We launched a competition to fire up the imagination late last year, and in January announced a shortlist of five Roadtrips that really got our pulses racing. We publicised this quintet of travellers, and their proposed trips and asked for your votes; culminating in one lucky winner… Here’s what happened when he took his Dream Roadtrip.

Owen Robb, was the victor, and along with his girlfriend Jess they travelled from Aberdeen to Worthersee in Austria, for the 34th annual Worthersee Treffen. Things started with a ferry trip from Newcastle to Amsterdam; it’s clear already that this trip was well planned as Owen’s Gran lives only an hour from the port! The first few days were spent staying with her and visiting local towns and cities like Harderwikjk, Apeldoorn and Elburg, expoloring markets, and doing a spot of cycling too.

From Holland the roadtrip took them to Stuttgart in Germany, where the Porsche museum was a magnet for their attention, and other Brits making the pilgramege to Worthersee too. Keen not to spend more than 6 hours driving each day, an overnight stop was booked before heading to Liechtenstein the following morning.

Stopping by Lichtenstein castle enroute was great, describing it as “Such an amazing place with incredible views” .          They continued to drive south, drinking in the scenary and enjoying windows down, sunroof open motoring as the mountains approached them, their hotel was booked, and located in the mountains above Vaduz; it may of been remote, but the road to the hotel was a favourite from the trip, winding and narrow but blessed with spectacular surroundings.

Vaduz played host only briefly before the lucky pair took off for Austria, they commented “The drive didn’t feel too long because there was so much to see, mountains, tunnels that went on for miles and other VWs also heading for Worthersee.” The couple had booked a hotel just a few minutes walk from Velden with a balcony overlooking the lake; the atmosphere and environment exceeding all expectations, “Even better than I imagined,” Owen said. Having been myself, I can relate to that exactly.

Enjoying dinner and drinks watching show cars driving through the town was just one of the highlights: “With everything from Beetles to R8’s, there was a constant flow of amazing cars driving about for our whole stay,” said Owen.

The Pyramidenkogel offers arguably the best views in the area, and our winners took a trip to the top to explore. But serenaded by engine notes tearing through the trees, they soon followed the sounds and made their way to Reifnitz for the main show.

Unable to find a shuttle bus to get them in, they took the plunge and drove the Mk2 under the famous arch and into the town – “I never imagined I would get the chance to drive a Mk2 under the GTI Treffen arch, beside the VW stand.” Well, pleased we could assist Owen!

Talking about the show, the main reason for the couple going Owen said “The show was great, but I also really enjoyed cruising around the surrounding area to see what else was going on. The whole place was crawling with VW and Audi group cars, I didn’t know where to look half the time!”

With the show over, and a final dinner enjoyed overlooking the lake, the roadtrip turned towards the trip home.  Munich drew them in enroute, and Owen and Jess enjoyed a couple of days  there. “The beer halls and beer gardens were ideal for relaxing and letting our feet rest after a hard day of being a tourist, we had plenty of delicious German food there, and even had time for some shopping“.

The last destination, was Wolfsburg, taking in the VW factory tour, the iconic car towers, and of the museums at the Autostadt too. “It was strange to think that our Mk2 had come out from that factory 24 years ago, and now it was back” said Owen.

Owen’s Gran naturally welcomed them again on their trip back to the port, before they boarded the ferry and sailed to Newcastle. “After cruising on the Autobahn at 90mph, the last leg home up the A1 was a bit of a drag!” We can imagine!

Anything you would do differently if you went again, we asked. “I don’t think we would have changed anthing about the trip; it was some adventure, that’s for sure! Well, perhaps one thing,” said Owen. “I took Jess to the shops in Villach, Austria, and it was a local holiday – all the shops were closed. Safe to say I wasn’t popular that day…”

“We would both like to thank all the team at VW Heritage for running the competition, and everyone who voted for us to go on our dream road trip. We had an incredible drive and everything went to plan, the car was great, the weather was insane, and the roads were epic, what more can you ask for?”

So, should we run this competition again? If you fancy winning your dream roadtrip let us know, and it could be you ‘next time’.

Check out more of their Dream Roadtrip photos here.

Andy

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage.