chris18's activity

Hi Tony,Thanks for the update on your drive, sounds really good. If the two of you can share the drive then all the better.  It always feels to us like something of an achievement to have driven so far in such a short time - particularly when you you see the landscape change as you travel.We expected to drive this year too, but ended up going for 2 weeks 3 days, and it turned out to be cheaper to fly and hire a car.  Calabria sounds fantastic, but tbh i've never been to any part of Italy that i've not liked - if you get the chance from where you are in Calabria, drive over to the west coast of Sicily go to San Vito Lo Capo - total beach party culture.  Beach parties start at 8pm and go on to 8am.I totally understand your comments about the beaches sun and food - what a wonderful place it is.  I think the bottom line here is that a bit of Italy gives us northern europeans enough of a lift to carry on until the next year when we can head back to Italy again.  Next year we're planning to go out in mid june to end on june; then following a wedding in the UK which we have to attend end of first week in July, we'll go back out until around 18 August.  Can't wait!

Thanks for your post Helen.  You've described a wonderful journey. I know Geneva, but i've never been to Chamonix which is popular all year round.I hope your memories of your trip keep you going until next year, and that you realise your early retirement plans.  Quite a few Brits who settle in Italy get into the tourist industry running B&B's - who knows, at some point in the future it might be you greeting visitors to La bel paese.  

sounds fantastic. i thought i had  bit of a run as we do 1200 miles door to door to Lucca, but 1700 is a fair bit more!  Dont forget, even with two drivers, if you do feel tired pull over and rest., but at the same time I understand what you mean about wanting to get there asap.  Have you been over to Sicily?  I know Siracusa on the east coast and Trapani on the west.

Thanks for this.  Road fuel of whatever sort is so expensive these days so it feels good to at least know that you're getting the best deal you could hope to get.  I'll make a note of the prices we pay and post the details here.  Then anyone else can take advantage of the cheaper places to re-fuel.

Thanks Alan.I think a 2 night stop is a very civilised idea. Thanks for the tip on HI Englos.I think at some future point I might be able to take a bit more time - until then though I'll be blasting down the motorway looking to get there asap so as to unload the noisy teenagers!As mentioned in an earlier post we tend to stay over in Strasbourg and then complete the journey on day 2.  Apart from Gottard upon which we could happily spend some time in its own right, driving through Como around 6pm in the evening is beautiful.  I'd quite like to stay there on the way.

Sounds like you were a young passenger in the early/late 90's? - and now you're driving in your own right.  I hope it goes well and that you enjoy the journey.  You'll be on a high so dont worry you wont feel tired.Do you mind my asking, but which part of Italy are you hesading too?

Thanks for all of the above Alan.  I'm driving a diesel engined car.  We'll need to refill around Strasbourg/Colmar/Mulhouse area.  Is there anywhere around ther that is cheaper than the norm?  Last year I filled up at a Swiss service station and tbh we were so delighted to be heading to Italy and in holiday mood that we never really noticed the cost of the diesel in Swiss compared to say Italy or for that matter Colmar/Mulhouse.

Thanks for this.  Nancy - Strasbourg is pretty much a sideways  move, whereas Nancy - Colmar is a contiuation of the southward journey

Thanks everyone for the advice, Alan H, Chrisnotton, Sebastiano, Julia G, Londonlass. I think we'll definitely be taking the route through Belgium on down to Strasbourg.  Next day we'll push on through Mulhouse/Colmar to Basel then on to Gottard.  The first year we drove to Italy we took that route - no tolls until Italy but personally I found the roads in Belgium a bit rough, but thats just my view. Once we get into Italy it'll be the Autostrada for us. Thanks again everybody.  I'll post a message when we return and let you know how we got on.Incidentally is it just me or are the Swiss Motorway stations great.  We stopped off en route to Gottard last year, the motorway station seemed to be in the middle of a national park, beautiful setting - in GB it'd be a holiday destination in its own right!