Hot off the press:
Paul Smith
28 May 15:36
I am the Route Master!
Ok, given there's no point us going anywhere if we don't have time to stop and look around, let alone all pile off the coach, cache and pile on again, I've come up with the following based on a 60mph cruising speed. It doesn't save us much distance/travel time for the return leg, but it cuts two stops, keeps Austria/Liech/Swiz and 'guarantees' both GC40 (Belgium) and Luxembourg by including them in the in-bound leg rather than the return, where they might have been skipped due to time pressure.
This 'southern route' in-bound saves some miles but little time, due to swapping Maastricht and Eliz Castle for GC40 and Lux. The sacrifices are 'a cache in the Netherlands for your map' and the oldest cache in Germany - sorry. On the other hand, it makes the return quicker by something like 2hrs, meaning we'd get back to MK around 1am (sorry) rather than a stupid 3am - and that's based on a 7am start from Munich to come back rather than 8am! We still get 8/9 countries, a touristy thing (briefly) and a cache from March 2001, which I know people were keen to grab, along with the oldest cache in Europe and lots of nice views to admire as they stream past
Here's the revised plan which I'm sending to some additional firms:
Friday August 15th:
7am MK Coachway pickup
Potential pickup somewhere close to the M20 in Kent. Add 5 miles max for this.
Channel crossing at our expense
Across France and Belgium to Gedinne for a 30min pause.
Across Belgium to Luxembourg City for 60min pause
Across Germany to central Munich for a max of 2 drop-offs. Approx 10pm
Mileage: Approx 770miles/13hrs drive time + 2hrs stops
Coach and drivers not needed for Saturday/Sunday, but a nice (3-star, highly rated) twin room has been booked for drivers and we will give money for meals (amount to be agreed)
Monday August 18th
7am Pick-up in central Munich (max two locations).
South to Fussen on the Austria border for 30min pause.
Pause in Dornbirn, Austria for 15mins.
West to Vaduz, Liechtenstein for 30min pause
Across to Switzerland to Kloten (nr Zurich Airport) for 45min pause.
North to the French coast for crossing. Approx 9pm? (9.50 tunnel booked but may be swapped to ferry)
Potential drop-off in Kent nr M20.
Finish in MK 1am :/
Mileage: approx 950m/16hrs + 2hrs stops.
Round-trip Total: 1720m
Please include fuel costs, parking charges, tolls etc in your quote to keep it in line with what others are including.