Calais to Pisa What route

[Ian_5040591]

Next year Im looking at traveling from Calais to Pisa via an Overnighter in Dijon then into Italy via the mont blanc tunnel I am looking at travelling end of July 2008, Is this a good route I have a Kia Sorento and my van is 1300kg Fully laden, I have looked at other threads and routes in to Italy either suggest going through Switzerland or even going through Germany/Austria then using the Brenner Pass to get into Italy. Having lived in Germany I haved used the latter route many times but seems a bit out of my way this time? Any Ideas

 

[Tim2]

Hi Ian

We have travelled down to Italy from Dunkerque for the last 2 summers. We travelled down and back through Switzerland for 3 of the 4 journeys. This year we came back over the Brenner motorway as our car had broken down and the only towcar that the CC Red Pennant insurance could provide was rather underpowered. I did not fancy the greater gradients via the Gotthard Tunnel or negotiating that in a left-hand drive car with a twitchy, we had left our stabiliser on our car, caravan on the back. I would agree with you that the Brenner motorway is rather out of the way, especially for Pisa, but we needed the lesser gradients. I, also, found the German and Belgian motorways had a lot of roadworks with contra-flows.

This is a revised copy of my route which I posted previously and which I keep on file.

We travelled down to Lake Como and then on to Venice from Dunkerque summer 2006. We travelled overnight arriving at Dunkerque at 06.00. After stopping for a couple of hours sleep at a Aire near Lisle we then drove on down through Belgium and Luxembourg on the E42. East of Namur we turned onto the E411. Berchen motorway service, near Luxembourg, has the cheapest fuel in western Europe. At Luxembourg we turned south onto the E23 and drove as far as an Aire near Nancy before stopping for the night - an excellent day's drive we felt.

The motorway ended just south of Nancy but we continued south past Epinal and then turned west onto the N66. This single carriageway road is a good one which goes through the heart of the Ballons des Vosges mountain range. The views are lovely and although there are some gradients these are relatively easily laid out in long hairpins.

At the eastern side of the Vosges hills we spent a few days staying at the Municipal site at Cernay. This is an interesting site right next to a stork reserve and with a VERY HELPFUL warden. There is only a small shop on the site but there are several supermarche and a good range of other shops in this pleasant riverside town. The municipal swimming pool and sports centre are right next door.

We then travelled the short distance on into Switzerland. We later learned that if we had taken a slight detour and crossed the Rhine and approached Switzerland on the Germany motorway we would have avoided the centre of Basle. This year (2007) we did cross into Germany before entering Switzerland - much better as we avoided the centre of Basle and its roadworks

At the border we had to pay for the overpriced annual Swiss motorway vignettes for the car and caravan. When stopped at the Border point a man comes to sell them to you - 2 are needed one for the car and one for the 'van. We wished to pay by credit card so we had to park up and pay at the office. There are loos there too. Basle was a bit challenging as there were a lot of road works in the city centre, sometimes with different diversions for different size vehicles so it was hard to know which to choose. We followed the E35 through Switzerland a fantastically picturesque route.

We crossed the Alps via the St Gotthard Pass. The queues for the tunnel were very long so we decided to try the pass. It was quite doable even with our large outfit with a climb up long hairpins a long relatively flat part on the top and another hairpin descent. On the way down I used the engine for braking to save on the brakes and by the time I reached the far side the bonnet was nearly cold- very unusual for our 3.2 V6. We tried to spend the night at the services at Airolo immediately after the pass but although services were clean and pleasant they were very busy and a lot of noisy folk laughing and shouting. We gave up at about 02.00 and pushed on and stayed at a services lower down for a few hours sleep in the van.

On the way home in 2006 we came through the St Gotthard Tunnel but I am not a lover of tunnels at all and was glad when that 10 mile tunnel was past!! The gradients this way are fine although greater than the Brenner Motorway.

A big advantage of this route is that it is toll-free as far as the Swiss border.

Hope this helps.

Just ask if you want to know more.

Have a super time - we love Italy.

Best wishes

Tim

 

[Ian_5040591]

Cheers Having looked at your route even though 15kms longer it saves me nearly 90 euros on tolls compared to the total france route I was going to take. I have looked at also nipping into germany going round basel it is via Freiburg im Bresnau and only adds another 15Km cheers tim this has helped a lot

Ian

 

[giovanni_5060838]

Just beware of whatever route you take if you are going away on the last weekend of july, you maywell found any route far slowler than first thought[most of western europe is on the move at that time] Also beware of entering basle from the germany A5, tim found it traffic free, we did not and lost almost an hour through very slow traffic, although it was in late july and pre 9am i think, so timing could have been the problem.

Same applies to the san gothard tunnel, we only once in 6 years had to que there,but have herd many people have always had to.

i would suggest that tims route is sound for your journey to pisa,although even on that route you can actually cut through to colmar from just under nancy on the N59 then take the 415[i think] ST die des vosges then onto colmar,infact you can carry on straight through to germany on this route to pick up the A5,just before freiburg,again pretty scenic and although i have never towed on this road it is my normal choice when driving through and cannot recall any part that has gradiants worse than the route to mullhouse, although i do believe the colmar route is actually quicker to switzerland.

Anyroad you should be having fun working out different routes to coinside with planned stop overs and things to see so enjoy.

 

[Tim2]

My pleasure Ian

I got the basic route originally from a caravanning website and have refined it as we've used it. Another advantage of this route is, as I mentioned, the VERY cheap fuel at Berchen services near Luxembourg - save a few more Euros.

