Good aftebody everynoon.
As the title says, AE will be thundering his pedro mobile to northern Italy - Malcesine. TomTom Tim and multimap suggests its about 900 miles and about 16 hours. He is looking for route suggestions, and interesting places to stay / eat overnight (about 6 hours out from calais on the way out - about 8 hours out from malcesine on the way back)
Also any requirements for driving in Switzerland
ta muchley
Edited by Pugugly on 29/07/2008 at 21:04
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Don't speed in Switzerland, cameras everywhere and a distinct lack of a sense of humour in all things legal. Such as don't flush your loo after 9pm if you live in an apartment block.
Beautiful, if slightly over-organised, country.
PS- where have you been, just got parole? ;-) Welcome back!
Edited by Citroënian {P} on 28/07/2008 at 20:57
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Don't forget to buy your M-way sticker for Switzerland, and Austria if your route goes there. If you want to borrow a really detailed Garda guide book and/or discuss North Lake Garda (where I spent a week in May) please email me - see profile. Great lake side restaurants at the North end of Malcesine main street. Little sunlit piazzas with 3 sides made up of old buildings and the 4th side is the Lake - excellent food and wine too!
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Which way? Reims, Metz, Strasbourg, Basel, Milan, Verona?
So you want to stay between Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
Miss out Metz, and go "cross country" Saint Dizier/Nancy. And stay somewhere in Alsace - lovely, hugely under-rated part of France.
I don't know what your budget it, but slightly off that particular route, but again on a short cut through Alsace is Hostellerie Reeb, Marlenheim where I have stayed a couple of times, as have a couple of friends on my recommendation; it has an excellent restaurant (though at 1.20 to the pound, not 1.60 life is rather more expensive than it used to be).
www.hostellerie-reeb.fr/
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Which way? Reims Metz Strasbourg Basel Milan Verona?
Yup
So you want to stay between Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
thats where i figured
I am having a major re-think tho having been horrified by the cost differential
Road = 4 tankfulls of gas there and back - say £240, tunnel £209, overnight £75, tolls/carnet £30- total £554
Fly Stanstead/Brescia return £135, car park £50, hire car £150 - total £285
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AE, 4 tankfuls of GAS?
Is the gas station at the end of the sidewalk???
Take your Altea, you know you want to!! They are even more rare in France than back here!
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My maths is crap too - 135+50+150 = 335 - but still £220 cheaper
Now thats the rub, is the joy of the drive worth £225 ?
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is the joy of the drive worth £225 ?
Yes.
And you can visit the Schlumpf collection near Mulhouse en route.
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You could trythe Belgium route - toll free motorways - cheaper fuel - better beer.
North from Calais, across to Luxembourg, then south to Metz.
see www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHo...m
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You could trythe Belgium route - toll free motorways - cheaper fuel - better beer.
Yes, I've done this a couple of times:
Toll free A25 to Lille, then Mons, Namen, Luxembourg, Saarbruken,Karlsruhe, Stuttgart (overnight), Ulm, down to Austria, Innsbruck - Brenner Pass,straight down to Trento and on to Garda (in my case Sirmione).
The only road costs were the m/way permit for Austria - buy them in any service station, and the toll for the Brenner Pass, and of course the Italian road tolls.
Very enjoyable drive & this was pre satnav !
J
Edited by jacks on 29/07/2008 at 16:07
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The only road costs were the m/way permit for Austria - buy them in any service station and the toll for the Brenner Pass and of course the Italian road tolls.
Motorway vignette in Austria is only 7.60 euros for 10 days.
Last time we were there in May, Luxembourg still had the cheapest fuel on your route - about €1.20 IIRC.
Edited by Mike H on 29/07/2008 at 18:10
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Hope you and Ms AE have a good time whichever way you go. I would always want to drive, spend too long and too much and not stick to the plan, but my wife usually holds me down and obstructs all of that.
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Hi Altea Ego, lucky you, just back from Malcesine-fantastico. Lovely lakeside restaurants and an interesting town. Take the ferry to Limone-excellento, only 10 mins.
Why not make the trip part of your holiday. We take about 3 days to go and three to come back and enjoy the stops and the liesurely drive. Caliase, Reims(overnight at Vertus-lovely village)down towards Lyon, cut across left at Dijon and toward Geneva and overnight at Annecy-superb. From there towards Torino then Milano then Brescia and Verona and you are virtually there. Outbound through Innsbruck towards Strasbourg, overnight near there(cheaper in France and better food) back through Metz, Reims etc. We plan well and use D or N roads wherever possible, only use Motorways and Tolls to by pass large towns and cities.Surprisingly quiet the roads and progress can be made if required.Very enjoyable stress free travelling. We very rarely book any accommodation, we use the Logis guides and get off the road into a town or village about 3.30 to 4pm and always get good accommodation at a reasonable price. Good luck and enjoy. Concrete
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Hired a VW Passat in Garda in 2002, did about 10km oil light came on, ckecked dipstick, clean ond shining, no oil. Daughter saw a 5 litre bottle of Bardolino for £12, great bargain, cost me £40 for another suitcase to bring it back. Beautiful place, gorgeous food and icecreams to expand the waistline.
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I agree about the icecreams and in "Italy for the Gourment Traveller", Fred Plotkin recommends the Hotel-Ristorante Cassone in the Via Gardesana, Cassone, which is a mile or two south (tel/fax 045/6584197). There are sometimes interesting exhibitions in the castle at Malcesine and you can take the funicular from the centre up a mountain and paraglide down. There is a frequent if unpunctual bus service to and from Riva and Verona and of course the ferry services all over the lake.
(I think Como is a much nicer lake.)
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Just south of Reims, on the RN, there is a D road that ends up in a place called Bar Le Duc. Its an excellent road, quiet and free. I always use it then rejoin the main road and head towards Nancy. From there towards COlmar over the Vosges mountains, then head towards Basel. The only tolls I pay are from Calais to Reims.
Also you can get your Swiss vignette online, at a very good exchange rate, though they charge a handling fee. However it does mean in the fast que at the border
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Can you not get a ferry for less than £209?
Actually this all depends on whether the drive is, as Concrete says, part of the holiday. If it is, it's worth the extra cost. I expect your family will make your mind up for you on that one, AE.
Edited by Avant on 29/07/2008 at 21:36
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We have been a few times to Malcesine, though not in the last few years. Nice pizzas at the Lago di Garda's restaurant. A good restaurant lakeside over at the far side of the castle. Nice sangria at the cafe opposite the newsagents in the old town. Bought a couple of nice jackets at the big leather shop. The ferry to Limone and Garda is good fun.
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the cost differential has just disapeared. Tescos club card vouchers being exchanged for eurotunnel means this cost has disapeared.
The road trip is a goer.
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I have just got back from Malcesine on my 2000 mile roadtrip in our MG.
We got the ferry to Amsterdam though and went through Holland, Germany, Austria, over the brenner pass and into Italy. Total 780 miles each way.
There are lots of roadworks in Germany though which gave frustrating progress at times - although making the time up with a lead foot was quite fun - and all legal as well :-) Not much help for your route I dont think but we stayed at Munich on the way down and Frankfurt on the way back.
As already mentioned the car ferry to Limone is quite good but its better to drive it! You pass the roads where the bond accidents were though but the views are amazing and the roads are good fun too.
We toured the majority of the lake and Verona in the 10 days we were there and had the best holiday we have ever had - having your own car helps as well.
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