Hi Peter
Like others I would you to "go-for-it". We have travelled down to Italy for the past 2 summers and had super holidays. We do have the advantage of being teachers with long hols, however. Where are you travelling from in Shropshire- I'm originally from Madeley myself although now exiled on Merseyside!!
We have travelled with Norfolk line Dover to Dunkerque for the past 2 summers. Lovely new boats and cheap prices. I have just booked with the Caravan Club, a bit cheaper than direct with NL, $148 for car, 7.2m caravan and 2 adults. We travel out on 23 July at 10.00 and back at end of August at 08.00 am. We reckon to allow about 6-7 hours travelling to Dover. We go via M6, M6 toll (worth it for the speed around B'ham) M40, M25 anti-clockwise (always seems slow going whatever time of day) and then M20 to Dover. We travel down the day before and stay overnight at a site near Dover - this means that we can get an early ferry and have an early start in France and the energy to drive all day. In 2006 4.00am and 2007 6.00am.
IT IS a long drive to northern Italy. We reckon that 300 miles a day is good day's drive - both of us drive. My Tom Tom says that Dunkerque to Milan via Switzerland is 684 miles so it is do-able in 2 days. We travel on the autoroute via Belguim, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland, St Gotthard Pass and into Italy. On the above route autoroutes are toll free as far as Switzerland. The higher speed limit in France permits towing at up to 78mph if one's outfit and confidence is up to it. We don't go that fast but we do go over 60mph at times. Fuel is a reasonable price especially at Berchem in Luxembourg - cheapest in Europe - we aim to fill up there
It is a much easier route to cross the Rhine into Germany before entering Switzerland as that avoids the centre of Basle which is a bit of a nightmare with roadworks, etc.It is necessary to buy motorway vignettes for both the car and caravan in Switzerland which is a bit expensive. The St Gotthard tunnel is the longest in Europe at 11 miles in length and not my favourite part of the trip- I'm not a lover of tunnels. We have, also, once towed over the St Gotthard Pass when the tunnel was busy - quite do-able series of hairpins up and down with a flat plateau in the middle.
Enroute we stay sleep overnight on aires (motorway services). This is a bit contentious as there are reports of people being robbed but but we have been doing it for 10 years without problem. Obviously we use our common sense and choose aires where there are other caravanners and lorries overnighting - there are often lots. Aires give us several advantages. We can drive until we are tired and then not have to worry about finding a site for the night. We don't leave the motorway. We don't have to unhitch - just legs down and go to bed, we travel with ours made up ready for sleep. In the morning we can be away quickly on to the motorway again. We travel with small amount of water in the loo and inboard water tank so that we are self reliant. Aires are very frequent on French autoroutes with lots of room for parking. The Italian and Swiss aires tend to be much smaller.
For sites we have the Alan Rogers guides for France, Italy and Europe and the CClub's 2 "Caravan Europe" guides. All of these are cheapest from Amazon. We, also, have campsite POIs on our Sat Nav. There are loads of good quality sites in France near to the autoroutes if you prefer to use sites enroute. The ASCI guide book is, also, useful and ASCI, also, do a DVD with a route planner if you access to a computer. We rarely pre-book just phoning ahead on the day we are travelling. We rarely don't get our first choice even though we have quite a large 'van, 7.2 metres. This gives us flexibility as we don't have to worry about getting to a particular site on a particular day.
We speak some French but virtually no Italian but most campsites have at least one person who speaks English and language has never been a problem.
I would, also, say that good breakdown cover and travel insurance is vital. We would strongly recommend Caravan Club Red Pennant. It's not cheap but it is specifically geared to caravanners and their particular needs. We have broken down a few times over the years. Last year our car had to be repatriated by lorry from near Rome after a breakdown. RP provided us with a series of tow cars which enabled us to continue our hols and tow the caravan home. They carried out all the arrangements including liaising with the garage, sites, car hire companies, etc. On a previous occasion when we were with Britannia Rescue they were very inefficient, did not provide a tow car and did over
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