Hi folks, we are planning to drive to Northern Italy next year and would appreciate any advice on routes, accommodation etc which you may have used in previous trips.
This will be our first road trip to Europe in our own car although we have driven quite a few miles in North America and the normal car hire while on holiday in Europe.
We were thinking euro tunnel, France, Switzerland then Italy going and maybe via France on the return. Probably over 15 to 17 day trip.
There are loads of options, Reims to visit the Reims Geuex GP circuit remnants, then head east to go over the Voges region. South into Switzerland and over a couple of smaller passes after which you could head over the Grand St Bernard pass of The Italian Job fame, over the Petit St Barnard into France again to Bourg St Maurice (?spelling). From here you could head over to Route Napoleon and down to Nice and the French Riveria. Alternatively you could take Route De Grande Alps over a multitude of French alpine passe although these two options maybe a bit too far south for you. In north eastern Italy you have the Stelvio Pass in Switzerland you have the Andermatt loop which has within it Tue Susten Pass, Gotthard Pass, Furka Pass (used in Dr No) and Neufenen Pass. Just north of Zurich you have the Black Forest and here you can pick almost any road and have a blast, I avoided the D500 which is the main route through as I heard it can be a bit touristy (campervans etc). Next to the black forest is Stuttgart and both the Mercedes museum and the Porsche museums.
There are loads of other options and I’m not sure how much it is frowned upon pointing people to other forums but with the risk of running the wrath of the mods Pistonheads sub forum ‘roads’ will have loads of further information for you to look at with a thread that includes links to other peoples European road trips.
try and stay for a while in or near Bormio, you are then handy for the Stelvio Pass, which is a must do. Some of the other roads around there are probably a better drive but you can’t beat Stelvio for the drama of so many hairpins and when we went, sunshine at the bottom and snowing at the top!
We stayed in a fab ski lodge out of season, I’ll try to find a link to it. Its half way up the road to the Bormio 2000 ski centre…
Not far from Bormio is Livigno, its in Italy but only just with only 3 roads in and out, 2 of which I think are into Switzerland. Its an amazing place, and a tax free zone where the petrol is significantly cheaper than the rest of Italy, due I think to the lack of access. The road over from Livigno into Bormio is a great drive.
Just to add I went on a trip 2 years ago in mid to late June and some mountain passes were still closed. Problem is if you go much later than that you get the tourists with their campervans and if they are Dutch they take eons to get out of the way.
Plenty of food for thought coming, thanks. I can feel quite a few nights of map studying coming on as I like to see where I’m heading and not just rely on the sat nav. You miss so much without consulting a map.
Here’s the link to Agriturismo Chalet Caribona
As Martin said, a spectacular setting
Had a great trip last year to Lake Garda and back:
Eurotunnel to Bruges
Bruges to Dusseldorf
Put car on train at Dussseldorf (Autozug) and overnight to Innsbruck
Innsbruck to Lake Garda
Lake Garda to Schluderns (Northern Tyrol) via Bormio/Stelvio Pass
Schluderns to Meersburg on Lake Constance (via Neuschwanstein Castle)
Meersburg to Colmar via Black Forest
Colmar to Nancy
Nancy to Laon via Verdun
Laon - Home
Entire trip from Lake Garda (Gargnano) to Laon was mainly on all minor roads and we enjoyed some fantastic scenery on the whole trip - 1600 miles in all (excluding the train) and only one day with the hood up due to rain!
Took ages planning but worth it.
If any of these places end up on your route I am happy to give you some accommodation recommendations.
Graham
Cheers Graham, the train part was something I wasn’t aware of. Might have a look at that.
We have recently returned from Turin, went on the Eurotunnel, through Switzerland and did some amazing passes.
Do get a SANEF toll machine if you are going to be on the French motorways, it can be difficult to reach some of the ticket machines.
We went on one road that does not get used much, it featured in the 1969 Italian Job film where the bus hung over the cliff edge. It’s a dead end road but stunning to drive, Colle Del Nivolet.
The St Bernard route from Montreux down to Italy is great, so many great roads.
I’m planning a similar trip next year down to Florence over 19 days. Any thoughts on daily distance and did people have everything planned or just drove and found places to stay on route?
