The Italian Lakes - August 2011

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[Bob Fossil]

I'm no use on road names / numbers, but based on personal experience of some of the places you've listed, you're in for a treat. I used to live in Lille, and it's well worth a visit if you get chance - La Vielle Bourse, the Grand Place and the old town are all worth a look. It's like York / Bath, but with waaaaay better beer.

The roads around Limone are cracking - we hired a car whilst there and had a few, er, interesting trips up and down the mountains - just make sure you're not scared of big roadside drops and you should be fine . By heading up into the hills around Limone you'll be able to find plenty of cracking small villages, with good local restaurants (i.e. not the touristy places you get around Limone / Riva etc).

Re driving on the continent, for me the same rules apply as anywhere really, take your time, don't panic and try to give as much notice of your intentions as possible. Also, and this is in no way meant to be a smart-arse point, be sure to learn what left and right is in the countries you'll drive through. I learned this lesson the hard way on an Italian Autostrada one night when leaving Verona airport in a thunderstorm (long story short, trouser soiling moment when I realised it actually meant "left"...).

[G Man]

1. Umm where to start ... you are doing 700 miles in 1 day + tunnel
How far are you from the tunnel 4hrs + 1hrs tunnel time + 1 hrs clocks forward
Its 4 hrs to Luxembourg, so if you set out at 5am it will be 3pm at Luxembourg + 4 hrs to Mulhouse

2. Mulhouse is at the bottom of the Vosges Mountains and the fab Route des la cretes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryf-NbO6_Ao

3. Take a extra day and go via Interlaken and Andermatt on the way down

[bennno]

From experience of driving there several times (and we will be doing it again in the summer) I would advise sticking to French Autoroutes and heading in to Italy past Chamonix through the tunnel and then coming back via Simplon pass through Switzerland. The autoroute where it goes through mountains and in to Italy is picturesque, alternatively you will want to add in an extra stop on way down / way back or you will be doing 10-12 hour days in the car (plus traffic).

Milan is about 45 miles south and generally stuffed full of busy traffic so probably the last place you want to drive through on your tour, especially after a long day. With the exception of the centre its a fairly industrial ugly city.

Regards

Bennno

[G Man]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

We choose a slightly different route last year taking the peage to Reims and then some truely brilliant very fast rolling french N roads to Mullhouse where we rode doing 80mph for hrs, no traffic, no Mr Le Flick its was a great start to our 2010 adventure, cost you €36 toll
Map here http://goo.gl/maps/XMj4

[dcb]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The motorway from Lille to Namur is the roughest
motorway by far that I've ever been on.

Avoid, unless you want a new suspension fitted
during your holiday.

I'd just use the French autoroute to get to Italy.

Pop the cruise control on a reasonable number, give
the front seat passenger a load of small denomination
Euro notes, observe strict lane discipline and you're there.

Be warned that the average driving standard on
the Continent is far far superior to that in the UK.

Folks around you will be expecting you to pay
attention, not sit in a light doze for hours.

[G Man]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Better than UK roads ....
There has been some considerable resurfacing on stretches on this motorway, last year about a 30km-40km stretch was single carriageway doing 50kph behind the inevitable slow caravan. Added about 1/2h to the journey to Lux

[bennno]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Belgian Motorways are rougher than anything in the UK, proper horrible.

Would go on the autoroutes which are much nicer and as you need to pay are less busy.

bennno

[skodamanpat]

A couple of years ago we managed to arrive in Lucerne for breakfast after leaving blighty previous day on the 10 pm ferry, basically from Dunkirque head for Cologne and turn right, Autobahn all the way. Did the same last year but ended up in Lauterbrunnen for lunch.

[kiteless]

Our last trip to Verona mirrored yours for part 1. Mrs k & I live in Shropshire though, so I think W Mids to Mulhouse in one blat may be ambitious - we ended up outside of Nancy for our stop off. From there we headed to Mulhouse through the Vosges then away from Basel in the opposite direction: through Freiburg, into Austria, turn right into Landeck, headed to Merano then Bolzano and approached Lake Garda from the North.

The scenery on this second leg was stunning, and it's only a short diversion to "do" the Stelvio as well.

Thinking about it, if you're planning to go Basel / Lugano / Bellinzona / Chiasso, you may as well take a faster route - say Calais / Reims / Strasbourg / Basel etc.

Anyway. Whatever route, I'm jealous. It's a deeply lovely spot is Lake Garda, and Limone possibly the prettiest of the villages surrounding it (closely followed by Lazise - worth hiring a fast boat from there as well for a strop around the Lake )