Good afternoon all,We are thinking of driving over from

Hi, we travelled by motorcycle last week from Hull to Lake Maggiore. Minor passport checks in Rotterdam, then no border checks in Germany, Switzerland or Italy. No quarantine if travelling from UK. 

You need to wear masks/coverings in hotels/service stations/bars when stopping. In Italy, face masks must be worn in all bars/buses/hotels/shops/supermarkets. Once seated, they can be removed. They can be purchased in most bars/supermarkets. 

1.   Do we need to have been in the UK for 14 days before travelling or can we have been in one of the safe country list too?

The latest on the Gov.UK site states;-

"Entry to France

Travellers arriving in France from the UK, European Area, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay are no longer required to self-isolate, to demonstrate their travel is essential or to hold an international travel certificate.

.......

Border checks may also be in place at points on France’s land borders with Italy, Spain, Belgium and Germany."

So you shouldn't have any problems unless you are from Leicester, and going via Belgium

2.  Using the no toll route how much of a drag are the roads?.

Depends what you mean by no toll route.

My favourite toll free route [only pay for Swiss Vignette and Italian autoroutes] is on motorways passing by Calais, Dunkirk, Lille, Namur, Luxembourg, Metz, Nancy Colmar, Mulhouse, into Germany, Lorrach [avoiding Basel] and into Switzerland.   All this route is free motorways except some between Nancy and Colmar, which is a beautiful drive, and a pleasant change from motorways.

Switzerland needs a motorway vignette - you can buy it in UK on-line, or at the German motorway services at Bad Bellingham which you pass on the way. 

I tried to do Switzerland once on vignette free roads - never again!!

The rest is motorways all the way - not really worth trying to avoid Italian tolls

Good Luck

Good advice from Alan. Getting across Switzerland or Italy toll free is a non-starter. France used to be okay when most roads were at 90kph but last time the limits had all been reduced to 80kph which is just too slow even for a relaxed trip. Option is either Alan's route or a mix of French toll and non toll on the route Arras, Reims, chalons-en-champagne, Langres, Besancon, Lausanne, great San Bernard.

Petrol/Diesel prices

The AA do a report every month on the average cost of fuel in Europe.  Well worth looking at.

Also, the Via Michelin map has a button on it to show where petrol stations are, and for many of the French ones it gives the prices at the station, so you can find significant savings along your route.

Yes, very good advice from Alan.  If you decide to use Great St Bernard tunnel (free with vignette or otherwise €27 euros one way), there is a cracking trattoria on your left just as you emerge from the tunnel heading in to Italy.  A couple of years ago we stopped in Lausanne for a couple of nights.  Very nice, but prices are very Swiss!  As soon as we got through the tunnel we spotted the trattoria.  We could'nt believe the difference in prices from Swiss side of the tunnel to the Italian side.  I suspect there is a very good cross border trade in wine cigarettes etc from Italy in to Swiss.

I'd  go via the Gotthard tunnel.  No extra cost. 

If you have time, the trip over the Gotthard pass is well worth it.

Simplon pass is a fantastic drive - we use it when we drive down with the dog, as there are some very good dog friendly hotels on the route down.

If I was driving to from Assissi, I wouldn't use the Furkha pass route, (beautiful though it is), but would take the motorways from Lusanne through to Milan.

The bit over the Simplon is a good road, but not motorway, and there is a great stop at the top of the pass to walk the dog, and get a snack on the cafe there. 

The route goes alongside lake Geneva  up the Simplon, and past lake Maggiore in Italy.