Driving from UK to Italy and back in 3 weeks?

Dave!

Hey guys,

I'm finding it difficult to decide what I want to do for a summer holiday! There are a few areas of central Europe that I really want to see (Switzerland, N.Italy, bit of Austria), and I want to have as much independence as possible while I'm there. I guess ideally I'd like to fly to one of the cities, rent a car, drive around that area, then fly back home. However car rentals seem to be quite expensive, about 600 quid at least from what I've seen.

So now I'm thinking I'll bring my own car over, and just drive from France. I'll be on my own, and won't be a very strict itinerary, so I wouldn't mind taking a couple of days to drive through France.

It still seems like it's going to work out pretty expensive though, whether getting the ferry to France, or else to the UK + fee to cross the tunnel. I guess I'm looking at about €600 for all of that stuff (return).

I don't have much control over that, but what I'm interested in is what's the best way to keep costs down when I'm over there? As I said – I'm flexible, so would be fine with sleeping in a hostel or a campsite, with the odd hotel thrown in. Maybe AirBnB would have some decent options too.

I'm roughly estimating:
€50 per night accommodation
€50 per day food/drink
€30 petrol per day (total guess)

---

€130 x 21 = €2730

Pretty pricey Probably couldn't justify that expense really.

Is it possible to get that cost down to, say, €1500 do ye reckon?

Thanks for any tips/advice

mikewest

Well you don't want to start from there anyway.

First can you cajole, bribe or even blackmail anyone to split the cost
Second can you get a camper van anywhere (beg borrow steal or if all else fails buy)

O.K. if all else fails drive and park somewhere with cheap rail/bus links and do your exploring that way.

OBTW your budget for food and DRINK is well low and diesel is cheaper than petrol for some stupid reason.

Careful planning can get you to central (old) Europe cheaply but everything costs big time after that

Y2KBOS86

mikewest wrote: »

OBTW your budget for food and DRINK is well low and diesel is cheaper than

He is a mod for non drinking forum :pac:

50 a day for Food seems very high to me.

Have you looked at euro trains tickets OP?

Eurail pass.

http://www.eurail.com/

Also make sure to get your European Health Insurance Card, it's free and very handy.

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/schemes/EHIC/

munchkin_utd

to be honest your budget is way over the top on food and accomodation.

On the road in France/ Germany theres cheap motels like Hotel F1(previously formule 1) and Ibis budget hotels which would be anything from 25 to 35 or 40 euro. If you sign up for a newsletter and book some of the hotels in advance then you could be looking at as little as 10 or 15 a night if you get lucky.
In the alps basic accomodation can be very reasonable too. The b+bs dont really do online booking but you can get a bed and breakfast for as little as 17euro. Scan down a bit on this broschure for the quite lovely region of Seefeld in Tirol for examples of these prices :
http://www.seefeld.com/en/service/prospektbestellung
Its strategicaly there in the alps right between Germany and Austria so you can visit Munich/ the Romantic Road etc and slowly make your way over the alps that way.

Foodwise in Italy(or Germany/ Austria) a pizza or a feed of pasta in a restaurant is between 6 and 8 euro, a local wine or beer 3 to 4 euro, and a beer in the supermarket 70c to a euro in the fridge. If you have a coolbox for storing a bit of ham/ salami and cheese you could be making sambos on the road rather than spending a fiver a pop for ready made baguettes or whatever. So 15/20euro a day is far more realistic.

Travelwise you mightnt be far off.
The ferry is doable as a combi-deal called "landbridge" which is €123 on a weekday for Dublin/Rosslare->Wales + Dover->Calais/Dunkirk till June or €20more in summer. If you want to travel on Fri-Sunday then it'll cost 30/40euro more again. But you can get the car to the continent for €246 return if you plan right.
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferries-to-britain/europe-by-car
Depending on your car then your fuel costs will be at least 2 tanks but more likely somewhat more so budgeting for 350euro in fuel wouldnt be over the top at all.

You'd be as well catch some sights in England and Northern Europe on the way down though to justify the cost and break up the journey. You could divert through the Cotswolds which is that area between Birmingham/Bristol/London that you pass nearby whether coming from Rosslare or Dublin.
Bruges/ Antwerp/ Ghent are only an hour or so from Dover. And you also have the WW1 sites even nearer Dover which is apt to visit this year with the 100th anniversary of the war starting.
You could drive along the Rhine which is just a magnificent stretch, and theres a few themed roads like the "Romantic Road" which are also a bitch to get to by public transport but perfect by car (and leads you nicely from mid-germany to the alps!)

Dave!

Thanks guys! Thanks munchkin_utd – great post!

munchkin_utd

Dave! wrote: »

Thanks guys! Thanks munchkin_utd – great post!

no probs

and in case youre wondering or contemplating it, you could also drive through France en-route to/ from the Alps but you'd have to consider that its flat and boring, theres swathes of countryside with nothing there to see and you'll be paying tolls along the entire stretch for minimum of distance benefit.

