Monaco F1 Then Drive To Lake Como
Discussion
SWMBO pulled it out the bag recently for a birthday present. Tickets to the Monaco GP.
For our honeymoon we went on a 3 week road trip around the SW of USA in the new Camero SS. Obviously it was great!
So while down in South France / North Italy area for the F1 we are keen to do a mini roadtrip to some where cool like Lake Como (then around that area for a day or 2).
Choice of hire car in budget is an Alfa 4C or a Porsche Boxter 718. So thoughts on either of those please. (Range rovers, M3s and fancy C class Mercs are in the price range but i think thats a bit to dull for a road trip)
Also does any one know of any good routes or nice roads between Monaco and Lake Como? (nothing more boring than sitting on the motorway in a sports car!) Stelvio Pass is the other side of lake Como on the Swiss Italian boarder, that's in the list.
Thoughts please and also F1 Monaco tips please
For our honeymoon we went on a 3 week road trip around the SW of USA in the new Camero SS. Obviously it was great!
So while down in South France / North Italy area for the F1 we are keen to do a mini roadtrip to some where cool like Lake Como (then around that area for a day or 2).
Choice of hire car in budget is an Alfa 4C or a Porsche Boxter 718. So thoughts on either of those please. (Range rovers, M3s and fancy C class Mercs are in the price range but i think thats a bit to dull for a road trip)
Also does any one know of any good routes or nice roads between Monaco and Lake Como? (nothing more boring than sitting on the motorway in a sports car!) Stelvio Pass is the other side of lake Como on the Swiss Italian boarder, that's in the list.
Thoughts please and also F1 Monaco tips please
We went to Lake Como the other year, we stayed in Hotel Bazzoni in Tremezzo.
The thing to watch out for, especially if you are planning to hire a nice car is the roads round Lake Como are very narrow with buildings coming right up to the street. This is bad enough but the lorries and busses that come round the bends in the middle of the road are a nightmare.
We hired a car from Pisa and I drove to the hotel, driving an unfamiliar car, on the wrong side of the road, with large stone walls millimetres away from the mirror and a tour bus bearing down on you is not for the faint hearted.
IIRC the hotel is on the site of a building that was bombed flat some days after the war ended.
The thing to watch out for, especially if you are planning to hire a nice car is the roads round Lake Como are very narrow with buildings coming right up to the street. This is bad enough but the lorries and busses that come round the bends in the middle of the road are a nightmare.
We hired a car from Pisa and I drove to the hotel, driving an unfamiliar car, on the wrong side of the road, with large stone walls millimetres away from the mirror and a tour bus bearing down on you is not for the faint hearted.
IIRC the hotel is on the site of a building that was bombed flat some days after the war ended.
Monaco to Como is pretty awkward avoiding m'ways. One option would be to head north to Briancon up the D902, and then east from there. I would suggest avoid heading towards Genoa due to the bridge that collapsed, and the chaos that will have caused.
Re your cars I could be biased as a 981 owner, but I would go for the 718. The 4c will go down well in Italy, but I think luggage space is very poor on them if that matters to you.
I can highly recommend Casa del Portica in Mezzegra at Lake Como.
Re your cars I could be biased as a 981 owner, but I would go for the 718. The 4c will go down well in Italy, but I think luggage space is very poor on them if that matters to you.
I can highly recommend Casa del Portica in Mezzegra at Lake Como.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
We've driven Monaco to Como regularly & each time we've skirted Genoa on the high level motorway. I shudder now at that thought.
]
Having looked at a map again ,I realise that the direct route up from France does go near Genoa but just turn north towards]
Alessandria to avoid the city entirely and not get involved with the bridge diversion.
I would hope that driving down the Ligurian coast on the Autostrada would not be adversely affected by the bridge
but I don't use that route currently to get to Tuscany anyway.
I come in via Austria and Brenner pass.
Without traffic problems the drive down to Modena ,turn east to Bologna ,south to Florence and west to Lucca is good.
Actually the motorway along the south coast is tremendous, with views, sweeping bends and so forth that (according to Harry Metcalfe - never tried the alternative) you don't get on the quieter roads, and you will turn north before Genoa.
I love Como, and usually stay in Cernobbio. You can pop into the Villa d'Este and have drinks, which is always nice.
You can also nip into Switzerland to fill the tank, far cheaper than you can in Italy.
As well as Stelvio it's not far from St Gottard, and so forth.
I love Como, and usually stay in Cernobbio. You can pop into the Villa d'Este and have drinks, which is always nice.
You can also nip into Switzerland to fill the tank, far cheaper than you can in Italy.
As well as Stelvio it's not far from St Gottard, and so forth.
Also watch this and tell me you are still even considering the Boxster!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxr16GE4kEU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxr16GE4kEU
We did Como (among others) last year in our Boxster (986 admittedly) but had no problems around there - yes some parts are narrow etc, but it’s fine. Stelvio pass though - some hairpins are very steep and the Porsche would ground it’s front lip no matter how careful you were.
That said, all in all it was brilliant!
That said, all in all it was brilliant!
I hired a 4C on the amalfi coast last year. Even with the amalfi roads being crazily busy the Alfa was a huge highlight of the trip. It got an unbelievable reception from the locals, sounds epic and is wonderfully old school to drive. I very seriously considered buying one on my return and only my occasional requirement to carry 2 passengers stopped me. As mentioned above, luggage space is extremely limited.
