Calling all you continental caravanners.

[Thingy]

Im trying to help a friend of mine with a route to Venice, remember my continental days were in trucks, not caravans and I didnt have kids along. Also, hes only been cravanning just over a year so is expeirneced neither with caravan or twoing. Not sure what continental driving exp he has.

His plan is to drive tunnel and stay nearby overnight. Crossing early he wants to make Venice with one over night stop which I am trying to tell him is a very big ask. His route is:
CALSIS (Coquelles)
REIMS
METZ
STRASBOURG
BASEL
GUTTARD TUNNEL (San Gotthard)
LUGANO

He is happy to overnight on motorway services. I have filled him in about unattended areas.
Then on to ITALY.

My route is the old truck route

Calai to Bourg en Bresse, over the Blanc to Aosta and on to Santhia, picking up the A4 to Venice. Possible overnights would be the services at Bourg and the car park at the ski lift at Courmayeur giving him three legs of around 300 miles rather than two of 450 miles.

So, Im trying to think of a better route and moreso, better overnight stops.

I just know you guys are the ones to help.

 

[JonnyG]

i'm a big advocate of going through Switzerland when travelling to Italy although i tend to take the Via Luxembourg route rather than Riems. but as the final destination is Venice way over on the Italian west coast i'd go the Luxembourg Germany Austria route rather than the RIEMS METZ ect ect.. its roughly 75 miles longer and compared to your toll route through France and then Switzerland would save you around 100 euro's[ french tolls] hence more money to spend and if you tow like me 55ish mph about an hour longer ,given the time one can loose in queues at toll booths in France .

 

[Thingy]

Are you suggesting then a crossing at Villach?

 

[SteveW77]

I always cross into Austria near Fussen then on to Innsbruck, over the Brenner pass and down to Verona,Padua and on to Venice.

 

[JonnyG]

go through Germany from Luxembourg head for Ulm then down to fussen and into Austria via the fern pass Innsbrook ,brenner pass and down the A22 autostrada to the A4... cheap fuel in Luxembourg and indeed Austria will help with costs each way .if indeed you were to stop near fussen [Germany] for a night stop there is that famed German fairy tale castle a couple of miles away.. sorry forgot to say its all motorway or dual carraige way bar 25 odd miles of fern pass, no tough climbs either.i use this route for the sud tirol or top end of lake garda

 

[Thingy]

Thanks for this guys, I have passed it on and its looking far better than either mine or his route.

Can I ask how many legs you do it in and how long it takes. In particular, do you normally stop on the services or camping sites?
He is stopping at Folkestone the first night with a very early crossing.

 

[SteveW77]

I normally do it with two overnight stops, one near Karlsruhe and another at camping Nattersee Innsbruck.

 

[JonnyG]

i would add if the party is stopping at folkstone overnight they might like to consider Dover to Dunkirk [ dfds] normally they do better deals ,ok the crossing is longer 2 hours compared to the so called 40 minute train job but you can relax on the ferry rather than be cooped up on the train., Dunkirk is about 13 miles north of Calais so already you get 20 mins back on your crossing and save half a gallon of fuel ,that is if they are considering the Luxembourg Germany route. to be honest i find the planing part fun and indeed change my plans repeatedly before finally taking the plunge.

 

[Thingy]

I have been asked to pass on his thanks to you guys. He is having a good look at that route and I think hes going to use it.

I do know hes going on the tunnel though and i can see the benefits of that. As he says, you arent rammed on in the same way as the ferry, perhaps less chance of getting the van scratched.

 

[Hutch]

We have mostly used DFDS and also P &O over the last 4 years 4 times a year., never found the crossing to be cramped always plenty of room. Went to Zurich in October and followed sat nav. Belgium, Lux, Germany France back into Germany at Strasbourgh. Back into France to get back into Switzerland at Basle. Not a problem. No Paege fees.
Again in March but went Reims , Metz, Strasbourgh. Colmar . Basle, Zurich. An easier route, only €45 paege.
Fuel costs about €1.28. France and Germany Switzerland SWF 1.36, about the same really. Austrian vignette, €8 for a week. Swiss Vignette €38.but you need a second one for the caravan.
So avoid Switzerland if you can,
Hutch.

 

[Buffers]

The outer you give to Italy is fine. The only problem is Gothard tunnel you and can queue for hours waiting to get through. An alternative as the same Lille mons luxunbourg then Stuttgart towards Munich then south through to Innsbruck and into Italy or Bolzano. It's still motorway journey. The quality of the motorway network in Switzerland is fine no probs with the quality it's just Gothard they only let a few vehicles through at a time.