Calais to verona with a caravan

dave hamshaw

Hello, I'm hoping to drive from calais to verona next June (2026) in a skoda karoq towing an eriba troll caravan. Any suggestions re the best route would be most welcome. I've spent a number of days already ploughing over maps, googling tolls and roadworks and am going in circles at the moment!

eribaMotters

Dave, a fellow Eriba owner here, who has travelled through France and once into Italy over 25 years. I always use

Route planner: route calculation, detailed journey cost - ViaMichelin

I believe the mapping used is the the same as VAG cars and Garmin, and have found the on the road times very accurate. I like the ability to put in via points, avoid tolls if you want and tell it you have a caravan on the back.

You will find the toll roads are good, but can be VERY expensive. From memory of when we travelled to Italy in 2003 I seem to recall the best route was down the eastern side of France, but this meant toll roads.

I would juggle the times for non-toll roads as often they are not a lot longer, as you can easily do 55mph on many of them, have lots of Aires to stop at and you can pick up the far cheaper petrol from the out of town Hypermarkets, around Euro 2 a gallon cheaper.

Your big expense will be Switzerland where you will need to but two Vignettes, one for the car and another for your Eriba.

Colin

eurortraveller

Opinions differ. Some will say to make for the Swiss border at Basel and then use the St Gotthsrd tunnel.
But others will advise you to cross Germany via Stuttgart to Innsbruck in Austria and then use the Brenner Pass.
The last time we went we went along the north side of Lake Constance just because we wanted to.
There is no right or wrong way

DavidKlyne

Verona is not far from the southern end of Lake Garda so most of the route we used to get to the Italian Lakes would probably be fine for the trip. On one visit to Lake Garda we actually drove to Verona to have a look round. On our trips to Venice we tended to drive down through France to around to Chalons en Champagne and then east to Metz and then out to the German border (several options of routes ) Once on the German autobahn ststem we would head south to Fussen then take the Fern Pass and then the Brenner Motorway into Italy. The motorway takes you down the eastern side of Lake Garda and as mentioned Verona is not far from the southern end of the lake. We always use motorways and didn't worry too much about the cost of tolls. Obviously none in Germany and for Austria you need a vignette for both caravan and tow vehicle, but you can save by buying time limited vignettes rather than annual.

David

Lutz

Contrary to what David wrote, you do not need a vignette for the caravan in Austria. That requirement only applies to Switzerland.
If you pass through Switzerland more than once, the toll really isn’t that expensive. We crossed through Switzerland three times so far this year, making it cheaper than using French toll roads.

eurortraveller

But of all the possible routes to Italy over or under the Alps don’t take advice from ViaMichelin on this one. Their recommended route is to cross those mountains by the Great St Bernard route. But even to get up to the high level tunnel there,which cuts off the very top of the pass, is a 20 mile climb at 20mph with a caravan. We only did it once.

DavidKlyne

Lutz

Apologies, I was getting mixed up with Switzerland.I have been to Austria enough times to lnow better😊

David

dave hamshaw

Hi, thanks for all the replies; the brenner pass seems to have a problem until end 2027 with roadworks on a bridge that has restricted the dual carriageway to a single carriageway leading to severe delays at times. I was trying to avoid buying 2 Swiss vignettes just to drive thru the country as I hadn't planned on stopping over there. I think my main 'grievance' is that, whilst I've got a Garmin caravan sat nav for use whilst driving, I've been unable to find a caravan route planner for use on a PC so that I plan a route on a decent sized screen before setting of. The camc route planner has a disclaimer that 'some routes may not be suitable for caravans' which seems bizarre for a caravan club, and viamichelin no longer adjusts the route for caravans

eurortraveller

Big single sheet all Europe paper road map - unfold and spread on table - pick all motorway route if you will be pressed for time. Mark with felt pen.

dave hamshaw

Thanks eurortraveller, I've just brought a europe road atlas with that on mind!

Dave_N

There are bridge works on the Brenner on the Austrian side but having driven through them last Friday the delays were minimum (even on a Friday). What is a problem is the bridge works near Pforzheim on the A8. Unfortunately I disregarded my own advice to others and took the A8 from Stuttgart last week. This resulted in a 120 minute delay and the roadworks will be there for at least another 2 years. So, despite having to buy two Swiss vignettes the St Gottard tunnel is the best and quickest route for you. You will encounter some delays around Milan but the route from Calais through Belgium, Luxemburg, Colmar, Basel, St Gottard and Milan is the most efficient one. Camping Gottardo just south of the tunnel is a great site for an overnight stop as is Camping Du Canal just north of Basel.