Hi,
We've recently plunged from the caravan into the over 3.5 tonne motorhome world and we're off accross the channel in a couple of weeks...some advice would be appreciated!!
We've no set plans but the pencilled in route is Lille> Namur> Metz> Lucerne> Gottard tunnel> Round all the Italian lakes> day trip train to Venice from Garda> up to Innsbruck> Ulm?> home?
Many miles I know but I'm used to that! advice please on must sees...dont go there!....avoid that...etc etc... (the Austria toll tag thing bothers me for starters!)
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If you're going via Namur, I'd suggest having a look at Dinant, birthplace of Adolphe Sax. The town has a magnificent citadel reached by cable car, and is home to the Leffe beer museum.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Sproz, How long have you got for this trip please? When we last went that way tne first 500 miles took us ten days.
We didn't even know about Dinant which sounds interesting, but stopped to look at Luxembourg, Nancy, Strasbourg, Colmar, several wine producers, the Mulhouse museums, and Lake Lucerne. Do you have that sort of time?
Hi..we've only got 2 weeks! Was going to hammer down to Lucerne, spend time around Italian lakes as never been there and now we're thinking mooching back along the med coast past St Tropez to get some sun and beach! Thought this may be better than Austrian toll tags and more mountains. I've done the med coast to home in a hard 2 days with a caravan so was going to allow an easier 3 days each way plus any extra nights in Lucerne, Italy etc.
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Ambitious ! We regularly did Provence in two weeks - two days there for the 600 miles from Caen, two days back, and ten days around Avignon, Nimes, St Remy and Apt - but we did't attempt Lucerne, the Italian lakes and St Tropez in the same fortnight. You motorhomers are so different !
Don,t hammer on down too fast in France as they now send you the speeding ticket to your home and its 45 euros. As you don't need sites just take your time and enjoy France and just stop when you have had enough driving,
To get down to south of France in two days you possibly used the page this will cost more if over 3,500 kg.
If you go to Austria which is really beautiful go along the road from the black forest into Austria then up to Innsbruck you don't need a vignette if you don't use the motorways. One plus for Austria compared to other counties the fuel is cheap and if you go go via Luxembourg which is very cheap always worth a small detour to fill up in Luxembourg.
I know motorhomers like nothing better than driving all day and sleeping under a motorway bridge at night (tongue in cheek folks, well a bit anyway ) but even taking that into account it seems ..... ambituous.
You could spend a week (or 2) on Garda alone, the same on Como, plus a few days on Maggiore, a few in Venice, a few more in Verona, maybe Milan. It would take me at least a month to see the Italian Lakes properly, so to do them all plus the med in 2 weeks ? Mmmmm. Personally I would take the quickest route to Garda and stay there until I got bored of the area, rather than try to see everywhere in 2 weeks. Each to their own of course.
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The idea of the MH was to tour rather than stay in one place as we did with the caravan, so 2 nights max before moving on! The interesting bits for me are the Italian lakes as never done that area...however nothing booked and leaving Friday eve! So who know where we'll end up!
I too would wait and see what the weather is going to be like. We were headed for Italy one year, the forecast was awful, so at the bottom of the Rhone Valley we turned right instead of left and went to Spain. It was a wise move as Italy was flooded, there were landslips and rock falls, villages were inundated and cars washed away. We were sitting in the sunshine in Spain!
I think doing all that in two weeks you'll see not much except lots of tarmac ... but, I know people who love the 'I've been there' approach and thundering around Europe.
It can be research for a later holiday where you enjoy and discover an area that you liked at first/brief glance.
As to what to see ... so much depends on what you like to see ... first stop anywhere should be the tourist info centre ... browse their leaflets etc, then pick and choose.
Venice in a day, I couldn't begin to suggest ... just mooch around, there's so much to see ... three days minimum! But a taster in a day will still be worthwhile.
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