Driving to Italy

[Guest]

I've done that route about half a dozen times.

 

I've found that the quickest route to the Brenner Pass from Calais is Lens > Cambrai > Mons > Charleroi > Namur > Luxembourg > Saarbrücken > Karlsruhe > Stuttgart > Ulm > Memmingen > Kempten > Füssen, then over the twisty bit via Fernpaß to the A12 and along the Inntal to Innsbruck.

 

Then turn right towards Italy

Pretty much the way  we go to the lakes, but last year went down to Stuttgart,then along the Bodensee ,nipped over the corner of Swizzerland and down the Stelvio. You can nip into Leichtenstein too,to bag another bumper sticker.

[Junkman]

Same approach when I took the Blingo to Sweden.  I might have checked the oil and tyre pressures too, at some point.

 

We didn't. That's why we had to buy a new tyre in Stoke and to this day don't know whether there was any oil in the engine or not.

[John F]

Pretty much the way  we go to the lakes, but last year went down to Stuttgart,then along the Bodensee ,nipped over the corner of Swizzerland and down the Stelvio. You can nip into Leichtenstein too,to bag another bumper sticker.

 

I bagged Liechtenstein back in the '90s

[Junkman]

I bagged Liechtenstein back in the '90s

 

Same here. And I lifted every single septic plastic kit the credit card allowed from a model shop in Vaduz.

Getting past the German customs Rottweilers on the way home was an event of much hilarity.

Not for them, mind.

[Ian_Fearn]

We did Derby to Milan in the old Panda in June.

 

We did:

 

Day 1: Derby to Dover (easy)

Day 2: Dover to Epernay (France) (easy)

Day 3: Epernay through Switzerland over the Susten Pass to Milan (tough)

 

French motorways are expensive but fast, I'd say it cost ~50 euros each way through France. 

Switzerland costs ~40 euros for a vignette

Italy, again tolls are surprisingly expensive.

 

If you want to make real progress through the eastern side of France motorways are really your only choice.

 

If you get chance to go over Stelvio, i really recommend it. I'd recommend staying up there for the night too as its stunningly quiet and beautiful. The road isn't exactly the worlds best driving road (imo) but it is good.