RoadTrip - Andorra, Spain, France
My wife and I recently did a little road trip with the Discovery. We bought two road books containing routes on lesser often travelled roads, such as roads used occasionally by forestry companies, nature conservationists, goat farmers, and the odd nutcases using 4x4 or motorcycles. The first route was approx 450km of which 60% were “off-road”, in other words, gravel, rough and used infrequently and the balance were local and provincial roads. The second book was about 500km of which just over half was “off-road” as above. Of the sections of the roadbooks we completed, most of the unpaved sections could have been done in a decent SUV type of verhicle with decent wheels/tyres. About 20% (or less) required a proper 4x4 as some of the poor pictures will attest to. Planning for this trip was to combine the road-books with general travel, city trips, sightseeing and visiting weird places. Accommodation were to be whatever we saw fit, camping, B&B, Hotels. Mostly dictated by time of day that we arrived somewhere, weather and availability.
We left Amersfoort early on a Saturday morning for Toulouse where we booked a hotel for the night. We stuck to the main roads, and did not try to avoid the French toll roads. I don’t have the figures but I estimate that we spent about €45-00 on this leg on toll fees. Long day, but the roads were in an excellent condition, and we reached Toulouse by 17:00. The next morning we left Toulouse for Andorra, and considering that we only had 190km to travel if we took the direct route, we opted for the scenic route. Drove through a number of quaint little towns/villages and an interesting mountain pass (Col de Port)
Entering Andorra we opted for the mountain road - not that we had a choice since the tunnel was closed. But having a Landy, who would use the tunnel anyway?
The mountain pass into Andorra is breathtaking. Steep, hairpin bends galore, very little in terms of Armco at some places. Quite a bit of snow and ice still around and in a way surreal to drive past and then look down at some skilift stations.
Reached Andorra, and almost drove through it. We arrived at our next overnight stop in Sant Julia de Loria in Andorra. Checked in to the hotel, and went walking around the town. Early night. The next morning I filled up the Disco with Diesel , and filled a 10l jerrycan with diesel - just in case. From here I was not sure how many garages we would drive past, and I did not want to get stuck without any fuel. (Never needed it fortunately). Drove up an asphalyt road into the mountains, and after about 10km turned off - start of the offroad part. The road was quite steep at places and a bit washed out here and there. I started feeling that this is more the kind of environment the Discovery was built for. We took it easy, after all, we were on holiday, and I was still getting to know the car. Beautiful scenery, and most of all, just about devoid of humans. We hardly saw anyone all morning. When it was time for coffee, we just pulled of fthe track, chairs next to the car, and made coffee.
After a while we encountered a setion of track that was rather overgrown, and most probably no other car used that track in a year or more. Before we got to this stage we spent about an hour on a road built out of rocks the size of tennisballs and larger. Rough beyond belief. So, time to make a decision - turn back, or push on. I took the chance to push on, and the result was quite a number of new scratches on the car. Don’t worry about it too much - this thing was bought for a purpose, and standing shining in a driveway was not the purpose. Add to it the fact that we paid less than €5k for the Disco, I don’t worry too much…
Pushing on. Reached a section of track with boulders the size of washing machines on either side, and getting the car through there was like threading a needle. Less than 5cm on either side, and add a steep gradient. Fortunatly my navigator does a stellar job of being a spotter too. Real 4x4 work, low range, 2nd gear and traction control doing it’s magic. Got through, turned a corner and the next challenge. Very steep downhill, and a very tight hairpin at the end. Go off the end and it’s a long drop. Again the spotter doing her job magnificently. After this, we got to a level spot with some trees. Time for lunch and to calm the nerves somewhat.
After lunch the route was considerably easier, and was a mix of gravel/asphalt, and late afternoon saw us in Gosol. Found the hotel (the only hotel) and we were the only quests. (The campsite looked deidedly dodgy, and it was not warm. The language barrier was quite severe over here, but at least I knew the most important phrase “Dos cervesa, por favor”
After an intresting breakfast we moved on. First was a circular route around Pederaforca - a huge granite peak - and this was gravel, steep, narrow and slippery. But stunning scenery. Got to the top, and the most beautiful green heath - started singing “The hills are alive” much to the navigator’s dismay. Here and there warning signs that there were dogs that should not be accosted or something. Also saw quite a few deer up in the mountains. Gotten to a picnic spot on the other side, and had our morning coffee.
tbc...
