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Touring to Lake Garda


benson

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My wife and I are recently retired and have swapped our caravan for a motorhome. We visited France every year in the caravan and remained static for 2 weeks. Now we have the motorhome and more time we want to tour Europe more and thought a good first trip would be to Lake Garda as we have never been to Italy. We shall be crossing to Dunkerque and would be grateful for any advice you can give on (1) the route to take to Italy (2) How many miles per day would be a reasonable target. (3) Any suitable sites that use Camping Cheques preferably - San Fresesco is one - any experience of this particular site. (4) As our first foray any good advice would be welcome. B-)
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I think the most direct route to Lake Garda is down through Germany and Austria and over the Fern and Brenner passes. We have done it with a caravan so it should not present any problems for a motorhome. The Brenner route is also very spectacular but has the advantage of not been too steep. It drops you down on the eastern side of the lake.

 

David

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I second David's comments. We used this route earlier this month and saved a lot of money on tolls! We used the route through Luxembourg and Switzerland last year, entering Italy for our first visit via the Gotthard Tunnel. The downside for us last year was the motorway around Milan. David's route is more "friendly".

 

We managed to travel up to 420 per day on the way back from Pisa, but the more comfortable mileage for us is really between 250 and 350 miles per day. (We do have only 2 weeks for our holidays in the summer though) There is so much to see that the miles just slip by, with far less traffic on the motorways than in this country.

 

We used Camping Cheques for 2 years and would recommend Bella Italia - a very big site, but we were within yards of the Lake Garda shore in a very quiet area, not sure if they allow dogs though, thinking about it..... This year we used the ACSI card and sites and found there was a lot more choice - and no payments up front.

 

Whatever you decide, enjoy - we certainly did.

 

B-) B-)

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Hi Catinou,

 

thanks for the advice. We have 3 weeks break so can take a little while to get there - I thought about 200 miles per day so compared to your driving that should not pose a problem! I have always used caravan club sites for static stays so camping cheques are a new thing for us. Is the ACSI scheme the same as I have not heard of it before and it seems you have found it beneficial? I have not ordered the cheques yet so I may look at the ACSI details before making a decision.

By the way, were you able to fit a visit in to Venice? Its a city we would love to visit and it seems like a good idea to go whilst in the area.

Once again, thanks for your reply.

 

Benson

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Hi Benson,

 

3 weeks will be really good (compared to our 2 weeks) - we "discovered" the ACSI site scheme from a thread on this forum. Try this site http://www.vicarious-shop.co.uk/view_product.php?c_id=16&sc_id=&p_id=62 We certainly saved a lot on our latest trip - plus, the last site we were given tokens for the showers every day because we had the card whilst others were paying for theirs. :-)

 

We did manage to get to Venice - we stayed on a site in the Dolomites, near Trento and caught a train into Venice - I think it cost something like £22 for 2 (return), for a journey of approximatel 100 kilometres :-D It made a lovely day out. When we visited Florence (Firenze) from the next site we caught the bus from the site entrance for a 20 Kilometre journey, from the 3rd site we drove in our towed Smart car to Pisa and parked about 100 metres from the entrance to the tower square - 2 euros per hour parking - I want to go again!!!!

 

Shopping near Lake Gard is good too - Penny markets (the name not the price) are cheap and plentiful and near Verona there is a huge Auchan supermarket (you can see it from the main motorway if you travel via Austrian route) - VERY cheap, with fuel EXTREMELY cheap. You can catch a train from Peschiera (within walking distance of Bella Italia) to Verona and Venice too. You will love Italy B-)

 

Enjoy, whatever you decide,

Jenny

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Hi Jenny

 

thanks ever so much for the detailed reply it really has inspired us and we cannot wait to go especially to Venice which we have always promised ourselves to visit! Bella Italia has been mentioned twice on this forum recently, it seems like a good choice so we will probably give it a twirl. Sorry to be a nuisance, but I would be grateful for your comments on the journey down. We are going via Norfolk Line to Dunkerque (if you are caravan club members they are doing £38 return for the m/home + 2 which is a fantastic offer). We have looked at going through Belgium,Luxembourg,Germany,Switzerland, then to Lake Garda,calling at some nice sites(hopefully)on the way. What route do you take and can you recommend any sites please?

 

Regards Benson (lol)

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Hi Benson,

 

Glad to be of use. The route you mention is the one we took last year. We purchased the Swiss vignette on line before we went - it gives cover to travel on the Swiss motorways for a year - cheaper option is to buy one for a shorter time at the border, or service station before the border, unless you intend using it again before the end of January (the year is a calendar one so best time to buy is January if you want to re use it.) The vignette also covers all tunnels - & there are a lot - including the Gothard tunnel.

 

No tolls to pay in Belgium and Luxembourg, but the French ones soon add up. Fuel is cheaper in Belgium than in France and very much cheaper in Luxembourg. The biggest drawback to this route, in our opinion, is the motorway near Milan - a major route for all traffic between the East & West coasts of N. Italy. Very busy with masses of lorries.

 

The route we took this year was our first time through Germany and we preferred it as there were no tolls to pay untill we reached Innsbruck.

 

Roughly: Dunkerque, Antwerp, Aachen, Koln, Koblenz, Ludwigshaffen, Munchen, Innsbruck. Part of the journey in Austria takes you through some very pretty villages as the motorway link isn't finished yet.

