For the past 6 summers we’ve driven from England to Central Italy and back again. The drive was always part of the holiday, and with 2 drivers to share the load it’s never felt like too much. This Easter we decided to try something rather further, partly to see how possible it was – and I’m happy to report that it all turned out fine. I imagine that few readers of this board will want/need to make this sort of journey, but I thought some of you might be interested in a brief account.

We’re in the middle of buying a house in Puglia, and there were several bulky things that we wanted to take there, so rather than the usual Ryanair Bari/Brindisi option, we decided to take the car. It’s a medium sized diesel estate (wagon): quite relaxing at motorway speeds. Given the distances, our route was motorway virtually all the way.

Day 1. Left Calais around 10. Lunch on the autoroute: Autogrill (becoming more frequent in France, though L’Arche is the main, and preferable, chain) Reims-Champagne. Arrive Baden Baden at 5. 421 miles in France/Germany. Check in to pre-booked hotel, wander through town, and up to the Caracalla Spa: the best way I know of de-stressing after a long drive (we discovered it last summer).

Day 2. South on the Autobahn (where the black Mercedes & BMWs don’t seem as aggressively tailgating as previously: has there been some sort of TV ad campaign?) and into Switzerland at Basel. Up though increasingly attractive alpine meadows (lunch at the Gotthard Raststätte) and into the Gotthard tunnel (no extra toll: it’s included in the Swiss Vignette). Into Italy, round Milan, and arrive at Parma (prebooked hotel) about 6. 400 miles.

Day 3. Leave 8.10. Breakfast on autostrada, Modena. Lunch just N of Pescara. Arrive Ostuni 5.00. 537 miles. Unpack, shop, meet friends in bar, drive to Brindisi airport to pick up Nicholas, back to Ostuni for pizza, bed.


And, after a week in Ostuni, the return journey. Decided to take one extra night for this.

Day 1. Left Ostuni at 9; take Nick to Bari airport (shining new terminal, opened just a couple of days before). Shop at the huge Auchan (just as Autogrills are invading France, so the hypermarket chain Auchan is moving into Italy) outside Bari (having your own car means lots of wine to take home!). Lunch just before leaving Puglia. Up to Civitanova Marche on autostrada, then across country on the SS77 to Foligno, stopping off at one of the many roadside stalls on the Colfiorito plain to buy a sack of potatoes (superb little red ones). Arrive Bevagna (prebooked) 5.45. 407 miles.

Day 2. Leave 9.20. Over the top of Trasimeno & join autostrada at Bettolle. Up past Florence (as ever, there was a coda around the Certosa exit: a minor shunt caused about an hour’s near-stationary non-progress). Across to Viareggio, up through (mostly under & over) Genoa, Alessandria, Asti, and our prebooked stop at Capriglio (5.15, 358 miles).

Day 3. Leave 9.25. Up Val d’Aosta and through Mont Blanc tunnel (an expensive €30); lunch at Valleiry L’Arche. Up through France to Reims, leave autoroute and along to Bourg et Comin, on the Aisne just S of Laon. 6.30, 579 miles.

Day 4. Leave 9.30. Arrive Calais 12.00, 187 miles.

Total journey mileage:Calais-Ostuni 1358. Ostuni-Calais 1525.
Tolls for the outward half: France €40, Switzerland €28.50, Italy €42.
Tolls for the return: Italy 63, tunnel 30, France 59.
Fuel for both halves: €336.

Jonathan

Excellent report Jonathan!! Can I put this on the site in the Italy Trip Planning section so we have a record of it? It is good to know costs and times.

What exit did you take for the Gotthard Raststatte and was it a good restaurant? I remember looking for a place for lunch on the north end of the Gottard tunnel once and going into some small town just off the autobahn for an excellent lunch.

On Day 3, from Parma to Ostuni, you must have bypassed Florence by taking the Autostada from Bologna to Pescara - is this a better way to go traffic-wise? There has always been a backup on the Autostrada around Florence every time we have driven there in the last few years.

Why did you buy a house in Ostuni in Puglia? I thought you had decided on Le Marche?

Great info Jonathan, thank you. And congratulations on the house! Have you been keeping this a secret?

Yes, Pauline, do put it on the main site if you think it's useful. One thing we noticed about driving in March/April rather than in high summer: far fewer traffic holdups. So those times of ours are quite quick (average cruising speed on autostrade was around 85mph).

Yes, we've used that Adriatic motorway quite a lot: it's good for le Marche and further south, of course. Not so good for Umbria, because you have to cross back over the mountains somewhere, and that's often slow. On high traffic days there are often holdups around Cesena and Cattolica, but it was fine on Easter Sat this year.

Ostuni: long story! Some of it is briefly explained here. And we'd always thought that if ever we did buy it would be in Marche/Umbria... We'll tell you more ( lots more!) next month.

Not really a secret Barb! Didn't you & I talk about it a bit over on Cristina's forum last November? Anyway, we go back in 3 weeks to complete what our agent ominously calls The Final Act at the notaio. Eek!!

Jonathan

quote:

Originally posted by Jonathan:
Anyway, we go back in 3 weeks to complete what our agent ominously calls The Final Act at the notaio. Eek!!

Jonathan

Jonathan, we'll just miss you. We arrive four weeks from Friday (well in Abruzzi just north of Pescara our first night then arriving in Ostuni on Saturday.

Sorry Jonathan, I guess my brain is fried! I've met so many new people over the past few months that I'm going to need a chart to keep them all straight. Jonathan and Phillipa...from ST/from England/bought house in Puglia/not yet retired...etc etc etc!

Seriously, I thought that this was still in the planning stages, and didn't realize that you had found a house and actually bought it! Complimenti! Benvenuti!

Jonathan's information is now on the site:
Slow Travel Italy - Instructions - Driving - Driving from England to Italy

We added the information for the hotels that he stayed in on the way.

Jonathan, I would still like a photo of you in your right drive car, in a left drive world.