This is intended as a very brief overview of our holiday trip in Summer 2015 to the Italian lakes (Maggiore, d’Orta, Lugano and Garda). It may be helpful to others planning a similar trip.
Our motorhome is a Rapido 7065FF 2 berth X250 Fiat 130hp 2.3 litre 6 speed manual, GVW 3850kg and running at or close to maximum.
We travelled a total of 3339 miles and used 565.97 litres of diesel giving an overall average of 26.78mpg. The fill to fill measure was almost exactly the same as the on board computer average – 26.78mpg compared to 26.8mpg on the computer. We travel at around 50mph on main roads and 55/60mph on motorways.
For cooking, fridge etc we used 25.68 litres of LPG (at a cost of Euro0.37 per litre in Belgium) into the Gaslow refillable tank.
Diesel fuel costs at the time were typically Euro1.20 per litre in France, Euro1.40 in Switzerland, Euro1.55 in Italy, Euro1.25 in Austria, Euro1.20 in Germany, Euro1.05 in Luxembourg, Euro1.15 in Belgium and Euro1.35 in Ireland. These costs vary over time and the relationship between countries also changes over time. A good site for price checking is http://www.fuel-prices-europe.info/. This site also gives LPG prices and the type of LPG connection.
Our only toll was the M50 in Dublin (Euro3.20) and the Swiss motorway toll (Euro32.50 for 10 days over 3500kg)
We left home on 24th May and returned on 16th July so a total of 54 nights including 2 nights on the ferry.
Our outgoing route was Irish Ferries Rosslare to Cherbourg at a cost of Euro184.00 including cabin.
Our return route was Irish Ferries landbridge – tunnel Calais to Folkstone and ferry Holyhead to Dublin a cost of Euro301.00 excluding cabin.
We used a Halifax Clarity credit card for most purchases as it does not have any foreign exchange fee. We also used the same card as an ATM card to withdraw cash. There is no foreign or ATM fee on cash withdrawals. We did however have to pay interest on the cash withdrawals. Interest rate is 12% per annum. For us, taking into account the time between drawing cash and the subsequent payment of the credit card bill, in full, the next month the overall interest cost worked out at a little under 1.5% of the cash withdrawn. Bearing in mind that we got the wholesale bank exchange rate and there were no other fees this worked out a good deal. Over the whole trip the average wholesale bank rate was Euro1.396 to £1 sterling for purchases whereas the average cash withdrawal rate including interest was 1.375.
It is worth noting that we did not find any Bureau de Change and many banks in Italy do not exchange foreign currency. Those that do, appear to give good rates but charge a small fixed transaction fee.
Site costs in Italy using ASCI (note we were partly off season) were in many cases not much higher than Aires so we stayed on sites in preference. The quality of many of the Aires we found was low so we went elsewhere. Of the total of 52 nights excluding the ferry we stayed 15 nights on Aires which ranged from free to Euro20.00 per night. The total cost of Aires was Euro152.50 with 3 nights free thus giving an average of Euro12.71 for those that charged.
The other 37 nights were spent on campsites which ranged in price from Euro11.05 to Euro27.00 (in Germany Black Forest). The total cost of campsites was Euro730.78 thus giving an average of Euro19.75. This was influenced by the fact that, after 1 July we were into high season and were paying Euro25.00 per night in Riva.
The overall campsite cost per night for the 52 nights was Euro883.28 or an average of Euro16.99 per night.
Taking into account ONLY the ferry, fuel, tolls and overnight costs the total bill came to Euro2150 for the entire trip.
Our motorhome is a Rapido 7065FF 2 berth X250 Fiat 130hp 2.3 litre 6 speed manual, GVW 3850kg and running at or close to maximum.
We travelled a total of 3339 miles and used 565.97 litres of diesel giving an overall average of 26.78mpg. The fill to fill measure was almost exactly the same as the on board computer average – 26.78mpg compared to 26.8mpg on the computer. We travel at around 50mph on main roads and 55/60mph on motorways.
For cooking, fridge etc we used 25.68 litres of LPG (at a cost of Euro0.37 per litre in Belgium) into the Gaslow refillable tank.
Diesel fuel costs at the time were typically Euro1.20 per litre in France, Euro1.40 in Switzerland, Euro1.55 in Italy, Euro1.25 in Austria, Euro1.20 in Germany, Euro1.05 in Luxembourg, Euro1.15 in Belgium and Euro1.35 in Ireland. These costs vary over time and the relationship between countries also changes over time. A good site for price checking is http://www.fuel-prices-europe.info/. This site also gives LPG prices and the type of LPG connection.
Our only toll was the M50 in Dublin (Euro3.20) and the Swiss motorway toll (Euro32.50 for 10 days over 3500kg)
We left home on 24th May and returned on 16th July so a total of 54 nights including 2 nights on the ferry.
Our outgoing route was Irish Ferries Rosslare to Cherbourg at a cost of Euro184.00 including cabin.
Our return route was Irish Ferries landbridge – tunnel Calais to Folkstone and ferry Holyhead to Dublin a cost of Euro301.00 excluding cabin.
We used a Halifax Clarity credit card for most purchases as it does not have any foreign exchange fee. We also used the same card as an ATM card to withdraw cash. There is no foreign or ATM fee on cash withdrawals. We did however have to pay interest on the cash withdrawals. Interest rate is 12% per annum. For us, taking into account the time between drawing cash and the subsequent payment of the credit card bill, in full, the next month the overall interest cost worked out at a little under 1.5% of the cash withdrawn. Bearing in mind that we got the wholesale bank exchange rate and there were no other fees this worked out a good deal. Over the whole trip the average wholesale bank rate was Euro1.396 to £1 sterling for purchases whereas the average cash withdrawal rate including interest was 1.375.
It is worth noting that we did not find any Bureau de Change and many banks in Italy do not exchange foreign currency. Those that do, appear to give good rates but charge a small fixed transaction fee.
Site costs in Italy using ASCI (note we were partly off season) were in many cases not much higher than Aires so we stayed on sites in preference. The quality of many of the Aires we found was low so we went elsewhere. Of the total of 52 nights excluding the ferry we stayed 15 nights on Aires which ranged from free to Euro20.00 per night. The total cost of Aires was Euro152.50 with 3 nights free thus giving an average of Euro12.71 for those that charged.
The other 37 nights were spent on campsites which ranged in price from Euro11.05 to Euro27.00 (in Germany Black Forest). The total cost of campsites was Euro730.78 thus giving an average of Euro19.75. This was influenced by the fact that, after 1 July we were into high season and were paying Euro25.00 per night in Riva.
The overall campsite cost per night for the 52 nights was Euro883.28 or an average of Euro16.99 per night.
Taking into account ONLY the ferry, fuel, tolls and overnight costs the total bill came to Euro2150 for the entire trip.
