Italian trip August 2017

[hamba]

Hi All,

We are planning a trip to Italy in August, I've taken first 3 weeks off from work and hoping to be able to do this run to Italy via Liechtenstein and then cross France back home.
Here is a rough idea for the route. My wife wants to go to Venice and I want to go back to Vaduz and I don't like driving the same road back so I thought, why not cross France to get back to Ireland and from there back home in a nice loop. I would like to try and push all the way up to Vaduz and then slow down while in Italy and then speed it up going over France and then a mad dash home from Ireland.

I don't think we will be camping alot on this trip, she isn't into camping yet (I'm working on that) and we don't have a tent that is quick enough to pitch and take down for a 1 night stay so it will probably be in a b&b most of the time except were we will stay for a bit longer (if time permits) then I might pitch the tent.

Please let me know if you guys think this is doable, I'm hoping to do all this in 15 to 18 days but I'm aware that this might be a bit of a push specially with 2 young once onboard.
I like how google thinks its possible to drive 5,387 km in 2 days, 21 hours, 2 minutes I guess they want you to use their self driving cars.

Cheers
Hamba

 

[nick_the_fish]

Hi Hamba,

How old are the little'uns? And how good are they at travelling for long periods?

Its definitely doable. We did London to Ancona in 3 days once but they were long days.

I think the milage count is including the sea distances so taking that into account you're probably looking at around 300km per day average. Even in my slow ass 105 we can cruise at 100km/hour on the motorways. You'll want to take it slowly through the Alps and, if you can, get onto the scenic roads which obviously are slower but prettier. Plus you won't want to travel every day.

Personally i'd say its definitely doable.

The alternative is to do what Google suggest and drive at 80km/h without stopping for 3 days and get it over with. - I know some mad Ozzies that once did a round the world trip in a long weekend for a laugh but thats a different story.

Also make sure you check out lake Como. Its beautiful and you get to blow your whole trip budget on 1 cheeseburger

 

[hamba]

Hi,

She will be just over 2 and he will be 6, my boy is good as I can put one of his movies in the dvd player and you won't know he is in the back. My girl is a little trickier, one day she will be fine with a 5 hour drive and the next she starts moaning within an hour.

The idea is to stick to the speed limit on the motorways so we should be able to make some time up on them and then like you say, take the scenic route through the Alps. The route back is still open to negotiation after Nice.

I'll add lake Como to the list of places to visit.

 

[iow_bob]

I did portsmouth to rome last year in 34hrs with a 12hr overnight in strasbourg ..

Some beautiful scenery in the alps.

I'd do it again but I'd want to take it abit slower next time

 

[moggy1968]

off down there myself in August for a tour with Alpine Rovers. Tours is a good stop at the halfway point and the town is interesting. There is a formula one there we will be staying in this year as it's the same price as the municipal campsite we stayed at last year with no electric hook up!!

 

[GeekOKent]

Hi,

One thing that worked well for us, for the 2 little ones ( 4 & 6 now, but 3&5 first time ) was to get a box between the two of them that is got a ton of different things they can get into like sticker books, a few toys, some music instruments and just paper + crayons etc; that meant the android tablet only needed to make an appearance on some special days. And then rather than give them one each, I just string together a small coat-hanger frame that could straddle the two seats in front, and put the table in there, so both of them could watch.

Breaks, and keeping to their regular schedule also helped loads. When they do get out, let them run around - but not get overly worked up; 15 min, 30 min, 15min break, with 1 hr long runs between them worked really well for us; with the meat of the trek ( say ~ 2 - 2.5hrs ) in the start segment, and a 2hr run at the end segment; so we still get ~ 7 hrs on the road ~ 400 miles if all clear. Ofcourse, this is good as one off. They are unlikely to play ball if you start doing this every day We typically dont leave before 10am and try to target arrival by 5.30pm, so its literally a case of 1 hr of hectic runabout, dinner and bed for the kiddos.

Your 2 yr old is likely to still nap right ? if you can get some activity in during the morning, the 6yr old might as well (?), that would be a good time to burn the miles too; as long as they are comfortable in the car seats.

The trip you are lookings awesome, have a good time!

regards,

 

[moggy1968]

get some of those neck pillow thingies, you can get them in kids sizes, otherwise their necks loll around alarmingly ( I once saw a child with a serious brain injury where they had hit their head on the wings of their child seat as they were asleep when the car crashed)
Also, bear in mind, objects in the car cause serious injuries / death when they start flying around in an accident so ensure tablets etc are securely mounted and there's nothing harder or heavier than a small book thats loose
We've always travelled long mileages (12+ hours on some occasions) with our kids (now 6 and 16) and it's never been an issue, although we have to stop for numb bum stops every few hours as child seats are very unpadded. We take a few activities, books, music (dads choice of!) etc and a friend recently introduced me to childrens audio books which seemed pretty effective. The key I find is to mix it up a bit.
I presume everyone is also aware of the dangers of booster cushions? I believe they are illegal now.

