Italy from top to toe

Two on Tour said:
Tio64 Yes, we found the same at the Brixia Forum, though I'm not surprised as it was very lacks when I was there last 13 year's ago when we were competing in the event. The cars are indeed normally parked up in the squares and streets around the old town, but parking is near impossible if you are coming to Brascia to day.
We are parked up about a 20 minute walk from the old town and there may be space for you if you want.
PM me and I will give you details of where we are.
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Aah, didn’t see this before setting off, sorry, would love to have met up. Impressed to hear that you've participated in the event. We caught the train in from Peschiera, which was painless and the walk did us good.

I'm considering going to Maranello tomorrow, apparently there is a good aire/sosta there, and then on Thursday heading into the hills and parking en route, somewhere between Abetone Pass and Formigine, to see the cars on the return leg. Problem is, its nigh on impossible to get definitive route information, and there's a choice of routes the cars could take.

Do you have any advice please? :)

Ps also considering going to the Mille Miglia museum on Wednesday prior to travelling to Maranello, but i guess you guys will be well on your way by then.
 
Tio64 said:
Aah, didn’t see this before setting off, sorry, would love to have met up. Impressed to hear that you've participated in the event. We caught the train in from Peschiera, which was painless and the walk did us good.

I'm considering going to Maranello tomorrow, apparently there is a good aire/sosta there, and then on Thursday heading into the hills and parking en route, somewhere between Abetone Pass and Formigine, to see the cars on the return leg. Problem is, its nigh on impossible to get definitive route information, and there's a choice of routes the cars could take.

Do you have any advice please? :)

Ps also considering going to the Mille Miglia museum on Wednesday prior to travelling to Maranello, but i guess you guys will be well on your way by then.
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The route for the cars is defined by the organisers and can not be deviated from or the car/competitors will have points added to their scorecard as the organisers fit a tracker to each car to make sure that they do not take shortcuts or can be found if they have a crash or an emergency.
I don't know anyone on this years event, but I will see if I can find a Brit car and see if I can get any info on the road they will be taking over Abetone Pass to Formigine, but bear in mind that the first cars are not due to reach the Abetone Pass until about 6pm and Formigine at 8pm on Thursday evening.

Tio64 said:
Ps also considering going to the Mille Miglia museum on Wednesday prior to travelling to Maranello, but i guess you guys will be well on your way by then.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately we will be in San Marino watching the cars come through.
 
Just caught up with your thread Paul. Great pics.
I wondered if the animals you saw at Lac de Mont Cenis were mink. They doubt have the spectacle eyes of polecats but they do like water.

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PS On the animal front, earlier in the week we were cycling along the path from Vallegio sul Mincio back to Peschiera, when something the size of a badger appeared on the path in front of us, ambled along and then scarpered into the undergrowth. We didn't recognise it immediately but we since reckon it was a river otter. A big surprise but great to see.

Vallegio was very nice, the best place for Tortellini apparently, of which we had a very nice lunch. :) The cycle path follows the river Mincio and is quite popular.
 
We are planning to go to Annecy tomorrow from just outside Turin and want to try to avoid the cost of the Frejus or Mont Blanc Tunnel. Do I recall someone saying they did the route past Lac du Mt Cenis, if so what was it like? We are 7.5 metres 3.5 tonnes.
 
Wanders from Glos said:
We are planning to go to Annecy tomorrow from just outside Turin and want to try to avoid the cost of the Frejus or Mont Blanc Tunnel. Do I recall someone saying they did the route past Lac du Mt Cenis, if so what was it like? We are 7.5 metres 3.5 tonnes.
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I don't know if it helps but there a few videos on YouTube of driving Mont Cenis pass (as well as countless similar roads), I've watched some myself as have been thinking of doing it. Seems you can overnight by the lake up top if need be.
 
