Driving to Italy this July
Hi,
we are not keen on flying with EasyJet and feel driving in our camper to visit family in southern Italy is the best option.
could anyone help with advice on how logistics and rules are at present that would affect us?
We’re a family of four (two young children) and in the past have done this trip via Eurotunnel, then French campsites over 4 days.
Thanks in advance.
Nick
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You can drive again if you wish - campsites in both those two countries are open
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The borders are fully open, too. We crossed the German/Swiss and Swiss/French borders last week without any controls. In fact, we could drive straight through without even stopping. To the best of my knowledge the same applies to Italy, too.
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Long way with two young "are we there yet" children.
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Yes, all a big adventure for kids and horizon expanding. Just need to avoid going too far each day. Not a problem breaking the journey in a. camper. They’ll have great fun and remember it always.
If abroad this year, worth keeping a close eye on local CV developments. I suspect Italy is super sensitive to any new outbreaks and could react very quickly and robustly to any threat. You probably don’t want to get caught up in that!
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Hi Nick, have you set off yet? We’re planning to travel to Italy at the end of July (family of 5 with teenage children/adults) and I’m watching the changing restrictions closely. After thinking it wasn’t going to be possible, I’m now more optimistic. We’re booked into a site just North of Rome and after swapping emails with the site, I know they are keen for us to visit.
My planned route is to go Eurotunnel, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and then into Italy. I drove through France to northern Italy last summer and we returned through Switzerland and Germany so I fancy going a different way this time. We’re also stopping in NL for a week on the way back.
Please can you let us all know if you encounter any unusual, COVID related obstacles on your way?
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MAM
At the moment its not possible for UK residents to stop overnight in Austria without a certificate to prove you are Covid19 free. This may change in the future of course. It’s possible to transit through Austria with out a stop and without certs but you’d have to plan for that and prove you’re stoping outside Austria. We normally travel to Italy via Austria but I’ve decided to travel via the St Gottard tunnel later this month. If you decide to go through Austria the Fern Pass is easy with a caravan and there are a number of German campsites in the Fussen area you could stay overnight. I suggest you use the Brenner Pass into Italy unless you particularly want to avoid Austrian Motorways. The Austrian motorway vignette is less than 10E for 10 days and you will only need one for your car. Campsites on the Italian side of the Brenner Pass are not so plentiful until you get towards Lake Garda and as soon as we get into August they will be VERY busy.
Once you’re in Italy there are no restrictions in the Veneto region but Lombardy may have different rules since the pandemic was more concentrated there. Enjoy Rome, it’s an amazing city but then most towns and cities in Italy have lots of charisma.
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Hi Dave,
We've planned a route through Austria that takes us past Innsbruck and down the autoroute/Brenner pass. I've pre-paid the vignette and Brenner toll and I have an Italian campsite booking to prove I'm just passing through if I need it. I estimate about 2 to 3 hours to get through Austria. I'm not sure we're actually going to get into Rome. It was on the plan when we booked the trip last November but we're planning on staying away from densely populated areas.
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I can understand your concerns about densely populated areas. The number of visitors to Italian cities is significantly down (even in Rome and Venice) but its the use of public transport to get into the cities that would be a problem in my view.
From your picture on the forum you look to have a long caravan? Sites in Italy have a reputation for having smallish pitches but the sites on the north Adriatic coast tend to have larger pitches. We’re going back to Camping Capalonga at the end July and they have lots of decent sized pitches. If you fancy a beach holiday with plenty of space and plenty of cycling opportunities then its a great site for that. From 1st August most people in Italy will holiday for the whole of the month and hence the sites will be busy. However, many German families have decided to holiday in their own country this year and Italian sites that are normally fully booked in August are likely to have free pitches.
Enjoy your holiday, it sound as though you’ve done plenty of pre-planning. Your estimated time for transiting Austria is realistic, the motorway over the Brenner is very quiet at the moment.
