toured one recently .

No one says you need an Audi to go to Audi Forums, it's simply a nice place to go with an infinately better factory tour than Skoda.

At Audi you'll be taken to where the steel comes into the factory, it's unrolled and pressed. Then you'll see the pressed parts formed into the body shell and welded before moving to the paint shop. You'll then move onto the assembly line and see the car start as an empty shell and follow it to the end where they start the engine for the first time.

[apd007]

I suspect you don't own a brewery but I'll wager you visited and toured one recently .

But I drink beer. :confused:

[devonutopia]

personally id like more days in cz without having to drive so i can fully sample the CZ nightlife

It was worth it on the one night I did go out. Just the damn touts for places which hound you that severely hacked me off.

On two or three of the sundays in Sept, the ring is open 8am until 7.30pm, which in my opinion means plenty of time. IF we were to leave the ferry in Dunkerque at around 5am like we did on this trip then we could easily get to the ring in 4 hours or so from there, and that would leave several hours of fun on the circuit, then the drive to CZ from there.

Sounds like fun, but bloody exhausting. I would sooner try and find accommodation around the Ring (like the nearby Centre Parcs, where we can all stay for one night, and even have a beer before setting off for CZ the next morning )

[WW_VRS]

If you spot a spare shell that will take a Fabia vRS engine etc

[Neo_VR]

It was worth it on the one night I did go out. Just the damn touts for places which hound you that severely hacked me off.

and you didnt have Will "lashed off 1 pina-colada" Tigger out with you

[pixi]

How many hours driving is it to CZ? the four odd hours to Amsterdam did me in

[apd007]

How many hours driving is it to CZ? the four odd hours to Amsterdam did me in

Coming back from Prague to Dunkirk was just under 11 hours. Although, closing the autobahn and the traffic outside Brussels added at least 1 1/2 hours. Then just another couple of hours back to Brum.

[pixi]

Christ! I might get a plane and hire a skoda out there then

[Makefish]

Christ! I might get a plane and hire a skoda out there then

But that defeats the object of the trip imho.

[sms]

Id be interested, either as a co driver if you planning on a long all in one hit drive there or as a car owner/driver if its split into a couple of days to get there (not driving the full whack in one go). camping sounds good, whats security like at dorksy?

[pixi]

But that defeats the object of the trip imho.

How can you be serious in that hat Steve

[devonutopia]

Security at Doksy? There's sod all but a true passion for Skodas that keeps your car secure there. Have you seen the video? It's a whole host of Skodas in a forest - that's it.

Camping there is a bad idea as that means everyone needs to bring a whole load more stuff, which is silly. Hotel again next year hopefully.

[Makefish]

How can you be serious in that hat Steve

Oi, I like my hat