Wanders from Glos said:
We are planning to go to Annecy tomorrow from just outside Turin and want to try to avoid the cost of the Frejus or Mont Blanc Tunnel. Do I recall someone saying they did the route past Lac du Mt Cenis, if so what was it like? We are 7.5 metres 3.5 tonnes.
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Two on Tour came down to Italy that way. They are at least as big as you. I think they stayed at the Lac du Mont-Cenis for a couple of nights. I was just bookmarking it.

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Wanders from Glos said:
We are planning to go to Annecy tomorrow from just outside Turin and want to try to avoid the cost of the Frejus or Mont Blanc Tunnel. Do I recall someone saying they did the route past Lac du Mt Cenis, if so what was it like? We are 7.5 metres 3.5 tonnes.
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I drove it from France to Italy this trip as per my earlier posts. We are 7.3 metres and 3850 kg. The road is plenty wide enough for two way traffic.
I will probably drive it on our route back, but unlikely to drive the France to Italy direction again.
Going from Italy to France is a long slog as you start from a lower altitude on the Italian side with a few interesting hairpins just before you summit the pass and drive the flattish section by the lake.
Going down the French side is shorter and nearly all hairpins.
The reason I wouldn't drive the France to Italy way again is the amount of grief it gives your brakes coming down into Italy and it would certainly be no fun in the wet. I enjoyed driving it as its my sort of thing.
 
Two on Tour said:
I drove it from France to Italy this trip as per my earlier posts. We are 7.3 metres and 3850 kg. The road is plenty wide enough for two way traffic.
I will probably drive it on our route back, but unlikely to drive the France to Italy direction again.
Going from Italy to France is a long slog as you start from a lower altitude on the Italian side with a few interesting hairpins just before you summit the pass and drive the flattish section by the lake.
Going down the French side is shorter and nearly all hairpins.
The reason I wouldn't drive the France to Italy way again is the amount of grief it gives your brakes coming down into Italy and it would certainly be no fun in the wet. I enjoyed driving it as its my sort of thing.
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Perfect thanks. I watched Youtube and looked at Google street view so you have confirmed it for us thank you. I too enjoy driving this sort of thing. Will report back.
 
Well the heavens opened this morning, our pitch was under two inches of water and sporting a collection of flip flops and crocks that had floated our way. The road out of the site is flooded so not sure what is happening yet!

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Monday was spent wandering around the streets and squares of the old part of Brescia viewing the cars entered in the Mille Miglia that are parked up for the public to peruse.
Here are a few of the 400+ that are entered in this year's event.

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Spot the gearstick on this one.



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As usual, many of the cars entered are shipped in from far off places like these guys from Australia.

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Yvette enjoys her strawberry ice cream followed by a cappuccino ...............

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.................. while a couple of the Italian air force display team fly low passes over us.

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Some photos from around the old part of Brescia

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An interesting astrological clock on one of the buildings.

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A couple of ornate chimneys.

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I have not got a clue as to what this is all about. :Eeek:

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Two on Tour said:
Monday was spent wandering around the streets and squares of the old part of Brescia viewing the cars entered in the Mille Miglia that are parked up for the public to peruse.
Here are a few of the 400+ that are entered in this year's event.

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Spot the gearstick on this one.



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As usual, many of the cars entered are shipped in from far off places like these guys from Australia.

View attachment 769292


Yvette enjoys her strawberry ice cream followed by a cappuccino ...............

View attachment 769295

.................. while a couple of the Italian air force display team fly low passes over us.

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View attachment 769304


Some photos from around the old part of Brescia

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An interesting astrological clock on one of the buildings.

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A couple of ornate chimneys.

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I have not got a clue as to what this is all about. :Eeek:

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There was a Rhino hanging like that in Portafino too. All very strange.
 
An update. We were told to wait about half an hour before trying the road out of the site, when as long as it didn't rain it would probably be passable with great care. Unfortunately, it started to rain again but we thought what the hell and made a run for it. As we drove out the water was pouring quite fast out of the river into the road. We just about made it, as we exited the water it became too dangerous because the water was too deep and fast flowing. The vehicle coming the other way had to stop, and the road was closed. We took a video but I can't seem to add it here.

