Some road trips are better than others. It’s a simple truth that you learn after doing the same journey more than once. And if I’m being honest, our recent trip from Romania to Spain was a not the best full with various travel mishaps. We had a scratch on the car, detours, endless traffic, and an eight-hour delay. But as we arrived, exhausted we had one thing to be grateful for: we made it here without any major issues. The surprises weren’t over yet, though. We arrived home to an unforgettable, rotten smell. We had forgotten a bag of potatoes in the kitchen, and instead of collapsing into bed, our first task was a major cleanup.
The chaos began with our timing. Due to circumstances entirely out of our control, we found ourselves starting our journey in the sweltering heat of August. Anyone who has driven through Europe in the summer knows this is a cardinal sin. To make matters worse, we were forced to drive on a weekend, something we try to avoid at all costs. If possible. We had a choice: skip a visit to my cousin in Hungary to avoid the weekend traffic, or spend some quality time with them and face the traffic head-on. We chose family, naturally, which meant we were strapping ourselves in for a very, very long drive.
Our plan was to get a jump start on the second leg of the trip. From Hungary to Italy. So, after two and a half lovely days with my cousin, we set off at 2 a.m. on a Friday morning, hoping to beat the inevitable crowds in Slovenia. The GPS, however, had other plans. Instead of the Slovenian highway, it took us on a long, winding detour through Croatia on national roads. While the scenery was probably beautiful, we couldn’t enjoy it since it was pitch black outside. On the bright side, we definitely avoided any congestion on the Slovenian highway. LOL. After what felt like an eternity, we finally rejoined the motorway near Zadar and had a relaxed drive to our quiet little accommodation in rural Italy at Antica Casa Santa Maria Giardino.
The next morning, after a lovely breakfast and a quick stop for some amazing Italian cheese, we checked the maps again. The traffic forecasts were grim. It seemed no matter what time we left, we couldn’t avoid the weekend gridlock in Italy, France, or Spain. We decided to head toward Turin and Lyon, gambling that the further we got from the coast, the fewer people we would encounter. It wasn’t a terrible idea in theory, but our luck was officially out.
We had a peasant drive to near Susa, all 3 GPS programs conspired against us (Waze, Sygic and Google Maps), trying to force us onto a bendy, mountainous pass instead of the highway. We can only assume it was due to some unknown to us roadworks. So there we were, on the SS24, a stunningly beautiful but bendy road, moving at a snail’s pace of 30 km/h, with heavy traffic and of course going up to the mountains. After a couple of tight turns, we noticed the coolant temperature needle climbing steadily. We pulled over in a conveniently empty parking lot and watched as the engine cooled down quickly. Checked the GPS again, and while the distance was not huge, we could not risk overheating the engine on a very hot summer day.
With the first route a complete disaster, we decided to pivot. We ditched the mountain pass entirely and headed for the classic coastal route through Savona, Ventimiglia, and into France. By this point, Saturday was well underway, and we hoped our previous time-wasting would mean the traffic had eased up. To our surprise, it worked! We only hit one significant traffic jam—a mere eight kilometers to exit the Italian highway. It was much longer this way, but the temperature was steady and perfect.
The rest of the trip through France was mostly uneventful, with only a small, 15-minute delay near Nice. We arrived at our home in Spain at around 5 a.m., tired. And of course we started the “vacation” in Spain with cleaning up the rotten potatoes LOL…
In all our years of driving, we’ve never seen such heavy overnight traffic. We often drive at night thanks to the many years I worked only in night shifts, and usually after 11-12 the traffic calms down considerably. There was a considerable drop, but not the usual empty highway.
It was a tough journey, but hey, we made it. And in the end, that’s what counts.
Ah and the scratch. Let´s not hide the elephant in the room. My cousin has a fairy narrow entry to her yard, and when backig up to park it, husband managed to hit the gate column. Simple as that.
