6048 Motorail - is it possible to get to Italy with a car on the train

Moved to : Italiauncovered.co.uk

That site which Oneto mentioned is good.

I think you will find that motorrailing to Southern France is a possible option - it is a pleasant drive into Italy from Nice, or even from Avignon (which I seem to recall has a more comprehensive service).

If you are considering French motorail, Rail Europe handles the bookings. I would advise telephoning them as the website doesn't give real time availability. It seems many people book immediately the timetable is out and thereafter there is only limited availability. As you can see I failed to make a booking early enough for last summer 2006 and found them very informative over the telephone.

Here are the contact details.

French Motorail:
Reservations: 08702 415 415
Email enquiries: [email]motorail@raileurope.co.uk[/email]
Opening Hours: Mon to Fri 9.00am-5.00pm

Funnily enough, I have just been researching the same question albeit leaving from Harwich to the Hook of Holland and then by motorail to Bologna. I have discovered that this will cost about £1000 for a return journey in August and require an overnight ferry crossing to Holland and overnight again on the train to Bologna. The return journey would only require an overnight on the train back to Holland but then the ferry crossing would take about another 6 hours daytime back to Harwich. I haven't yet researched the french route but have been told there are no motor trains anymore from France to Italy anyway. As I've only got a week this August, I'm about to give in and book Ryanair!

Decided to check out availability of motorail Calais - Nice today and there is some. The price range is: lowest £430 (in June) up to over £600 for a one way journey (car + up to 6 passengers) excluding ferry crossing. They will also quote on the Paris - Nice train which is less expensive. Could be good value for a group.

That's really useful to know, Cassini.
In passing, for those wishing to use rail transport to Italy (or elsewhere) I've found this site really useful:
[url=http://www.seat61.com/]The Man in Seat Sixty-One...[/url]
rgds
Eddie B

[QUOTE=EddieB;54372]That's really useful to know, Cassini.
In passing, for those wishing to use rail transport to Italy (or elsewhere) I've found this site really useful:
[url=http://www.seat61.com/]The Man in Seat Sixty-One...[/url]
rgds
Eddie B[/QUOTE]

It also covers Motorail services

I think we had a look last year and found Motorail from somewhere in Belgium to Bologna... it looked pretty complicated and was very expensive. We have used the Calais Nice service a few times which is ok, I didn't sleep too well on the train so didn't arrive much fresher, and I think it took longer than it would have done to drive through the night. We take less with us these days and use Ryanair!

Thanks for the suggestions. I wrongly assumed it would cost less for a family of 4 to travel by motorail to Italy, when it seems the cheaper option if to fly and hire a car.

Particularly if you pay for your hire car with Airmiles!

What about a feryy from the uk coast to nice or somewhere in the south of france-does anyone know if there is one,it would still be preferable to driving across the whole of France!shas

Shas - No such ferry service exists - you are really limited to the Channel crossings

[QUOTE=shas;55085]What about a feryy from the uk coast to nice or somewhere in the south of france-does anyone know if there is one,it would still be preferable to driving across the whole of France!shas[/QUOTE]

I dont know, I used to London Turin all the time and was 14 hours door to door and thats without being silly (there are too many speed traps now and they do pick on foreigners - I got pulled out of a convoy of 5 cars travelling at the same speed)

Cote d'Azur ought to be 11ish without the mountains. Frankly not the most interesting drive (I got to know every bump) but if it is not regular and you can shae driving

Shas, if it existed, it would probably take at least a couple of days - and be hugely expensive. You'd have to take a cabin as well.

There is the train Calais to Nice as previously mentioned which works well but is a bit pricey. Driving through the night is not so bad, we used to drive south to Dover (the worst bit of the journey), have a meal on the ferry, settle kids in back with sleeping bags well strapped in, emerge at Calais around midnight and be on the beach by lunchtime. (First couple of days could be a bit grumpy). Now there is the tunnel so first meal can be in north France! That is beach in south of France of course, Italy isn't a whole lot further is it? Ryanair from Liverpool wins hands down for us!