Driving to Italy

[Deleted member 65149]

I'm in the middle of planning a driving trip to North Italy in June. We want the journey to be as much a part of our holiday as the destination. I'm coming up with a few quandries and wondered what advice other members may have.

1. Still not decided on whether to use a ferry or Eurotunnel to cross the channel. I can set a time for the journey out, but because we have no set plans for how long to spend in Europe, booking a return trip isn't so easy. Un-booked times seem like silly money so I wondered whether or not we'd be OK just turning up at Calais and getting onto the next available boat/train. Hoping that this would be OK as it's out of school holiday time.
2. Thinking about driving down on the German Autobhans so that I can try the C350 at high speed. Any recommendations for particular roads?
3. Also want to do some Alpine driving (with Dynamic Handling switched ON) and thinking about the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria then the Great Dolomite Road in Italy. Are these good choices or does anyone have alternative suggestions?
4. I've promised Mrs KE a trip to Venice whilst we're in Italy. Any recommendations about parking and/or where to stay?
5. Depending on how long we take getting to and in Italy, may come back via Monaco then across to Bordeaux (where a friend lives) and back to Calais. Any recommendations for great driving roads in France?

Thanks

 

[IanA2]

I'm in the middle of planning a driving trip to North Italy in June. We want the journey to be as much a part of our holiday as the destination. I'm coming up with a few quandries and wondered what advice other members may have.

1. Still not decided on whether to use a ferry or Eurotunnel to cross the channel. I can set a time for the journey out, but because we have no set plans for how long to spend in Europe, booking a return trip isn't so easy. Un-booked times seem like silly money so I wondered whether or not we'd be OK just turning up at Calais and getting onto the next available boat/train. Hoping that this would be OK as it's out of school holiday time.
2. Thinking about driving down on the German Autobhans so that I can try the C350 at high speed. Any recommendations for particular roads?
3. Also want to do some Alpine driving (with Dynamic Handling switched ON) and thinking about the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria then the Great Dolomite Road in Italy. Are these good choices or does anyone have alternative suggestions?
4. I've promised Mrs KE a trip to Venice whilst we're in Italy. Any recommendations about parking and/or where to stay?
5. Depending on how long we take getting to and in Italy, may come back via Monaco then across to Bordeaux (where a friend lives) and back to Calais. Any recommendations for great driving roads in France?

Thanks

Re 4. Stay in Padua, it's a 20 min train ride to Venice. Can recommend the San Antonio Hotel Sant'Antonio - Home Page or the Toscanelli Hotel a Padova - Majestic Toscanelli **** Both good, central and reasonably priced. You could stay in Venice but it's expensive and you'd have to park in Mestre which is a pit. If you want to push the boat out the Daneli and the Cipriani are difficult to beat.

 

[GordonTarling]

If you're anywhere near Mont Ventoux when in the South of France, then it's worth the drive to the top, just be careful on the brakes on the way down! We were at the top when I heard a jet approaching and saw a French fighter jet performing rolls below us! Pont du Gard (Roman aqueduct) is the other side of Avignon and well worth a visit if you're into that sort of thing. You could also probably arrange your route to include the Millau bridge on your way home.

 

[Spinal]

I drive to Italy reasonably often (being part Italian), so here's my tuppence...

*Still not decided on whether to use a ferry or Eurotunnel to cross the channel. I can set a time for the journey out, but because we have no set plans for how long to spend in Europe, booking a return trip isn't so easy. Un-booked times seem like silly money so I wondered whether or not we'd be OK just turning up at Calais and getting onto the next available boat/train. Hoping that this would be OK as it's out of school holiday time.

Train. Every time. Hands down. I've had issues with the ferry being delayed due to fog, and when I arrived late once due to traffic was turned away (xmas season). On the train you can arrive two hours either side of your booking and they'll fit you on the next available train for free. When I had the accident in morocco, I called them up and got my return date shifted from two weeks away to the same day (I was driving through France when I called). Also, it's so much quicker, taking about 40 minutes from the M26 to the Autoroute des Anglais if you time it right.