Anyway, the Mont Cenis pass was much less eventful. We largely left the bad weather behind and there was some beautiful scenery, although quite a lot of low cloud too. It is an easy drive, the lack of traffic and no lorries frankly made it simpler than the Simplon pass (did you see what I did there?). From now on it will be our preferred route to Italy. I am typing from fabulous ACSi camp site in Annecy where it is wall to wall sunshine for the next five days.

From now on I had better return to the role of observer watching Two on Tour Italian odyssey.
 
Tuesday morning we walked from our park-up in Brescia to the start/finish ramp along the Viale Venezia.
All the cars and the competitor's support vehicles line up along the Viale Venezia which is a long road ready to be introduced to the spectators on the ramp before they set off. In trying to gain some eco credentials many of the manufacturers supporting their early products are now using EV's as their support vehicles and there were a few interesting ones that we saw.
Mercedes were using their VISION EQXX concept EV which Mercedes claim is capable of 620 miles on a single charge, and Volkswagen had their ID. Buzz.

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Maserati were using an MC20 bristling with LIDAR, cameras, and what looked to be GPS puck antennas for testing autonomous driving.

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Not too sure what the blue sphere in the silver cage was all about other than maybe resembling a head going by its position at the seat headrest.

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The "orange peel" on the paintwork was atrocious for a car of that money. o_O

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Before the first cars set off the band struck up the Italian national anthem and the Italian air force display team laid down a trail of red, white and green smoke above the trees.

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Most of the Bugatti's have a "saddlebag" stapped to their spare wheel to hold their clobber for the journey.

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We moved on to watch the cars from a roadside bar and to grab a cappuccino and a bite to eat.

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A good day for crime in Brescia going by the number of police vehicles parked up. :giggle:

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Don't know if it's been mentioned but Assisi is amazing (birthplace of St Francis of Assisi). There.s a large campsite at the base of the hill it's on and they take you and bring you back in their minibus. At night you see all the lights twinkling in the town at the top.
 
Very enjoyable thread and great pictures.
One question though, how are you all getting on with the roads in Italy?
Away from the Autostrada and SS roads, we're finding them dreadful, and they're giving our van a real pounding, even at very low speeds. The enjoyment of our trip has been much affected, and Im now thinking I'm only going in Italy where the Autostradas go.
Ive lowered tyre pressures to 55-60psi F-R, I might lower to 50 but i don't want to go lower than that.
How's everyone else fairing?
 
We drove as far down as Santa Maria Di Leuca and didn't find them too bad. Worse roads in England. Especially down south.

Yes great thread and photos by the way. Love the old cars and towns.
 
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daveclare said:
We drove as far down as Santa Maria Di Leuca and didn't find them too bad. Worse roads in England. Especially down south.

Yes great thread and photos by the way. Love the old cars and towns.
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We used the autostradas a lot because they are so cheap and access most of the areas of interest. Away from there we didn’t find them any worse than the UK but maybe we were lucky. The road from the Simplon pass was dreadful though, especially after Swiss Roads.

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Wanders from Glos said:
An update. We were told to wait about half an hour before trying the road out of the site, when as long as it didn't rain it would probably be passable with great care. Unfortunately, it started to rain again but we thought what the hell and made a run for it. As we drove out the water was pouring quite fast out of the river into the road. We just about made it, as we exited the water it became too dangerous because the water was too deep and fast flowing. The vehicle coming the other way had to stop, and the road was closed. We took a video but I can't seem to add it here.

Anyway, the Mont Cenis pass was much less eventful. We largely left the bad weather behind and there was some beautiful scenery, although quite a lot of low cloud too. It is an easy drive, the lack of traffic and no lorries frankly made it simpler than the Simplon pass (did you see what I did there?). From now on it will be our preferred route to Italy. I am typing from fabulous ACSi camp site in Annecy where it is wall to wall sunshine for the next five days.