On the plus side, the tolls can be worth it if you are in a rush as the motorways are fairly quiet with local traffic priced out of it, so you dont have to worry about jams.

I've drove from Munich to Ireland/ Britain 4 or 5 times now and its not a bad drive especially if you make a bit of use of the journey like visiting friends en-route or stopping off at random historical towns - either planned or at the spur of the moment!
Sure my first time doing it I was getting the ferry at Cherbourg and had plenty of time to spare, so pottered about randomly in the area of the d-day landings hopping between various museums and memorials. But thats the benefit of being in a car, you have the freedom and better access to the countryside than with taking public transport (which on the other hand is far better for city trips or long hauls across the country, so definitely has its place)

Fred Swanson

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munchkin_utd

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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to be fair you can get Petrol for 1.43 a litre in Germany at the moment if you shop around. see: mehr-tanken.de/
And elsewhere its cheaper or as cheap with the exception of Netherlands or Italy, so long as you are prepared to come off and buy at a supermarket or normal filling station.

Fred Swanson

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munchkin_utd

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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yup, but Holland is tiny and the exception to the rule so you can fill up and drive through it without needing to sample their wares.
Theres supermarkets with 24hour self service pumps in Calais and Dunkirk just off the motorway so you can fill up there and make it to Germany if needs be. If you've a normal tank and middling petrol consumption you'd get 550km off a tank.
If you've a new diesel with a larger tank you'd be getting near double that so Calais to Innsbruck without refueling (though driving through the alps on a near empty tank mightnt be the smartest of ideas! )

munchkin_utd

munchkin_utd wrote: »

and in case youre wondering or contemplating it, you could also drive through France en-route to/ from the Alps but you'd have to consider that its flat and boring, theres swathes of countryside with nothing there to see and you'll be paying tolls along the entire stretch for minimum of distance benefit.

I agree with a lot of your advice but not this!

Can't see how the drive from Cherbourg (for example) down to Switzerland needs to be boring. Maybe for some very short stretches but if the OP is a sightseer there are interesting things to take a look at all the way down.

My main recommendation, particularly if you are in a car: camp! Hotels can be very cheap but the cheap ones are usually pretty soulless - you won't want to sit in your room for too long. Campsites in small towns are the 'real' France and when you have a car you can take a roomy tent, a fold out table and chair, even some cooking gear.

Not only are campsites cheap they are very good compared to Ireland and you can't beat sitting outdoors in the morning boiling up your own cup of coffee.

In fact you can mix it up and stay in decent hotels in bigger towns and cities and lovely sleepy campsites in small towns and villages.

I envy you!

Dave!

Can't wait now!!

Any suggestions for what would be the best time of year to do this? I guess July is the obvious choice, but e.g. ferries are a bit cheaper in June or August, as I suppose would accommodation. But would the spots be a bit crap/dead in those months?

Also what do ye reckon about the time? Would 3 weeks be about right/too much/not enough? That's probably the most time I'd get off work

Fred Swanson

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munchkin_utd

Deleted User wrote: »

I agree with a lot of your advice but not this!

Can't see how the drive from Cherbourg (for example) down to Switzerland needs to be boring. Maybe for some very short stretches but if the OP is a sightseer there are interesting things to take a look at all the way down.
<snip>

if the OP wants the Ferry to Cherbourg at the height of summer he's lookin at 350+each way plus 60 to 80euro for a cabin each way so on a budget he'd avoid the place and just go landbridge saving 300euro each way, which brings you arriving into Calais.

From Calais theres no point heading to Italy/ Austria via France paying tolls of €49.40.
Grand, theres Reims and Metz and Strasbourg and you could do city trips there, but is it worth it when you can go toll free to Bruges and whatnot?

jt_dublin

Dave,
Car rental is much cheaper in Spain. Have you considered flying to Girona? It is only 45 minutes to the French border from there. Plus the coastline around northern Catalonia is just beautiful. You can then drive from there across south of France and into Italy & Switzerland.

I just did this quick quote on ArgusCarHire for end of June into Mid July and you can get a car in the €240 to €280 price range.

https://www.arguscarhire.com/book/?c=gb&clientID=328917&elID=0226225435025105114&pickupID=1782&returnID=1782&pickupName=Girona%20-%20Airport&returnName=Girona%20-%20Airport&pickupDateTime=2014-06-20T10:00:00&returnDateTime=2014-07-10T10:00:00&age=30&curr=EUR&carGroupID=0&residenceID=IE&CT=MP&referrer=0:&ns1=1#book


You just may need to check with them that they allow cross border travel. I remember renting from Europcar in Girona and they asked me if I was going into France, which I wasn't. They said it was a €50 supplement to cover the cost of international breakdown assistance.

Also, I have rented cars 3 times at Girona and each time I asked them for a diesel which then helped save a bit on fuel costs!

Best of luck,
JT.