Road Trip
 

When the scooby comes we are looking at going on a road trip to Venice & Rome. Does anyone have nice routes from here to there? Going through France and into Italy or through Switzerland? Will be looking at going mid/end of June.

Best to turn left in France and head down through Belgium, Luxembourg (V cheap fuel) and through Germany to Austria via Fussen and then to Italy on A22 south of Innsbruck which practically takes you down to Venice either across country from Trento or via Verona on the E70.

Benefits - no tolls in France or Switzerland (you would need the equivalent of an annual motorway tax IIRC and, whilst not as expensive as here, the principle of buying an annual tax for a few days hurts - at least it does me). You need similar in Austria but it is available in smaller time periods and what you buy will be determined by your timetable and of course the final benefit is the Autobahn but if your car is going to be new you might want an oil change before giving it some.

Beware the A22 entering Italy because in busy times it can be horrendous. eg one Saturday in holiday season a 3 hour journey took us 8!! :sleep: I suggest you keep an eye on Google maps with traffic in the weeks leading up for the times you anticipate.

Okay thanks. The car's not new but new to me. It'll have a new cambelt kit and service etc before we go. So we need to buy motorway tax for France, Switzerland and Austria?

You don't buy tax for France, the motorways have tolls which add up to quite a bit if heading down towards Switzerland. If you follow my advice, you also do not need anything for Switzerland.

You can buy an Austrian 10 day "Vignette" as you enter the country generally at fuel stations - best to fill up in Austria as cheaper than Germany but be prepared for queues as the Germans cross the border to fill up cheaply. If you cross the border on a motorway, there are generally places to buy them at the border.

There are websites to check the specifics including calculators for French tolls based on your actual route.

If you do want to go through Switzerland, it's still best, in my opinion, to go down through Belgium and Luxembourg and head south out of Luxembourg towards Strasbourg.

Alsace is a beautiful area for a stop over about a day's comfortable travelling from Calais.

Sounds like you are new to continental travel so be aware that it's illegal for any speed camera location facility/app whilst in France. I use Waze, the navigation app, which warns you when entering a speed enforcement area which is think is legal because there are road signs which give you the same info but maybe not quite as accurate. :D

Oh, and don't forget to drive on the right :top:

Be aware that the octane that you need for your car may not be available eg 98 ron max in France; Shell nitro there is only 98.

If going out of season, why not see more and go OFF motorways?

In France there is a network of roads known as "Routes Bis", or "Itineraires Bis", signed up with green, or yellow arrows. You don't need to know the next town, just look for the arrow.

Thanks I have driven to Holland quite a few times but this will be my first drive to Italy yes. I will look into all the advice.

Ah, but conversely, 100 is available in Germany and, I think, Austria and some areas even have 102 at some stations – can’t remember names though but it tends to be visible on the totem signs.

Also, fuel in Italy is horrendously expensive. Fill up before the border but not too close as prices rise.

French fuel is generally rubbish and, out in the sticks, you may find SUL hard to find in Italy so best take a bottle or two of booster.

The French are slowly phasing out 98 octane. It's still available, but might be awaiting stocks in some places, but they have flagged up that they intend to do away with it.

In the sticks in France, fuel is 20-25c LESS than on motorways. I tend to look out for Total Extra service stations which have the Total sign but in brown on white. I've been paying around €1.005 per litre for diesel there, €1.05 in my area at supermarkets, €1.022 if I could be bothered to travel 20 miles and €1.18-€1.20 on motorways.

Petrol is around €0.25c per litre dearer.

Similar subject is already being discussed here.

https://www.scoobynet.com/other-marq...l#post11820315

I'm so glad this has been asked. The missus bought me tickets to the F1 in Austria and she won't fly so I'm looking at hiring a car and driving as it'll cost Approx £350 just in fuel to get there and back in the Scoob.