 

[froggy Steve]

Also, just be aware that France closes for August, as does most of Europe. There will be traffic jams Fri-Sun as well B&B's might be busy certainly on travel days)

 

[hamba]

Thanks for all the tips, we have revised our trip and made a few changes, the biggest will be the route back, we wont be going via Cork anymore, its cheaper to get a return ticket for Dover to Calias as we have blown our budget on hotels. We started looking for B&B's and soon realised that they are either full or around the same price as a hotel so we opted for the hotels.
Our first stop is in Reims, a 1 night sleep over then on to Liechtenstein where we have booked our selfs into a posh resort for 2 night and then we're off to a campsite near Varna for another 2 nights. After that we shoot down the Venice for 2 night and then back up to lake Como for 2 more nights camping, this seems to be the longest journy between our stops and would be mostly motorway including toll roads. After lake Como we desided to go posh again with another ski resort on the Italian/French border for 3 nights and then make our way home trough the Frence countryside.

@GeekOKent thanks for the info in keeping the kids entertained, I like the idea of having a box between them with all kinds of goodies however I'm not too keen on having them colouring in my truck at the back with crayons.
As for movies, we have the blueray player in the roof so we don't need a tablet for that however I wished Toyota had given us a HDMI port rather then the RCA ports because then I could have plugged a tablet in there with all the movies on it. We are also lucky in that neither of the kids are into tablets at the moment, this might change at any time but for now I'm happy with that.

I don't think we are planning on driving constantly for more then 2 hours while the little one is awake and try and push for as far as possible while she is sleeping, our boy is fine either way as he will have his movies and he is also very good at falling a sleep in the truck.

@moggy1968 I will look into getting them neck pillows however I can't see them being used much if at all but I do like the safety aspect. I'm also very aware of thingy flying around the truck in an accident. I already have a full sized car seat for my boy which we will use, it makes it easier for him to sleep rather then the booster seat which he constantly fold over on. You are correct, the booster seats are illegal now but we bought ours way before the law changed and its only used for short trips like the school runs, everything else he goes into the full seat. I also don't think its even possible to buy them these days without them check up if your child is within the legal limits.

@froggy Steve thanks for the heads up on the traffic, we are planning on a leisurely drive from one place to the next and I'll probably use the SATNAV as its got traffic reports in it to reroute us if possible.

Any tips on what is required to drive around in all these courties? I have France covered with the breathalysers and stuff but I haven't looked at if I need to get anything for the other coutries yet.
I'm also planning on getting the prepayed tolls thingy for France and was wondering if I would need something similar in Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria. I'm going to give Switzerland a miss and will be entering Liechtenstein from the Austrian side. Also what are the rule regarding jerry cans on the roof rack? Are they allowed? I was thinking of taking 20L one as an emergency.
I've also got Toyota road side assistance for when the truck needs help and applied for our EHIC cards but I still have to sort out travel insurance as the one I have trough my work is not worth it.

 

[moggy1968]

Thanks for all the tips, we have revised our trip and made a few changes, the biggest will be the route back, we wont be going via Cork anymore, its cheaper to get a return ticket for Dover to Calias as we have blown our budget on hotels. We started looking for B&B's and soon realised that they are either full or around the same price as a hotel so we opted for the hotels.
Our first stop is in Reims, a 1 night sleep over then on to Liechtenstein where we have booked our selfs into a posh resort for 2 night and then we're off to a campsite near Varna for another 2 nights. After that we shoot down the Venice for 2 night and then back up to lake Como for 2 more nights camping, this seems to be the longest journy between our stops and would be mostly motorway including toll roads. After lake Como we desided to go posh again with another ski resort on the Italian/French border for 3 nights and then make our way home trough the Frence countryside.

@GeekOKent thanks for the info in keeping the kids entertained, I like the idea of having a box between them with all kinds of goodies however I'm not too keen on having them colouring in my truck at the back with crayons.
As for movies, we have the blueray player in the roof so we don't need a tablet for that however I wished Toyota had given us a HDMI port rather then the RCA ports because then I could have plugged a tablet in there with all the movies on it. We are also lucky in that neither of the kids are into tablets at the moment, this might change at any time but for now I'm happy with that.

I don't think we are planning on driving constantly for more then 2 hours while the little one is awake and try and push for as far as possible while she is sleeping, our boy is fine either way as he will have his movies and he is also very good at falling a sleep in the truck.

@moggy1968 I will look into getting them neck pillows however I can't see them being used much if at all but I do like the safety aspect. I'm also very aware of thingy flying around the truck in an accident. I already have a full sized car seat for my boy which we will use, it makes it easier for him to sleep rather then the booster seat which he constantly fold over on. You are correct, the booster seats are illegal now but we bought ours way before the law changed and its only used for short trips like the school runs, everything else he goes into the full seat. I also don't think its even possible to buy them these days without them check up if your child is within the legal limits.

@froggy Steve thanks for the heads up on the traffic, we are planning on a leisurely drive from one place to the next and I'll probably use the SATNAV as its got traffic reports in it to reroute us if possible.

