First Time Trip Abroad - Help Needed
Hi All
We are planning our first trip abroad next year to Lake Garda in our caravan, not sure if this will be via ferry or LeShuttle so again experiences would be welcome.
It would be great if we could get recommended routes and any stop over sites that would be recommended for our journey
We plan to travel to italy over two days hence the need for a stop over point but any suggestions timeframes etc would be gratefully received
Thank you in advance
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I think, to give any meaningful suggestions, we ought to know the following-
What month(s) are you going?
How long are you going for?
Where in the UK are you travelling from?
Let us have the answers and I'm sure you will get lots of good advice.
As far as the choice between ferry and tunnel are concerned, the tunnel is certainly the quickest but is considerably more expensive than the ferry. We consider the ferry crossing as part of the holiday, as we do the journey down through France.
To Lake Garda as a first trip is a long way, over 1,100km (700 miles) from Calais. If it was me I would take three days to get there plus another day to get to Dover / Folkestone (I live in Derbyshire which is another 225 miles on the journey). Remember that whatever the distance and time to get there will be the same coming back !
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We have not been abroad for a while but when we did we tended to always use the Tunnel rather than the ferry because its quick and quite straightforward. It obviously depends on where you originate your journey in the UK. So if you live in Hampshire or Devon/Cornwall it makes little sense to drive all the way to the Tunnel? Perhaps another consideration is that if you are travelling some way in the UK before getting to Dover the ferry crossing does allow the opportunity to have a meal on board before arriving in France.
As to route to Lake Garda, everyone has their own ideas. For us it was down through France to around Verdun/Metz for an overnight. Into Germany the next day with an overnight before crossing into Austria at Reutte then heading over the Fern and Brenner passes which will neatly drop you down at the far corner of Lake Garda. Depends on how much of a rush you are in but we would usually stay in Germany for a few days en route.
David
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Definitely the tunnel for convenience despite us living in Cumbria. I’d second the route described by DK. We’ve travelled that way for decades now but we leave the Brenner pass near its peak and go to the Adriatic coast via Dobbiaco. The Brenner pass is vey convenient for Garda. Motorways in France to Metz are normally deserted but are expensive so you may also consider the route through Belgium and into Luxemburg then Germany. The A8 near Stuttgart is peppered with roadworks and can be very slow. Unfortunately these are not due to be completed until 2026!. The Via Michelin App is good for up to date delays on roads in Europe.
Garda will be extremely busy in August. Let us have the answers to the above questions and we can give you more info.
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I still think a big fold out paper map on the kitchen table is a good way of route planning. But start your route planning from home - how many hours is it to Folkestone ? - what time do you land in France ? add an hour for change of time - and how far do you want to go in the rest of that day.?
Choose a site at that point from whichever site guide or app you have bought - and frankly almost any site will do for a simple overnight stop.
But it’s over 800 miles from Calais and you are towing a caravan. Don’t underestimate the distances or the summer traffic.
Do come back with questions if you wish.
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We do need to know at what time of the year you will be travelling. But let us assume it is out of peak season. We went on a trip to Italy in May/June and stayed at Cissano on Lake Garda for a week on the way back, we have stayed in the Lake Garda area many times. Italy is our favourite country to visit. Like others you are underestimating the time it will take you to get there, a common mistake by first timers. We find 250 - 300 miles a day is about right- some do more. So my recommendations/experience.
We do not book overnight stops just stopping when we have had enough. Fill up at the Tesco near J10 on the M20. saves hastle the next morning in France. Going to Italy we get a mid/late afternoon tunnel crossing (Tesco points if you have them reduce the cost) and stay at one of the sites near Calais for the first night (see the ACSI book). Up early the next day and drive using motorways via Belgium to Luxembourg. Next day to Bavaria. Then an overnight in Austria (usually Imst) and then arrive at Garda area the following day. We tend to use the Landeck/Reichen Pass route into Italy this saves you getting a Vignette for Austria. Using the Brenner you could probably save a day arriving at Garda on the third day. There are plenty of sites in Luxembourg, fewer between Ulm and the Austrian border so don't leave it too late to stop. This year we were surprised how busy it was in the Garda area in June as on previous visits it was much quieter. Another point to bear in mind is that there is a school holiday in Bavaria (Pentecost) in the first half of June next year when they travel en masse over the Alps to Italy (Lake Garda!). So May would be a good time to go and the weather should be perfect - in June this year it was baking hot (that right AlanandJean? Regards by the way, we are off to inland Provence in 2 weeks
)Re the comment about the roadworks on the A8 between Stuttgart and Ulm; yes, there are plenty but fingers crossed you will not be delayed too much. On our way south in May the A8 was closed (a land slip I think) and the unmarked diversion took us 3 hours! On the way back we were fine.
