In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
We usually try to reach Colmar (south of Strasbourg) for our first overnight, where we stay in the cheap and cheerful Ibis. There's a great North African restaurant in Colmar -- the Djerba la Douce in Rue du Mouton -- and the old town is really very picturesque.
In Bologna, we use the Hotel Roma in the centre of town, though we've also stayed in the Novotel and found it very satisfactory.
Oops, just noticed that your ferry is at 6.30 pm--- so Colmar won't be much use. Would you drive as far as Metz ?-- the Novotel there is very good and the town is very pleasant.
rgds
Eddie B
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
The Ibis in St Omer was good several years ago.
St Omer's nice too. Probably less than an hour from the Channel.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks for the replies. We'd probably want to drive about an hour and a half after arriving so to somewhere beyond St Omer but not as far as Metz.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Took us just over an hour to drive to Le Manoir, but that was in a large van.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Moved to : Italiauncovered.co.uk
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
With that late arrival time at Calais I'd suggest the following
1. If travelling P&O, take the priority boarding option - its not too expensive, and you get off the boat first.
2. Cut up towards Lille, where there are many suitable hotels - see [url=http://www.accorhotels.com/hotel-directory/gb/europe/france/lille/lille-hotel.htm]Lille hotel booking:Â 29 Accor hotels in Lille[/url].
Lille's about 1 hr or so from Calais - we use the novotel just off of the motorway see
[url=http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels/fichehotel/gb/nov/0429/fiche_hotel.shtml]Hôtel Novotel Lille Ouest Englos: travel, stay or vacation, holiday at ENGLOS[/url]
In the morning go into Belgium and travel to Luxembourg [Lille, Mons Charleroi Luxembourg - all free motorway] to fill with cheap petrol before dropping down to join the Reims Strasbourg motorway. Its not a lot longer than the Reims route and its free, until you rejoin the Reims - Strasbourg motorway. [You save time by not stopping at Toll booths - so time wise there's not a lot in it].
Hope this helps
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Robert;88457]We are driving out ....... using the Calais Reims Strasbourg Berne route and then to Piacenza and Bologna and onwards ....................[/quote]
I presume you mean Basel rather than Berne, [which seems a little 'off route' so to speak].
If that's the case, rather than going through Strasbourg, why not head south [on the free motorway] from near Metz on the [Reims - Strasbourg] route, where the 'toll free' route from via Belgium that I mentioned earlier joins from the north.
This second diversion is a toll free route from Metz to Mulhouse, near the Swiss/German borders, and is mainly good dual carriageway with a short [say 50Km] single carriageway stretch up over the Vosges mountains - not at all difficult to drive, with very good scenery. We find this stretch makes a bit of a pleasant change after all the motorways. Timewise - not much difference from going via Strasbourg.
You can stay in Mulhouse if you like, [see the ACCOR website again for a good selection of hotels], or push on to Lucerne [another couple of hours] for a second overnight stop - then carry on for your final part of the journey to Italy [If you have half an hour to spare - I'd suggest taking the Gotthard Pass rather than the Gotthard Tunnel - views are tremendous]
These suggestions are made on the assumption that your trip down will be part of the holiday. rather than a 'get down there as fast as possible - never mind the driving hours' session.
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Stayed here [url=http://www.cofrase.com/hotel/lemanoir/index.htm]Hotel LE MANOIR - Gavrelle[/url] a few times now. Nice, small hotel, with a really good restaurant. Depends on your budget though I suppose. Just noticed the tarif is in French Francs so may be an old website, but we stayed fairly recently. We originally found the through ViaMichelin.