Any tips on what is required to drive around in all these courties? I have France covered with the breathalysers and stuff but I haven't looked at if I need to get anything for the other coutries yet.
I'm also planning on getting the prepayed tolls thingy for France and was wondering if I would need something similar in Italy, Liechtenstein and Austria. I'm going to give Switzerland a miss and will be entering Liechtenstein from the Austrian side. Also what are the rule regarding jerry cans on the roof rack? Are they allowed? I was thinking of taking 20L one as an emergency.
I've also got Toyota road side assistance for when the truck needs help and applied for our EHIC cards but I still have to sort out travel insurance as the one I have trough my work is not worth it.

You don't have to worry about the breathalysers anymore. The law isn't enforced. You need fluorescent jackets for all, within reach, headlamp deflectors (although I have never used them and never had an issue, but my headlights are old and dim, like the driver!) You need a spare bulb set, 2 triangles and in France you mustn't be able to see a screen from the drivers seat, which stupidly includes satnav so either have the screen off or just so only your passenger can see it. You need the original vehicle registration and proof of insurance and preferably your equivalent of our MOT (although ours are online now) if you have it, it may save you a lot of hassle as the German Rozzers who pulled me couldn't check over the weekend or out of hours. If you have number plates with your country designation on them you don't need the country sticker. In most European countries carrying fuel in Jerrycans is illegal, and you don't need to anyway in Europe. I think the biggest legally allowed is 10L in a metal can in most countries, not sure about the legality of them on the roof.
My biggest tip regarding travel if your using calais to Dover is use the tunnel. It's a little more pricey, but way quicker (especially if you add in check in time) and, crucially, if you have a long run to the port, if you miss your allocated slot you get booked on the next available, which can be as little as 30 mins (2 hours being the longest I have had to wait) with a ferry your a bit stuffed, so it makes life a lot less stressful.

Set the twatnav to avoid motorways if you fancy a nice leaisurely drive through the countries and be aware tolls can be eyewatering when added up, about 200euros to travel the length of France. IN some countries you have to buy a card/carnet thingy before going on the motorway but as I don't use toll roads I couldn't tell you which that applies to.

The AA and RAC sites are OK for info, but also tell you to buy stuff you don't need (like breathalysers) so they can flog you one!

 

[hamba]

Looks like I'm covered for most of the countries as I have all those things except I can't remember where my second triangle has gone, lol. One of the nicer things about having a newer truck is that it has self leveling headlights which don't need the headlamp deflectors any more.

Does that no screen law include the build-in SATNAV? It will be hard turning the screen towards the passanger side

We like taking ferries as we see it as some much needed down time where I can get a bit of shut-eye and we can leave the kids to run around for a while before a long stint of driving and the kids love being on it as well.

I wasn't banking on the tolls going up to about 200Euros, I was hoping for much less then that, I will definitly select the avoid tolls when ever I can which will probably will be most of the way except from Venice to lake Como, I think, even with tolls included its about a 5 hour drive that day and excluding the toll was much, much longer. I've created some routes using viamichelin and selected their discovery route option for when we are in the mountains so its just a matter of forcing the SATNAV to play catchup.

 

[moggy1968]

Looks like I'm covered for most of the countries as I have all those things except I can't remember where my second triangle has gone, lol. One of the nicer things about having a newer truck is that it has self leveling headlights which don't need the headlamp deflectors any more.

Does that no screen law include the build-in SATNAV? It will be hard turning the screen towards the passanger side

We like taking ferries as we see it as some much needed down time where I can get a bit of shut-eye and we can leave the kids to run around for a while before a long stint of driving and the kids love being on it as well.

I wasn't banking on the tolls going up to about 200Euros, I was hoping for much less then that, I will definitly select the avoid tolls when ever I can which will probably will be most of the way except from Venice to lake Como, I think, even with tolls included its about a 5 hour drive that day and excluding the toll was much, much longer. I've created some routes using viamichelin and selected their discovery route option for when we are in the mountains so its just a matter of forcing the SATNAV to play catchup.

One of the things I liked about my old original Garmin was you could plot your route on a laptop, so I would selectively use toll roads if it saved a lot of time but thats much more tricky with new ones, such is the price of progress! The law does include built in satnav, your supposed to turn the screen off. It's a ridiculous law and I've ignored it and not had any problems (so far!!) The advantage of being able to glance at your route at a junction is IMHO far safer than pissing about lost, in the wrong lane, hesitating, having to pull last minute manouvers etc etc and the verbal instructions aren't always clear enough, but hey ho!! The toll roads are great for making up a bit of time but shit they cost!! Would rather pay road tax any day than have toll roads over here, at least in France there is some choice about using motorways unlike the UK. Last time I did a bit of a combination and used toll roads where it looked like we needed to make up a bit of time, but when your truck only does 65mph anyway you aren't really making up that much!! I think when I compared tolls vs no tolls it saved only about an hour or two, so I would rather save the money!.