Driving to Italy

bigadaj

elsien wrote: »

Walkman? Sheer luxury!
Parents lived in Southern Italy and we always drove back to the uk. A few times we drove from Malta. Three kids in the back seat. They took it in turns driving and spelled each other, occasionally they booked a b&b although sometimes we slept in the car. They just wanted to do the journey in the shortest possible time.
Entertainment was I spy and listening to cassettes. I couldn't read do anything involving writing or colouring in as I got car sick.
In retrospect, it was not the pleasantest of journeys but perfectly doable. And as kids we put up with it because that's just how it was.

It's whether it's worth the amount of time it will take from your holiday.

So long as you didn't drive over the shoebox we were living in, in the middle of the road, you had it easy.....

mgdavid

splatt30 wrote: »

We would love to go to Lake Garda next year (end of May beginning of June) and we are considering booking Eurocamp. Looking at transport flights look like they will be at least £800, probably more like £1000 (2 adults and 2 children). So such we are considering driving. Would be be completely crazy? Our daughters will be 4 and 6.

not crazy at all, if you don't mind (or even like) driving, JFDI. The first of many such holidays was with our boy, at about 2 1/2, to the south of France - in a Morris Minor!

AlexMac

You don't say where you'll start from , which could be the killer; as in our experience, roads here are much more congested and jam-prone than accross the channel, albeit mostly toll-free in the UK , but we've often driven to Italy, sometimes right down to Puglia; the heel, and to Spain. We've also flown and rented cars a lot.

We find driving a joy in France and Spain (and in parts of Italy, although you won't be driving far into Italy).... But rather than bashing through exhausted, we make the overnight stops part of the holiday, by starting early, thrashing it for no more than 5 hours, then stopping at late lunch time for the afternoon and a night. French motorway cafes seem more civilized than ours too!

https://www.viamichelin.com is great for route-planning and for its accurate drive-time estimates (which don't include comfort breaks) but also for its toll-costs. Pump in Calais - Lago di Garda and you'll see three suggested routes; all about 13-14 hours on the road but with tolls totals ranging from 30-145 Euros each way. It even calculates fuel costs for different sizes of car.

Look at alternative crossings; again, depending on where you live. While the short crossing from Kent seem logical and is probably cheaper, ViaMichelin reveals that mileage and drive times from, say Caen in north west France are exactly the same, albeit with higher tolls if you stick to motorways.

If you travel on an overnight ferry, and upgraded to an "outside large 4-berth cabin" (£85 a night; £30-odd by day) the kids would find the crossing part of the adventure and you'd start the day's driving at 7or 8am refreshed. We did this in May, and got to Spain in 10 hours drive; (2x5 hour morning thrashes, with a relaxing afternoon and evening at La Rochelle.)

It gets better; if you hit the "holiday" button on the Brittany Ferries website and book a ferry plus even as few as three nights accommodation en-route in any of their hotels or villas, the package price is good value. Factor in their little-known early booking discount (usually Nov/Dec or Jan/Feb) and you get another 20 - 25% off!

We do this every year. The accommodation doesn't even have to align with your ferry times; and you can choose different places en-route.

Finally- I know you're set on Garda, but wonder why? Every time we've been to the Italian Lakes, even in May, the weather was dreadful- I guess the combination of lakes and mountains is a clue- think of Scotland, Wales or Cumbria?

Look at packages in northern Spain as an alternative? For example, a fortnight's holiday 12 nights in very upmarket beach or mountain hotels with a night each way in an upgraded large outside cabin on the Snatander ferry this year cost us well under £1,000 for two. Kids add little to the cost, and qauie apart from saving £300-£500 in fuel and toll costs getting through France, northern Spain is dirt cheap once you're there; 10-15 euro meals are typical and that includes wine. Whereas Italy seems to reflect London prices?

I know you didn't ask but this is MSE!

maman

AlexMac wrote: »

It gets better; if you hit the "holiday" button on the Brittany Ferries website and book a ferry plus even as few as three nights accommodation en-route in any of their hotels or villas, the package price is good value. Factor in their little-known early booking discount (usually Nov/Dec or Jan/Feb) and you get another 20 - 25% off!

We do this every year. The accommodation doesn't even have to align with your ferry times; and you can choose different places en-route.

Finally- I know you're set on Garda, but wonder why? Every time we've been to the Italian Lakes, even in May, the weather was dreadful- I guess the combination of lakes and mountains is a clue- think of Scotland, Wales or Cumbria?

I know you didn't ask but this is MSE!

I wondered that too. I think you'd be far better off having a cottage in Brittany (I've used the holiday combination too and the value is excellent) and then any driving you do will be to just get around Brittany. It's feasible for a week from most parts of the UK and then you won't need to take your child out of school or you could go in the summer holidays for two weeks when the weather may be better.

dangers

When we used to Eurocamp at that time of year, we'd normally go on the Wednesday before h-t. I think the Eurocamp prices themselves go up on the Thursday!

Flights may be slightly cheaper mid week as well.

Andypandyboy

maman wrote: »

I wondered that too. I think you'd be far better off having a cottage in Brittany (I've used the holiday combination too and the value is excellent) and then any driving you do will be to just get around Brittany. It's feasible for a week from most parts of the UK and then you won't need to take your child out of school or you could go in the summer holidays for two weeks when the weather may be better.

I agree, from the perspective of the driving, but not fom the perspective of the overall location, having been to both places several times.

maman

Andypandyboy wrote: »

I agree, from the perspective of the driving, but not fom the perspective of the overall location, having been to both places several times.

I was thinking of the driving but also of things to do to amuse small children. I love the Lake Garda area including Verona, Vicenza and a possible day trip to Venice but I don't travel with tots any more.

joerugby

If you tell Google Maps you want to drive from London to Garda via Koblenz it shows an interesting route. Calais, Brussels, Aachen, Koblenz, Karlsruhe, Ulm, Fussen then through Austria and over the Brenner to Italy.

One benefit of this route is that it is largely toll free. Another is that you get to make overnight stops in the Rhine valley and Bavaria. The drive through Austria is particularly scenic.

Worth considering perhaps?

Cliecost

Don't forget, if you drive through Switzerland using their motorways you'll have to pay road tax - https://goo.gl/CE3lSf

andygb

Cloudydaze wrote: »

At similar ages to your children, my parents would drive us to camp near Lake Garda. I think we'd have 2 stopovers en route. One in France and one in the mountains.

This was 30 odd years ago and we had to make do with a Walkman, books and a Rubic cube! I'm sure it's much easier to keep children entertained these days.

The holidays in Lake Garda are probably my favourites childhood memories.

We drove right down to Sorrento back in 2012, stopping off in Switzerland, Florence, and then on the way back via Sienna and Burgundy.
We used around £300 of fuel and around £150 on tolls, but the trip was amazing, and far better than the ones where we have flown - airport parking hassles, checkin delays, car hire etc.