Driving from uk to italy: best stops on a road trip

Have you ever done a “on the road” in your life? If the answer is no I can tell you that this article you are reading right now will open your mind . Why? Keep going to read, what I can tell you is that it is a thing to do for sure at least once in your life. My on the road starts from Bicester ( country near Oxford - England) up to Portici (Naples ) . England - Italy by car is an unique experience, a journey within a journey. Driving from Uk to Italy could be one of the best experience of your life.

In the article I will explain everything you need to know with related costs. At the end of the article I leave you a video (unfortunately is in Italian, sorry) where I explain everything better. I will also show you the wonderful places where you can stop during the trip.

Driving from uk to italy: where to start?

The first thing you need to know is that organizing a trip by car is not easy and takes time . Besides time it also takes a lot organization and planning . Below I will list all the expenses and checks to be done and then we will go and see them one by one:

• Eurotunnel (train that, under the channel, takes us from the United Kingdom to France
• Gasoline
• Toll
• Parking
• Accomodations
• Food and beverage
• Car check (explaining that you will have to face a journey of over 2000 km). Preferably from your trusted garage team.
• Check documents (passport, passenger locator form, covid test (if still required / existing)
• Check car insurance outside the UK
• Car breakdown check in case of problems (option that your insurance can give)

Driving from uk to italy: how long is the journey?

This is a million euro / £ question. Let's say it depends a lot on you and on the availability of the time you have. Obviously also from the final destination. In theory (in my case) it is a journey that can also be done in 3 days. Doing it in 3 days, however, would mean driving an average of 8 hours a day (hopefully). This, in turn, would mean not enjoying the places you stop.

Driving from uk to italy: what would be an ideal timing?

Based on "my personal" experience, 4 nights and 5 days in total are perfect. Obviously I speak for myself that as my final destination I had Naples (southern Italy). Let's say that if yours is central Italy, you could save a day. So the final destination also affects. However, just to give you an idea, I was trying to arrive for lunch, settle in the B&B and then enjoy the city.

Driving from uk to italy: how many vacations days in total should you take?

This is a question you should definitely ask yourself. In fact, in the outward journey, you must add the return. In fact, we have just said that 4/5 days are ideal (always destination permitting). So they would be between 8 and 10 in total, plus: how long do we stay in the place where we arrive? It is assumed that you would like to go home and stay there for a while, so how do we do it?

Driving from uk to italy: planning your holidays well!

The answer is here: plan your holidays well . Do you want to know something? I took this trip because I took 2 sabbatical months of my life. I made this decision after the second lockdown in 2021 which saw me stopped in the UK for 1 year and a half. Because of the situation, my managers understood how I felt and allowed me to.

How many days of vacation to take if you are not on a sabbatical?

If, like me, you are in a transition or sabbatical, then you can give the answer for yourself. Based on what your availabilities are (financial and timing). Although later I'll show you this travel is not expensive if you organize well. Especially if you are in company and divide the costs .
If, on the other hand, you have “precise/limited holidays " what I can tell you is that you can do the same .

In the UK, legally the maximum number of holidays in a row (except in exceptional cases) is 14 days (without days off). Now: to the 14 days of vacation you have to add 2 days off that every week you are entitled to by law. In a week, therefore, you will have 5 days of vacation and 2 offs, the same thing for the following week.
In total, you will have spent 10 days of vacation plus 4 offs for a total of 14. If you add 4 more days of vacation to these , doing a calculation you have 18 available.

In my opinion, 18 days is enough for an on the road. Small premise: in such a trip it is the same car trip the real vacation .

Eurotunnel England - France: info and costs

What is eurotunnel? The eurotunnel is the train which, thanks to the passage under the water, it takes us to France in about 35 minutes. And it is thanks to the Eurotunnel that we will begin our journey. The Eurotunnel journey from UK to France takes place sitting in our car and lasts 35 '. On the way you can go to the bathroom if you need it. As soon as you arrive in France, from the Eurotunnel you immediately take the highway. As my first stop in France I chose Paris .

How much is eurotunnnel?

The Eurotunnel has a price that can vary according to the time of booking or the period. I personally paid £ 182 (roundtrip). To get to the Eurotunnel you just need select it as destination on maps or google map. Just for the record it is located near a town called Forklstone . From there you get to Calais (France). I leave you the link of the official Eurotunnel website where you can check the costs.

