10753 Driving north in winter

I think chains are a legal requirement even in Liguria, and as a lot of Italy is mountainous it's not a bad idea to carry them anyway.

As for not going through the alps, I'd say that the Mt Bianco and French autoroutes rway is pretty good. My 7/8 year old Italian car has a set of unused chains and I live in the Aosta valley and go skiing... As ever with winter driving keep an eye open for conditions before you leave, but that would apply for any location

I don't know about the stretch between la Spezia and Sestri Levante, which might just cause problems on the odd rare occasion. Perhaps someone from the Garfagnana will comment? But on the autostrada west of that, as far as I know chains are never officially required, and you would have to be very unlucky indeed to encounter enough snow to block the coastal autostrada,

But I'm afraid that it does happen very occasionally every other year or so (the most likely place is la Turbie beyond Monaco over the border in France) and when it does chaos results.

The SS1 via Aurelia along the shoreline (and the basse Corniche in France and Monaco) can always be used to bypass snow as this has never been blocked by snow in recent years to the best of my knowledge (though there have been very infrequent light sprinklings on short stretches). This road is, however, slow - especially at such times.

All in all though, the odds against your having trouble in Liguria are probably rather less than for northern France.

We drove from Liguria to the UK and back twice during last winter (Christmas & New Year) using the Mont blanc tunnel & didn't have any trouble even though it was snowing. The roads were all clear & just the part down the Chamonix valley was a little slow, but we didn't need to use our chains.

From my our experience of travelling through Switzerland and into North Italy the roads have always been clear even with deep snow all around. We travel to Lake como and you have to be well up in the mountains for the snow to become a problem. The risk comes when there is a heavy snowfall whilst driving so always factor in that you may need to stop in a hotel over night because you may need to wait while the authorities clear the roads which to be fair happens quite quickly.

If you stick to the [URL="http://www.autostrade.it/en/index.html"]autostrade[/URL] you won't need chains - but, for the latest information regarding legal requirements, it is always worth checking the [URL="http://www.aci.it/"]ACI website[/URL] for the latest, correct information. Of course, the route you chose across the Apennines will be the real decider for your need to have chains or not. You may very well decide that to have them available would be a good idea - just in case - but I couldn't possibly comment...

Have a good drive, Margaret and watch out for those [URL="http://www.autostrade.it/autostrade/assistenza.do?id=assi_velox&initPosAra=3_4"]speed cameras[/URL]...

[quote=Nardini;100373]If you stick to the [URL="http://www.autostrade.it/en/index.html"]autostrade[/URL] you won't need chains - ...[/quote]

You do in the Aosta valley - from the 15th October, and I heard a few locals talking last week of police checks: not a major blitz or anything but probably just 'pour encourager les autres'.
It certainly reminded me to get them out of the cantina.

[quote=sueflauto;100385]You do in the Aosta valley.[/quote]Indeed, Sue, but that is not the way to get to Monaco. The coastal road along the Med doesn't have the same requirements as the alpine autostrade. :)

Having done the road down from Monte Bianco last November in very light snow, I didn't fancy it in the depths of winter, hence suggesting the coastal route instead. The vehicle in question is a long wheel base, high roof, Renault master, so not a small thing to be driving. I will be accompanied by my son (I hope), and he always gets the dodgy bits to drive.:yes:

The autostrada from Savona to the French border is independent, so it isn't on the link provided by Nardini above. It's here: [url=http://www.autofiori.it/]Autostrada dei Fiori[/url]. It has lots of webcams so you can look at the weather in real time.

Enjoy your journey along the coast - which might well be in bright sunshine (if it isn't night!) and with a reasonable temperature. This scenario is massively more likely than anything problematic.

Just to let you know that snow chains are a legal requirement here. It is also advisable to check on weather conditons before you travel.. With the snow today the Autostrade has been at a standstill, I was trying to go from Stresa to Lake Como, it took me an hour and a half to reach Arona turnoff, where I turned and returned home. Although they are out clearing the roads as soon as possible there are often problems with heavy snowfalls. This year in particular I think will be bad, so please take care.

In Lombardia they've announced on the news that snow chains 'should be carried' in vehicles.

Though 'generally' the authorities are pretty quick off the mark with snow clearing and gritting. But if it's going to be snowing for - minimum some hours, maximum some days - they're going to be losing the battle at some point!

Their advice up here is [I]good[/I] advice
[U]"Don't go out unless you [B]HAVE[/B] to!"[/U]

Thanks for all the advice. In the end we found someone going to England to buy a vehicle, so he drove the van back for us. Anyone want to buy a long wheel base, high roof Renault Master?

For those still considering (as MargaretM originally was) driving north through Liguria and France, there is no requirement for snow chains on the Ligurian coast and no snow (though there was a slight dusting on the beach in Genoa's Voltri district for a few hours ten days ago). We just have rain - too much of it - and pretty views of snow on the hills if we look north.

Insofar as there are any traffic problems at all, they are caused by the police stopping queues of heavy lorries in Savona and Genoa from continuing further, to prevent them jack-knifing all over the motorways on their journeys across the hills to the current winter wonderlands of Piedmont and Lombardy.

Margaret, I missed your first post in October while we were in Italy. We always drive from Bagni di Lucca to Antibes (where we overnight) and viceversa in all kinds of weather and also in winter. We never had any problems, even with heavy rain and cold weather. I don't think they will ever get snow or ice on that road. If it happens, it will be exceptional. Just check the weather reports before leaving.

A pretty hairy journey to my teaching job this morning. One of my students this afternoon told me that the police were stopping every vehicle going up the road to the Great St Bernard tunnel to check they had snow tyres or chains. Fortunately I got snow tyres two weeks ago, otherwise there would have been quite a few trips I wouldn't have made in the last 2 weeks. Mind you, the snow when I got to Courmayeur yesterday made the awful road conditions worthwhile!:-)