Calais to Malcesine Routes

June should be fine as Bavarian holiday finishes 1 June 2024.  June would be my preferred month to enjoy the lighter evenings.  Going out of season it could be worth you looking at joining ACSI.  I went over the St Gothard pass in 1956 just remember it being awe inspiring - I wasn't driving!!!!

The Italian lakes are very popular with Germans so try to avoid their school holidays (which unfortunately vary with different regions in Germany). We often visited Maggiore in June and it is a great time of year.

The timing for our own visits out there was governed by what we wanted to see when the opera season opened in the open air Roman arena in Verona. We always bought cheap tickets a day or so in advance and sat up high on the stone seats with the raucous crowd. The 2024 programme is already on line - it starts on 8 June and runs for a couple of months. I must admit we spent more time in Verona than by the lake - and then went on to Venice.

Hi, Nice to see such good responses-Italy clearly has a pull for many of us!

As said June is a good time to make the most of your time there, and Google maps shows a time difference of just two hours for non toll route.

I believe that there is a different system, than the vignette, for larger MH in Switzerland so a circular route could be viable however, with three weeks you may prefer to just get there as quickly as possible and enjoy it.

It is of course a bit of a lottery-we have been held up at Gotthard, one year the road was closed due to a rock fall, and last year the route via the Brenner and A8 in Germany was diabolical, but that was July.

Oh, and Hi to Commeyras-sadly all the Nobile is long gone!

We have experienced the opera, (Carmen), at Verona many years ago. It was a very hot evening and we were very glad of the cushions being handed out to sit on as you could have fried eggs on those steps. It was a great experience!

Would be interested to know where you stayed  when you went to Venice?

We too watched Carmen from the stone steps many years ago but unfortunately we had a thunderstorm part way through the performance and the stone steps soon became waterfalls. Subsequently we always bought tickets in the front stalls and where we could shelter in the tunnels when it rained.

We always use camping Al Bateo in Punta Sabbione when we visit Venice. It’s a short walk to the water bus terminal from the site. If you like opera, La Fenice opera house in Venice is an amazing building, We saw La Traviata last month - highly recommended.

Thanks for the reply. As a fellow motorhomer I would be interested in your preferred route from Calais (or Eurotunnel) to northern Italy.

Would be interested to know where you stayed when you went to Venice?

Camping Fusina is very well placed and ferry to Venice is next to site.

Would be interested to know where you stayed when you went to Venice?

It depends if you are willing to go around the Lagoon to Punta Sabbioni which if you are tight for time you might be better staying on the Mestre side of the Lagoon and use the site mentioned by Allan. We have visited Venice 4 times with our then caravan. I don't know the site mentioned by Dave Nicholson but the one we used three times out of four was this one http://www.davidklyne.co.uk/camping_miramare.html which is also a short distance from the ferry which goes into St Marks which in my view is the only way to arrive in Venice? On one of our visits to Venice we stayed at a site at Ca Savio, called Ca Savio!!! Nothing really wrong with the site but it is not as convenient as those near the ferry as its a bus ride away, albeit a good service.

David

We have two ‘preferred’ routes to northern Italy. The first is Calais (Eurotunnel) to Belgium (south of Brussels via Namur) to Luxembourg (Remich) then Saabrucken, Stuttgart and Ulm (via A8) then Fussen, Imst (Fern Pass), Innsbruck. Brenner auto route towards Bressanone (Brixon) but we leave the auto route before Bressanone onto the SS49 to Dobbiaco. Then the SS51 through Cortina de Ampezzo to Conegliano where we pick up the A28 to Portogruaro. We’re always heading for Bibione which is NE Italy equidistant from Venice and Trieste.

The alternative route and quickest one, but one that’s not as scenic in our opinion, is from Remich back into France then Basel, Gottard Tunnel (try not to use the tunnel at the weekend) down to Milan then the A4 to Portogruaro. The motorway around Milan is always busy and it’s a bit of a lottery as to how long the delays are. The A4 is one of the busiest motorways in Europe but providing there are no accidents the traffic moves quickly and much of it is three lanes now.

As DK has said, Punta Sabbione is on the eastern side of Venice so not ideal if you’re coming from the south or south east towards Venice. Al Bateo is next door to Camping Miramare and is more suitable for motorhomes unless you have a small/medium sized caravan or a motor-mover.

Where are you planning to go to in norther Italy?