From now on I had better return to the role of observer watching Two on Tour Italian odyssey.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a useful alternative. We made a dash earlier to West of Nice as we didn’t fancy hanging around in Italy for that weather front. Now in the Ardeche Gorge so will also be a watcher from now.
 
Catch up time.

After watching most of the cars come past us in Brescia we headed off for the fifth smallest country in the world, San Marino.
The first of the Mille Miglia cars were due to start passing through San Marino at about 8am.
From the sosta, there is a path up through the trees and across a quiet road to the cable car that takes you up to the main part of San Marino, so we set off up the path and upon reaching the quiet road that has a designated footpath, we are confronted by a twat in a high vis that will not let us through as the Mille Miglia cars are due. He insists that we have to go back down the path and walk along the side of the main road up the hill to get to the cable car and guess what this main road has the Mille Miglia cars coming up it :doh: so instead of 20 yards on a quiet road with just the Mille Miglia cars coming passed every few minutes, we had to walk along a busy dual carriageway for 250 yards in the middle of the rush hour !!!

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Going up on the cable car gives you so great views across the landscape to the Adriatic and is 5 euros for a return fare each or 10 euros for a 12 single trips card. Too late for me, but Yvette later found out that the over 65's can get a 50% discount on those prices. :doh:

San Marino would be our last chance to view the cars on this year's Mille Miglia so we watched all the cars come through before setting off to explore.

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A bit of tinkering required.

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This guy was driving without his door and his knee hanging out as his physique was a little large for the space behind the wheel.

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The police motorcycle outriders taking one for the album.

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Time for some light refreshment whilst watching the remaining cars come through.

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This cheeky bugger stopped and asked "where are the drinks" to which the guy on the table next to us passed him his Spritz which the two in the Mercedes Gullwing accepted and downed. :ROFLMAO:

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A few of the sights around the compact San Marino.

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San Marino has a very large number of shops selling all kinds of weaponry such as Samurai swords, daggers, knuckle dusters, and crossbows as well as rifles, and pistols. There were a few odd shops.

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The first of the San Marino three towers, we couldn't go round the second one as it was closed for restoration work.

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Went into one of the rooms in San Marino three towers to find this chap on the wall. Not as big as the photo would have you believe as it was only about an inch long.

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A lot of the larger gaps in the stonework were inhabited by these besties. :Eeek:

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As the day wore on the clouds darkened .............

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.............. and the heavens opened so we headed back to the van.
 
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Two on Tour said:
Catch up time.

After watching most of the cars come past us in Brescia we headed off for the fifth smallest country in the world, San Marino.
The first of the Mille Miglia cars were due to start passing through San Marino at about 8am.
From the sosta, there is a path up through the trees and across a quiet road to the cable car that takes you up to the main part of San Marino, so we set off up the path and upon reaching the quiet road that has a designated footpath, we are confronted by a twat in a high vis that will not let us through as the Mille Miglia cars are due. He insists that we have to go back down the path and walk along the side of the main road up the hill to get to the cable car and guess what this main road has the Mille Miglia cars coming up it :doh: so instead of 20 yards on a quiet road with just the Mille Miglia cars coming passed every few minutes, we had to walk along a busy dual carriageway for 250 yards in the middle of the rush hour !!!

View attachment 770694

View attachment 770695

Going up on the cable car gives you so great views across the landscape to the Adriatic and is 5 euros for a return fare each or 10 euros for a 12 single trips card. Too late for me, but Yvette later found out that the over 65's can get a 50% discount on those prices. :doh:

San Marino would be our last chance to view the cars on this year's Mille Miglia so we watched all the cars come through before setting off to explore.

View attachment 770913



View attachment 770912

View attachment 770914

A bit of tinkering required.

View attachment 770915

View attachment 770917

This guy was driving without his door and his knee hanging out as his physique was a little large for the space behind the wheel.

View attachment 770922

View attachment 770925

View attachment 770926

The police motorcycle outriders taking one for the album.

View attachment 770928

Time for some light refreshment whilst watching the remaining cars come through.

