Advice Please (1 Viewer)

[Jansteve]

Hi we live in SW France.
We are hopefully driving to Croatia in September.
We are trying to sort out a route from France into Italy then Croatia.
Has anyone got any advice on driving in Italy, any route ideas and also any good aires in Italy?
We hope to avoid toll roads as much as possibe.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks.

 

[pappajohn]

I believe even if you use just one toll you still need to buy a vignette.

So, you may as well use tolls to get your money's worth.

 

[Jansteve]

THanks for that, will look into how to get a vignette.
Has anyone stayed on Italian aires?

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[pappajohn]

Unless im mistaken you can buy vignettes at service/fuel stations just before and after the Italian border and within the country if you drove in on normal roads..

Use tolls without one will result in heavy fines.

 

[Mel]

I did not know Italy had a vignette.
I thought it was just pay on the motorway like France

It also depends where in France to where in Italy for the best Route.

Mel

 

[magicsurfbus]

If there's vignettes in Italy that's a recent development - in late 2013 it was toll booths, like France.

Many Italian aires are privately run, like campsite MH compounds or MH only sites. Others tend to be overnight tolerant parking areas. We've stayed on a few (Lucca, San Gimignano, Siena, Torbole). In Sorrento the campsite costs the same as the aire and is probably quieter - the provision varies more widely than in France, as Italians are much more adept at extracting the tourist Euro. Try the CCI website for info and POIs.

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[Jansteve]

HI i was probably looking at a route from Grenoble way, Torino up to Trieste then down to Croatia.
Thanks for the info magicsurfbus.
Jan

 

[Baycott]

I am a bit confused here as, according to this website, the charges in Italy are collected at booths.
http://www.dalnicni-znamky.com/en/highway-toll-italy.html

 

[Jansteve]

I have just googled toll roads in italy and it looks like you do not need a vignette.
Still need some info on aires though!!

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[magicsurfbus]

HI i was probably looking at a route from Grenoble way, Torino up to Trieste..

Montgenevre (on the French/Italian border) has a large aire just outside the village with winterised facilities to stop grey water becoming grey ice in winter time. Very picturesque alpine drive from Grenoble with cols, steep drops and hairpin bends in places - no long tunnels, so no tunnel tolls. The roads on the Italian side were improved for a recent winter Olympics, so the journey into N Italy is more straightforward.

 

[Mel]

I found the aires in Northern Italy where very crowded could hardly open the door.
Too tight and not my idea of motorhoming.
No idea in the South only been with a bus/truck

Mel

 

[parknride]

Just come from italy about 1 week ago, paid tolls at the booths. Bought the vignette at the Italy/Swiss border for Switzerland cost 40 CHF, paid with credit card and was charged £27.53 (rate 1.4529 saga card) Well worth it for travelling round switzerland.

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[Wildbill]

just pay a booth when traveling in Italy the veno is fantastic when you get out into the rural arias as nearly every farm has a vineyard
have had some of the best wines I have ever tasted Frome the most unlikely places
bill

 

[2657]

We drove to Croatia from S. Brittanyin 2009 via Le Bourg-d'Oisans, Col de Lautaret and Briancon with the 5'er. Interesting road! bit twisty, some nice steep hairpins and a fairly narrow tunnel ( 2 vans OK but not 2 HGV's).

There is a weight limit on the road so in theory there should be no heavy LGV's. Coaches are another matter and the only hairy moment was when a coach being driven as coaches are came at speed on the wrong side of the road round a blind bend, but no real problems though.

We had originally planned on using the Frejus tunnel but the 5'er is class 4 and would have cost about €250!!

We joined the autoroute as soon as possible and then stopped on a site outside Venice.

Pics are at the top of the Col de Lautaret

 

[Poohbear]

You don't need a vignette in Italy, but you do in Switzerland. Don't buy it at the border though because you'll get ripped off. Buy it at the services before you reach the border.

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[JeanLuc]

Loads of aires in Italy (called aree di sosta, or 'sostas' for short). If you want a book we have found Camperstop Europe to be the best all-rounder listing camper stops throughout the continent.
I would suggest you use the motorways (autostrada) in Italy for covering any significant distance as they are not expensive and the quality of many (A!!!) roads is very poor. It often takes ages trying to keep off motorways and the bone-jarring from the poor surfaces on normal roads can be off-putting. Also, in Northern Italy (from around Turin down to Bologna) last year, we were amazed at the number of (mainly African origin) young women offering themselves at the sides of normal roads. Clearly they were controlled by pimps but on some stretches there was a woman every few hundred metres. We found this a bit disturbing and it was not what we went to Italy to see. So, I recommend motorways and wish we had used them more last year. As has been said, pay at toll booths - cash or card.

 

[BFM14]

On our way back from Italy. We found that the toll cost in Italy was very reasonable compared with France. Tried to use the A roads, but the extra cost of fuel of travelling on them, and the state of the roads which can be very poor, soon made it apparent that the use of the motorways wasn't that expensive after all.