Gasoline cost

I would call it a variable cost because it depends on what type of car you have: petrol, diesel, gas, (electric?). I tell you about my experience and the cost that I faced with my mini cooper 2005. I spent a total of £ 236 (cost that may change in the future) on petrol which is not a lot. The reason is that for the most part you drive on the highway and as you well know the cars consume less.
If I can give you a dispassionate advice always try to fill up halfway through the tank. On the way you may run into either accidents or distant service areas.

Cost of tolls

The tolls are another fixed cost and you have to pay for them in France and England. In England there is only one toll to pay which is called (and if you go through it) dart charge ” to be paid online (1.50 £). You can pay by midnight the following day. In Switzerland tolls do not exist but you have to buy a sticker to apply on the car .
With this sticker ( valid for one year ) you can cross all of Switzerland. Plus, you don't risk a fine if you get caught up to 400 Swiss francs. So, either you buy it first or you buy it at the first Swiss petrol station. I spent £ 126.94 for tolls (including Italian ones).

Parking cost

We travel by car and therefore we should park it somewhere. The simplest solution is the parking closest to your B&B / Hotel (better if they have one).
The cost of parking can be by the day or by the hour. In total I spent £ 76 BENEDICT. Once the car has arrived at its destination, it must be in a safe place.

Accomodation costs

In addition to parking we should also sleep somewhere. That of accomodations for me is a cost that it depends on you, therefore variable. The reason is that the choices could be different: hotel, b&b, hostel. I personally chose all b&bs for a total of 4 nights during the trip. Total cost £ 168 (I averaged £ 42 (50 euros) per b&b.

Food and beverage

Other cost in my opinion always very subjective which depends on your availability. I didn't include it precisely because you could eat with 5 euros a day (ridiculously low cost) or 50.

Car check

As I have already mentioned in the index the check of the auto is something to do especially if the car is not new. What I did was explain to my garage what I wanted to do. A journey of over 2000 km by car crossing 3 Nations.
For this reason I was advised to do at least 2 checks of the car .

One a couple of months before leaving and the other a couple of weeks before! The car is the vehicle that will take you to your destination and therefore must have absolute priority and everything must be ok!
Before leaving, the car mechanic will give you some tips on checks to do while traveling . (Water, oil, take useful things with you).

Documents check

The check of the documents (without forgetting them) is another thing to do with thoroughness. I did my trip with covid in progress and therefore I had to do a whole series of additional checks.
Which documents to bring with you:

• Passport
• Passenger locator form (if still required / existing)
• Just check the situation of the country you are entering for any eventuality.

Check car insurance outside the UK

Before leaving the UK by car, do a check car insurance . English insurance should generally cover you for a certain period after you leave.
My car insurance (Privilege the name) covered me for up to 90 days once it came out. To find out if your insurance also covers you outside the UK, just contact them. To be sure, get a document certifying that you are away those days . Keep it and take it with you.

Car Breakdown Insurance

This is something I recommend you do if you have an old car and want to be more relaxed. In the end I didn't do it because despite 2005 my car had just 88 thousand miles.
But the breakdown insurance might be a useful option to add. In case of car malfunction / stop you could cover part of the cost with the latter.

Also (by calling a number that will be provided) they escort you to the first garage in the area.
With Privilege it costs around £ 250 and there are all terms of service for which you can ask questions and checks.

Driving from uk to italy: my stops

I won't bore you writing anymore, also because soon there will be the my detailed video with costs . But most importantly where I show you the beauty of places where I've been. But what I wanted to tell you and show you are the countries / cities where I stopped:

From England to Italy

• France (Paris – Colmar) – Book in advance one of the best B&Bs in Paris
• Switzerland (Biasca - Ascona)
• Italy (Florence - Naples)

From Italy to England

• Perugia (Italy)
• Biasca (Switzerland)
• Nancy (France)

As I told you at the beginning of the article, in every city I was trying to make it to the middle of the day. Place things in the B&B and then go down to live the city .

Driving from uk to italy: final cost

My final cost of this crazy trip is of (round trip) 1400 £ . It was worth it? Absolutely yes! In fact, I can't wait to do it again, perhaps by taking another route with new and different stops.
Another premise I wanted to make is that I have faced the journey all by myself! If you are already 2 this trip would cost around 700 pounds each, 3 less than 500!

So if you do it together you can share a unique experience . Now I leave you to the video of this amazing car trip. If you have any questions you can comment either under the article or under the youtube video. Don't forget: who travels lives twice . Cià ciaooo.

P.s. don't forget to click here to follow on my instagram page the places I've been.

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