In summary. If travelling out of peak season join ACSI. Give yourself an extra day at least; if time stay in Bavaria for a day or two it is stunning. Avoid the German Pentecost holiday. If travelling in July and August, as above BUT good luck and pre book your sites. Pitches in Italy tend to be smaller than you may be used to 80sqm if your lucky is not unusual. Get a continental round pin adaptor for your EHU connector, some sites still are still 2 pin; easily available on Amazon or accessory shops. Other than in Luxembourg we found fuel costs similar in most countries - off the Autobahns of course. Get your insurances etc organised - medical, recovery, Global Health Card (free). Make sure your car insurance covers fully comp for Europe - most do, and that your caravan is also insured for Europe. A Credit Card with no extra charges for o'seas use is pretty much essential - Nationwide, Halifax, JaJa (yes, the ex Post Office one which I have) are among the issuers. We take some euros but hardly use them as nearly everything goes on the Card (OK I will pay cash for a coffee/beer!). Check passport expiry dates and renew in good time if they are due to expire.
Enjoy your planning, all part of the fun but don't over plan. Come back if you have any questions.
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Thank you for your response it is very helpful
We are thinking of going Mid June 2023, we want to spend a full week at Lake Garda and was thinking of travelling over two days both there and back
We are in Chelmsford , Essex so probably 2 hrs drive
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Great advise
We want to have a full week in Garda and will probably take 2/3 days travelling either side .
Did you book the sites up in advance ?
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Thanks Dave
We are looking to travel mid June 2023
Will probably look to take the motorway routes would seem to be worth the expense.
Did you pre book sites on travelling down ?
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Great advise Thank you !
Especially comment about maybe looking at May instead of June.
Planning has started so all advise has been noted
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Just seen your latest post. It's a long way to go for max a week in Garda; a 3 week trip would be much more fun if you can manage it. As you will be clashing with the German holiday I would book my site on Garda in advance but not for en route. As you live in Chelmsford I would change my advice and get a very early tunnel and bash on to Luxembourg on day 1 not stopping in the Calais area and then use the Brenner (you pay an additional toll!!) getting a 10 day Austrian Vignette which would cover both ways; you can get them at any garage near the Austrian border. Our last trip was for 6 weeks so we had plenty of time.
PS just seen your very latest. May would be a much better time for you to go. In the new year join ACSI for 2023 - not now as you would get a 2022 card!!!
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You live only 40 miles from Harwich so you might look at a comfortable cabin on the overnight sailing to the Hook of Holland. You would miss the possibility of congestion getting past London and on the M 20, and the driving distance to Garda from the Hook is less than it is from Calais.
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Not driven either. down as far as Lake Garda and, having a motorhome, we tend to meander to any destination. It will also depend on where on Lake Garda you are aiming for. The road around the lake is not the fastest either. Even if you leave home in the morning, the day will be half over by the time you hit Calais so realistically you need to be thinking of a two stopper, particularly towing a caravan.
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Living in W Sussex we never think of using the Harwich crossing. ET's suggestion could be well worth considering. Expanding on Cyber's comments. Yes the road around the Lake is tortuous and I would not like to tow a caravan around Lake Garda. The climate at the North end of the lake is quite different from that at the South end. The North is near the mountains whilst the southern end is open and away from the mountains. The north end can experience much more wind and rain than the south. Most sites are at the southern end of Lake Garda and it is a lovely day out to take a cruise up to Garda from the south. For the southern sites you leave the motorway at the Garda South exit and have no need to drive around the lake.
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I hope you have time to see more of Italy than just that one week. We loved the country and went at least a dozen times.
But if you really are time limited then I suggest you leave the caravan at home, Fly from Stansted and rent an apartment with a balcony with a view of the lake. It isn’t really worthwhile hauling a caravan out there and back for just one week.
We ourselves once spent a whole day by Lake Garda - it was enough - but if you have time the rest of Italy is fascinating. Go well.