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The certificate MAM refers to has to have been issued within 4 days of entering Austria. Transit only is OK. The Fern Pass route; although slow is very straight forward and can give a toll free transit of Austria (via Imst - Landek). There are very few stopping places after Landek so if you see one grab it immediately for your coffee/lunch/toilet stop! Also, suggest you fill up in Austria before entering Italy. We are going to Italy end Aug via Germany/Austria but never pre book sites so don't know how we could prove we will be transit only. Also we will have been over there about 8 days when we reach the Austrian border, could be fun! The Brenner needs a Vignette and you also pay a toll but it is not too much. MAM, you are very organised. Rome is one of our favourite cities in the world but when we go we fly and stay in the centre, this allows us to really enjoy our stay and eat in the many lovely and inexpensive restaurants in the centre without the hastle of getting in and out of the centre. Your timing through Austria is about right using the Brenner. The motorway stop on the Austrian side of the Brenner is very tight so would recommend giving it a miss, especially with your large outfit!! My outfit is just under 12m and I really struggled a few years ago. One of the joys of the Brenner is how little fuel you use on the long descent, but there is an overtaking ban for caravans on that stage, all clearly signed.
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I’ve just seen that the Dutch have dropped the requirement for UK visitors to quarantine so the stop in NL on the way back should be easier. We set of on 30th July so only 15 days to go. I’m still keen to hear any first hand experiences from anyone that has recently travelled across Europe and if they’d encountered any COVID related issues.
My view on what’s required for entry into each country is as follows...
France - requirement to sign a health declaration
Belgium - no requirements
Luxembourg - no requirements
Germany - no requirements
Austria - provide evidence that we are passing through - pay Vignette
Italy - no requirements
Netherlands - no requirements
From what was looking fairly complicated a few weeks ago is now looking a lot simpler.
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Things do indeed look simpler now, but complications would arise if one of your family were to develop Covid-19 symptoms while you are away and you were all put into isolation at that point - unable to go forward or to return home.
Many of us reading your posts are impressed by the detailed planning you have undertaken and we hope things go well, but the fact remains that these are uncertain times. I can only paraphrase Field Marshal Von Moltke who said "No plan, however detailed, ever survives first contact with the enemy" .
Good wishes. Please let us know how your journey works out.
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As the virus is a known event, would one be covered if you became ill
with it? Or any other complication or delay:
Bar two exceptions – discussed below – most currently available policies can be broken down into two groups:
Those that don’t cover anything to do with coronavirus
Those that cover emergency medical expenses and repatriation if you contract coronavirus abroad, but don’t cover coronavirus-related cancellation or disruption.
This means that in almost every case, your insurance policy will not cover you for cancelling your holiday if you catch coronavirus, or have to self-quarantine, before you leave. Similarly, if you arrive at your destination and you’re turned away due to that country’s lockdown restrictions, you won’t be able to claim. Nor could you claim if your destination enters lockdown while you’re there.
Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/07/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-your-travel-insurance/#COVID - Which?
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It’s a bit like playing the game of Risk. You have countries that you move through and sometimes plans have to change. I viewed this years holiday as a last free-flowing trip through Europe ahead of the post- Brexit complications. COVID may be giving us a taste of things to come in terms of cross border Challenges.
As for the comments on my planning - thank you. But you’ve only seen the tip of the planning iceberg. The route is planned along with overnight stopping places, making sure we are isolated on route ( just fuel stops). Over the 23 nights, we have 8 different overnight locations.
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AD, In that case you could switch your Bilbao ferry to a date next Spring - the new timetable to Spain will be published n a few days time. Just use the My Bookng tab on the B/F page to move one of their flex tickets.
And if you really want to go to Croatia in September then I'm sure you can get a tunnel booking and head out that way.
But personally I'm going nowhere until there's a vaccine against Covid19.
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Just putting together the final plans for our trip to Italy in Sep. We will be spending a few days on the Moselle, visiting family near Frankfurt, a few days in Bavaria then going via Fern Pass and Brenner, transiting Austria. As I type, if transiting Austria you have to be able to produce evidence that this is so. We have therefore booked a site in Italy and one in Bavaria for one night for the return; the written confirmation show the dates so this should suffice. Booking goes against the grain but needs must.
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