I have put reviews of where we stayed on caravanning4u.co.uk in their "overseas campsite reviews" section if that's of any use to you. I've, also, added information on our trips to Italyon the threads "campsites in Italy" and "we're new to caravanning please advise".

What route are you planning on using to Pisa. This year we thought we travel down to Rome partially via the west coast motorway. We bypassed Milano on the motorway and then took the A6 around Torino before turning east onto the A21 and then joined the A7 going south, bypassing Genova. We then drove down the A12 on the coast. I would NOT recommend the A12 at all for towing. It is set very high above the sea and is VERY hilly UP and DOWN plus lots of tunnels. It is only 2 lane and although a good quality surface we were CONSTANTLY hooted at by lorries unhappy with us keeping around the 80kph speed limit. the lorry problem was especially true on the downhill gradients where they could, of course, travel faster with their greater weight, whilst I had be aware of not letting our outfit run-away with itself.

The services on the A11, also, tended to be very small (litle flat land in this mountainous area) and at several we could not even find a place to park for a few minutes let alone do our favourite trick of staying overnight. There were,also, quite a few roadworks.

We were glad to turn east onto the A11 and then join the A1 near Firenze. I would advise travelling down to Pisa via the A1 south and then turn west onto the A11 near Firenze leaving only a short distance to drive on the A12 to Pisa.

I must admit we,unusually for us had not checked out the route down the A11 before we went. We gave Pisa a miss as a friend who had just visited it did not rate it very highly. He said the famous tower was in a very seedy area and advised us to give it miss - so we did. Rome on the other hand was wonderful.

All Italian autostradas are toll roads so the cost does add up.

Hope this helps

Tim

 

[giovanni_5060838]

Ian.

consider this , if you are crossing to calias [not dnukirk] then you also have the option of using the A26 down to rhiems,from here you can actually get off and go cross country to nancy, no tolls after rhiems [

 

[Tim2]

Hi Ian

Me again.

Just remembered that this year on the way south we actually took the toll E25 west from south of Handondange and then crossed into Germany near Strasbourg. Not particulary quiet traffic wise but at least we avoided central Basle one encounters when entering from the French side of the Rhine. We then drove down the A5 and into Switzerland.

We tend to time our stops so that we don't end up at business blackspots like the St Gotthard Tunnel or Basle at peak times. We learnt this lesson at the St Gotthard tunnel the first time we used it. A puncture, and subsequent wait for a new tyre at Cernay, meant that we arrived at the tunnel entrance at c5.00pm on the last Friday in July - most of western Europe seemed to have got there first. That's why we opted for the pass which was very quiet. The St Gotthard tunnel is made slower by the fact that traffic is sent through in batches, controlled by traffic lights - presumably a safety precaution and a very wise one at that. On the way home last year we had to queue for a little while. This year on the way down late in the evening we got in pretty quickly. As we are both teacher we always have travel at peak times but we have the compensation of being to be away for 4-5 weeks.

Best wishes

Tim

 

[giovanni_5060838]

Tim, its a shame you were advised to miss pisa, as its worth a de tour just to do the tower and cathedral.

I have no idea what the area is like after dark, but in daytime nothing seedy about it.

Infact the area around the colusium in rome is far more seedy as its known as a red light area,but even then its still more than ok even at night.

 

[Ian_5040591]

My pleasure Ian

I got the basic route originally from a caravanning website and have refined it as we've used it. Another advantage of this route is, as I mentioned, the VERY cheap fuel at Berchen services near Luxembourg - save a few more Euros.

I have put reviews of where we stayed on caravanning4u.co.uk in their "overseas campsite reviews" section if that's of any use to you. I've, also, added information on our trips to Italyon the threads "campsites in Italy" and "we're new to caravanning please advise".

What route are you planning on using to Pisa. This year we thought we travel down to Rome partially via the west coast motorway. We bypassed Milano on the motorway and then took the A6 around Torino before turning east onto the A21 and then joined the A7 going south, bypassing Genova. We then drove down the A12 on the coast. I would NOT recommend the A12 at all for towing. It is set very high above the sea and is VERY hilly UP and DOWN plus lots of tunnels. It is only 2 lane and although a good quality surface we were CONSTANTLY hooted at by lorries unhappy with us keeping around the 80kph speed limit. the lorry problem was especially true on the downhill gradients where they could, of course, travel faster with their greater weight, whilst I had be aware of not letting our outfit run-away with itself.

The services on the A11, also, tended to be very small (litle flat land in this mountainous area) and at several we could not even find a place to park for a few minutes let alone do our favourite trick of staying overnight. There were,also, quite a few roadworks.

We were glad to turn east onto the A11 and then join the A1 near Firenze. I would advise travelling down to Pisa via the A1 south and then turn west onto the A11 near Firenze leaving only a short distance to drive on the A12 to Pisa.

I must admit we,unusually for us had not checked out the route down the A11 before we went. We gave Pisa a miss as a friend who had just visited it did not rate it very highly. He said the famous tower was in a very seedy area and advised us to give it miss - so we did. Rome on the other hand was wonderful.

All Italian autostradas are toll roads so the cost does add up.

Hope this helps

Tim

Tim

Ref Pisa I agree it can look a bit seedy, however Im fortunate to be allowed in the American forces Campsite at $20 dollars a night its a bargain and as its on a military camp we get the benefits of US Forces hospitality theyve even got their own Beach in Tirrenia. I have looked at sites in this area and they are tightly packed and in my opinion a bit seedy however Pisa has good train routes to Rome Florence Lucca so until I leave the army this is my annual holiday so far only monkeytree holiday park in Newquay has come close