Stop Suggestions for Roadtrip Fra, Ger, Switz & Italy

[Shauno44]

Hi all,

Currently planning a European road trip this summer, I know the brief route I "wish" to take, but as I've never done it, I'd rather take advice from those who have done it. I'm limited on time (maximum 16 nights), so I want to make the best of my time and follow a route/itinerary.

Driven in Europe a few times now, so do not require advice on rules etc.

Done plenty of searching online, but so much conflicting info. Hence why I'm asking on here, I'm sure there are a few who have had great experience/suggestions.

The basic route I wish to achieve: (happy to do either way round)

Calais > 1 scenic night stop France > 1 scenic night south west germany > 2/3 nights Switzerland (a must to drive through Alps) > Italian lakes (2 nights Lake garda + 1 night milan + 2 nights como + 2 nights lake orta)> 2 nights scenic France > calais
Hotel accommodation throughout.

Looking forward to your replies. Mainly looking for a route suggestion & overnight stops along the way for the above?

Thanks

[omniflow]

Shauno44 said:

Hi all,

Currently planning a European road trip this summer, I know the brief route I "wish" to take, but as I've never done it, I'd rather take advice from those who have done it. I'm limited on time (maximum 16 nights), so I want to make the best of my time and follow a route/itinerary.

Driven in Europe a few times now, so do not require advice on rules etc.

Done plenty of searching online, but so much conflicting info. Hence why I'm asking on here, I'm sure there are a few who have had great experience/suggestions.

The basic route I wish to achieve: (happy to do either way round)

Calais > 1 scenic night stop France > 1 scenic night south west germany > 2/3 nights Switzerland (a must to drive through Alps) > Italian lakes (2 nights Lake garda + 1 night milan + 2 nights como + 2 nights lake orta)> 2 nights scenic France > calais
Hotel accommodation throughout.

Looking forward to your replies. Mainly looking for a route suggestion & overnight stops along the way for the above?

Thanks

Firstly, if you're headed to South West Germany, then why not bypass France and take the overnight ferry from Harwich -> Hook of Holland. Apart from adding 1/2 day to your holiday, it also makes route planning a bit easier.

Secondly, I'd skip Milan. You can get there very easily by train from Como, and driving and parking will be less than ideal.

For Lake Como, it really depends on what you're looking for. We stayed in the Hotel Villa Marie in Tremezzo. It's not flashy by any means, but it's quite charming and very well located. It's also the Hotel we stayed in for our Honeymoon some 28 years ago. It's quite close to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, which would be a very different experience altogether. Lots of plastic body parts and perma-tans. The road is definitely a factor, as it runs between the hotels and the lake in a lot of places.

For Lake Garda, my favourite place is Salo and specifically the Locanda Del Benaco. The only problem is you need to park in a public car park and transport your luggage to the hotel yourself. This year we're staying in the Hotel Del Porto in Torri Del Benaco but as I've not stayed there yet, I can't actually recommend it. I'd steer clear of Torbole and Riva Del Garda as they're very focused on German and Austrian visitors due to the proximity of the Brenner pass.

We're going via Salzburg and crossing the Alps via the GrossGlockner (which in a previous post I was less than complimentary about, but I was confusing it with the Timmelsjoch). We're actually staying for 1 night at the Edelweisspitze, which is up on the pass itself. Again, I've not done this yet, so I have no idea whether or not I'd recommend it.

You can also overnight on the way home from either Caen or St. Malo (day of week dependent), so that gives you more options on the route through France.

[Deesee]

Op depends on where you're driving from in the UK, we are in Kent so getting to the tunnel (20 mins away) earlyish is no problem, if your driving from the north then also consider Harwich or Hull.

You can comfortably drive Calais, Black Forest 6 hrs, Mont Blanc (Chamnoix/Courmayour 7 hrs we tend to start here then go to the lakes (Garda Salo). We then drive south down the Adriatic.

https://www.google.com/travel/hotels/Salò%2C%...


This has car parking, lakeside grass terrace and is a short walk to Salo long the deck side shore. "Better/Grander" hotels can be found at the Gardone Riviera/Lido Di Fasano, we tend to do 3/4 days here before going to Marche, as the poster above Salo and Garda are lovely.

If your pool people rather than lake people, you can go to the lake side grass terrace at Rimbazello with pool.

https://rimbalzellovillage.it/beach

If your looking for a French scenic stop perhaps Jura region (Besancon) then you can transit Switzerland Alps and bring this forward into your trip or head for the lakes via Simplon pass or St Barnard.

Following you lake tour id head north in to Switzerland and navigate the passes you have planned, then Black Forest on the Return.

Germany (Sankt Peter, free bus travel in the black forest so village by village bier garten crawl by bus for us)

Germany, Sankt Peter,

Jagerhaus

https://www.hotel-jaegerhaus.de/en/index.html

Zur Sonne

https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/baden-wurttemberg...

Maria Lindenburg (has the best view, but when we stayed we were the only people that were not a priest/nun lol)..

Some places we have stopped in this area and enjoyed in no particular order..

Strasbourg, Colmar, Baden-Baden, Frieburg, Kandel (mountain peak) Schulesee (on the 500!) Evian, Chamonix, Courmayour, Interlaken, Lugano, Stressa..

Do it once, you'll want to do it every year.. Enjoy!

Edited by Deesee on Monday 10th April 10:35

[rdjohn]

Yesterday i used chatGPT to get a suggested route around Alsace. I was very impressed with the results. Tell it how many days you want to take and any “must do” stops.

It will not be the finished result but it did provide the basis that could be refined as you follow-up its suggestions

[anonymous-user]

If you want an incredible route from Como to Courmayeur look at this. Hands down the best day we had - it does go through the St Bernard pass too

https://www.myrouteapp.com/en/social/route/6318747...

[cherryowen]

For Lake Garda, try and find somewhere in either Lazise or Sirmione as they are delightful places. Pescheira was very agreeable as well.