Got any Europe driving tips?

[st13phil]

You lucky couple! Siena is a very special city (I prefer it to Firenze, actually) and with 5 days to drive back you should be able to have a really enjoyable time. Don't forget to visit San Gimignano and Volterra while you're in the area if you get a chance. In addition to the excellent advice already given, I'll add:

• Buy yourself the orange Michelin maps covering the areas you want to head through
• Pick roads with a green edge on the Michelin maps (these are scenic roads) and the best are stunning
• In general, mountain miles take a long time to cover: you can spend all day and clock no more than 150-200 miles if you pick the "right" roads
• Plan to get to your destination mid-afternoon each day, that way you get a chance to relax and take a look around. It'll also give you plenty of "extra" time should you find something of particular interest en-route that you would otherwise have to skip past
• The long tunnels (like Mont-Blanc) are a bit of a novelty at first but are dull, boring, quite expensive and can also be full of trucks. The road route over the Cols is much more spectacular and rewarding to drive but will take a good deal longer. If you factor in the extra time then that won't be a problem though
• Annecy would make a pleasant stop off and Calais is easily do-able from there in 2 gentle(ish) days on D- and N-Roads so you could spend 3 days getting from Siena to there
• The motorway route around the coast from north of Pisa to Genova (and beyond!) is pretty spectacular and would allow you to crack off a few easy miles on the first day before heading north-west past Torino
• Then 2 days messing about in the mountains
• Then Annecy and home...
• With care you can traverse Switzerland without using their motorways and hence won't need a vignette, but this can be quite difficult to do as the Swiss set their roadsigns to direct you towards the motorways seemingly at every opportunity
• As well as radar detectors being illegal in the countries you'll be visiting, even GPS-based speedcam warning systems are illegal in Switzerland

If you want some good ideas for routes in, around and through the Alps then John Hermann's book "Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps & Beyond" is a good source of info.

 

[jrggino]

Italy

Marty as st13phil said its all very spectaculair , but you need time. I have used the west coast roads fantastic, its time really. I always said one day when i retire i want to buy a campervan and do this in my own time.
As for speed traps, just stay within the limits ok. you cant go wrong then. Speed limits change with raid as well.
all the best

Gino




We have been to Italy a couple of times this year to sort things out and look at venues and yes its our favourite place too.Italy is a lovely country and people are really friendly.
We arrive at the Livorna station on the 15th and plan to stay somewhere on the west coast for 3 days,dont know where yet though,before heading to Siena to sort the paperwork out.Married on the 23rd in Siena(ive been given permission to take the car right up to the Piazza del Campo main square outside the town hall) then back to the villa in Scandicci on the outskirts of Florence.Leave the villa on the 25th taking 5 days to get back to Calais so scenic would be nice, and the Swiss Alps do look stunning.


Im a bit dissapointed about the amount of police traps though,dont get me wrong i dont want to tear through Europe leaving a vapour trail behind me but i want to have a bit of fun


jrggino, what do you use to locate the speedtraps or just allways stick to the speed limits? are they like ours with warning signs just before them? when we drove from Pisa Airport to Florence we saw quite a few cameras hidden along the roadside but the locals still came flying past us.

Marty[/QUOTE]

 

[BTB 500]

As for speed traps, just stay within the limits ok. you cant go wrong then.

That's easier said than done as the motorway limits vary from country to country ... and also within them from one stretch of road to the next.

Here it's much simpler - 70 mph limit 99.9% of the time.

In Germany there is one spot we pass every time with a big gantry of speed cameras as it goes from unrestricted to (IIRC) 120 kph.

We use a TomTom which is pretty good for the fixed camera sites (and handy for navigation too ).

 

[jrggino]

Spped Limits

Yes They do vary in each country, but its up to us to find out. My Garmin has the sooftware on board but i know of new cameras but the GPS takes time to update all the new sites anyway.

 

[SpikeUK]

AA Website says only one warning triangle and one reflective jacket (?)

Please watch your belongings carefully - my hire car was sabotaged by (non-Italian) thieves and we lost everything of value after being skillfully distracted for 5 mins....

 

[C240Sport97]

We use a TomTom which is pretty good for the fixed camera sites (and handy for navigation too ).

Agree. During recent trip to France, it was about 90% accurate.

 

[Londonscottish]

Im a bit dissapointed about the amount of police traps though,dont get me wrong i dont want to tear through Europe leaving a vapour trail behind me but i want to have a bit of fun

Well the thing about mountain passes is they are great fun to horse up and down but the absolute speed is not. In addition the views are spectacular and there are not many other road users so they are generally a good bet. Go on.....you know you have to.....

I haven't driven on Italian motorways since the late 80's (unlike many of the posters on this thread). Back then the police were virtually awarding points for style in terms of excess speeding....when locals blasted past, driving one handed through snaking coasted motorways whilst smoking at 100+mph, that sort of thing the police didn't bat an eyelid....

I've never been nicked on French autoroutes. I was stopped for speeding in 2004 on an A road on the way to the airport though. I wouldn't be suprised if the were targetting Brits in that case (it was Provence weekend switchover time). The French authorities' laissez fair attitude to speeding has been replaced by something more proactive these days.

I still reckon that as long as you are sensible you'll have some great driving on a mix of b roads, a roads and motorways through some spectacular scenery and come home with some really great memories.

 

[BTB 500]

Yes They do vary in each country, but its up to us to find out.

Of course, but the frequent local variations (on many of the German autobahns for example) require lots of changes in speed to stay under the limit. Unlike a long motorway trip here.

 

[jrggino]

Widing roads

Ok Just to add, I had my car broken into, if they see a gb reg car they automatically think some thing is in side. Now when i leave my car somewhere i dont know i open up all the compartment lids including the passenger compaartment so they see there is nothing. as it was a pain replacing the door glass, all mercedes. I did go through the insurance company which was a waist of time, it cost me £27 in calls just to speak to the right department as on the forms they gave an incorrect number. so at this point i just paid for it and fitted it myself.
As for the lovely roads along the coast yes spectacular, BUT its August the whole of itlay is on Holiday. Last year I drove along the coast from Portafino to Genova Fantastic, but it was a nightmare . Major trafic bearing in mind i was not in a rush as i live here.
I think its best in Late May June to do this sort of trip for sure. If you were planning it again.
I dont want to say this, as you could be the First LOL but i would not worry about Italy regards Police, I have overtaken them lots of times, there not bothered, BUT dont take my word for it lol.
The Italian car driver have there own rules, use mobiles at anytime, watch films with port dvd on dash lol, women putting make up on. I think its funny as we think big cars in the uk for long trips here i have small cars overtaking me.
Anyway make sure your brakes are not half worn as you will be using them more than normal. If you need anything done here in AUGUST it's vertually impossible. If you need any assistance let me know as i do travel every week so if you did need something i would try and assist.

Gino

 

[BTB 500]

I had my M-B tyre valve caps nicked in Germany

 

[marty359]

Thanks again.When I get a spare hour im going to have a good look at some of the these routes on google earth.

I bought a new sat nav last week to replace my old tomtom go500, halfords are selling the Becker Z101 with detailed Europe maps for £99.

Marty

 

[st13phil]

Take a look at the roads around here on the ViaMichelin site (tip: zoom out a couple of steps to get an idea of what's around there). It's hard not to enjoy driving in that locale