Suggestions for route to Italy

[Watchthis]

Thinking about next year's summer holiday and the wife and I have decided we'd like to go to the eurocamp at lake Garda with our 11yr old daughter. I quite fancy taking our car rather than flying and renting a car there and we'd most likely do Newcastle to Ijmuiden ferry or possibly the euro tunnel ( or go via France, return via Holland etc is an option )

Anyone have any tips on which route to take? Best places for an overnight stopover?

[bennno]

Eurotunnel early morning, stop somewhere near Macon, use Mont Blanc tunnel to skip Switzerland (drivers nightmare).

There are a couple of overnight car trains from Germany if you’d rather avoid a long drive.

[omniflow]

So many choices - it really depends on how you want to cross the Alps and if there's anywhere specific you want to see on the way.

The Brenner pass is the quickest way to Lake Garda.

Grossglockner is supposed to be nice (it was closed due to snow when we were planning to cross using it). You can book accommodation at the top, which looks really nice and means you can spend some time up there.

Timmelsjoch is fine, but the drive the other side is just plain tedious.

I wouldn't ever bother with the tunnel if I was heading for Italy. Harwich -> Hook of Holland overnight is far better. You're going to be spending a night somewhere, you might as well be moving whilst you're doing it.

Neuschwanstein is worth an overnight - the view of the castle is pretty cool. Up to you if you want to do a tour.

As for places to stay in Germany, I really like Nuremberg. Plenty of decent and reasonably pricing hotels, a very pleasant old town and lots of nice places to eat and drink. I've always fancied staying in Rothenburg ob der Tauber which looks fabulous, but I've never been able to find a hotel I could stomach staying in.

Be aware, Lake Garda is VERY German. To the extent that you will frequently wonder what country you are in.

[bennno]

omniflow said:

Be aware, Lake Garda is VERY German. To the extent that you will frequently wonder what country you are in.

Nah, we just got back from another trip to Sirmione and it doesn’t feel German.

[littleredrooster]

Our last trip through Germany to Italy included a stay at Memmingem at the Gasthous du Schwanen, a small hotel just off the town centre. Highly recommended in a delightful small-ish town.

Other lovely places we stayed, pre-Covid, now seem to be closed

[Watchthis]

Currently thinking Newcastle to Ijmuiden (closest ferry from Scotland, we've used it a few times in the past) then a stay over in Germany. Quite fancy a theme park in a place called Rust, there's a roller coaster that launches straight up and my wee yin would love it. Then through Switzerland, over the Alps into Italy. A week or so based at the euro camp and then can visit Milan, Venice.. possibly a short plane trip down to Rome also. Heading home back over the Alps but towards lake Geneva area then work out way back from there

[Batfoy]

Done this a few times, Calais - Alsace - Gavardo (nr Garda). Used to stay in Thannenkirch but also Saint Hippolyte. Functional stop rather than anything else. Depends what you want really in terms of an overnight.

[cliffords]

bennno said:

omniflow said:

Be aware, Lake Garda is VERY German. To the extent that you will frequently wonder what country you are in.

Nah, we just got back from another trip to Sirmione and it doesn t feel German.

Agreed we have been many times . In the summer it's very Italian still.
Good option as a destination from your 11 year old OP.

[heisthegaffer]

cliffords said:

bennno said:

omniflow said:

Be aware, Lake Garda is VERY German. To the extent that you will frequently wonder what country you are in.

Nah, we just got back from another trip to Sirmione and it doesn t feel German.

Agreed we have been many times . In the summer it's very Italian still.
Good option as a destination from your 11 year old OP.

We went last July and didn't think it was remotely German. Just fantastic Italian people.

[Pizzaeatingking]

Our last trip we crossed northern France and through Switzerland where we stopped in Andermatt for the night. Up early the next day to do the Gotthard Pass early, then down into Northern Italy. On the return journey we went out via Austria and through Germany. Enjoyed both routes tbh. Switzerland might not love fast noisy cars but it's a beautiful place to drive though, if you're not breaking speed records it's worth going through IMO.

[littleredrooster]

I know I've mentioned this before, but if you do decide to go through Switzerland, don't forget that it is not usually included in a mobile phone data roaming plan and the charges can rack up very quickly!

[bennno]

littleredrooster said:

I know I've mentioned this before, but if you do decide to go through Switzerland, don't forget that it is not usually included in a mobile phone data roaming plan and the charges can rack up very quickly!

+ you need a £68 vignette and need to be extremely careful about your speed

[Pizzaeatingking]

No issues with Tesco, Three, Vodafone or Sky Mobile with data roaming last time we went.

The Swiss Vignette is 40CHF/£37, from a quick look the E version is a bit more but still less than £50.

[Batfoy]

bennno said:

+ you need a £68 vignette and need to be extremely careful about your speed

We’ve just been through and it was about £38.

[bennno]

Batfoy said:

bennno said:

+ you need a £68 vignette and need to be extremely careful about your speed

We ve just been through and it was about £38.

My bad, think it was €53.

[AndrewIC]

bennno said:

Batfoy said:

bennno said:

+ you need a £68 vignette and need to be extremely careful about your speed

We ve just been through and it was about £38.

My bad, think it was 53.

That sounds quite steep. If you get it at the boarder it is 40CHF. You can order ahead of time to the UK from various places if you don't want to stop and buy.

[Batfoy]

Just checked with the frau (she paid), vignette was £38.49 so around €45. Bought at the border.

[durbster]

I drove to Sirmione the summer before last, going on Le Shuttle and through France.

This was our route:

1. From the tunnel, we took the road via Reims to have quick visit to the old 1950s F1 pit buildings (which you can drive up to - they're just next to the road)
2. Epernay - visit the champagne producers
3. Annecy - beautiful town with a lake and mountains
4. Beaulieu Sur Mer - we stopped here so we could have a few hours in Monaco before heading on to Lake Garda

Coming back

1. Annecy again but a different route, going through the Mt Blanc tunnel
2. Arras, to see some battlefield museums and war graves

It was a lovely drive. Annecy is a real gem.

The original plan was to include Switzerland, Austria and Germany, but it turns out Staffordshire Bull Terriers are banned there

Edited by durbster on Monday 7th July 14:26

[blueg33]

After you have crossed the channel by your preferred means, head to Grenoble, pick up the Route Napoleon - you end up in Nice. From there drive along the coast to Italy and then head inland to Garda

[chopper602]

It's much easier to arrive on the Dutch coast and then head for Germany, no costs on the autobahn, some roadworks but always well behaved. Travel on a Sunday and there are no trucks on the road too. As a kid we'd head down as far as Freiburg in the Black Forest and then (a couple of days) later across Switzerland onto Lake Garda