Driving to Italy via Alps

Alp66

In an alpine scene of 'The Italian Job' Caine & co were told " ... and England Is that way ". But what are the best routes into Italy ? I would welcome your shared experiences on this.

We often drive down to the CinqueValli region of Liguria taking the obvious route via Lyon & Nice, sometimes stopping over in Orange. Not the most exciting way down but certainly the fastest and safest in winter.

What are the various alpine routes like there and back , and where is it best to stopover say 10-12 hours from Calais, or returning ? I've done a fair bit of C & S Italian driving but am not yet familiar with the Alps.
I've not yet tried Mt Blanc, Gt St Bernard, Gotthard, Simplon. We once did a memorable drive from Chambery thru the Frejus tunnel although best check the weather first as we got snow at the tunnel entrance in May last year , the roller coaster drive down to Savona later on was wow amazing . Next planning on going via Luzern and Como.

richardw

Alp66 wrote: »

...Next planning on going via Luzern and Como.

I like the roads around Como and the lake.

Alp66

Yes I can imagine the roads are similar to Liguria.
Must have a good head for heights , not suffer from claustrophobia ( tunnels) ,
and in Liguria also no nut allergy ( pesto )

What routes are there going back into CH to avoid jams ?

richardw

I just drove from Linate to Lake Como and then down to Malpensa, some great views around Como. I think to avoid the jams it's best to drive off peak.

Alp66

in the Gotthard case it's the definition of off-peak I'm a bit concerned about.
Going South I'm told anytime after 6pm even on a Saturday should be ok(ish)?
But going back one should try and the tunnel before 10am ?

DCFC79

I remember going via the Mont Blanc route going down and the Grand St Bernard pass coming back. Some great views up there, some really twisty roads though.

mgdavid

Avoid Switzerland, avoid tunnels, avoid jams,
try my preferred route which is Lyon - Grenoble - Briancon - Turin.

Stopovers - when you say 10-12 hours from Calais does that include stops for lunch and dinner etc or is it total driving time? Big difference! Macon or Villefranche would be about right for me.

knightstyle

We were camping at Bourg St. Maurice and took the St. Bernard's pass into Italy. Fantastic drive, proper windy mountain road and at the end you can catch a cable car up Mt. Blanc much cheaper than the French side and no queues.

Alp66

I guess thru CH is not such a good move when snow greatly constrains choice go over go under.

Briancon is an interesting proposition I d not considered. Is this possible in the spring ? do you know of any great stopovers between Grenoble-Briancon ?

By time I mean incl. stops. Villefranche Limas ( 9h ish) is a great stopover for assessing the weather ahead, but lately I try and get well past Lyon to make Day2 more sedate.

Alp66

Knight - I didn't know about the Italian side being cheaper and less hassle ( I know the French side argentiere etc), sounds like Mt Blanc via the Helbrunner is the way to go then ! Thanks. Do you know of any great stopovers in the Aosta valley ? and yes the St. Bernard is deffo on my to do list.

mgdavid

Alp66 wrote: »

.......

Briancon is an interesting proposition I d not considered. Is this possible in the spring ? do you know of any great stopovers between Grenoble-Briancon ? ..............

I've not been that route earlier than May - we went with motorhome and racecar so had our hotel with us, found a nice quiet side road on an industrial estate on the edge of Villefranche.