How feasible is driving to Rome?

[Sprogonthetyne]

Not all at once, we were thinking of stopping somewhere in France for 4 nights, then doing a second long drive into Italy, stopping there for another 4 nights, then a third 4 night stop halfway home. Each leg of the journey would be about 12 hours, which we were thinking of doing overnight so the kids sleep through it.

There would be two of us sharing the driving, and I usually work nights, so I'm confident about my ability to stay up and still be alert. Would this work or would we just be tired and crabby for half the holiday and loose too much time sleeping before/ after each drive?

Two legs is far too short. Three or four stops may be more feasible but parking & driving in Rome is difficult and expensive, so why bother? It would make more sense to explore Northern Italy, Tuscany or another destination more easily accessible by car.

It also depends when you plan to make the trip. Traffic in Europe can be horrific during the summer holidays (at all hours) so it will most likely take 30-50% longer than the route Googlemaps gives you. If one leg is 12 hours, the journey will realistically end up being 15-16 hours which does not feel like a safe amount of time to be behind the wheel.

It's a bloody long way! We did Tuscany from Brussels once but over 3 weeks. 1 night on the Rhein. 2 in Bavaria, 1 in Valpolicella, 10 nights at Park Albatross, 3 nights Lake Como, 3 near Interlaken and 1 somewhere in France. We could have had less stops but I hate spending hours in the car as I want to enjoy being on holiday. I'd say Rome is 2 much for 2 weeks - it will take days to recover from such a long drive. The 12 hours doesn't allow for traffic jams and accidents etc either.

Italian Lakes with a stop in France over night though was entirely doable.

You'd be better off doing more shorter drives with more, shorter stops.

4 days isn't really enough to recover from an overnight drive, so to do it six times in a row is bonkers. You'll be exhausted and dangerous.

My family regularly drives down to 4 hours South of Rome. It is approximately 19 hours of driving and we have done it in 2 lots with one overnight stop but it is just too much. We now do it in 3 days with two overnight stops, with sometimes a bit longer for some extra sight seeing.

Personally I think if you are aiming for a city, just fly straight there and enjoy it. Cars are just a pita in most big European cities.

What part of the UK would you start your journey?. Apart from that there is the expense of crossing the Channel, toll roads, petrol costs not just to say the cost of accommodations. Parking in many towns and cities can be problematic in terms of finding somewhere to park and parking permits being needed. I doubt very much the kids will enjoy any aspect of this journey and will be thoroughly sick of the car.

I would instead fly into Rome and use public transportation when you arrive there. Driving in Rome itself is not without its challenges!

When are you planning to sleep on drive days? It sounds like you need more drop offs and shorter drives.

Why Rome? As others have said, you’d be best just flying there

I wouldn't even attempt to drive in Rome itself. The traffic is insane.

We wouldn't be staying in Rome itself, just within day trip distance as DS is desperate to go. Personal I'd be happy just stopping in France, but he's asked if we can go to Rome for next holiday and I've said I'll think/ look at feasibility.

Good tip about adding 30% to drive times. How many locations would you recommend splitting the trip into? & how long for would you recommend for each stop?

Assume OP or others are scared of flying ?

Are trains possible ( but perhaps too expensive? )

Looking on Google maps, even Calais to Rome is 16hrs. So that would be 2 whole days you're driving for. Sounds horrendous!!!

And you can't do Rome in a day. It's such a waste of even going as there's so much to see.

Of course you can!
I've driven to Italy before (twice) . Although one of those times I did drive the wrong way around a roundabout.

I would say you need at least 3 stops each way - depending on where you are travelling from in UK. Out of 14 days though this would mean spending a week in the car. I really wouldn't do it. By the time you take into account, fuel, tolls, overnight stops, food etc it would be cheaper to just fly to Rome and find a campsite or appartment. Honestly it will be exhausting!

Once you get to Rome for the sightseeing part, it's not exactly relaxing either. We walked miles! And queues can be long. It's fantastic of course, though I wouldn't visit in July and August.

This sounds very exausting. Last summer we drove from uk to france then down to Spain, but there was only two of us for most of the trip. We drove no more than 5 hours per day and made many stopovers. I think 12 hours drive with kids is a bit insane...it would be easier to just fly to Rome.

Would be perfect to do as an inter rail trip if you don't need the car? It's surprisingly affordable compared to flights in the summer months, kids under 12 are free

DS is autistic so while flying is possible, its quite stressful all round, whereas the car is very much his mobile safe space, so driving holidays tend to go better for us, though have never attempted one that far.

Rome is the current special intrest and while most will say I'm been overindulgent to considered it, I absolutely love stepping into his world and going with him into the depths of his obsessions.

Definitely do appreciate you all being the voice or reason and telling me when the flight of fancy has gone to far though.

Why do you have to drive?

Or if you really don't like flying - look at Seat61.com at the possibility to do the journey by train. You can definitely find a sleeper for part of it. If your ds is under 12 i think Interrail ticket is free.

I once drove to Florence with a stop in the Black Forest on the way and the South of France on the way back. I was the only driver.

We went to visit in laws who would do the whole trip in a long day but there were 2 of them driving.

A friend did it recently by himself and came back with terrible back problems due to all the driving, which needed a lot of physio.

We’ve just spent a few days in Rome, using taxi transfers to and from the airport. The driving was hair-raising when you are used to the British way of driving, no way would I drive there.

I've done a lot of driving in Northern Italy and I'd say it's easily doable with lots of great places to stop on the way.

There are reasonable car parks on around Rome as well. I found a cheaper carpark and got a taxi into the centre.