3595 Driving through France to Italy: recommendations please

i drove acroos europe pre kids and had friends who recently made the trip down to genova in 24 hrs! we were thinking of driving across at some point. i checked out euro camp type sights which seem a good way of sorting out a number of stop over on route . i think they even do one near disney

[LEFT]You could try the Novotel chain. I know that two children can share the room free (plus free breakfast) and they have proper beds. However, not sure about the one year old - you would need to check. Most of them have an outdoor swimming pool and whilst more expensive than the cheap Formule 1 chain you can make a lot of value up at breakfast! My kids loved them when about 8 - they are a proper 'grown up' hotel without too much formality.

For children the age of your's the Formule 1 type scenario is probably not ideal as you couldn't all get into one room and they're too young to be on their own.

Enjoy the trip.[/LEFT]

Hi
We drove from Ramsbottom in the North West of England to Sorrento in 27 hours(shortest) and 31 hours (longest) non stop. Before this we used to stop along the way, we found it best not to book but to see where you are early evening and stop of at places to ask if they have a room, we always managed to find somewhere. We found though that we didn't want to stop, adrenalin and exitement must have kept us going, a few stop offs at the autogrills for an expresso and we were fine!! We found the best route was Lyon and the Frejus tunnel into Italia. Havn't done it for a couple of years or so because we have a house now in Pria a mare in the south of italy, so tend to fly out more often but really miss that journey..... Enjoy.
Melanie

[QUOTE=johnsm13]My planned route is something like Auxerre - Lyon - Chambery then crossing into Italy through the Frejus tunnel. Expensive for tolls, but direct. (Unless anyone else knows different...)[/QUOTE]

You might like to consider taking the following route;-

Disneyland - Troyes - head towards Dijon but get off motorway before Dijon, [near Langres], and 'cross country' [good road] to Besancon via Grey. Then on to Switzerland, [towards Lausanne], around the top of Lake Geneva/Lac Leman and on to the Simplon Pass into Italy and on to Domodossola and the Italian Motorway system.

No tunnel charges, only the annual Swiss vignette[about £20 from border crossings or Swiss Tourist Board in London]....and you may not get charged as its a less popular route [we had the vignette, but nobody checked ours at the 'non-motorway' border crossings]

Coming back [without another stop at Disneyland], I'd do Milan - Basle - Mulhouse - Nancy - Metz - Luxemburg - Namur - Charleroi - Lille - Dunkirke. No charges apart from Italian motorways, as you already have the Swiss Vignette from the outward journey' and all the French Luxemburg and Belguim roads on this route are free

We did almost exactly your trip last year. We drove from near EuroDisney to Beaune where we stopped for lunch and then stayed overnight in Annecy (because I'd always heard it was lovely - which it was). The next day we drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel and down via Aosta etc. to Toscana.

I can't say how much more or less expensive it might have been vs other routes, but there were four of us to split the cost. It was certainly a very pleasant way to go. In Annecy we stayed at:[SIZE=2]
Hôtel du Nord
24, rue Sommeiller
74000 Annecy/France
[U][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff][EMAIL="annecy.hotel.du.nord@wanadoo.fr"]annecy.hotel.du.nord@wanadoo.fr[/EMAIL][/COLOR][/SIZE][/U][SIZE=2][COLOR=#0000ff]

[/COLOR][/SIZE][/SIZE]

[QUOTE=alan haynes]You might like to consider taking the following route;-

Disneyland - Troyes - head towards Dijon but get off motorway before Dijon, [near Langres], and 'cross country' [good road] to Besancon via Grey. Then on to Switzerland, [towards Lausanne], around the top of Lake Geneva/Lac Leman and on to the Simplon Pass into Italy and on to Domodossola and the Italian Motorway system.

No tunnel charges, only the annual Swiss vignette[about £20 from border crossings or Swiss Tourist Board in London]....and you may not get charged as its a less popular route [we had the vignette, but nobody checked ours at the 'non-motorway' border crossings]

Fabulous route, Alan, can thoroughly second this. Langres is a nice little town, as are Besancon and Grey then a pleasant drive through the wooded Vosges into Switzerland. Can never understand why more Brits don't visit the Vosges.

I've long felt that Lausanne/Domodossola/Milan is one of the great drives in Europe, it's certainly one, if not THE best train ride. (I can be quite a bore on the subject.) Along the upper Rhone valley, Brig, practically underneath the Matterhorn through the Simplon, down Lago di Maggiore. Surely you'll want to stop en route? (Know I would!) V

[QUOTE=alan haynes]You might like to consider taking the following route;-

Disneyland - Troyes - head towards Dijon but get off motorway before Dijon, [near Langres], and 'cross country' [good road] to Besancon via Grey. Then on to Switzerland, [towards Lausanne], around the top of Lake Geneva/Lac Leman and on to the Simplon Pass into Italy and on to Domodossola and the Italian Motorway system.

Coming back [without another stop at Disneyland], I'd do Milan - Basle - Mulhouse - Nancy - Metz - Luxemburg - Namur - Charleroi - Lille - Dunkirke. No charges apart from Italian motorways, as you already have the Swiss Vignette from the outward journey' and all the French Luxemburg and Belguim roads on this route are free[/QUOTE]

Alan - this sounds great. On the way out - do you know how the Swiss route compares in terms of how long it takes? I'm wondering if the lower-toll scenario would need to be paid for through a longer journey? (Mindful of three small children in back of car - "are we nearly there yet?" before you've buckled up their seatbelts...)

