Driving to Italy

[StewartfieldSix]

A friend has offered us a place to stay in the Molise region of Italy for the month of July. Flights and car hire for the six of us is approx. £3,000 so we are considering driving. We drove to London (from Glasgow) in October which was a lot easier than I anticipated. However driving such a distance, on the other side of the road, might be the ruination of us!

Any advice from those with experience would be welcome. Thanks

Break the journey down into managable chunks and do it over a couple of days. If you are driving from Glasgow, I'd aim for the ferry and crossing on day one then use day two to get to Italy.
Which crossing are you going to use. I have a vague recollection of one going from Stranraer to somewhere on the continent. Possibly Germany.

We are strict about taking breaks every couple of hours. We plan our journey in detail using route planner etc. You dont say what age your DCs are. DVD players are an absolute boon.

Driving on the other side of the road is probably less of a strain than you imagine. Junctions, roundabouts etc work. There is no risk of going the wrong way round a roundabout. The only thing to keep in mind is to check which side of the road you are on when coming out of petrol stations or setting off first thing in the morning when there are no visual clues.

Do book your overnight stop. So many times we have seen sad groups going from hotel to hotel trying to find a bed for the night.

Enjoy the holiday!

If you have a month, I would break the journey up. We drove to Tuscany last summer - but from Brussels (i guess a day closer than Glasgow )

Could you get the ferry over to Holland or Zeebrugge from Scotland? That would take a big chunk off the journey. We've done P&O overnight from Zeebrugge to Hull and it was great fun. Loads of nice food and onboard entertainment.

Last year we drove as far as the Rhein valley and stopped overnight, followed by a couple of days in Bavaria with friends. The scenery from there onwards through Austria and into Northern Italy was stunning. We stopped overnight again in the Valpolicella region - not far from Lake Garda.

On the way back we stopped at Lake Como, then drove through the San Gottardo tunnel into Switzerland where we stopped at Lake Brienz. More gorgeous scenery. To drive through Switzerland you need to get a Vignette - cost about 30 euros. You can order these on line, or buy one at the border. Italy has tolls on the autostrada.

We did about 3000km in total. I found the journey fine - the roads/motorways are mostly good, and July is quieter than August. Heartily recommend a portable dvd player and regular breaks. It's wonderful to see the countryside/weather changing as you get further south.

If you plan your route in www.ViaMichelin.co.uk, it tells you how much you can expect to pay for tolls/petrol and how long each leg of your journey will take. You can add lots of stopping off points.

gosh, Molise is a loooong way south!

google says 16-1700 miles by road through France, via Dover-Calais, skirting Switzerland - you could do that in 3 days. We've driven 1000 miles from Lancashire to SW France & back twice now, & did it in 2 days without too much stress.

DFDS run a ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam but it takes 16½ hours, so it wouldn't save you any time - would minimise UK driving distance though. Then Amsterdam to Molise via Munich is about 1100 miles.

Are the 6 of you adults+children? How big is your car?

(not via Munich but going in that general direction)

Oh it's a long way!

We used to drive from Devon to Northern Italy almost every summer, we usually broke the journey into 2 chunks. First stop was around Bourges (central France) which I loved because the weather started to be warm there, the second stop near the Alps.

Are you sure it's going to be cheaper to drive though?

MPVs are ludicrously expensive to hire, franca - can be 3 or 4 times an equivalent 5-seater (I just did a quick search for picking one up at Rome & a Galaxy would be over £3000 for 4 weeks!) They could hire 2 small cars instead but that would be min £1200 & flights for 6 in July won't be cheap either.

, that much? Wow, it is a lot of money.

Yes, flights are more expensive in July, though there are usually cheap flights to Ancona (in le marche) or Bari (Puglia), for instance. But then there is the "small" detail of how to get from ancona to molise.

Another word of advise, plan the trip from Northern Italy to Molise carefully as the Milano-Bologna-Rimini etc motorway can be a total nightmare!

We've driven to Tuscany from Glasgow, taking our time and enjoyed the trip. We are however, seasoned long-distance drivers - have regularly driven to Meribel for example.

Here are some thoughts from our experience

If you're going to cross via the channel ferries, pay the extra for the Club Class (P&O): the extra £10-15 per person really is worth it for the haven of peace (and the glass of bubby for the adults, plus unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits) means that you start the new section of driving refreshed and relaxed. Do it with the prioirity boarding (which gives you a discount for the Club Class) and it means you are ahead of the traffic not in the middle of it.

Driving on the right: is really not a big deal and it is amazing how quickly you get used to it. We find traffic on the continental motorways to be much more disciplined than the British motorways. Once you have developed your confidence on the motorways, you could consider going on the N routes which tend to run parallel with the motorways and give you a better flavour of the countryside - and the opportunity to stop for breaks in "real" French towns.

Ignore traffic routes that take you anywhere near Paris. From Dover, you take the A26 then the A6 - and then you have a range of otpions further south.

When doing your sums, you need to factor in the cost of the peages (French toll motorways) and the equivalent in Italy (can't remember what they're called)

Consider getting the ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge. I think the Rosyth ferry has stopped - but the Hull ferry gives a different bit of "holiday". It's not so much the drive down to Dover that is a pain - it is the drive back up, after your holiday, that is a pain. And Hull is that wee bit closer.

If you do go via Zeebrugge, plan to fill up in Luxemburg - it is much cheaper there.

If you are going via France, don't assume it will be cheaper there. Do your research on the internet before you go - last year, it was cheapest to fill up at the BP garage just before your arrive at the ferry docks in Dover (and FWIW: the cheapest petrol on the way back up first filling station you come to on the M74, ie the Scottish side of the border).

Make the journey part of the holiday: we stopped overnight in Fixin in Burgundy and found a fabulous wee hotel where we had an unforgettable gourmet meal.

Burgundy is one of the bits where it is definitely worth coming off the motorway and driving down the N1 through the french wine villages between Dijon and Beaune (we always stop in Nuits St George for breakfast).

Take plenty of provisions for the car - but also be prepared to stop regularly to stretch your legs. Will you be sharing the driving?

www.autostrade.it/en/ link to the Italian motorway website. You should be able to calculate how much the toll will be.