Italy trip report

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Dandock
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Post by Dandock »

A bit delayed - blame the World Cup - but at last a précis on our trip to Italy last month. I’ll post some relevant pics when I work out how to retrieve them from Google. :roll:

We (l) decided to go via Belgium seeking free autoroutes and cheap fuel. I have to say after coming back via Reims that despite the Namur hotel being lovely and the meal that evening superb the benefits did not outweigh the negatives. These were traffic and tricky access to Namur (see later thought). Getting out was easy though The Reims route on the other hand was more straightforward, access to Reims dead simple and the whole journey relatively traffic free albeit I imagine it may be busy when heading south in season.

Points to note.
Belgium and particularly Luxembourg Autoroutes very busy.
Massive roadworks on the E52 autobahn NW and N of Baden-Baden. And later further south as they look to complete a missing link.
Ongoing speed restrictions on the S60/E16 Innsbruck westwards.
And as mentioned below terrible traffic between Bregenz and Konstanz.
Otherwise no real issues.

Most unique discovery - Autobahn services toilets! Totally hands free (apart from the obvious). They’re a Michael McIntire sketch!

Most embarrassing moment. Heidi loosing her way right outside a Mercedes factory. :o

And Macan performed absolutely brilliantly throughout. Although I didn’t keep notes on figures I estimate that she returned about 27-ish overall whilst mostly averaging something just over 100kph. And about 120kph Reims to Calais.
And with the rental being about a mile down a seriously rough track we actually got to use ‘off road’ mode for real. It works!

So here’s where we stayed with relevant remarks.

For the first leg leaving Cheltenham about 7am we took the 12:20 shuttle and so reached well into Belgium in one hit.

Royal Snail (really!) Hotel, Namur.
Nice hotel with Michelin restaurant onsite. didn’t eat there but had a superb dinner at... Parfums de Cuisine http://www.la-carte.be/fr/restaurants/b ... e-cuisine/

A pig to get to. Or maybe just the way Heidi took us! Parking in front of hotel on a very quiet limited access road. No problem.

Hotel Magnetberg, Baden-Baden.
Functional and friendly if uninspiring business-type hotel but in super position above the town - about 5 mins steep walk away. Plenty of good on-site parking. Restaurant - workaday but we couldn’t be assed looking elsewhere.

Hotel Der Eggentaler, Cardano, Nr Bolzano.
Small hotel in a quiet village (apart from the cascading river) just shy of Bolzano with excellent (nice surprise) and very popular restaurant. Had large room with views over small swimming pool and up the valley. Room was dated but suspect, as we had a peak at others, it is on the list for makeover. Small amount of onsite parking otherwise just across the very quiet road.

And then on to Chianciano, Tuscany. Distance outbound 1240 miles

Return leg... Chianciano to...

Hotel San Pietro, Bardolino, Lake Garda - as recommended by Guy. Really Excellent hotel in every way. Many thanks!

Bad Hotel, Überlingen, Germany
Long established resort hotel in a really beautiful small and historic lakeside town. An OK overnighter with excellent secure parking. Superb setting looking out over Lake Constance but a bit tired and without AC. Restaurant was just OK and let down further by poorly trained staff. Ultimately got some discount after raising some issues. A bit of a drag to get to around the lake from the Austrian side.

Boutique Hotel Heidelberg Suites. (Best Small Hotels Group). Superb. Porsche owner so very Porsche friendly. Limited car parking so booking essential. Great location just across the river from the old town. Has its own dining riverboat although we didn’t avail ourselves. Mrs D is not fond of boats. 🤢

Best Western Premier Hotel de la Paix, Reims
Very central location & newly extended and updated. A lovely stay.
Easy access to Autoroute so a very convenient overnight
Private parking under hotel
Excellent restaurant - again a surprise bonus.

And then to Cheltenham. Distance inbound 1320 miles although not as direct a route.

Finally one observation. Regardless of the amount of traffic, speed of traffic, random road manners and Italian slotcar racing by far the most tiring leg was again Folkestone - M4. Simply down to the lousy and particularly the very noisy road surface. I can put up with being cut up by stupid Belgiums and manic Italians but that road noise! Very stressful!
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ScotMac
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Post by ScotMac »

Great tour .... must do similar myself.

Look forward to photos. :D :D :D
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Paul
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Post by Paul »

👍👍
Nice report Mike - hope to reciprocate soon on our September Route des Grandes Alpes trip (watch this space 😉)

Feel your pain; went up to Maidstone (and back again) from Bristol today. Don’t know if it was tyre wear, the heat, higher pressures, respecting the live cameras or what, but the Heathrow / Gatwick section of the M25 was even worse than usual re tyre noise👎
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Dandock
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Post by Dandock »

Will look forward to that, Paul. We’re back in France that month for our daughter’s wedding. Getting to be old hands.

Whilst we were slow and stopped on the M25 I noticed that between the concrete slabs are wacking great gaps about 2” x 2” deep. Little wonder it’s so noisy. :evil:
VG Petrol S http://www.porsche-code.com/PHIVCQU7           And a GT3 RS... by Lego! Not crash-tested! 😀
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Nuclear Nick
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Post by Nuclear Nick »

Great report Dandock, thanks for the very useful detail!

Like you, the worst part of our trip to Tuscany last year was the return to English traffic jams, due, it seemed to me, to pathetically obvious poor roadworks planning that thrust summer traffic off motorways onto unsignposted minor urban road bottlenecks.
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goron59
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Post by goron59 »

Thanks for the hotel list. Similar places to my trips, but not the same hotels.
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Mistertoad
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Post by Mistertoad »

If you don't want to stay in the centre of Baden Baden I can recommend a really good hotel set in idyllic surroundings 4 miles south of the town. It has been refurbished recently to a very high standards, with ample safe parking. The staff are very friendly and go ut of their way to make guests feel comfortable. Hotel Rebstock

https://www.rebstock-neuweier.de

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Nuclear Nick
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Post by Nuclear Nick »

Brits abroad! Two cars and three bikes, all UK. Hotel must be alright.
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Post by MyKingdomForAPorsche »

Good info, thanks, as I drive to Italy (Umbria) every summer. Usually go the Belgian routes and find traffic heavy but moving, and as my passenger is often asleep (a kid) the lack of toll stops is a boon. This year we are going via mutliple friends in France so it'll be a different journey down. Coming back, the Garda stop could be useful.
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Semerka
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Post by Semerka »

That was an epic road trip, Dandock, how long did you go for? 😃

Anything south of the Italian Lakes and we fly + hire a car, but you gave me an idea, thank you! 😉
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