My wife and I recently did a little road trip with the Discovery. We bought two road books containing routes on lesser often travelled roads, such as roads used occasionally by forestry companies, nature conservationists, goat farmers, and the odd nutcases using 4x4 or motorcycles. The first route was approx 450km of which 60% were “off-road”, in other words, gravel, rough and used infrequently and the balance were local and provincial roads. The second book was about 500km of which just over half was “off-road” as above. Of the sections of the roadbooks we completed, most of the unpaved sections could have been done in a decent SUV type of verhicle with decent wheels/tyres. About 20% (or less) required a proper 4x4 as some of the poor pictures will attest to. Planning for this trip was to combine the road-books with general travel, city trips, sightseeing and visiting weird places. Accommodation were to be whatever we saw fit, camping, B&B, Hotels. Mostly dictated by time of day that we arrived somewhere, weather and availability.
We left Amersfoort early on a Saturday morning for Toulouse where we booked a hotel for the night. We stuck to the main roads, and did not try to avoid the French toll roads. I don’t have the figures but I estimate that we spent about €45-00 on this leg on toll fees. Long day, but the roads were in an excellent condition, and we reached Toulouse by 17:00. The next morning we left Toulouse for Andorra, and considering that we only had 190km to travel if we took the direct route, we opted for the scenic route. Drove through a number of quaint little towns/villages and an interesting mountain pass (Col de Port)
Entering Andorra we opted for the mountain road - not that we had a choice since the tunnel was closed. But having a Landy, who would use the tunnel anyway?
The mountain pass into Andorra is breathtaking. Steep, hairpin bends galore, very little in terms of Armco at some places. Quite a bit of snow and ice still around and in a way surreal to drive past and then look down at some skilift stations.Reached Andorra, and almost drove through it
. We arrived at our next overnight stop in Sant Julia de Loria in Andorra. Checked in to the hotel, and went walking around the town. Early night. The next morning I filled up the Disco with Diesel , and filled a 10l jerrycan with diesel - just in case. From here I was not sure how many garages we would drive past, and I did not want to get stuck without any fuel. (Never needed it fortunately). Drove up an asphalyt road into the mountains, and after about 10km turned off - start of the offroad part. The road was quite steep at places and a bit washed out here and there. I started feeling that this is more the kind of environment the Discovery was built for. We took it easy, after all, we were on holiday, and I was still getting to know the car. Beautiful scenery, and most of all, just about devoid of humans. We hardly saw anyone all morning. When it was time for coffee, we just pulled of fthe track, chairs next to the car, and made coffee. After a while we encountered a setion of track that was rather overgrown, and most probably no other car used that track in a year or more. Before we got to this stage we spent about an hour on a road built out of rocks the size of tennisballs and larger. Rough beyond belief. So, time to make a decision - turn back, or push on. I took the chance to push on, and the result was quite a number of new scratches on the car. Don’t worry about it too much - this thing was bought for a purpose, and standing shining in a driveway was not the purpose. Add to it the fact that we paid less than €5k for the Disco, I don’t worry too much…
Pushing on. Reached a section of track with boulders the size of washing machines on either side, and getting the car through there was like threading a needle. Less than 5cm on either side, and add a steep gradient. Fortunatly my navigator does a stellar job of being a spotter too. Real 4x4 work, low range, 2nd gear and traction control doing it’s magic. Got through, turned a corner and the next challenge. Very steep downhill, and a very tight hairpin at the end. Go off the end and it’s a long drop. Again the spotter doing her job magnificently. After this, we got to a level spot with some trees. Time for lunch and to calm the nerves somewhat.
After lunch the route was considerably easier, and was a mix of gravel/asphalt, and late afternoon saw us in Gosol. Found the hotel (the only hotel) and we were the only quests. (The campsite looked deidedly dodgy, and it was not warm. The language barrier was quite severe over here, but at least I knew the most important phrase “Dos cervesa, por favor”
After an intresting breakfast we moved on. First was a circular route around Pederaforca - a huge granite peak - and this was gravel, steep, narrow and slippery. But stunning scenery. Got to the top, and the most beautiful green heath - started singing “The hills are alive” much to the navigator’s dismay. Here and there warning signs that there were dogs that should not be accosted or something. Also saw quite a few deer up in the mountains. Gotten to a picnic spot on the other side, and had our morning coffee.
tbc...
