Road trip to Italy

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Hey, me and my DH are thinking of driving to Italy for a holiday with our two DDs who will be 12 and 10 next summer, has anyone done similar? This year we did a road trip to Paris/Amsterdam/Bruges/Ghent which was fab but keen to go to Italy however it's quite a bit further. Thanks.

Not done it yet but it's on my bucket list, we plan to do Portofino, Cinque Terre, Bologna, Venice, Lake Garda and Como. So basically concentrating on the North. We've already done the Dolomites which was spectacular!

We didn't drive TO Italy but we spent 10 days driving around the central/northern parts. It was beautiful, so much to see and a lovely drive. We stayed in hotels on the outskirts as they usually have historical restrictions zones for driving, but it was easy enough to navigate public transport for getting in.

(Made accommodation cheaper too)

We drive to Italy regularly via the French alps, can really recommend driving over the petite St Bernard pass. It’s spectacular (easy driving) and La Thuile on the other side is a beautiful town. Then the world’s your oyster! We drove to Levanto and stayed there for access to Cinque Terre which was excellent and a no stress way to do it.

We drove to the South of France and spent a few days in Menton then drove to the Italian Riviera and toured around there for a few days. It was really lovely but don't know if that's the area you're thinking of?

Italy is great for this sort of holiday due to the agriturismos which are everywhere and have free parking. They are really good value because they are tax free I believe. Many will have restaurants with products produced on the farm and close by. We stayed in a wonderful one in the north, quick bus ride into historic city centre.

We usually drive for our annual holidays. Our preferred way is to go for distance on the first day, leaving early and covering as many miles as possible. Then we'll spend two nights somewhere, with a whole day sightseeing to give us a break and the feeling that the holiday has begun. After that we never drive more than 6 hours a day, usually only 3 or 4, so every day is spent in part doing something fun, visiting somewhere, going to a beach etc.
You can cover huge distances like this and not notice.

We did this last year with our 14 and 12yo. It was just amazing! We took time to get there and had good places lined up for lunch stops etc. We did ferry to Calais then overnights in Arras, Baden Baden, Innsbruck, ten days at Lake Garda then back via Strasbourg and Bruges (2 nights there). Everyone loved it and the children have suggested skipping holidays to save up to do something similar again.

We have done this. We spent one night in Troyes, four camping in the Jura, near Besaçon, crosses into Italy (after lunch in Annecy) via the Mont Blanc tunnel and spent four nights camping in the Aosta Valley. Then we spent two night in a hotel in Parma, three night in Castellina di Chianti, four nights camping at Lake Como and then drive back through Switzerland before camping in the French Alsace for four nights.

We drove from Suffolk, leaving very early to make food progress in Day 1 and arrived home very late on the last day.

The kids were 6 and 8 at the time.

Sounds a wonderful itinerary with some beautiful areas!