Lake garda to south of france
Hi.
We are travelling to Lake Garda in June with a caravan (special thanks to Dianne T for route advice). However, moving on from Garda, we are considering moving down to Monaco and into South of France before heading home towards Calais. We have 6 weeks in total for the trip. Has anyone any advice or comments on the best route, recommended campsites etc . We don't mind paying tolls if the roads are better.
Thank you.
Comments
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Are you wanting to see wonderful historic Italian cities like Parma and Piacenza along the way, or just whizz across to the Mediterranean on the autostrada? The cities are certainly worth seeing but you will have to hunt the internet to find campsites - they are few and far between in that area across the Italian plain.
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If you go via Piacenza down to the coast, either Genoa or Arenzano, you will encounter the mountains and lots of tunnels. It looks like that is the quickest way but look out for more posts on the tunnels. I didnt mind them but the OH hated them.
BillC
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We've done the journey in both directions a few times. From Pischeria to Nice is about 260 miles, all on motorway so it's doable in a day. It's a pretty boring route until you start to descend from the mountains and then drive along through the tunnels. There are no usable campsites until you get to Liguria. Head down the E70 to Cremona, Piacenza, and then the A7 towards Savona.
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p.s. To visit Monaco, you should consider camping further along the coast, and take the the train to Monte Carlo. You can also visit Antibes and Menton by train. This site at Loubet (vieilleferme) is popular and near to a station.
pps most of the sites in Liguria are pretty cramped and may be unsuitable for a large outfit.
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We'' probably miss the cities as I shall be keen to dip my toes in the sea. I don't mind tunnels but dread windy roads with hairpin bends and sheer drops hence I don't mind motorways.
The train to Monaco and Monte Carlo sounds good and we'll stop on the coastal road if I can find a nice site/resort in Italy and also in France. We would also like to visit Cannes/Nice by public transport, so the same applies.
We have taken our 2 berth van mainly down the west coast of france and to the coast nr Perpignan but this area will be a totally new (and more expensive) experience in Italy and The French Riviera.
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Being a hater of the Med. in summer (June will be busy) I would go from Garda to Lake Maggiore. Stay for a few days and explore the Islands (it’s better than Garda) and come back over the Simplon Pass (easy) into Switzerland and around lake Geneva into France. If the weather is clear, stay at the ACSI site a few miles outside of Zermatt and take the shuttle taxi into Zermatt. The railway up past the Matterhorn is sensational.
If you do want to go South from Maggiore the Motorway south (A26, Baveno, Alessandria) is an easy and quiet trip. The motorway along the coast is simple and it’s worth stopping at the services just inside France for spectacular views along the coast.
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Vielle Ferme is a good site (but no direct access to a beach) midway between Nice and Cannes near Antibies. Short walk to bus stop or 15 min walk to nearest station. Buses are 1.5 e to either Nice (~50mins) or Cannes(~45min) Trains are frequent, more expensive, if you should be over sixty buy a senior ticket saves 25% no ID required. Autoroute from Italy as others have said has many tunnels and a bit pricey, but little choice the road through Ventimiglia is very busy. The site at San Remo in the Clubs Brochure was good a few years ago especially if you can get a pitch directly on the sea. San Remo itself is bit of a faded resort. Overall the Cote d`Azur is a good place to visit apart from the latter part of July to the third week of August when France turns up! Public transport is good, plenty of cafe and restaurants one of the best places to head for for reasonable prices is Old Nice followed by a walk around the Port of Nice. Monaco is best visited by train, the ride follows the coast and many expensive villas can be seen. Other places worth visiting are Menton, Ville de Franche, Cap Ferrat, Nice, Cagnes sur Mer Antibies, Juan Les Pins, Cannes etc etc.
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Italian sites along the Ligurian coast are certainly different from Club sites !
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