Hello everyone......this will be our second trip to France and my FIRST trip to PARIS (YAAY!!!!!). We've got two days after Paris before we have to be at a convention in Milan and we thought we'd like to drive instead of fly.

Has anyone done this? In two days? If so, can you share your experiences?

I'm in the last phase of the planning stages as we're leaving September 23rd...and because I'm conflicted about this one portion I've left it for last!

SOS! and many thanks.......

Well, you have like 400 miles from Milan to Paris...so I think you can do it in two days, but it will be Touhg! If you pick a flight it wil take only 48 minutes, so i will consider a flight! Good luck and enjoy Paris!

I was hoping someone with some experience would jump in and help you Donna. I've never driven between Paris and Italy. I did a quick look at Via Michelin and they suggested a route through Dijon, Annecy and over to Geneva and then over the alps into Milan. It is about 800 km and 8 hours on motorways but it looks to be pretty scenic. Annecy or Geneva might make a nice half way stop.

I think someone has asked about driving from Paris to Italy before. I'll see if I can find the previous thread.

Any other suggestion?

Hi Donna Marie--

I haven't done this exact trip, but I've done portions of it. My first instinct was that it was too long/far. I checked www.viamichelin.com, and it's 852 km, 8 hours and 14 minutes-- and that's assuming no problems, no stops etc. Most of the trip would be on the autoroute, but with tolls of 95 euro. I'd plan on another 2 hours.

The route goes through some interesting places, so you could potentially stop for two nights in Beaune and explore Burgundy or maybe somewhere near Lake Geneva (Annecy?) or in the Alps. But you will still be doing a lot of driving and just looking out the window.

I wondered instead if you would want to take the train from Paris to someplace interesting and spend two nights there, then take another train onto Milan. You would have a more relaxing time and perhaps more time to spend somewhere-- and with gas, tolls and car rentals, it might be cheaper to go by train too.

Anyone else have any ideas for Donna Marie?

Kathy

Here is a thread with a couple of ideas about driving from Paris to Milan. . One item to keep in mind is I've heard it is expensive to drop off a car in a different country. I would recommend comparing the car rental costs.

We have never driven this route but we have taken the trains twice before from Paris to Milan. We took the TGV to Geneva (only because we wanted to visit a cousin there) for a couple of nights and then another train to Milan. The train rides were pretty scenic (is that a word) in the spring.

But if I have to do it again without having to visit the cousin, I would stop somewhere else either in France or Switzerland.

Beautiful lakeside Annecy makes for a great stop in between.

We usually take longer than 2 days to drive to Italy because we so much enjoy "pottering" through France. However, on our last trip we did drive from Calais to Milan (a greater distance than Paris to Milan) in exactly 48 hours. It was an enjoyable drive and we had plenty of time for a couple of sight-seeing stops along the way.

Because it was winter we drove through one of the tunnels under the Alps (the St Gotthard). However, in September I would devote more time to driving and take a more scenic route through the alps going over at least one of the high passes. If you enjoy mountain driving you could, for example, take a wonderful route over the Susten Pass, the Oberalp Pass and the Lukmanier Pass. This would, of course, reduce the amount of time left for sight-seeing stops in France!

I have often driven from Paris to Italy. It takes me 15 hours to drive from Paris to Assisi, Italy but that is stopping only for bathroom breaks and servicing the car.

It is a relatively easy drive with French roads being quite nice - probably the best I've driven on in the European countries I have visited.

I have also driven the route from Venice across Italy to Paris. It also was quite good - there was a stop at the tunnel for police/security checks which you don't have coming through Genova.

So, two days is more than enough time for the driving portion.

Thank you so much, everyone! Your recommendations and suggestions are very much appreciated.

I think we've decided to spend a few days in the Loire Valley and then fly from Orly to Milan.....we'll save the drive for another time when we have more days to devote.....