Hi
We are planning to drive to our newly restored (fingers crossed) house this summer & have been looking at routes on multimap and google maps. From Zeebrugge (we will get the overnight ferry from Hull) to Monte San Martino in Le Marche is either 14½ hours or over 17 hours depending on who you believe. With stops for fuel, change drivers, meals etc adding another couple of hours it makes a big difference between being do-able in a day (albeit a long one) and needing an overnight stay. As we will be loaded up with stuff for the house we really don't want an overnight stop. Anyone got any idea which (if either is more accurate) - both seem to be going the same route (Metz, Strasbourg, Milan).
Chris
Category
Travel & Holiday Advice
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 06/16/2008 - 15:37
I've done that run a few times, but can't remember how many hours it actually took. I do recall that it lasted long enough that I was jolly pleased to finally stop the car.
This is the sort of question that will probably get detailed responses from people who have the route and timings down to a fine art, but I see the drive as just something incredibly tedious that I want over and done with as soon as possible. So my approach is to point the car in the right direction and press on as quickly as road conditions allow and for as long as my alertness on the day permits.
I think the Hull-Zeebrugge ferry gets in at around 9 am. If it runs to time and you have the luxury of more than one driver in the vehicle, then I think it's not an unreasonable aim to do the trip without an overnight stop. However, I'd also suggest that safety means that you should start the drive with the understanding that it won't be a failure if you have to make an overnight stop because of problems on the road, with the vehicle or on the part of the drivers, so you should have contingency plans in place.
I'm sorry that's not an answer to your question about whether the drive is 14½ hours or 17 hours, but my feeling is that if an additional 2½ hours travel time really would be enough to force you break the journey, then maybe it would be better for you to assume the longer driving time and plan from the start to stop overnight. In any case, my experience is that, if you pick the wrong day to drive on and happen to hit problem areas at the wrong time, it's easy to get delayed much longer than 2½ hours due to slow traffic on the Autostrade alone.
I've done that run a few times, but can't remember how many hours it actually took. I do recall that it lasted long enough that I was jolly pleased to finally stop the car.
This is the sort of question that will probably get detailed responses from people who have the route and timings down to a fine art, but I see the drive as just something incredibly tedious that I want over and done with as soon as possible. So my approach is to point the car in the right direction and press on as quickly as road conditions allow and for as long as my alertness on the day permits.
I think the Hull-Zeebrugge ferry gets in at around 9 am. If it runs to time and you have the luxury of more than one driver in the vehicle, then I think it's not an unreasonable aim to do the trip without an overnight stop. However, I'd also suggest that safety means that you should start the drive with the understanding that it won't be a failure if you have to make an overnight stop because of problems on the road, with the vehicle or on the part of the drivers, so you should have contingency plans in place.
I'm sorry that's not an answer to your question about whether the drive is 14½ hours or 17 hours, but my feeling is that if an additional 2½ hours travel time really would be enough to force you break the journey, then maybe it would be better for you to assume the longer driving time and plan from the start to stop overnight. In any case, my experience is that, if you pick the wrong day to drive on and happen to hit problem areas at the wrong time, it's easy to get delayed much longer than 2½ hours due to slow traffic on the Autostrade alone.
Al