Journey from Calais to Italy

[Jacqueline_374527347]

Can anyone suggest a route to Italy that does not include mountain passes or hairpin bends as my husband has a real hate of these kind of roads. Lots of people have provided te routes they have taken, but noindication of the types of roads they have used. The more motorways the better, regardless of cost.

Jackie Owen

 

[anotherDavid]

Hi ther Jacqueline

If you are not worried about the cost the, motorway routes from either Innsbruck or Salzburg are no problem and dont include any hairpins as far as I recall.Getting to Austria is free motorways through Belgium and Germany. From Ulm towards Innsbruck you would use the Fern pass but thats a pass in name only as there is a tunnel taking the top off it now and again no problem. Another alternative is from the south of France and along the coast through scores of tunnels and bridges.

Dave

 

[DianneT]

Dave is right that is a good way to go to Italy. We deviate a bit as we do 2 stops on our way to Innsbruck near Bitburg and in the Black Forest. We have stopped at Kranbitten caravan site at Innsbruck before going over the Brenner but that is closed now Nattersee is a wonderful site at the end of the Brenner but you would need camping cheques to get cheap price there as it is not in the ACSI Camping card.

Costs we had last time we went were 7.60 euro's for 10 days on the Austrian Motorways. 8.50 euro's for Arlberg Tunnel. 26.20 euros when coming off the Italian motorway at Garda. Sorry I do not have the Brenner Pass charge to hand.

Hope this helps.

 

[DavidKlyne]

We did the journey over the Fern Pass in June but it was over the Pass not through any tunnel? I am aware that they have been building a continuation of the German autobahn (for ever!) to bypass part of the Fern but is it open and if so when? The Fern is narrow and twisty in places but not really steep. The worse bit is as you enter Germany on roads through towns that are pretty narrow unless of course that has now been bypassed.You can of course get to the Brenner via Munich but it is a longer way round but an easy road.

David

 

[SteveW77]

I went France, Luxemburg, Switzerland. Through the Gothard tunnel then motorway almost all the way to lake Garda, I don't recall it being either very steep or very twisty, but I do tow with a Sorento, so it makes easy work of towing.

Steve W

 

[Jacqueline_374527347]

Thanks for all the replies. I tow with a Rexton 2.7 but have a fairly heavy caravan, a Bessacarr 550GL. We went north to south of Spain last winter and the car managed the Sierra Nevada beautifully. That was dual carriageway all the way, with some steady inclines, but scenery well worth remembering.

Jackie

 

[anotherDavid]

We did the journey over the Fern Pass in June but it was over the Pass not through any tunnel? I am aware that they have been building a continuation of the German autobahn (for ever!) to bypass part of the Fern but is it open and if so when? The Fern is narrow and twisty in places but not really steep. The worse bit is as you enter Germany on roads through towns that are pretty narrow unless of course that has now been bypassed.You can of course get to the Brenner via Munich but it is a longer way round but an easy road.

David

Hi David

Its ten years since I went that way so I will be guided by your recent knowledge. I must have mixed it up with another pass re the tunnel, however I think you will agree there is nothing to worry about.

Dave

 

[BigTim]

Hi Jackie

We have always been to Italy in July/August as we are both teachers. No problems with going then but campsites do tend to be quite busy and roads too, beware of the St Gotthard Tunnel on Friday afternoons at peak season - VERY busy.

We went to Italy in 2006 and 2007 towing a 7.2m 'van. In 2006 we went to Lake Como and then on to Venice. In 2007 we went to Rome and then back via Lake Iseo. For 3 of these journeys we have travelled France, Belgium, Luxembourg, France. South of Nancy we took the N66 through the Ballons de Vosge mountains - gentle hairpins only. After a halt at Cernay we crossed the Rhine into Germany, immediately before Switzerland, to avoid the centre of Basle. Then through Switzerland on their toll autoroutes and on into Italy via St Gotthard Pass or Tunnel.

This route is all autoroute apart from a short westward stretch along the N66. The French autoroutes are all toll-free but we had to buy the 2 Swiss Motorway vignettes, ie, for car and caravan. All of this route is quite towable. The St Gotthard Tunnel is 9 miles long so if, like me, you don't like tunnels the St G Pass is okay for towing as an alternative - we used the St G Pass going south in 2006 when a puncture caused us to arrive at the tunnel on the last Friday in July - BIG queues.

In 2007 we came back via the Brenner Motorway into Austria as we had had a car breakdown and the CC Red Pennant had only be able to provide us with a less powerful hired, tow-car.

We tended to break our journey by sleeping overnight at autoroute "aires" and we have did this in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. We, also, stopped at Camping Chenefleur near Luxembourg and Camping Acasias in Cernay (SE France) whilst travelling the route via Switzerland.

My wife and I both drive and so we take turns on these long journey. We reckon that 50mph and 300 miles in a day is good going for us. In 2007, travelling south, we did Dunkerque to Camping Chenefleur in a day, stopped their 2 nights, drove on to Aerolo, just south of St Gotthard Tunnel in another day, slept there at Service area, and then drove on to near Rome with one more stop at a motorway services on route.

I hope this helps. I've reviewed all of the campsites we've used in the campsite search section of ukcampsite.co.uk.

I hope this is useful to you.

Tim

 

[RayS]

Suggest you explore various routes using www.viamichelin.com or www.mappy.com. These will both offer routes and you can choose various options e.g. fastest, shortest, avoiding toll roads etc.

You can also get a route showing exactly the roadsigns you will encounter, and some idea of the toll charges (and where the speed cameras are).

You can block in areas to avoid e.g. Paris.

Both sites have their foibles but it's worth getting to know them.