Driving to Italy, route/hotel suggestions?

[Silver]

I'm planning on driving down to Arezzo, Tuscany in May. Channel crossing is via Eurotunnel and then driving through France, Switzerland and crossing into Italy in the Como area before driving down via Modena.

Has anyone done this and can suggest good roads and places to stay along the route? I'm planning a visit to the Lamborghini and Ferrari museums on the way so looking at a total trip time of 2-3 days.

It would be brilliant to hear people's suggestions as I've never done this before.

Thanks!

[qualityscrew]

Hi, I can really help you with this having done the same several times, and even in TVRs!

PM me if you would like my help.

[Silver]

YHM

[RizzoTheRat]

Admittedlt Iv'e not been to Switzerland myself but given the moaning a lot of people do about thier attitude to driving I'd be inclined to go a bit further east, there's some stunning roads through the Austria/Italy border area. We went round Switzerland last year, Annecy-Como-Lake Garda-Stelvio-Austria-Germany and the bit getting around Milan to Como was the dull bit.

[blueST]

I've done this trip. If you do decide to go through Switzerland, Lucerne is a nice stop over. Lots of places to eat and quite picturesque by the lake. The hotel we stopped in was just average so I wont recommend it, but there are loads to choose from. Don't forget your Swiss motorway vignette.

I drove on from Lucerne to Umbria in one day, including taking in one of the Alpine passes (instead of the tedious tunnel) and the Ferrari museum.

[havoc]

We went through Switzerland to Como last year, and then onward through supercar valley and up to Garda. Route down took longer than planned, esp. in Italy - their roads and the traffic around the lakes are both bloody awful, and occasionally very scary (surprised I didn't lose a wingmirror more than once). I'm told the roads get better once you're past Modena/Maranello, so you'll have a great time in Tuscany.

Route - probably doesn't make much odds, but try and take in one or two of the better passes before you get into Italy (which ones depends on how big/fast/agile a car you have - some are definitely Elise roads, some more suited to bigger quicker stuff).

An alternative though would be to stay in France - head down towards Grenoble then head East towards Briancon to pick up the Route des Grande Alpes south, and then after a while cut-East again (nr Mont Blanc probably) and across into Italy that way.

Way back - we came back from Garda via Fluelapass (wow, wow, wow) and then up through the edge of Bavaria to the top of the Black Forest, overnighted there (1hr south of Stuttgart), then up to N'ring for 2 days.



Supercar factory tours (don't expect to take photos inside):-
- Ferrari can't be booked direct - "Motorstars" run minibus tours, but they're not cheap, usually also include one or more of the other manufacturers.
- Lambo can be booked direct, and are organised group tours you can tag onto - €39 each last year - [e-mail] .
- Pagani can be booked direct, and for us it was a personal tour of the atelier (not really a factory, but really interesting still). Cheaper $18 each - [e-mail] - shorter but then it's a much smaller place - downside for us was the prototype Huayra had left for Goodwood...
- Maserati and Ducati are also nearby.

Don't do what we did - we booked a hotel in Bologna, which is a student/socialist sh'thole with lots of graffiti and a very dirty and unsafe feel to the whole place. Stay in somewhere like Modena instead.

[jackal]

Happy to share my alpine tour route which takes in the best roads of the vosges, black mountains and swiss passes on the way to the italian lakes.

[Zod]

Did it last July with three children under six. Stopped both ways in Arbois in the Jura, exactly half-way. Then went Grand St Bernard into Italy and onwards to Chianti Classico. 1000 miles in two days, 500 miles each day. Very manageable.

I'd strongly recommend our itinerary. If you want more information, email me.

[Balmoral]

Silver said:

through France, Switzerland and crossing into Italy in the Como area

Be careful chancing it through Switzerland, crossing that tiny little country can take anything between three hours on a good day, and nine hours plus on a bad one, depending upon the traffic. It has huge potential to bin your timetable. The Basel-Como route ruined ours last year.

[Zod]

I agree: minimise time in Switzerland. If you stick to mountain roads, you won't care about Swiss Autobahn enforcement.

[Silver]

Thanks for the suggestions - they were really helpful and it was a great trip. I'm going to do a Google map thing with the route and some pics/writing but in the meantime, here are some pics.

Ferrari Museum

Lamborghini Museum

Reims


Gotthard Pass

[Snowman23]

Planning similar in September, thanks for the tips!