Italy - tips & ideas welcome!!!

We are starting to think (& plan, as all good teachers do!!!) the next summer adventure.
Italy is calling loud & clear!
Have any of you guys been to Italy in your MH?
What crossing to take?
We would like to have 4 mains stops of 7-10 days each - & to satisfy Ella we'd go to gardaland!
Fire away - all tips, advice welcome!
Hunters

Thanks FC - that's the sorta thing we need to hear!
We are planning to investigate crossings, timings & tolls etc for 2 main routes - Holland or France (Cherbourg) ...

I have never been to italy but have been told that booking a site in advance is a good idea as they dont have the same number of sites or aires.

I ahve been driving in Switzerland and know that can insist on you paying road tax for your vehicle when entering the country on a motorway. About 40CHF (about £30 )for cars. Might be more for motorhomes

Don't know what kinda time limit you have..........should have added we had a couple days short of three weeks. We avoided motorways and toll roads, using good Michelin map and sat nav. We found pulling off after 6/7 hours driving and finding an aire /site worked for us......and I don't mean constant driving. We would drive into lovely villages and if we liked the look of it ......pull up and explore, sometimes deciding to stay the night. Italy was great .........drivers are definitely mad.....so felt right at home. Watch the trucks.....italian truckers know they have weight behind them and don't mind using it. I found it remarkable that we never saw a policeman/car while we on lake Garda.

We stayed in an Aires beside a lovely town called Sirmione. The aires is right on the lake shore, cafe toilets and showers are within metres. The lake itself is perfect for kids, I had to walk about 100m in before it was waist height. A bit of advice, there's small sharp stones under the water for a metre or 2 around the shoreline. Invest in a pair of those silicone swimming shoes that Aldi/Lidl do sometimes.

I think it's pretty close to gardaland. Loads of cycle tracks around and walks into Sirmione. There's a couple of other aires locally but this is by far the best. I think it was about €15/night this year.

Have a look at the link, it's about 100 metres in the direction of the aires sign!

Sirmione Aires Directions

We took the scenic route in from France, spent alot of it in 1st gear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_la_Lombarde

That's correct Dave and I believe for Italy it must be the Metal one and not the Plastic one.

All good tips, thanks everyone.
Bikes are def. part of our essential kit!

The main thing is you have booked the boat, how, when or if you get to Italy should remain open, after all you may find somewhere along the way that you don't want to leave! Using the aires will allow you to meander across France without the worry of toll fees on the motorways.

Thanks for that, name of campsite would be good but no panic, I imagine you will be busy over the next wee while with the new arrival!

This is an interesting topic.

I was wondering if anyone knows when the roads across the alps (France into Italy) are free of ice/snow.
I would NOT consider buying winter tyres so therefore can only go when the weather would be good enough to go without them.

Specifically I am wondering if the roads are good enough in March. I think some of the ski resorts are still open in March.
I am not interested in the skiing but more interested in making a break down to south of Italy - like where the sun and warm weather will be.
Thanks

Some camper tyres are mud and snow (M&S) check as you probably are running on them already,

Snow can fall at anytime up until May but they clear the roads quickly so you should have no problems and as MM said check your tyres they may be M/S mine are

Stoney, that's exactly the sort of stuff we want to hear! & it will never be enough! If you think of anything else please add it in!
We are both teachers - long hols but have to travel in peak season, such is life!
Gardaland is a must as we have a little girl, that's our excuse but in reality Bryan & I are roller coaster junkies!
Many thanks
Jill

Hi Guys,
Some food for thought. What about this route.

I've added in Le Mans after Cherbourg because you mentioned it in a earlier post. But if you weren't going to Le Mans the other option would be via Paris if that was of interest.

Anyway some highlights about this route. There is a lake with a beach not far from Troyes. There is both a campsite and an Aire within walking distance of the lake. The Aire is really just a car park so arrive with water and an empty loo. But this is a nice spot to stop and relax for a couple of days. If you get there on a sunny weekend expect the beach to be very busy. Aire is big so you should not have a problem getting a spot.

Moving east I selected Chaumont as it is on the Marne and likely to have an aire/campsite and cycling along the Marne. But I don't actually know the town. We stayed on a nice peaceful aire further north at Foncles. It was right on the Marne with cycle paths along the canal. We would like to have had more time to explore this area.

Next highlight would be the Vosges mountains and Gerardmer. Gerardmer is a tourist town on the lake with paid swimming access. Very central Aire/carpark in centre of the town. But also lots of campsites around.

Breisach is a nice little town and a good place to cross the Rhine. There is actually a campsite right in the middle of the Rhine and it is next door to the public swimming pool which has a good slide (or at least it did 12 or 13 years ago

Crossing the Rhine brings you into Freiberg and the Black Forrest region. [You would be quite close to Europa Park here but you probably wouldn't want to do that and Gardaland in one trip. But then again you do have 7 weeks!] This route also takes you through Titsee. I mention this as it is quite a lovely spot but it also has an indoor water park. Basically a big wave pool and about 17 slides. Its well worth an afternoon. There are some height restrictions but I think Ella would be ok for all bar about 4 of them.

Route next goes along by lake Konstanz. I cant really say too much about here as its too long since we were there and it was before we had the camper. But from there is it on to Bavaria and then the Tyrol region of Austria. King Ludwigs castle (the one Disney copied) is near Fussen and I personally loved this area and would love to visit again in the camper. Plenty to do in this region and if you want to try something like paragliding what better place than here. If I remember correctly we spent a few nights (in our little two man tent ) at Forggensee. The Tryol area is beautiful, real Sound of Music type territory, and wouldn't be complete without a trip to Innsbruck. There is a good campsite at Nattersee from which you can get a bus into Innsbruck. From there its a skip and a hop to Garda.

If it were me (even though I've done all of this before in different stages) I would do this general route either going or coming from Garda. If you did this on the way out you could do Switzerland and France on the way home.

Lots of other places that you could to deviate to along this general route.

Its not the shortest route to Garda but it does take you through some really nice places and all without paying a single toll Anyway hope that helps.

Jealous would love to be heading off...
Happy planning. Keep a log for us all so we can dream along with you as you go.

Our route this year was quite similar to the route suggested by Waterman. Into south Germany, seeing Freiburg, Titisee, Konstanz - then down to Italy via Switzerland.
Freiburg was a great spot - there's an Aire (called Stellplatz in Germany) about 15 minutes walk from the centre - and the city itself was hopping, University town, great to stroll around.
Titisee was mental when we arrived, so we found our way to Schlucsee and had a brilliant few days - there's a Stellplatz right by the lake with hookup, there's a waterpark across the road (€6 for the family!).
Then there were a few lovely spots down along lake Konstanz.
I can give you more info on the area if you think you might go that way.

Good route suggestion by Waterman

If you going to lakes district be sure to go to Lake Orto It a gem lovely campsite on the lake.

It's a great route. But just one point to clarify I only put in Le Mans at the start as the Hunters had said about going there first. Cherbourg to Paris and then Troyes would be the more logical route.

I'll put you down as second in the q

Dropbox all the way then you can post a link and no hassle about resizing etc.
Ask Ally when you see him.
We are just jealous that we can't tag along with you pair and Ella are you taking Polly?