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No, we never book for overnights on the way down or on the way back. You will always find somewhere to stop for the night. Download the Camper Contact App. It shows campsites and Aires. I know it’s often easier to find somewhere in a motorhome but there are lots of campsites on route. Definitely pre-book your site on Garda, you may be able to choose a pitch position too if you book early. If you go mid June you should miss Pfingsten (Pentecost) and the weather in June is more reliable.
If you’re planning to use French motorways then you will eat up the miles. The are good for covering miles quickly with little traffic. I would definitely buy a French motorway fob (Emovis or similar, Tolltickets also sell them). they will save you a lot of stress at the motorway toll booths and travelling through the booths is seamless.
Depending on what time you arrive in Calais, the city centre site in Metz is very convenient. It’s good fun to plan your journeys but as others have said, don’t over plan. Stop when you’ve had enough for the day. Camper Contact is ideal for that.
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Although I have given lots of tips re taking a caravan to Italy I think ETs suggestion that it may be easier to book an apartment, fly and hire a car has a lot of merit and may be cheaper! I don't think I would heave my caravan there for just one week. We have had a minimum of 3 weeks holiday for that trip. Just a thought.
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Hi. A few years ago we stayed on Lake Garda on the way to Venice. Route was South Yorks to Calais on day one, Nancy, Lucerne, Garda. Venice and back via Innsbruck, Schaffhausen (Rhine Falls) and Luxembourg. We are retired and spent over 3 weeks on the trip. Enjoy the planning and the trip.
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Hi,
thanks to all the contributors here so far. Sorry if I'm hijacking a thread - let me know and I'll post separately if required.
We're planning a similar trip but starting next month - going out mid-September via the LeShuttle with a return some time into October, albeit in a motorhome rather than towing a caravan. Also an Essex start point
General route would be Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Brenner pass into Italy.
I've been looking at using the continental Britstops equivalents (Landvergnügen, Bauernleben etc.) for the journey down. Does anyone have any experience of these and more specifically what do you do to replenish fresh water and dispose of grey waste?
Our journey would then go on to the Como area so the route back would be different. We could head directly over into Switzerland or back into France. Any advice on this?
Lastly, the return tunnel/ferry. We're leaving it open as we don't know how long we'll be away. I'm not keen on P&O (complete disaster on a car trip earlier this year) but has anyone experience of booking a ferry or shuttle from the continent? Should we try an set a date/time a day or two before coming back or just turn up and try and get the next available? Any opinion on DFDS?
Thanks in advance
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Your return journey ….don’t just turn up at the tunnel or ferry port but book on line when you know where and when you will be travelling. Use the French booking sites and pay in euros with a card like French people do. But with your Essex address you might choose to come back from Hook of Holland to Harwich. Your choice.
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Many years ago booked a few days before return whilst in France. A phone call was all that was needed but surely using the internet is also possible. In 2009 whilst living in France turned up in the middle of the night on an emergency trip home just car, too late a departure from our home to pre book, paid an enormous price for a 3am crossing (I seem to recall something like £200!!!) so avoid that at all costs. Many people do book their return whilst on their hols so I am sure you will get more up to date advice soon. DFDS fine and honestly who really cares for an hour and a half crossing. Don't forget to investigate what sort of vignette you would need for Austria. Using the Reichenpasse via Landeck avoids need for vignette but is further and slower but quite an attractive drive. We usually night stop in Austria, in May in Imst. Return trip well whatever takes your fancy; Switzerland is VERY expensive. Via Switzerland is more direct than going through France and weather late Oct may be your decider - a rainy time in the mountains!. Basically, I would stay as far south for as log as possible at that time of the year then a fairly quick drive home.
Have a great trip. Like your flexible approach just my style. Assume you have looked at joining ACSI.
Post post note. See ET agrees re my comment about not just turning up! Ensure you pay in Euros do not get them to do cost in sterling.
PS To OP and latest poster using screennames. You can give yourself a nice name by going into My Profile via link at top of page..
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I see you’re from Chelmsford. We’re over in the UK from Germany at the moment and will be staying at Saltcote Hall CC site in Heybridge over this Bank Holiday weekend. If you have any further questions perhaps you might like to drop by. Just give me a call first.
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Re your return tunnel/ferry, just book it on line via your phone or similar. It’s your country of normal residence they will ask for, not where you are on holiday. As others have said, don’t book at the last minute, the prices escalate.
