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Essex to Lido De Jesolo

Not wanting to hijack the thread but thought it might be worth keeping everything UK to Italy related in one place.

This will be my first European road trip with the family (Wife and daughter of 18 months old). I have a few questions if that's ok.

How much are the tolls from the north down through to the South of France.
Is the cost saved in tolls and fuel prices worth the extra distance going the route Graham mentions.
I'm keen to get to Milan in two days with one stop over. Is this to optimistic or doable.

We plan to get the 6am ferry from Dover to Dunkirk and then drive as far as recommended in the first day to break the back of the journey to then pick my folks up on the Friday in or just outside of Milan.

Lots more basic question to come if that's ok.
 
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Not see the original thread but...
Why such a "late" ferry? We drove to Switzerland with a 4 month old. Left home around 9pm, 11(ish)pm ferry and then drove through the night while Olivia slept. Because of treacherous conditions (remember the wrong snow which broke the train?) what was supoosed to be a 12-13 hour trip turned into a 17 and a half hours with most of it being at night or during her normal sleeping hours which made it very easy.

If you're heading all the way to Milan, you'll want to crack most of it with a sleeping child.
 
Crispin


The wife mentioned doing it at night :whistle: whilst she (the daughter) is asleep but was concerned about driving long distance at night and then getting little sleep to then have to entertain and keep up with a toddler the next day who come hell or high water wakes at 6:45 no matter what.

We will be in no rush so can stop and let her run around etc and she does sleep for two hours twice a day at the moment.

Having never driven through Europe I was hoping to take in some of the scenery even if just motorways.
 
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'I'm keen to get to Milan in two days with one stop over. Is this to optimistic or doable.'

no prob in 2 days, I do uk to genoa ( I guess about the same distance) in one hit, last trip on way back, left genoa 8pm & was on the 8.30 am eurotunnel train from Calais. Obviously didn't take in rather scenery as it was dark, & only a few short pee stops !

Andy
 
ah, much better then :)

I'm "one of them" when driving long distance. Bring a bottle with you if you think you have a small bladder ;) Nothing worse than eating a (cr@p) breakfast and watching all those trucks you worked so hard at over taking wizz past you.
Admittedly, different if you have a child to entertain.

Not sure what other routes there are but we stuck to the highways which were tolled but ok. Scenery was about the same as that which you find between junctions of the M25. :) Coming back was mostly snowless and we easily held 80mph with traffic. They have actually heard of the keep left(right) and pass right (left). It was pleasant driving - as far as highway driving goes.
 
Right having had a good look around and working on the fact that if e do 6 h on the first day that should take us to Colmar in France which looks rather nice and a good overnight stopping spot with only 4 and a bit ours the next day to Milan.

Now to find some where in Colmar to spend the night.
 
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We are hitting the 6am Dover to Dunkirk ferry the first night we are staying in Strasbourg then we are heading to Austria for two days and then nipping over to Jesolo for a week then on the way back one night in Austria one in Strasbourg and one in Paris. we have the DVD player set up for my six year old daughter so that keeps her entertained for a while and if we feel like stopping then we can. But like you warren its our first time apart from driving to euro disney so we want to take in some scenery.
 
With family on board I'd aim for 5-600km a day Warren and then you won't have to hit the road at the crack of dawn, can go at quite a leisurely pace and not feel anxious if a pee stop turns into doing a bit of shopping and when you do get to the camp site or whatever there'll still be some day left. We went through Switzerland going down to Sorrento last summer and via south of France on the return journey - going down was more interesting imo. I can't remember how much the tolls are in total north to south France, they add up a bit, but the toll through the tunnel and on the first few sections of Autostrada are quite a lot on their own if you go that way, probably more than the 40 euro or whatever to get a pass for Switzerland. We're going the other way round this year, should have planned to go through Switzerland both ways. Only going as far down as Rome this time, then on to Venice for a while.
 
Cheers John, my route is looking like Dover to Dunkirk then through Belgium and back into France for the first night just South of Strasbourg some 500km then through Switzerland and out to Milan the second day some 400km.

Now all I need to do is get booking. I wish I spoke French so I could search in the local language as I'm sure I could find something cheaper.
 
warrenpfo said:
Cheers John, my route is looking like Dover to Dunkirk then through Belgium and back into France for the first night just South of Strasbourg some 500km then through Switzerland and out to Milan the second day some 400km.

Now all I need to do is get booking. I wish I spoke French so I could search in the local language as I'm sure I could find something cheaper.
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Gra.
 
I've driven through France quite a bit and find their tolls very expensive. Especially if you go through the Alps. Switzerland is the best bet ~€50 for a 12 month motor way pass .... so will cover you both directions. Tolls in Italy aren't too bad either. I can't remember the exact amounts but the last trip I did was late last year from here to Venice and back. The french tolls made my eyes water every time.
 
Eguisheim just south of Colmar is meant to be nice we were aiming for their last June,
as a work colleague and also some other friends had stayed there and liked it

but stopped at campsite nr Offenburg (East of Strasbourg) in the end as it was getting late. that was after driving down from ferry port at Amsterdam and lots of roadworks in Germany....
Next day we drove down through Swizterland, grand st bernard pass, past Turin and down to Limone Piemonte (on french border)
so Milan easily doable in 2 days as shorter
 
ps has anyone used the digital autopass devices for the french toll roads?
so you just drive through and get billed on credit card?
 
AndyCook said:
ps has anyone used the digital autopass devices for the french toll roads?
so you just drive through and get billed on credit card?
Click to expand...

Yep I use one. simple and easy and no queueing in lanes to get through tolls. Was a bit doubtful at first when approaching the beam at the gate, but you can drive through pretty quickly and it registers.

IIRC it cost €30 deposit for the device which you then register. Great if you drive in europe a lot.
 
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