 

We bought a 7 day permit for Austrian motorways in each direction ( we were there for 10 days ) at a cost of 7.70 euros each, with a further 8 euros for the toll at Innsbruck. It is then a straight route down the motorway towards Verona - all exits to Lake Garda are very clearly marked - showing whether the road leads to the North or South of the Lake , probably best to go off at the Verona exit to give a straight run towards Peschiera.

 

This year we stayed at a German motorway service station on the way down as we didn't want to leave the motorway - we had an appointment in Italy on the Monday morning so only had 2 days to get there. On the way back we stayed at a lovely site in Austria just before the German border but it was very small and quite difficult to find at night!

 

Last year we stopped at 2 different sites in Belgium (one going down and the other coming back home) and, although the people were very pleasant, both the sites were ones we couldn't recommend. If you take the route through Switzerland there is an excellent site - Seeland - at Lake Sempach, which is only about 3 miles off the motorway, with a cheap petrol station en route and very clearly signed. A lovely little village and we managed to visit Lucerne whilst there. Very clean with excellent facilities, electric, loads of room and very nice people. We used camping cheques there too so it was cheap.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jenny B-)

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Hi Jenny

 

once again, thank you very much for the mine of information,it will be very useful when we eventually hit the road! You mentioned using camping cheques which we were considering through the Caravan Club, but I have also ordered the 2009 ACSI carnet so that we have a wider choice of sites to visit. Do you use both, or do you rely on just the one, and have you found any problems with getting on to sites? We are traveling from mid-June until 5th July so presumably this will be considered the low season as far as the continental holidays are concerned? If you are going again next year, let us know, it would be nice to meet up and compare notes ( and probably pick your brain again!!) and share a bottle of vino.

 

Kind regards

 

Benson :->

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benson - 2008-10-06 11:19 AM

 

You mentioned using camping cheques which we were considering through the Caravan Club, but I have also ordered the 2009 ACSI carnet so that we have a wider choice of sites to visit. Do you use both, or do you rely on just the one, and have you found any problems with getting on to sites? We are traveling from mid-June until 5th July so presumably this will be considered the low season as far as the continental holidays are concerned?

Kind regards

 

Benson :->

 

Benson

 

We always use a mix of Camping Cheques and the ACSI Card as we have found in Germany the the ACSI Card has more campsites than Camping Cheques. You should be OK at the times you state, it will start to ger busy from early July.

 

David

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Hi Benson,

 

Yes, we use camping cheques and ACSI - partly because we had 5 or 6 cheques left on our card from last year, so we will definitely add some more so we have the best of both worlds next year. We had problems (very small and difficult access for our size MH) in Belgium - 2 sites - and also on one site near Pisa - we just reversed out and went to one 100 yards away. We also found that it was easier for us this year to not book sites. Last year we booked every one but it meant sticking to a fairly rigid timetable - this year was much more relaxed, we just went when we felt like it......B-)

 

My husband would like to go to Le Carmargue in S. France next year as we were there on a canal holiday a few years ago and would like to see more of the area, but I still favour Italy - can't get enough of it! B-) We usually take our main holiday at the beginning of September as we go away with the grandchildren (& their Mum & Dad) earlier in the year - non MH.

 

We will be at the NEC on the last Saturday & Sunday (18th / 19th) later this month - if you are about then we will be on the C & C site. :-D

 

Jenny

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Hi Jenny

 

nice to hear from you again and thanks for the tips on camping cheques/ACSI. We will be in Cornwall unfortunately during the NEC period (must be mad with the weather at present) but it will be a break. As you know we are new to M/H but took 2 grandchildren to the CC site at Longleat to try it out a couple of weekends ago - the weather was great! We have a Swift 590RS which we really took to as a layout which would suit us best as it is a 5 berth and ideal for taking the siblings away as well as for going solo. The length is a reasonable 6.3 metres which presumably will fit into most sites we come across on the continent?

Sorry we can't meet up at the NEC but keep in touch!

 

Benson

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Hi David,

 

thanks for the info. I see you have a Kia Sorrento - what a lovely tow car! We also had one before swapping over to the MH and we were very sorry to see it go. When you were in Germany did you travel down the Rhine? We went there a couple of years ago and stayed at a very good site right alongside the river and just a short 5 minute walk each evening to the town (Rudesheim) where the live entertainment in the beer cellars was excellent. I love that part of Germany and the river trips are very good value for money.

 

Regards Benson

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benson - 2008-10-07 11:51 AM

 

Hi David,

 

thanks for the info. I see you have a Kia Sorrento - what a lovely tow car! We also had one before swapping over to the MH and we were very sorry to see it go. When you were in Germany did you travel down the Rhine? We went there a couple of years ago and stayed at a very good site right alongside the river and just a short 5 minute walk each evening to the town (Rudesheim) where the live entertainment in the beer cellars was excellent. I love that part of Germany and the river trips are very good value for money.

 

Regards Benson

 

Hi Benson

 

We have stayed by the side of the Rhine or nearby several times. It sounds as though we have stay at the same site in Rudesheim. This year we stayed in the Rhine Gorge near Boppard for a few days but found the trains on either side of the river very noisy but loved the river traffic. We have also stayed here http://www.davidklyne.plus.com/Camping_Schinderhannes.htm which is not far from St Goar but I wondered whether you might find it useful en route to Italy. It has a special area for overnighters and a good restaurant!

 

David

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