Thanks for all the feedback the pics people have posted look great and thanks for the hotel recommendations.
I did see the top gear clip, and the car enthusiast inside me says its a no brainer for the 4C, Italian sports car in Italy especially one that handles so great. how ever the luggage space is a real concern, will be a weeks holiday for 2 people and the capacity of the boxter is twice the size. The other plus for the boxter is its a soft top, and roof down sports car appeals to me very much. The Camero we has in the US was a soft top, and driving through Yosemite etc with the roof down was brilliant. You see so much more around you rather than just looking through a windscreen.
Please keep the hints and tips coming, things to do around como, good restaurants etc.
Is a boat trip on the lake worth it, or is that a tourist trap for a few hours on an old ferry! Of course i should hire a boat for half a day for just the two of us but that'll probably be silly money! I could just get that jet ski quad that Clarkson had!
I did see the top gear clip, and the car enthusiast inside me says its a no brainer for the 4C, Italian sports car in Italy especially one that handles so great. how ever the luggage space is a real concern, will be a weeks holiday for 2 people and the capacity of the boxter is twice the size. The other plus for the boxter is its a soft top, and roof down sports car appeals to me very much. The Camero we has in the US was a soft top, and driving through Yosemite etc with the roof down was brilliant. You see so much more around you rather than just looking through a windscreen.
Please keep the hints and tips coming, things to do around como, good restaurants etc.
Is a boat trip on the lake worth it, or is that a tourist trap for a few hours on an old ferry! Of course i should hire a boat for half a day for just the two of us but that'll probably be silly money! I could just get that jet ski quad that Clarkson had!
Tommo Two said:
Thanks for all the feedback the pics people have posted look great and thanks for the hotel recommendations.
I did see the top gear clip, and the car enthusiast inside me says its a no brainer for the 4C, Italian sports car in Italy especially one that handles so great. how ever the luggage space is a real concern, will be a weeks holiday for 2 people and the capacity of the boxter is twice the size. The other plus for the boxter is its a soft top, and roof down sports car appeals to me very much. The Camero we has in the US was a soft top, and driving through Yosemite etc with the roof down was brilliant. You see so much more around you rather than just looking through a windscreen.
Please keep the hints and tips coming, things to do around como, good restaurants etc.
Is a boat trip on the lake worth it, or is that a tourist trap for a few hours on an old ferry! Of course i should hire a boat for half a day for just the two of us but that'll probably be silly money! I could just get that jet ski quad that Clarkson had!
Buy a roaming day ticket for the ferry, great way to suss the place out. Boat hire is not too expensive.I did see the top gear clip, and the car enthusiast inside me says its a no brainer for the 4C, Italian sports car in Italy especially one that handles so great. how ever the luggage space is a real concern, will be a weeks holiday for 2 people and the capacity of the boxter is twice the size. The other plus for the boxter is its a soft top, and roof down sports car appeals to me very much. The Camero we has in the US was a soft top, and driving through Yosemite etc with the roof down was brilliant. You see so much more around you rather than just looking through a windscreen.
Please keep the hints and tips coming, things to do around como, good restaurants etc.
Is a boat trip on the lake worth it, or is that a tourist trap for a few hours on an old ferry! Of course i should hire a boat for half a day for just the two of us but that'll probably be silly money! I could just get that jet ski quad that Clarkson had!
One of the regular Lake Como ferries is an old fashioned steamer type. Nice thing to do is to get the fast ferry to Como in the morning, wander around for an hour or so, then get the old steamer back. It stops everywhere and has a bar! Great too watch Lake Como simply drift by for the price of a regular ferry ticket. Takes maybe 1/12-2 hours to get you back.
Also, small sea planes offer pleasure flights from a place near Como. They fly up to the top of the Lake and back. I plan to do this next time I'm there.
World's best gelato is in Menaggio (told this by the flight attendant who was Italian and came from Como). It's in a small piazza, almost lakeside. She was right!
R.
Also, small sea planes offer pleasure flights from a place near Como. They fly up to the top of the Lake and back. I plan to do this next time I'm there.
World's best gelato is in Menaggio (told this by the flight attendant who was Italian and came from Como). It's in a small piazza, almost lakeside. She was right!
R.
One of the regular Lake Como ferries is an old fashioned steamer type. Nice thing to do is to get the fast ferry to Como in the morning, wander around for an hour or so, then get the old steamer back. It stops everywhere and has a bar! Great too watch Lake Como simply drift by for the price of a regular ferry ticket. Takes maybe 1/12-2 hours to get you back.
Also, small sea planes offer pleasure flights from a place near Como. They fly up to the top of the Lake and back. I plan to do this next time I'm there.
World's best gelato is in Menaggio (told this by the flight attendant who was Italian and came from Como). It's in a small piazza, almost lakeside. She was right!
R.
Also, small sea planes offer pleasure flights from a place near Como. They fly up to the top of the Lake and back. I plan to do this next time I'm there.
World's best gelato is in Menaggio (told this by the flight attendant who was Italian and came from Como). It's in a small piazza, almost lakeside. She was right!
R.
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