Tour Guide Wanted aires to stop at and route to the italian lakes

yes i had already decided to stop at luxembourg from the chunnel on the first day avoiding the frogs and moving into belgium tut sweet
 
We tend to go down on the French motorways which save a lot of hassle on small roads and villages. Would do Italy twice some years, often going in through Piedmont. Yes the autoroute tolls are expensive but we think they are worth paying for ease of travel, and there are lots of good Aires close by.
We've done the Belgium and German routes, and have had quite a few holdups on them. Also done Switzerland then past Milan but we found the initial Swiss motorway routes quite built up and boring.
I suppose a lot depends on how long you're going for and how far into Europe you are travelling.
 
For the direction you suggest I much prefer the Simplon and I drive that route (or Gotthard) at least once a month, just coming back over this evening from Florence.

Gotthard tunnel is boring let’s be honest but Simplon pass is perfectly fine in anything upto a HGV or coach so our little ice cream vans are fine but use your gears on the décents to avoid over heating the brakes.

Motorhome aires in Italy are still a mystery to me even after many years of visiting but campsites tend to be reasonably priced although lakeside stuff can be a bit pricy.

our favourite is still probably Maggiore as we go 3-4 times a year, usually just for the long weekends. Como and Garda are from my point of view less about camping and more about hotels, guest houses but are certainly lovely to visit.

Garda last July

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The Girls and their paddle boards at Garda

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i will be avoiding any and all toll roads as we enjoy actually seeing the country we are flying through - the town and villages we enjoy as we tend to stop if we see somewhere nice so yes progress is slower but the journey is part of the holiday now, i have done 500 miles a day but that was in a 80k supercar and was a very different experience. so a route with stops and nice places on route is for us. i tend to do about 250 miles a day but the rule is get up and hit the road then find somewhere to stop for breakfast and then onwards till around 3pm and look around for our overnight stop. so as i say - i want recommendations to stop and a non toll route to say lake garda from calais.
 
roadwarrior said:
i will be avoiding any and all toll roads as we enjoy actually seeing the country we are flying through - the town and villages we enjoy as we tend to stop if we see somewhere nice so yes progress is slower but the journey is part of the holiday now, i have done 500 miles a day but that was in a 80k supercar and was a very different experience. so a route with stops and nice places on route is for us. i tend to do about 250 miles a day but the rule is get up and hit the road then find somewhere to stop for breakfast and then onwards till around 3pm and look around for our overnight stop. so as i say - i want recommendations to stop and a non toll route to say lake garda from calais.
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We did a similar trip via Switzerland a few years ago, here is an example of the route, places to stop and activities etc.

2 Sat 23/7- Berques to Dudelange. Metz or Pont-A-Mousson (Big Day)

Dudelange 380km or Metz 425km or Pont-A-Mousson 454km


3 Sun 24/7 -Metz or Dudelange to Mulhouse overnight Bad Bellingham or Mulhouse or Ile De Rhin,

Dudelange 283km Metz 232 Pont-A-Mousson 205km (via N57/N66)

4 Mon 25/7 - Bad Bellingen to Interlaken overnight Interlaken - Manor Farm Camping

175 Km Early Start via Bern

5 Tue 26/7 - Interlaken - Manor Farm Camping

  • Jungfrau Express
  • Train to Lauterbrunnen,
  • cycle to trummelbac halls, murren cablecar
  • Mountain Walking - Eiger Trail

7 Thu 28/7 - Interlaken to Tasch overnight Camping Alphubel

111 Km plus Car Train CHF27

  • Drive Interlaken to Kadersteg, Trains hourly from 0550 other end drive to Zermatt (Tasch)
  • Toboggan run in Kandersteg
  • Afternoon in Zermatt


8 Fri 29/7 - Overnight Tasch - Camping Alphubel

  • Day trip to Zermatt via Train
  • Gornegrat
  • Glacier Paradise
  • 5 Lakes Walk

9 Sat 30/7 - Tasch to Visp, Overnight Visp - Camping Visp (Muhleye) 33.70

41Km

  • Day trip to Zermatt via Train
  • Swimming Pools in Brigerbad or Visp


10 Sun 31/7 - Brig, tunnel to Iselle di Trasquera and onto Lake Maggiore overnight Camping Solcio

122 Km or less with Car Train (77)


13 Wed 3/8 - Lake Maggiore to Garda via Lake Iseo, Bergamo, Brecia or Milan overnight

155 Km
 
that looks bloody marvellous - just what i was hoping for - thank you orridge
 
i was thinking of goin to venice but i dont want to drive in the MH to venice and thought of the train, what is the situation with dogs on trains there ?

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If you re going via Brig in the summer, I can't see why you wouldnt go over Simplon Pass, its very scenic, nice, wide with an free aire and dump point at the top.

I personally would not use campsites for travelling, its too much faff, registering, showing your passports, then walk around pick a pitch and then let in. Aires/stellplatze are much easier, rock up, jump in a space and put your money in the slot - or not. There are lots on route, some are better than others, you re probably best off getting search for sites app and picking them in the morning where you ve ended up the nigh before. Just make sure there are recent reviews and have a back up plan in case they re full.

Han sur Lesse is a great stop en route to Luxembourg. The one at Duddelange is a bit grim unless its been done up.

Personally I find the motorway route through to st gotthard pretty nice, if the weather is Ok theres lots of nice scenery and I can't help but compare wher the Swiss have motorways with tunnels and bridges whereas we have bottlenecks. and the 10 day pass for CHF25 can be used there and back so much cheaper ad no bites in the back unlike the horrible go box.
 
roadwarrior said:
i was thinking of goin to venice but i dont want to drive in the MH to venice and thought of the train, what is the situation with dogs on trains there ?
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We are staying here in the Summer for Venice https://www.miramarevenezia.it/ . Short walk or free bus transfer to the ferry stop then about 40 minutes via Murano & Burano (well worth seeing) into St Marks Square.

Saves driving into the main transport hub for Venice which is on the mainland but out at the coast and a bit quieter.
 
Camping Covelo at Lakr Iseo is brilliant - we stayed there twice. We also found a great place east of Venice - Caorle and stayed at the Camping Laguna Village, next to the sea and a nice beach walk into town.
 
We will go back to Venice at some point, we ve been past it in the MH plenty of times, flew there about 20 years ago, landed miles away thanks to Ryanair:mad: but loved Venice.
 
When we went to Italy we drove South East through Belgium, Luxembourg (for cheap fuel) and France and entered Switzerland at Basle. Stuck to the motorways and Gothard Tunnel and entered Italy at Como about 5 hours later. Much cheaper and quicker than the alternatives avoiding Switzerland. Swiss scenery was spectacular as we drove through. But expensive to buy anything so we didn't.

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