Thanks
Mike

[QUOTE=johnsm13]Alan - this sounds great. On the way out - do you know how the Swiss route compares in terms of how long it takes? I'm wondering if the lower-toll scenario would need to be paid for through a longer journey? (Mindful of three small children in back of car - "are we nearly there yet?" before you've buckled up their seatbelts...)

Thanks
Mike[/QUOTE]

try the viamichelin website. it gives routes and costs, including tolls.

We used Drive alive to plan our route from Dunkirk to Pescara and found it a really useful tool. It showed various stopping off points, speed cameras and toll charges.

The route avoided france in the main so the tolls were lower and took us on a whistle stop tour of Europe - France Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland then into Italy!

We did the run straight through, took the laptop so the kids could watch DVDs in the back and shared the driving. The worst bits were hitting Strasbourg at 5.30 pm (it took us an hour to get across) and the road works through Luxemburg.

We made several stops on the way there but unless you got off the motorway there didn't seem an awful lot to interest us, although younger children might enjoy the European space centre which is around the luxemburg/belgium change over.

Coming back we drove through the night had a breakfast stop and kip to avoid the rush hour traffic and made it home exactly 24 hours from set off time. Lake Bomba to Monmouth including the ferry crossing!!

We went with Norfolk line who were excellent - although we had paid for a set departure we were waved onto the earlier ferry with minutes to spare so no hanging around.

If we go out for more than a week we would certainly drive and take our own car again.
Jackie

Hi Jackie,

Did you take the Hovercraft across? How did it go?

We're looking at prices for channel crossings from Dover (Rosyth & Newcastle being too expensive even counting in petrol costs on the way south & back!) for late June. Online I found a fab offer with Norfolk Line for £50 return!! We're thinking of going for it as you clearly can't get it any cheaper.

Sadly we're not on our way to Italy this time but are going to spend some time with my Gran for perhaps the last time... :)

Cheers,
S

[LEFT]Can recommend Norfolk Line - always had good crossings and as they are mainly freight cars aren't jammed in like sardines. If I remember rightly they don't take coaches so you don't get hoardes of over-excited school children charging around the place.

Cafe opens straight away and closes not too long after sailing so you have to get in to eat quick - I suppose its for all those lorry drivers.
Dunquerque is also better than Calais for access to the Belgian motorway system

We have recently got very good deal with Speedferries - 10 trips for something like £190 over two years. They have also been very good - quick loading and unloading, no frills on board, but its only a short crossing and it does what it says on the can. We have been surprised at how convenient Bologne is too - you're out of the town very quickly and can easily cut across to the motorway to Lille, not as good as dunquerque, but not too bad. Never had time to stop, but Bologne looks quite an attractive town.

We would drive to Italy every trip if time allowed.[/LEFT]

Hi Stephanie

I don't know if Norfolk line do a hovercraft we went on the ferry which was a two hour crossing.

Prices were excellent and the standard of the boat/ship? was really good - very clean, well appointed and good food. Children have certain meals free and on the 8.00 amf erry over our two, who are hulking teenagers age 15 and 17 still got a free full english without us even asking!!

When we turned up six hours early we expected to have to pay a premium for taking an earlier ferry but there was no extra charge . Great service - we would certainly use them again

Jackie

When I came over in my car in April I opted for the quickest route as I was on my own and the car was packed. I used up my Tesco vouchers on a Eurotunnel ticket which effectively made it a quarter of the list cost.

I started quite late in the day (early afternoon at Folkestone) and was aiming to stop before Dijon but kept going and decided quite late to try a chain hotel at Dijon. Warning, don't leave it too late, as everywhere was full. I got back on the road and headed for Dole where I found a bed - slightly tired but still alert and the right time to stop. I wouldn't have done that with kids!

[quote=Iona]Hi Jackie,

Did you take the Hovercraft across? How did it go?

We're looking at prices for channel crossings from Dover (Rosyth & Newcastle being too expensive even counting in petrol costs on the way south & back!) for late June. Online I found a fab offer with Norfolk Line for £50 return!! We're thinking of going for it as you clearly can't get it any cheaper.

Sadly we're not on our way to Italy this time but are going to spend some time with my Gran for perhaps the last time... :)

Cheers,
S[/quote]

Fifty Quid! that sounds good - is it the same price for motorcycles? and is there a time limit on the return part? As I am thinking of taking one bike down to keep in the Trullo. Then we can rent a car at the begining and end of the trip but use the bike other wise. Obviously would have to bring the bike back for an MOT every year but, the thought of cruising around the lovely Puglian roads on a big bike appeals:cool:

[QUOTE=DaveJ]Fifty Quid! that sounds good - is it the same price for motorcycles? and is there a time limit on the return part? As I am thinking of taking one bike down to keep in the Trullo. Then we can rent a car at the begining and end of the trip but use the bike other wise. Obviously would have to bring the bike back for an MOT every year but, the thought of cruising around the lovely Puglian roads on a big bike appeals:cool:[/QUOTE]

go on line to speedferries, doing a deal, first come first served.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the confirmations...

Flyingpigs & Jackie - cheers, I'll check out the ferry deals too!

DaveJ ... ahhhh what a dream!! Checked the fares for bikes and a return fare (used holiday dates - not sure about bigger gaps or one way) was £36 !!!

Have a look at [url]http://www.hoverspeed.com/[/url] - click on the link in the bottom centre using the code HS3 with the booking details... ;)

Cheers,
S