Many campsites in Italy close 3rd week in September so you’ll need to research which will be open when you’re there. The Sostas (Aires) will still be open though. If you’re heading for Como then the route through Switzerland is the shortest and easiest. The St Gottardo tunnel is superb. Re your route, there’s a super Stellplatz at Remich in Luxemburg with water and electric on each pitch for e15/night. Camping Gottardo in Faido, just south of the St Gottardo tunnel is good too. You wil need a vignette for the Swiss motorways but its well worth the cost. Down load the Campercontact app. It’s the only guide you will need for campsites and Aires etc
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Thanks for the reply.
Yes, I've been checking out ACSI.
I did a drive back from Varallo which is in ValSesia - West (in a car!) and went down to Turin, out to Susa and then over the top back into France in May so that might be an option to avoid the Mont Blanc tunnel.
Is the Reichenpasse the road that goes up the Inn/Oetz valley?
Thanks for the advice about booking over there (and ET too!) I assumed that was the case but wasn't sure.
Have updated my profile now!!
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Wrinkly, I don’t think you need help at all, but as you mention the Inn valley and Lake Como I will chip in two pennorth.
The Swiss call their section of the Inn valley the Engadine. We once diverted from destination Italy and drove the length of that section - going upstream from Landeck in Austria just because we wanted to visit St Moritz and see if it lived up to the hype. To be honest it didn’t, but there’s scenery in spades and outside the winter sports season few people about.
And if we had gone on from St Moritz over the easy enough Maloja pass we would have dropped right down to the head of Lake Como. Foolishly we back tracked and went another way to Lake Garda instead - one of our mistakes.
I have every hope your own tour will go well.
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We are also 2 hours from Calais and have been to Garda many times with a caravan. Her are my suggestions which use “expensive” autoroutes because they are faster and better.
Tunnel at around lunchtime then 3 hours to the ACSI site at Guignicourt just short of Reims and very close to the motorway.
Autoroute via Metz to Obernai and stop there at the ACSI site.
Cross into Switzerland at Basle, buying the vignette at the border.
You then need one more stop either in Switzerland (Camping Gottica?) or Italy before joining the autostrada to Garda.
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“So May would be a good time to go and the weather should be perfect - in June this year it was baking hot (that right AlanandJean?”
Whilst that would seem logical we have had temperatures of 38c in May as well!
More likely however the later you go and our experience this year, when circumstances dictated a later start, and Covid confinement a yearning to return to Italy, has led to a total rethink on where and when we will go next year.
commeyras-hope you are having a great time,
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We too were at Lake Garda this May/June at Peschiera del Garda on the aire. It was very humid and we watched the thunder and lightning rolling across the mountains north of the lake. It seems that the lake has a micro climate : the north is Alpine with a high risk of thunderstorms whereas the southern end seems to enjoy a much drier and warmer weather.
We travelled via the Tunnel, Langres, the St Gottard Tunnel and Milano but we were on a 2 month trip to Sicily, so we took our time and arrived 5 days after leaving home.
Pre-Covid we visited the Garda area en route to Venice and Croatia. We used the Fern Pass and Reschen Pass to cross the Alps - very easy with a MH and also suitable for caravans - HGVs and coaches use it too. However, my abiding memory of that route was travelling in "convoy" in 2 parallel lanes of heavy traffic at 50mph for what seemed like an eternity - at least 60 miles continuously from Bolzano nearly to the turning for Verona - with no overtaking allowed. I hope the road had improved since then as we now avoid it like the plague.
Garda is a lovely location for a holiday but you will spend almost as long travelling to/from as you will spend lakeside on a 2 week trip.
Happy holidays
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Re Jim's comment about the traffic on the Bolzano - Verona autostrada (I think the overtaking ban stops just north of Garda but by that time I too had lost the will to press the accelerator!). For many years (at least 20) overtaking by HGVs and caravan has been prohibited on this section and I do not see the ban being removed; there is no speed limit just the overtaking ban with the traffic going at 90 kph (hopefully!). The direct result of this is the queues you mentioned. This is particularly irksome going north (uphill) and I have to say is often ignored by quite a few caravanners!!! There is no alternative route from the Brenner as the non autostrada road is a real pain.
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Travel on Sundays - there’s a ban on HGVs over the summer months in Italy- and I think it’s all year round in France.
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