View attachment 770929

View attachment 770935

View attachment 770941

This cheeky bugger stopped and asked "where are the drinks" to which the guy on the table next to us passed him his Spritz which the two in the Mercedes Gullwing accepted and downed. :ROFLMAO:

View attachment 770946


A few of the sights around the compact San Marino.

View attachment 770986

View attachment 770995

San Marino has a very large number of shops selling all kinds of weaponry such as Samurai swords, daggers, knuckle dusters, and crossbows as well as rifles, and pistols. There were a few odd shops.

View attachment 770996

View attachment 770997

The first of the San Marino three towers, we couldn't go round the second one as it was closed for restoration work.

View attachment 770987

View attachment 770988

View attachment 770989

View attachment 771005

Went into one of the rooms in San Marino three towers to find this chap on the wall. Not as big as the photo would have you believe as it was only about an inch long.

View attachment 770993

A lot of the larger gaps in the stonework were inhabited by these besties. :Eeek:

View attachment 770994

View attachment 771003

As the day wore on the clouds darkened .............

View attachment 771006

View attachment 771007

.............. and the heavens opened so we headed back to the van.
Click to expand...
Sounds fabulous, must put San Marino on the list.
 
Two on Tour said:
Catch up time.

After watching most of the cars come past us in Brescia we headed off for the fifth smallest country in the world, San Marino.
The first of the Mille Miglia cars were due to start passing through San Marino at about 8am.
From the sosta, there is a path up through the trees and across a quiet road to the cable car that takes you up to the main part of San Marino, so we set off up the path and upon reaching the quiet road that has a designated footpath, we are confronted by a twat in a high vis that will not let us through as the Mille Miglia cars are due. He insists that we have to go back down the path and walk along the side of the main road up the hill to get to the cable car and guess what this main road has the Mille Miglia cars coming up it :doh: so instead of 20 yards on a quiet road with just the Mille Miglia cars coming passed every few minutes, we had to walk along a busy dual carriageway for 250 yards in the middle of the rush hour !!!

View attachment 770694

View attachment 770695

Going up on the cable car gives you so great views across the landscape to the Adriatic and is 5 euros for a return fare each or 10 euros for a 12 single trips card. Too late for me, but Yvette later found out that the over 65's can get a 50% discount on those prices. :doh:

San Marino would be our last chance to view the cars on this year's Mille Miglia so we watched all the cars come through before setting off to explore.

View attachment 770913



View attachment 770912

View attachment 770914

A bit of tinkering required.

View attachment 770915

View attachment 770917

This guy was driving without his door and his knee hanging out as his physique was a little large for the space behind the wheel.

View attachment 770922

View attachment 770925

View attachment 770926

The police motorcycle outriders taking one for the album.

View attachment 770928

Time for some light refreshment whilst watching the remaining cars come through.

View attachment 770929

View attachment 770935

View attachment 770941

This cheeky bugger stopped and asked "where are the drinks" to which the guy on the table next to us passed him his Spritz which the two in the Mercedes Gullwing accepted and downed. :ROFLMAO:

View attachment 770946


A few of the sights around the compact San Marino.

View attachment 770986

View attachment 770995

San Marino has a very large number of shops selling all kinds of weaponry such as Samurai swords, daggers, knuckle dusters, and crossbows as well as rifles, and pistols. There were a few odd shops.

View attachment 770996

View attachment 770997

The first of the San Marino three towers, we couldn't go round the second one as it was closed for restoration work.

View attachment 770987

View attachment 770988

View attachment 770989

View attachment 771005

Went into one of the rooms in San Marino three towers to find this chap on the wall. Not as big as the photo would have you believe as it was only about an inch long.

View attachment 770993

A lot of the larger gaps in the stonework were inhabited by these besties. :Eeek:

View attachment 770994

View attachment 771003

As the day wore on the clouds darkened .............

View attachment 771006

View attachment 771007

.............. and the heavens opened so we headed back to the van.
Click to expand...
You look to be having a fantastic holiday.
 

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