Italy road trip...sound any good?

[jonott]

Planning to drive to Italy at the start of May via the Black Forest and the Swiss Alps and wondered what people thought of this itinerary...

May 2 - channel tunnel, overnight around Strasbourg
May 3 - Black Forest, overnight Luzern
May 4 to May 11 - Italian Lakes, including trips to Verona, and Brescia for start of Mille Miglia.
May 12 to 16 Tuscany, including trips to Florence and Siena
May 17 - Portofino
May 18 - Monaco, St Tropez
May 19 - Head home with stop off in Champagne country
May 21 - channel tunnel

This is just a rough plan to get us started.
A few questions are...
Is the Black Forest worth including?
What will be our best option over the Alps in May?
The lakes area looks rather big, would it be a mistake basing ourselves in one place there for the week?

We're not into hiking, walking long distances or art galleries, but do like scenic driving and strolling around pretty villages, nice lunch by the lake, etc.
I think my biggest worries are missing must-see places because the areas are so big, and trying to pack three weeks of clothing into an MX-5!

Any comments gratefully received...
Cheers
Jono

[hornetrider]

Is the Black Forest worth including? - Ohhhh yes.
What will be our best option over the Alps in May? - Not sure, I went in August sorry.
The lakes area looks rather big, would it be a mistake basing ourselves in one place there for the week? - Definitely yes. Spread yourself around there is plenty to see and plenty of places to stay.

jonott said:

I think my biggest worries are missing must-see places because the areas are so big, and trying to pack three weeks of clothing into an MX-5!

I packed 3 weeks onto the back of my bike, no dramas!

[fatboy b]

Pretty much what we did in Sept 2008 apart from we stayed in Interlaken there & back different routes.

If you want a lovely place to stay in the lakes, try here

Fab scenery....

Edited by fatboy b on Wednesday 24th February 12:24

[Mobile Chicane]

jonott said:

I think my biggest worries are missing must-see places because the areas are so big, and trying to pack three weeks of clothing into an MX-5!

I do a lot of road trips in the Elise. The secret of getting everything in is to buy small sizes of toiletries and forget about posh luggage. Carrier bags are the thing - you can stuff these into every nook and cranny.

Edited by Mobile Chicane on Wednesday 24th February 13:23

[Lastinclass]

Sounds good.
Remember all the car factories in the Modena/Bologna area. Monza and Imola in roughly the same area. Try here for accomodation in Tuscany roughly half way between Florence and Siena and 15 minutes from San Gimignano.

http://www.guesthouseboccaccio.it/

Take the train from there to Florence - Florence is the world's worst place to drive!!!

[Stephanie Plum]

Regarding the Alps - if it's early May a lot of passes will still be closed - as you go through the month more will open, by the end of May/start June all but perhaps the highest eg the Bonette should be open. Plenty of sites on the web that will keep you updated on status - be prepared to reroute however - even when open at the start of the summer, they are often closed periodically for roadworks at that time /voe

Lakes are lovely - Tuscany the same - we are heading through there in September on our way to Sicily in a couple of Elises. Black Forest also lovely and well worth a visit.

[K17LER]

Lastinclass said:

Florence is the world's worst place to drive!!!

No it's not Delhi is! Take my word for that....don't try it!
www.ozrally.org

But yeah, all the Italian cities can be pretty crazy and they have a tendency to do fun things like double parking on corners....I'm amazed anyone in Italy has any wing mirrors left! it's very much a free for all and can be a bit nerve racking, even once you're used to it. However after driving in Delhi, Rome at rush hour seems like an oasis of tranquility!

[DangerousMike]

jonott said:

May 12 to 16 Tuscany, including trips to Florence and Siena

personally I'm not a big fan of florence - too busy. (perhaps it'll be ok in may?)

Siena and San Gimignano are definitely worth a visit though.

[jonott]

Thanks for all the replies
Have been assured by a Swiss resident that the Simplon Pass should be open...
My only worry is petrol. Are there any petrol stations at regular intervals once you get up into the mountains?

[CivicMan]

Portofino is pretty but, IMO, a bit over-rated. It's very small and you can "do" it in a couple of hours as it's basically just a pretty harbour. (Unless you are staying at the Splendido!). The Cinque Terre towns are really cute, best way to see them is park the car in Rapallo and train down the coast. You can only access Portofino through Rapallo so you've got to be there anyway!

If you're doing Tuscany, Florence is, as others say, busy, but worth doing - my personal favourites in the area are the hilltop towns of Cortona and Montepulciano and a "must see" is the walled city of Lucca, an absolute gem.