*Thinking about driving down on the German Autobhans so that I can try the C350 at high speed. Any recommendations for particular roads?
Sorry, no. I drive to Turin, so I'll either do France (Frejus tunnel in winter vs colle della scala in summer) or France and Switzerland (mnt blanc tunnel).

*Also want to do some Alpine driving (with Dynamic Handling switched ON) and thinking about the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria then the Great Dolomite Road in Italy. Are these good choices or does anyone have alternative suggestions?
When are you going? A lot of passes close in winter/snow.

*I've promised Mrs KE a trip to Venice whilst we're in Italy. Any recommendations about parking and/or where to stay?
Park in a nearby town (my family has a house in Iesolo, so I'm partial to there... but even Marina di Venezia will have parking). Then grab a boat-bus to Venice. If you stay on the mainland, it's quite a bit cheaper from a hotel perspective too.

*Depending on how long we take getting to and in Italy, may come back via Monaco then across to Bordeaux (where a friend lives) and back to Calais. Any recommendations for great driving roads in France?
Again, not really - I do my best to get through France as quickly as possible. It's all dull motorway from my perspective. The Alpine road between Briancon and Gap/Grenoble have quite a few passes on the side - some are utterly stunning... and you can pass by several glaciers (some with access via cable car/in-mountain train)

M

 

[230K]

Hi

Some info here from out trip to Italy.
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/92504-3000-mile-european-trip-2010-she-did.html

Must dos in my opinion are the Stelvio Pass and Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.

I found the French roads were superior to the German roads.


Hope this helps

230K

 

[Spinal]

Forgot to mention - pass wise (but closed in snow/winter) there's the Passo del Stelvio, which is pretty famous. To the point that I would avoid it in August due to the large number of bikers zipping up/down.

Eo, Vita! « Drive il Passo Del Stelvio

 

[Deleted member 65149]

We're going in June, so after the above recommendations and looking at the road on the Internet we're definiteley going to drive the Stelvio Pass (without having to worry about turbo drop-off as we near the top either ). Thanks guys.

 

[st4]

We're going in June, so after the above recommendations and looking at the road on the Internet we're definiteley going to drive the Stelvio Pass (without having to worry about turbo drop-off as we near the top either ). Thanks guys.

I've done Italy.

I'd really consider the Venice option. See my Flickr for more but iirc on my thread here, you've been.

I'd head to Como, lakes Como, Garda are worth seeing. Don't be afraid to head to St Moritz in Switzerland, its a great drive.

My turbo was ace up the Stelvio. I only needed 3000rpm to really charge up, you'll need to rev beyond 4000 to 5000 to make the power I was making at 3000rpm....

The C class sports is a great drive, yours having dynamic set up will be even better. You'll find good roads near Bormeo and there is a fun pass up a hill to a town called Cuneo from Bormeo. Lovely place.

I had the 155 up in the Autobahn. I did this nr Munich which isn't as far as you think and worth going to.

The Stevio is great but its often busy with tourists. What's worth doing is navigating over to Davos as well. A great drive and quieter

Spinal, I've driven in France. Ace roads and the drive over the Alps into Monsco from Italy is top drawer.

 

[Piff]

Motorway across the top of Italy (we entered via Switzerland on the way to Venice) can be a bit hairy with nose to tail HGV's on the inside lane, pulling out into the middle lane without much warning.
We felt safer staying in the fast lane which was flowing at 100 - 110!

 

[johngleeson]

We drive to italy in our SLK 350 each year, you will enjoy the experience.
Euro tunnel for us just use the flexi ticket for your return ( we buy our outward bound with Tesco clubcard vouchers ), we have never paid a toll in Germany driving tro France will cost up to 150 euro depending if you use the Frejus or Mont Blanc tunnel.
A couple of mountain passes we have found exciting are the drive from Val d'isere to Susa in Italy and the unforgettable Timmelsjoch Pass from Merano to Austria, 2500m at the top, fantastic.
The Lakes in Italy are great, Porlezza on Lake Lugano our Favorite.
Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast is close to your Monaco route and well worth the slight detour.
We try to avoid any long journeys on saturdays as the traffic always is heavy.

