Dieppe to Lake Garda

[Pepperami]

I believe you get them at the borders.

[Titus A Duxass]

You get them at the service stations near to the border, there's usually a sign with the words "Vignette Verkauf" or similar.

The Italian Autostradas are similar to the French Autoroutes, you take a ticket from the machine on entering the system and hand it over to the toll booth when you leave the Autostrada (every exit has a manned (or womanned) collection point).

[Ian Hulley]

The Italian Autostradas are similar to the French Autoroutes, you take a ticket from the machine on entering the system and hand it over to the toll booth when you leave the Autostrada

IF you make it off alive that is

[Titus A Duxass]

IF you make it off alive that is

Had a bad experience?

[Robin!]

I'm heading to Italy this weekend

- where are you going to?

The plan is to get to Venice, find a campsite nearby and use that as a base for public transport for other destinations. My first Euro adventure in the T25.

[Titus A Duxass]

This is an okay campsite, not cheap (nothing is cheap in or around Venice).
http://www.veneziavillage.it/pagine_ing ... rivare.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Robin!]

This is an okay campsite, not cheap (nothing is cheap in or around Venice).
http://www.veneziavillage.it/pagine_ing ... rivare.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That one looks alright, your right about the price though 14 euros for the van plus another 9 euros a skull. Saved the postcode though for the tomtom.

[Ian Hulley]

IF you make it off alive that is

Had a bad experience?

We went in '87 and were tossing up whether to have a hire car or use the legendary public transport .... having seen a youth on a scooter flattened outside Naples airport we went with public transport (which is SUPERB btw) the shuttle bus trip on the Autostrada from Napoli to Ravello was the most frightened I've ever been and that even includes being shot at when I was younger !

Ian.

[ttcharlie]

2nd what Ian says!

I have driven in alot of places all around the world in all types of vehicles, But Naples NO! They are absolutely nuts! I mean proper Nuts....

The famous road along the Almalfi Coast is amazing though, and the standard of driving and the sports bikes racing along it our pretty memerable as well!

Naples is also bad for street crime, but thats another story.....

And back to the original question, we have camped in Sirmioni, superb place.

[smashyvan]

I went to lake Maggiorre a couple of years ago. Calais - Luxembourg first day then south 350 miles or so to outside Interlaken on Thunersee - dont miss it fabulous scenery, do the Schilthorn mountain trip. Then over the laps (Grimselpass I think) not as steep as you think just put van in 2nd, 25mph and 20Km later you are at the top. Check your wheel bolts mine came loose coming down the otherside. On the way back we broke down - combination of fuel starvation from blocked filter in Pierberg carb and dodgy starter motor and got back on recovery vehicle - £75 breakdown cover, would have cost me more in petrol. Am planning lakes tour round switzerland next year, have a good time

[Ian Hulley]

Naples is also bad for street crime, but thats another story.....

In Naples train station I put my hand in my pocket to ermm check my loose change and found another hand already there It had a khaki sleeve attached to it and at the other end was one of 2 Italian soldiers who were armed and stood behind us

Interesting day !

Ian.

[ttcharlie]

Naples is also bad for street crime, but thats another story.....

In Naples train station I put my hand in my pocket to ermm check my loose change and found another hand already there It had a khaki sleeve attached to it and at the other end was one of 2 Italian soldiers who were armed and stood behind us

Interesting day !

Ian.

Yeah, sounds a bit similar to mine but it was the bus station, and a local group of kids.....

[jonnyshowbiz]

did this last year went down to Croatia, we went Germany, Austria down into Italy, Trento Venice, Slovenia, Croatia its a feckin long way! and can be cold in the mountains, campsites are next to impossible to find in Italy, unless your much better prepared than I am - this wouldn't be hard! - Switzerland can be a problem, check you insurance, as its not EU you may to pay additional premium and your breakdown cover may also be an issue - I didn't go through there because of this. As a previous post said the Benner is a bit of a nightmare! busy traffic slow moving van huge lorries not much of a laugh! and its very capable of killing your engine

If your looking for a faster route we came back from Lake Garda across northen Italy E70 E64 around Milan and Turin then up through the freeju - spelling- this tunnel cost £43 to go through but it takes you into France by Chambrey - as you know campsites everywhere and cheap in france - the we traveled up between the Alps and Massiff Central towards Dijon - much much quicker. I know the mountains are beautiful but the Alps are massive do not under estimate the time it will take to travel through them and you will pay tolls pretty frequently for tunnels also it is cold up there so take cold weather stuff as it can be very cold at night.

Venice is amazing get the bus in much cheaper than the train!

If you want any more info just ask!

good luck its a great drive whichever way you go

- keep a check on the oil - as the mountains are hard work

[ding-dang-dhu]

I'm heading to Italy this weekend via Newcastle - Holland DFDS ferry then thru Germany - Austria then Italy.

