Italian Road Trip France - Basel - Como - Stelvio - Venice +

Did Two Euro Road Trips In My Old 3.0I Roadster.

First Trip Was South Coast Of France For A Week, Followed By A Week Touring Italian Lakes And Venice, On Way Home We Did Furka Pass (Think Its One Of The Highest And Was Amazing And Quiet), Then Headed To Basel Then Brugges Then Home.

Second Trip Was Bern, Then Grindelwald (I Love The Alps), Then Furka Pass, But Had To Turn Around As Roadwas Closed! Then Took Gottard Pass, Down To Livorno In Italy To Catch A Ferry Across To Corsica For A Week. On Way Back Home We Had A Night In NorH Italy, A Night In Zurich, And A Night In Gent.

Best HoLidays Ever And Very Satisfying When All My Plans Worked Out.

The Worst Parts For Me Were Scraping My Freshly Painted Alloys On A Toll Booth, Also I Was Nervous Wherever I Left My Car ParkeD, But It Was Fine. F
 
speed12 said:
Did Two Euro Road Trips In My Old 3.0I Roadster.

First Trip Was South Coast Of France For A Week, Followed By A Week Touring Italian Lakes And Venice, On Way Home We Did Furka Pass (Think Its One Of The Highest And Was Amazing And Quiet), Then Headed To Basel Then Brugges Then Home.

Second Trip Was Bern, Then Grindelwald (I Love The Alps), Then Furka Pass, But Had To Turn Around As Roadwas Closed! Then Took Gottard Pass, Down To Livorno In Italy To Catch A Ferry Across To Corsica For A Week. On Way Back Home We Had A Night In NorH Italy, A Night In Zurich, And A Night In Gent.

Best HoLidays Ever And Very Satisfying When All My Plans Worked Out.

The Worst Parts For Me Were Scraping My Freshly Painted Alloys On A Toll Booth, Also I Was Nervous Wherever I Left My Car ParkeD, But It Was Fine. F
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thats great! you did some truly amazing roads! i tried Furka Pass in 2010 and it was closed due to snow!
 
Nova2k7 said:
Anyone else got any advice on something like this?
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I've been doing these sort of trips (albeit mostly by bike) every year since the mid/late 80's and have managed to see lots and lots of Europe and never tire of going back and looking elsewhere, but every now and then re-visiting old routes.

Advice? Don't do too much, do a little less and enjoy what you do more. I really can't stress that enough :thumbsup:

Mountain passes always look brilliant in photo's and most of the time they are, however hairpin after hairpin can become tiresome. The foothills with flowing but twisty roads for me are far better. Distance over mountain passes are slower than you would expect, plan longer driving times for mountain days.

Don't get hung up on the big named passes, most are good.

Hotels, don't book in advance, don't plan stops. Drive until about 5ish and then start looking. You then choose your location with feel rather than just a picture. I've never spent more than about half hour looking for a hotel.

Don't worry too much about the car or where you leave it, it'll just drive you mad.

Whatever you choose, road trips are great, enjoy!
 
Your trip is gonna be awesome! There's only one advice I want to give. Last summer I did a road-trip on a Ducati rental bike, Milan, Lake Garda, Venice, Verona, Milan. I regret not spending more time in the Lake Garda area. It was by far my favorite place, and I would have loved to stay 3 or 4 days there, instead of going to Venice. Venice was a disapointment to me, tourists all over the place, very expensive, dirty...
 
Have you considered the motor-rail? Easy drive to Dusseldorf, stick the car on the train, food and beer, a nights kip and the following morning you are within a very easy drive to your destination. You can then spend more time driving home through all those place you want to see.
 
How much is Motor Rail these days?

I did look into it a little before my trips but ruled it out due to costs. With decent planning you can just plan some nice destinations on the way down as well as they way back up.

I have been tempted with a Spanish Road Trip, but the fact one has to get through the whole of France before even starting the trip puts me off. I looked at the Ferry to Bilbao or Santander, but I am sure it cost lime £800 wish instantly put me off.
 
ZermattV said:
I must admit Top Gears recent trips to the Italian Lakes are not helping me out this trip off ! It's a long way from Northern Scotland.
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Use the DFDS ferry from the Tyne - It'll save you 350 miles to the south coast.
Drive on, have a drink a kip and wake up in Holland!
 
We did a euro trip last year. I would recommend missing Belfort and go slightly more north through Epinal and take the Grand Ballon to Mullhouse where there is a National Motor Museum http://citedelautomobile.com/en/home. The route through the Grand Ballon is excellent. We also did the Susten passe, the Furka Passe, St Bernadino, Grimsel, Julier Passe, Splugen and Stelvio to name but a few we did, the worst ones were the Stelvio and Splugen. The Stevio to me is not one of the best Passes the Splugen is Quite baron but the rest are absolutely stunning. Livingo is a lovely place to visit as is Andermatte. I know of a lovely hotel between Colico and Sondrio.
 
Looking at your route you are going to pass two of the best passes. I would head to Gadmen and do the triangle of the Susten passe and Furka passe and you will still come out at Andermatt. I wouldnt recommend Como its a right S--t Hole but the lake is beautiful. Lecco is a nice place to visit. Also if you go the way your map shows at Bormio you will miss the Stelvio as it is the S538.
We are doing much the same next year but driving into Slovenia.
 
Slovenia? Went there in 2010, stunning!

Definitely on my to do again list and explore a bit more.

Time was short on this trip, hence the overnight auto train to Villach, which is an hour ish from Slovenia. From home in the morning we were in Slovenia the following morning, leaving a full week to have a nose about in Slovenia and head home via Berchesgarten, the Alps and the Black Forest.
 
Thinking of doing the same for my birthday in May stumbled upon this

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1213508&mid=84573&nmt=European+Road+Trip+in+my+VX220+%2D+write+up+%26amp%3B+pictures
 
We are doing similar mid june, just booked the shuttle

£150 return but you can use clubcard vouchers at 3x value so it only cost £50 in vouchers

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
 
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