Have a great trip!

 

[GP801]

Train every time. If you have a smartphone/laptop just book the return a few days ahead. In june there wont be a problem.

For Venice there is a huge car park in Piazza Roma at the end of the road/rail bridge. It costs though.

Italian motorways can be quite entertaining especially in the hilly areas. Very slow trucks going up the hills on the inside lane and very fast cars on the outer lane/s. Having said that I have never felt uncomfortable. Even Rome is not too bad.

If you do go through France the Frejus is much quieter than the Mont Blanc tunnel. Usually no queue at the toll whereas last easter the french travel news gave 3 hour queues for the Mont blanc.

If you are doing Venice then Verona, Padova Modena and Bologna are all in easy reach. For Venice you are probably better staying elsewhere and getting the train in. Italian trains are generally reliable and cost much less than here. You can find details on Trenitalia - HomePage in english as well as italian.

 

[st13phil]

A couple of mountain passes we have found exciting are the drive from Val d'isere to Susa in Italy and the unforgettable Timmelsjoch Pass from Merano to Austria, 2500m at the top, fantastic.

I second both those suggestions, but I've only ever traversed them in the opposite direction!

Descending the Timmelsjoch coming from Austria to Italy gives absolutely stunning views down the valley towards Merano. If you were to use (say) Landeck as a base for a couple of days you could use the Timmelsjoch as you head south to your next destination, rather than trying to fit it in to a circular tour. I have a great route that I've taken many friends on leaving / returning to Landeck that takes in the Stelvio and some other excellent roads. Roughly 200 miles and takes all day

Had always wanted to drive Col du Mont Cenis and carry on through Val d'Isere, but on every previous trip time pressures meant that we've always ended up using the Frejus tunnel. Last year we made a night stop just west of Turin and were on the road for 9am through the Val di Susa, and then spent the rest of the day working our way to Annecy over multiple Col's. Fantastic

As GP801 says, visiting Venice by train is very easy. If you pick somewhere to stay on Lago di Garda you can easily do day trips by train to both Venice and Verona with no stress.

One thing to watch is that there are now lots of speedcams on the best passes in the Dolomites and other areas

 

[Spinal]

Quite fun hearing of the valleys/passes I grew up around! I spent a large portion of my childhood between Bardonecchia, Claviere and the neiboring valleys.

My biased opinion is that no matter what pass you pick, as long as you get off the motorway you'll have an unforgettable drive...

M.

 

[st13phil]

My biased opinion is that no matter what pass you pick, as long as you get off the motorway you'll have an unforgettable drive...

Based on lots of motorcycle touring over the last 20 years I pretty much share that view!

 

[st13phil]

This post in a thread from last year contains some route and accomodation suggestions. If you prefer to travel down through Germany (to test whether the top speed limiter works on your car ), then from Calais I'd suggest:

• Head across Belgium on the motorway network to Eupen, then take a cross-country route through Monschau and pick up the B258 through Schleiden and Blankenheim almost as far as the 'ring, and take the B257 south to the A48
• Follow the motorway network south-east to somewhere around Kaiserslautern for a night stop. The Zum Schwan is a nice one-night stop in Trippstadt.

Next day, head cross country to join the A65 / A8 & A7 south to Austria, picking up the Bödel pass, Hochtannbergpass, Flexenpass, etc. down to Landeck.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Arrived in Italy this afternoon. Easy drive to overnight stay in Belgium (near Liege) followed by mix of high speed autobahn and very slow Black Forest mountain roads in the clouds. Disappointed that we didn't have an opportunity to test out the 155 mph limiter on the autobahns because they were either limited, too busy or too wet all the time. Did manage a bit of 140ish for a short burst, but too many Audis wanted to pull out into the left lane without looking first, so I chickened out . The good thing though is that the car was still accelerating easily and felt perfect all the way.

Drove over the Stelvio Pass today. Perfect weather and an almost clear road, so negotiating the 48 hairpin bends on the way up was far more fun than I deserve. Windows down and listed to the music of the V6 as we roared to the top, leaving a Porsche for dead!

Pictures to follow later.