Good luck mate!

This thread is gold, we are hoping to get to Italy this year too. And I was wondering about all the passes and possible routes. I have also heard that in Switzerland you have to switch off the camera detector on your satnav as its not playing fair.

We leave on the 15th of July heading for a Dover to Dunkirk around 2am on Friday the 17th. Course all things being equal and we actually have our van back in time.

[Robin!]

Just back, and what a fab time we had, from Edinburgh we drove down to Newcastle and got the DFDS ferry over to Holland. From there we drove straight down to Munich (took ages), we got lost in Munich as we couldn't find the campsite & the cigarette socket didnt work for my tomtom charger We stayed two nights at Thalkirchen campsite which is a 15 minute walk from Munich Zoo, well worth a look as only €9 entry. Campsite is reccommended too.

We when drove down to Austria, the Innsbruck campsite is shut at the moment for some reason or other? So we stayed in a campsite called camping Stigger in Vols, very dear at €28 a night. Didnt offer much for the price tag, probably cashing in while the Innsbruck campsite is shut. Though he made good pizza!

The next day we headed off for Venice, we stayed at Camping Fusina, for €31 a night. dear but worth it for the location and the 20 minute boat trip to Venice was a treat. Good food and lively with the Contiki Club 18 - 35 based there permanently. Don't let that put you off, if you camp over by the water you wont get disturbed by the noisy bar.

You can get from Germany (which is toll free) to Lake Garda on the back roads but it takes time.
The Brenner pass is an engine killer, the old Brenner is much nicer and easier (flatter) on the engine.

Reading this before I left, I have to admit, had me a bit worried! However neither me or my missus noticed we had finished the Brenner pass. It was a bit of an anti-climax to be honest. You'd never realise you were higher than Ben Nevis Word of warning though, a proper engine killer is the road out of Innsbruck heading to Munich, we were lucky to come down it but on the way down we say a fellow T25 driver toiling up the 16% gradient with a huge que of traffic behind him!

I wouldn't avoid the autostradas as alternative routes will add on huge amounts of time, however I would avoid the Frence Autoroutes (to save money) as decent 'A' style roads can be used with little time added and often less mileage.

For lake Garda, I would give the thumbs up to: "Baia Verde" campsite, it was very quiet as its only 2-3 year old and the swimming pool was a treat with "una birra"

Anyway, if you ever visit Aosta in Italy, avoid at all costs a campsite called "Campeggio Milleluci", it's a hole of a site, with a dated dark and dingy shower/toilet block. It was dirty and dark with no hot showers or hot water. With those hole in floor toilets. To make things worse the uber dated 4 amp elec hook ups wouldnt let us boil a kettle. The place was dead with lots of old caravans dotted about with sheds attached to them. We left on the same day and drove 5 miles down the road to the Monte Bianco campsite, another 2 star campsite, but it was clean & busy and cheap at €15 a night (showers were €0.50).

The Mont Blanc tunnel was quite fun, 7 mile long tunnel. Though it cost €34 to go thru. It's expensive driving in Europe. lol.

We found an absolute gem of a campsite in France called, "Chateau de L'Eperviere", (in between Lyon and Dijon) really well priced at €23.40 a night. It was set in the grounds of a 16th Century Chateau with Swimming pool, jacuzzi, bike hire, excellent (unisex) clean toilets and showers (free). This is well reccommended!!! We then went to Paris and found a campsite next door to a train station with a direct link to Paris, it's called "Le Chene Gris", pitches to the rear of the site are tiny and just big enough to fit a T25 in. But for €16.40 you got unlimited travel for the day which included, local trains, buses and metro (all zones).

It was then off to Belguim, and we stopped over at a campsite near Brugge called "Camping Memling", nothing special to report but ideal for travelling to Brugge. €1.60 on the number 11 bus got you to the centre. lol.

Finally we wrapped up our trip in Holland, and the final campsite was "Gaasper camping". it was a 5 minute walk to the Metro station, then a 20 minute metro trip to the centre of Amsterdam, for €11.50 you got unlimited 2 day travelling on all metros, buses & trams in the Dam. Though the couple who ran the site charged me 3 nights when we only stayed 2, they wouldnt refund me until I produced a lidl's reciept from Brugge for the day they thought I stayed.

2,300 miles later, back in Edinburgh my T25 didn't skip a beat. She was an absolute trooper. (though I did get the clutch replaced a couple months before). lol. her temperature gauge rose a tad in the Italian +30 degree heat on the way to Venice. But I can let her off for that.

Fab trip with loads of pics and memories that will last forever and anyone who hasn't dabbled in travelling abroad in the van... then go for it!