Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Hi all,


Sorry if this topic has been covered before.


I haven't driven into Italy from Switzerland before and I'm planning to drive down to Tuscany from Neuchatel in August to meet my family for a holiday!


Looks like it's around an 8 hour trip.


Does anyone have any useful advice? Places worth stopping, best route (mountain passes or tunnel?), whether there are tolls in Italy?


Any tips would be appreciated :)


Cheers

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

There are tolls in Italy. Many, many tolls. It's a pain in the rear.

Stop near Lecco, it's pretty :)

Avoid the gottard tunnel at rush hour, you can expect a 1-2hour queue...

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Dont sleep at the wheel... make stops every 2 hours :D

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Use the route planner from Via Michelin .. It will show the toll locations and prices.

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Why not try the train? For a single person (assuming you are driving alone), the train should cost less, and sounds more convenient than 8hr road trip.

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

From Neuchatel you wouldn't go that way anyway...

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

It's an option but I would need to rent a car when I arrive in that case, from Florence / Siena I imagine...

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Thanks a lot John, I've never used the Michelin route planner before...what a gem!


Even given my predicted costs for my car model.

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Quite, so it depends on where in Tuscanny.

We did it a few years back to Livorno and our route was:

Neuchatel
Lausanne
St Bernard Tunnel
Aosta
Ivrea
Allesandria
Genoa
Pisa
Livorno

It took about 8 hours with stops and the highway between Aosta and Genoa was a really nice drive.

Same route on the way back but go over the St Bernard Pass to visit the hospice and the kennels.

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

We always go via the St. Bernard, either through the tunnel, or over the top for the views and not pressed for time. After that, it's fairly straightforward from Aosta to Genoa, Pisa and beyond.
We're actually going to the Lucca region in August for a long weekend and currently weighing up driving vs flying Geneva to Pisa and hiring a car.

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Hello,

I am frequently doing GVA -> Milan for work (4.5 hours) and you will need to add another 4 hours to get to Tuscany (depends on timing/traffic).

What about Easyjet to Pisa? I checked on their website and it costs ~180CHF (return + baggage). You can rent a very small car in Pisa and overall you will also save some money (Mont-Blanc, italian autoroutes are expensive, + time)..

Paolo

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

From Milano it should only be 3 hours, as it is 4 from Lugano.

(to Firenze)

Tom

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

We're looking at staying in the north of Tuscany (between Florence & Lucca) so that the drive is a bit less (~7 hours). I also won't be alone so may have an overnight stop somewhere in Italy along the way...I'm planning to make the drive part of the holiday, rather than treat it as just travel.


Plus driving means I can bring back more wine & olive oil........ :D




Michelin guide estimated the cost of driving at around 300CHF - fuel and tolls. It noted total toll charge of 30CHF each way so not sure if that is a bit low..

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Just a thought, but the super save train ticket from Zurich to Milan is 20CHF...

I know you're not in Zurich, but there may be something similar.

Then, in Milan you can continue by train or rent a car (I found a small one, a panda, for just under 5CHF a day)...

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Yeah but not so easy to lug wine and olive oil back on the train...:msngrin:

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

Took me 9 hrs Baden To Florence..as there was a truck on fire in the Gotthard

on way back only 6.5 Went down the central motorway via Bologna which seems quicker then genoa..but depends where you want to go. This route seems to have more average speed cams then genoa

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

5 liters of each per person. ;)

Tom

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

More if you pay the duty

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

So it looks like we're heading down to Lucca and the drive is only 6h30 so not too bad in the end.


When I use the michelin travel planner, I get much higher toll costs going to this location... it goes through Vaud / Valais instead of further East near Zermatt..


Does anybody have any tips on the best route, to lower the cost of tolls, but without making the trip too much longer?


Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!

Re: Driving - Switzerland to Tuscany
 

I don't think you can get a considerably lower cost of tolls without sacrificing considerably your total travel time.

You can try to set up your Michelin/GPS/Waze to "avoid tolls" and use local (provincial) roads, which are free.

Just enjoy, any road trip in Tuscany is wonderful.