Quickest route to Tuscany

[Tronic]

Hi,
My wife and I are travelling to Tuscany end of September from Newcastle upon Tyne to ride our vintage road bikes in a Eroica bike event 1st October? Due to work commitments we need to Tailor The trip for maximum efficiency. We only have 10 days maximum. We'll be staying near Siena for 3 nights (campsite Colverdale) Can anyone suggest best routes for driving best avoiding heavy roadworks or bad tunnel delays I've looked on previous threads but all seem a bit out of date.

Thank you,

Rob

 

[WelshGas]

Hi,
My wife and I are travelling to Tuscany end of September from Newcastle upon Tyne to ride our vintage road bikes in a Eroica bike event 1st October? Due to work commitments we need to Tailor The trip for maximum efficiency. We only have 10 days maximum. We'll be staying near Siena for 3 nights (campsite Colverdale) Can anyone suggest best routes for driving best avoiding heavy roadworks or bad tunnel delays I've looked on previous threads but all seem a bit out of date.

Thank you,

Rob

Last year we went to Florence for a wedding. We went Euroshuttle, 1st crossing, Strasbourg, South Germany, Switzerland and onto Italy. My SatNav diverted us over the Alps because of Tunnel delays. Only added 15 mins to ETA if we had taken the tunnel without any traffic delays. Took 2.5 days and we stayed at campsites in Germany and Italian lakes so slight diversions from route to campsites. Not at all arduous regarding driving.
You need a Vignette for Switzerland and we used Autoroutes . we also had Tags for France and Italy.
Doing same trip in reverse now. Down through the Ardeche across into Italy and back through Switzerland.

 

[sidepod]

Calais, Belguim, Luxembourg, Switzerland, St Gothard, around the top of Milan, Firenze.

Cheap fuel in Lux/CH. almost no tolls apart from vignette.

 

[Tronic]

Thanks for the tips, from Newcastle I'm thinking ferry from Tynemouth to Amsterdam is better that driving all the way to Folkstone for euro shuttle. From my maps it appears less distance also from Amsterdam.

 

[JohnnyP]

Thanks for the tips, from Newcastle I'm thinking ferry from Tynemouth to Amsterdam is better that driving all the way to Folkstone for euro shuttle. From my maps it appears less distance also from Amsterdam.

The Ncle to Amsterdam crossing is approx 24hrs

 

[sidepod]

The Ncle to Amsterdam crossing is approx 24hrs

24hrs on a ferry? I'd rather drill my own teeth!!

 

[hirsty]

It's too far to drive enjoyably in two-days IMO, but three days (two overnight stays) on the way down feels a bit extravagant. 10 days total isn't too tight though, it can be done in 7 if you crack on. I'd say sleep in France the first night & then either side of the Swiss / Italian border the next, and then you're in strike range on Day Three.

- been on the teatime Hull-Zeebrugge ferry overnight before & followed the above routes down through Belgium / Luxembourg / Strasbourg & entered into Switzerland for the night via Basel. It's helpful for the project to get kicked off the ferry first thing in the morning on continental time with a full-English onboard ...

- caught the Tunnel around mid-day and got as far down as Dijon before stopping on Day One, but you're 90-mins north of us & that'd be a hard day for you.

- not driven the Italian coastal route down past Genoa myself, but was told it's quite dull with a lot of tunnels.

- as above, preorder your Swiss vignette online which saves queuing to get one at the border. We forgot last year & found one to buy at a petrol station (after wandering in from France on a B-road) but not optimal

 

[Teejay]

The Ncle to Amsterdam crossing is approx 24hrs

You sail around 17:30 from North Shields and arrive at Ijmuiden, Netherlands at around 10.00 the next day. So you travel overnight.

This will probably be the only way that I'll be venturing into mainland Europe.

 

[Tronic]

Great advice thanks. Thinking is, we'll be fresh off ferry ready for a full day's driving- understand it's an over nighter but we can wrap up from work then go straight to ferry. Nights kip ready for the off. We'll deffo get the vignette on-line.
I can smell the Cyprus trees already.

 

[Meoncoast]

now think how to do it in an electric Cali

 

[bvddobb]

now think how to do it in an electric Cali

Just like in a Tesla/ you can drive a Tesla from Oslo to Rome, just using Tesla's own quick recharging stations on the road.


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

 

[WelshGas]

Just like in a Tesla/ you can drive a Tesla from Oslo to Rome, just using Tesla's own quick recharging stations on the road.


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

And if you don't want to use the Autobahn and Autoroutes?, or go to Albania?

 

[hirsty]

How about sticking to helping the OP? - plenty of other threads on this one ...

 

[briwy]

I agree about the ferry from Newcastle. If we lived up there it would definitely be the way to go. Driving from the north to Dover/Folkestone is PITA at the best of times. Must be about 350 miles from Newcastle to Folkestone so saving roughly 700 miles as well. Possibly slightly more over there but much less hassle, and the diesel if cheaper.

 

[briwy]

now think how to do it in an electric Cali

Trailer full of batteries??

 

[Roger Donoghue]

Calais, Belguim, Luxembourg, Switzerland, St Gothard, around the top of Milan, Firenze.

Cheap fuel in Lux/CH. almost no tolls apart from vignette.

Exactly what we did - stopping overnight in Strasbourg - which is a super place, and ideally located.

Day 1 to Strasbourg - though starting from Newcastle adds a whack on it!
Day 2 to onto iItalian destination, though we stopped in the lakes as we were in no hurry and wanted to see Lago de Magiore

1 minor toll and the vignette, which you buy at the border crossing.

Bit of a mission for 10 days in total imho.

 

[jts46]

@Tronic
You must also visit Sienna, beau. city

 

[Tronic]

Ok here's my plan
1.NCL-Amsterdam ferry arrive 09:30
2.Pfaffenheim ( just south of Colmar) France passion site (Alsace winery)
3.Lake Lugano
4/5/6/7 Siena
8 Lake Lucerne
9/10 Trittenheim (Mosel valley)
Catching ferry 17:30 on day 10.
I'll post pics and summary on my return

 

[WelshGas]

How about sticking to helping the OP? - plenty of other threads on this one ...

Already have, 1st reply.

 

[alter]

Per visitare Siena già due giorni sono abbastanza ...... nel terzo giorno andare a San Giminiano !!, città molto caratteristica e meno affollata! Oppure vicino a Siena prendere la strada panoramica da Torrinieri a Asciano, uno spettacolo, poi in pochi chilometri a Chiusure e l'area dei Crete Senesi, non perdete queste viste molto diverse dal resto della Toscana!