Driving from the UK to Italy in August....Travel Tips Sought

[View From The Top]

If you enjoy driving...Naples is hilarious. Done it a few time.... even better when you have nervous back seat drivers.

Driving in Italy is nuts...only place I've driven that is worse is India.

Nah, driving in Brum is way worse than anything I've experienced in Italy (Naples aside).

[suewhistle]

Well, just remember folks that Italy varies greatly from place to place in everything from food, wine, bureaucracy, water supply, whether things work, the attitude to the law, driving...

The attitude to say, seatbelts, motor-cycle helmets and whether to stop at traffic-lights can differ greatly between the Valle d'Aosta and Puglia or Calabria, Torino or Napoli. It would be interesting to hear Saintswebs opinions as you drive south..

Anyway, lets go and see the kit launch...

[jasonb]

Which camp sites are you looking at?

Hi,

I'm looking at http://www.camping-laacher-see.com/de/Start.html which is my first stop north-west of Koblenz and http://www.campingstubai.at/ for my second stop which is south-west of Innsbruck. Both look stunning and more than adequate to pitch the small tent up for something to eat, freshen up and a kip. The Austrian one especially looks gorgeous.

Google maps is great for searching for things around your route. I found both of these simply by zooming into roughly the time intervals that I wanted to stop at and searching for campsites nearby.

[trousers]

That's the route I took for skiing earlier this year down to Austria. You've got a couple of options for Belguim to Germany. We went Brussels > Namur > Luxembourg > Zweibrucken > Karlsruhe. Petrol is significantly cheaper in Luxembourg so worth a pitstop here. There's a non-motorway stretch between Zweibrucken and Karlsruhe but its dual carriage way most of the way and worth taking IMO.

From Kempten we went to Fussen and took the Fernpass through the "Zugspitze arena" into Austria which has stunning views of the mountains. Traffic was pretty heavy back in February (Saturday change-over day in all the ski resorts) but imagine should be lighter in the Summer. In any case if you make a fairly early start from Kempten you'll be ahead of the game. In February petrol was a good 15c a litre cheaper in Austria than Germany. You'll need to stop at some point either side of the border anyway to get the Austrian motorway vignette. The end of the Fernpass isn't too far from Innsbruck and the route into Italy.

Cheers for that. Some really useful info there. Appreciated.

[trousers]

trousers - you can get the vignette before you go: http://www.tolltickets.com/country/a...spx?lang=en-GB

If you get one in advance, let me know how you get on. It would seem there are two versions of the vignette....one that has to be manually verified at any toll point you drive through or one that is auto verified by video camera

p.s. I don't think that website is an 'official' retailer of vignettes etc but no reason to believe it isn't bonefide I guess.

[jasonb]

If you get one in advance, let me know how you get on. It would seem there are two versions of the vignette....one that has to be manually verified at any toll point you drive through or one that is auto verified by video camera

p.s. I don't think that website is an 'official' retailer of vignettes etc but no reason to believe it isn't bonefide I guess.

You're right, this one is official: http://www.asfinag.at/toll-stickers-and-rates

As I understand it you need to get your vignette 'punched' on the day you want it to commence whether buying in advance or not. Not sure about camera verification. Don't they use the cameras to check them???

http://www.asfinag.at/toll-enforcement-and-monitoring

[anothersaintinsouthsea]

Hi,

I'm looking at http://www.camping-laacher-see.com/de/Start.html which is my first stop north-west of Koblenz and http://www.campingstubai.at/ for my second stop which is south-west of Innsbruck. Both look stunning and more than adequate to pitch the small tent up for something to eat, freshen up and a kip. The Austrian one especially looks gorgeous.

Google maps is great for searching for things around your route. I found both of these simply by zooming into roughly the time intervals that I wanted to stop at and searching for campsites nearby.

Not been in the Summer but the skiing in the Stubai is cracking. Always thought it would be a good summer spot, worth a few days stay if you've got the time especially as so handy for Innsbruck. I'd imagine the glacier would be open for a visit.

[pressingon]

Thanks jasonb they look stunning, bought a motorhome recently and exploring locally to start but when the OH joins me in retirement next year definately looking to explore Europe.
Don't forget to let us know how you get on.

[jasonb]

Got back from our road trip to Italy over the weekend. Had a fantastic time and just thought I'd pop back on here to say thanks again for the help and advice received whilst I planned for the trip.

In the end we went via Germany/Austria which was superb in terms of cost and time although we did get held up a few times in Germany due to roadworks which I think were mentioned here as a potential issue. The German leg of the journey was the most boring in terms of scenery so might not do it that way next time. Austria however was stunning. Although we played it safe and went into the Dolomites via the Fernpass it was great. The campsite in Stubai was brilliant too and the little town there was a real highlight.

On our return back to the UK we risked it a bit more by choosing our own campsites from the satnav list depending how far we had driven that day. I ended up doing Venice to Stuttgart on day 1 and then Stuttgart to Brugge on day 2.

All in all a great trip and only one incidence of driving onto the wrong side of the road in nigh on 3000 miles of driving (including Manchester to Folkstone and back).

Thanks again all :-)

[Viking Warrior]

Adhere to all speed restrictions in Italy and watch out for no entry zones .

[dubai_phil]

Got back from our road trip to Italy over the weekend. Had a fantastic time and just thought I'd pop back on here to say thanks again for the help and advice received whilst I planned for the trip.

In the end we went via Germany/Austria which was superb in terms of cost and time although we did get held up a few times in Germany due to roadworks which I think were mentioned here as a potential issue. The German leg of the journey was the most boring in terms of scenery so might not do it that way next time. Austria however was stunning. Although we played it safe and went into the Dolomites via the Fernpass it was great. The campsite in Stubai was brilliant too and the little town there was a real highlight.

On our return back to the UK we risked it a bit more by choosing our own campsites from the satnav list depending how far we had driven that day. I ended up doing Venice to Stuttgart on day 1 and then Stuttgart to Brugge on day 2.

All in all a great trip and only one incidence of driving onto the wrong side of the road in nigh on 3000 miles of driving (including Manchester to Folkstone and back).

Thanks again all :-)

Well done it's a great place to drive!

Oh and the wrong side bit? Don't worry - I did that at the weekend in Blighty - only went the wrong side of a roundabout with Mum in the car.... Unfortunately for some on here, nothing was coming the other way

[View From The Top]

In the end we went via Germany/Austria which was superb in terms of cost and time

Wouldn't say I told you so but.....

[Whitey Grandad]

I've been driving abroad plenty of times and the only times I have driven on the wrong side were when I was back in the UK. I think you switch off mentally.

Glad you had a great trip. Next year?

[Whitey Grandad]

Well done it's a great place to drive!

Oh and the wrong side bit? Don't worry - I did that at the weekend in Blighty - only went the wrong side of a roundabout with Mum in the car.... Unfortunately for some on here, nothing was coming the other way

Not actually illegal.

[Saintandy666]

I know it's quite a bit north of that, but if you are near on your way down, make sure you stop at Montepulciano. It's a little mountain walled town and has barely changed since it was built and it's fantastic.

[suewhistle]

The wine is good there n'all...

My only experience of driving on the wrong side was soon after I arrived in Italy some years ago in my little Fiesta and, preoccupied with bureaucractic worries, pulled out of a car park onto a quiet street. Quick panic and swerve when a car came the other way but the lady in the other car was laughing and no harm done.