I am looking at driving to Bellagio

Where are you driving from?

Driving from Carlisle, as far north as you can get it will take me abut 6hrs to get to Dover 

Have you looked at the Hull or Newcastle ferry service?

No never even considered them, will have a look.ThanksNIna 

Had a look expensive option 

Yep, but consider they include an overnight berth, less petrol and stress....

Good point had a second look - can't get prices for next august yet but definately going to concider it as it would only take 1.30hrs to Newcastle or 3hrs to Hull 

Ah next August... To be honest I looked at you post and thought  - nah! Madness, no point of departure, going to Bellagio – where on earth is that – Napoli I would guess… However prairiepaintbrush shamed me into at least trying… First off, you are brave to be doing such a trip and planning well in advance… However I’m not too sure how much knowledge you have of what you or doing or how to find out, sorry if that sounds a little harsh, just a Geordie trying to help out… If you Google “driving from Carlisle to Bellagio” you will get niente/nothing… well not about what you want. Try something like “driving from uk to Italy” or “best route from UK to Italy” then you will get lots of answers. Of course you may have already done so and found this site and thought “oh to hell I’ll just ask”, but even here you need to ask the right question… Again apologise if this is a little condescending, but just trying to help Northern pals – by the way Alaska if way further north and so is Newcastle if you are talking England

Well, I think it's a grand idea. Many UK citizens never get to Italy. You will have PLENTY to talk about when you get home.

Things to consider;-

1. Length of holiday - driving down will be 2 nights each way - so if holiday is less than 2+ weeks - fly
2. Where to fly to - Bergamo, Malpensa, Linate or Turin for Bellagio on Como
3. Car hire costs [including extras]
4. Number of passengers [seriously affects flight costs, less so driving]
5. Use of ferries near Carlisle - as already mentiond, cost includes an overnight berth and driving distance from port to Bellagio [Assuming its the one on Lake Como] isn't much difference as that from Calais
6. You can 'blast down' to Bellagio non-stop, but you'd need at least 2 drivers and a long holiday to recover - better to plan on a couple of nights [say 1 on the boat and one at Colmar]
7. Type of accommodation - we use Novotel/Mecure/Ibis which costs about £100 a night [for a couple] plus evening meal, but you can do it in Formula1 'hotels' for a lot less [Look at the Accor website]
8. Route - Down through Belguim, Luxemburg, Fance and Switzerand isprobably favourite - cheap petrol in Luxemburg and Switzerland

If you can 'fill out' those points, we can probably give advice on how to get there and where to stay