Lake Garda Directions

[Gareth_5040397]

Thinking of going to Lake Garda in June next year and I'm looking for help for the quickest route. I have considered the Gottard Tunnel but I have been told that there can be serious traffic jams. Can anyone suggest a different route. Look forward to any comments and also any recommendations for the best sites. Thanks Gareth.

 

[EvansofSprot]

Down through Frogglie - what could be nicer?

Mount Blanc tunnel

Longish drive to Garda 250-ish miles

Don't forget to go to the opera in Verona - its fantastic and the best thing I ever did.

 

[EvansofSprot]

Down through Frogglie - what could be nicer?

Mount Blanc tunnel

Longish drive to Garda 250-ish miles

Don't forget to go to the opera in Verona - its fantastic and the best thing I ever did.

Forgot to say I did it in late June and the tunnel was empty.

 

[Gareth_5040397]

Down through Frogglie - what could be nicer?

Mount Blanc tunnel

Longish drive to Garda 250-ish miles

Don't forget to go to the opera in Verona - its fantastic and the best thing I ever did.

Thanks for the tip. If I went via Mont Blanc would I avoid paying the Swiss road charge?

 

[BarryB_5039906]

Hi Gareth

For the last few years we have travelled to Italy via Germany. It is a little longer but there are less motorway charges to pay. In Austria the toll for motorways costs about

 

[john_5040735]

Hi Gareth - last time I went Garda I travelled via Belgium/France and into Germany were I stayed one night at a smashing little site at Herbolzheim (30 miles from Basle. The journey (Friday) was superb - no hold-ups at all. From Herbolzheim I travelled next day (Sat) through Switzerland via Basle and Gottard, into Italy via Milan and onto Garda. The journey was sheer hell - 12 hours!! There were queues at Basle for the Swiss Auotoroute passes (even though we had pre-paid ours in England, then queus for about 10 miles just outside Basle, then a massive queue 5 miles from the tunnel - took 2 hours to get to tunnel entrance - then massive queues as we entered Italy. Once through the Italian border the journey was plain sailing. Coming back we travelled the same journey leisurely through the night - no problems. Staff at Herbolzheim let us on site at 8am.

Next time we will travel during night time. However, we didnt really enjoy Garda either. What a bummer of a holiday that turned out to be!!

 

[EvansofSprot]

Thanks for the tip. If I went via Mont Blanc would I avoid paying the Swiss road charge?

Yes - the tunnel is between France and Italy.

 

[VIP2006]

you as you have seen can travel a number of ways and depending on ow much time you have got - can have the most scenic journeys imaginable.

I am now 70 years of age and due to health problems do not travel pulling a van through Europe.

my favourite route is as follows

from any channel port, head for the bypass around Brussels, to Leige and to the Moselle valley where there are numerous camp sites along the moselle. then go to the Rhine valley and head for Austria via. Stuttgart and Ulm. down through bavaria heading for Innsbruck and the motorway to the Brenner Pass (this section charges for a vignette but no Toll fee) up through the Brenner Pass into Italy and down to Lake Garda which if you are heading for Garda town has quite a few lakeside campsites. please try to avoid taking your van over onto the the other side of the lake as we did and found that the towns along that side are beautifull but to get to them by car means driving through a lot of tunnels, built with usual Italian expertise.

This in my opinion is the quickest way if you want to avoid toll payments.

the main roads in Holland, Belgium and France are magnificent although the autobahns in germany are at some points feeling the ravages of time. Italy (my favourite country) has every degree of road condition and the drivers to suit every occasion.

I could go on for ever giving my experiences to and fro from Italy. Go for it and do let it begin and end at Garda Ciao

 

[VIP2006]

you as you have seen can travel a number of ways and depending on ow much time you have got - can have the most scenic journeys imaginable.

I am now 70 years of age and due to health problems do not travel pulling a van through Europe.

my favourite route is as follows

from any channel port, head for the bypass around Brussels, to Leige and to the Moselle valley where there are numerous camp sites along the moselle. then go to the Rhine valley and head for Austria via. Stuttgart and Ulm. down through bavaria heading for Innsbruck and the motorway to the Brenner Pass (this section charges for a vignette but no Toll fee) up through the Brenner Pass into Italy and down to Lake Garda which if you are heading for Garda town has quite a few lakeside campsites. please try to avoid taking your van over onto the the other side of the lake as we did and found that the towns along that side are beautifull but to get to them by car means driving through a lot of tunnels, built with usual Italian expertise.

This in my opinion is the quickest way if you want to avoid toll payments.

the main roads in Holland, Belgium and France are magnificent although the autobahns in germany are at some points feeling the ravages of time. Italy (my favourite country) has every degree of road condition and the drivers to suit every occasion.

I could go on for ever giving my experiences to and fro from Italy. Go for it and do let it begin and end at Garda Ciao

i should have said do not let lake garda be the beginning and the end of the italian adventure- Ciao

 

[GrahamW]

Gareth

Take the advice od Shiraz, I went this way a few years ago by motorcycle absolutly stunning route. Brenner pass is brilliant, had the best ever "ham and eggs" breakfast at a cafe right at the top.

 

[VIP2006]

Gareth

Take the advice od Shiraz, I went this way a few years ago by motorcycle absolutly stunning route. Brenner pass is brilliant, had the best ever "ham and eggs" breakfast at a cafe right at the top.

The 1st time I went through the Brenner pass was in 1971 when it was being built for the 1972 Olympics. as usual the Austrian side was finished but there was a considerable amount still to be done by the Italians. I was not tugging on that trip but on a days visit to a place called Vipiteno/Stertsing just over the border between Austria and Italy. my most memorable event at that time was the an exasperated village policeman in Vipitino was firing his revolver in the air because the coach driver was not moving his coach fast enough.

Many years later when I took my Combi-Camp trailer tent to Italy in world cup year I stayed at Limone on Lago Garda on a site consisted of German tourists (or shall I say Football Fans) on the night of one of their group matches they and the Italians were like headless chickens and I was the only Brit who rose the flag. after that night I decided to not go to rome but go to Salzburg and Vienna instead.

If you are travelling out of Italy on a Sunday beware of a lorry build up backwards from the Austrian Border. for as you will be aware no lorry traffic moves in the weekend in germany and Austria. I was stopped by a queue of lorries 10 miles from the border ignorant of the fact that the outside lane was free for me and others to travel on. That night I stopped at the top of the Brenner and there was Macdonalds in all of its glory and very welcoming to. when I woke up at dawn the 10 or more miles of lorries were gone and I had not even heard one of them.

 

[DavidKlyne]

Gareth

I have taken the route detailed by Shiraz and am also happy to recommend it. Some argue that going through Switzerland is shorter and no more expensive because you use less fuel but I have not tried that route. As others have said the Brenner is spectacular.

David

 

[tom_5099319]

The cheapest way is to drive to Garda is Calais, Lille, Mons, Namur, Luxembourg, Stuttgart, Munich, Innsbruck through Brenner pass towards Verona. You avoid Swiss road tax of GBP40 if towing a van and French motorway tolls. Also - Luxembourg has cheapest fuel prices in Europe.