Thanks
We got as far as Volterra in 2013 so not far from Florence. I think from memory our maximum daily mileage was about 300-375, which allows for some sight seeing along the way and no really early starts or late arrivals, and we had several three nights stops as well, heading down through France to Antibe, then across the coast road to Italy, then back up through the Alps and Switzerland. There were 8 of us in 4 MX-5s, so all booked ahead on booking.com, which worked really well, as all I think had a free cancellation option and we paid when we got there. And I will say everywhere we stayed was brilliant…
We didn’t plan the daily routes until the morning or night before, just went where the mood (or sat nav) took us each day, but with a few key roads to drive such as the Stelvio. We did it over 14 days, in 19 you’ll be able to pack loads in…
We didn’t bother with a French Toll thing, we just paid up as we went along. Worked fine for us, just meant the wife had to stretch a bit to reach the machines, but it didn’t hold us up, even when I lost the ticket, we still sorted it OK!!
Hi …we did a trip to Northern Italy last September. Below was our itinerary. Would really recommend the Hotel Plagött. Super place to stay close to the Stelvio Pass and the Flüela Pass to get these was quite an experience. All hotels booked via Booking.com
Fri 11 Hull for overnight ferry : evening meal on board ship
Sat 12 Breakfast on ship arrive Zeebrugge 9.00am visit Waterloo monument travel via Belgium & Luxembourg to Saverne (Alsace) stay at L’Hôtel Europe
Sun 13 Leave Saverne travel via France Switzerland Liechtenstein to San Valentino Alla Murta - Southern Tyrol Italy : Hotel Plagött with evening meal at hotel
Mon 14 Travel to Bellagio via Stelvio Pass : stay 2 nights Hotel Bellagio
Wed 16 Leave Bellagio travel via Como, Lugano & Locrano to Stresa on Lake Maggiore stay Hotel Milan Speranza Au Lac
Fri 18 Leave Stresa travel via Simplon Pass and transport train through the Alps: arrive Nancy France stay in Hotel D’haussonville in Nancy Old Town district
Sat 19 Leave Nancy travel to Zeebrugge overnight ferry to Hull : meal on board
We went in June this year and are planning our trip for July 2016.
Mostly used booking.com for accommodation as you can find places with free cancellation up to 48 hours before which was handy - worth checking tripadvisor reviews as well as booking.com though.
We found we moved a lot over the 10 days so if you are going for longer 2 night stays are good as gives people a day off or local driving only in the middle day.
Some days we had longer routes (some days 300 miles) but found that keeping to non-main roads added time in as well as stops for lunch/coffee/convenience.
If it helps, our blog is in this month’s STHT, there are usually one or two members trips each edition so worth having a look at some back copies.
Would definitely recommend Bolzano or Merano for Stelvio and Dolomite passes.
Have fun 
We are off to Laglio on Lake Como this July 2016 (Ferry from Hull). We have our ferry & accommodation sorted for our stay but would like any advice on our two stops that we are planning. On our way there, we have literally picked from google maps a 3-4 hour drive from Zeebrugge to Saarbrucken in Germany then another 3ish hour drive to Lucern Switzerland.
Any advice is greatly appreciated
Cheers
Paul
Agri Turismo/i ^^ are State approved B&B.
Those offering evening meals are obliged to offer something like 80% locally produced food.
Pick a good one and it’ll be a gourmet experience like no other and not expensive.
Avoid August like the plague - our favourite time is either May - be aware everything shuts on May 1 - or September.
We normally go Dover/Calais though with all the nonsense there last year it was Poole - Cherbourg out and Dieppe - Newhaven back, though not cheap it was easy and restful but did take two + days.
Nowadays we drive Route Nationale - keeping to speed limits and more interesting than Autoroutes.
Cenis Pass is worth the drive (check it’s open in May though) or Frejus Tunnel (€50) which puts you West of Turin (biggest car museum in Europe IIRC - not been but evidently worth the visit). You can then drive down to the Italian Riviera and along to Liguria and Tuscany.
Go back up across the Appenines to Bologna (pre-arrange a trip round the Ducati factory if you’re into bikes) then Mantova (small but interesting Nuvolari museum - reminds me of the Jim Clarke Rooms) and Brescia (Mille Miglia Museum worth a visit) then if you must Stelvio on the way back North.
HTH.
Further info required - drop me a PM.
Enjoy, Twofives.