Car/route suggestion

Alfa 156? At least spares should be easy to find in Italy.

Maybe. If you're thinking E30, good luck finding a good one for that money. If you're thinking E36, good luck finding a good one.

Go down through France to the Med, then cross into Italy?

Places to stay in France:

Pretty much all the Logis de France I ever staid in offer good food. Keep in mind that restaurants in France are often closed Sunday night; If you're travelling over Sunday, look for Campanile/Premiere Classe as the Campanile restaurants are open Sundays.

Mr Firth ought to be along shortly, but I reckon going through Germany and Switzerland has some distinct advantages.

For a one-off I'd take the mountain passes rather than tunnels where you have the option. Though in winter this could be less fun than in summer (or indeed not possible at all).

snipped-for-privacy@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...

Google maps suggests that the better route would only touch Switzerland in Geneva, which kind of goes with my recollection of the way the map looks :).

Most of the passes in that area will either be closed during or require winter tyres and chains.

messagenews:hdhb3o$kf7$ snipped-for-privacy@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...

Don't forget you need to pay the Swiss their £40 quid for the motorway tax thing.... valid for a year, but a pain in the arse if you're only passing through.

What about a Volvo 960/850 diesel estate? Big enough, cheap enough, solid enough, and runs on the long distance=20 fuel.

--=20 Carl Robson Get cashback on your purchases Topcashback

Hmm it depends on where you live. I prefer to cross the Channel via Portsmouth for Either St Malo or Le Havre on an overnight crossing. I take a cabin for the crossing get a decent night's sleep and can start early the next day. If you're over the east side of the country then I'd get a ferry to Dunkerque or Boulogne. The Chunnel is IMO an expensive waste of time.

Then your best choices are to travel via Basel or via Mont Blanc or Frejus. Each route has its benefits. I use Basel when travelling via Dunkerque and either travel to Reims then down to Colmar with the option of stopping off at the Bugatti museum in Molsheim. I like Alsace so usually overnight there close(ish) to the Swiss border, somewhere like Eguisheim or one of the other chocolate-box villages along the way. Good food.

From Alsace you can get down to Livorno in a day via Basel, Como, Milan, Parma and then down to Livorno.

If going the other way then it's down via Reims and Dijon and up into the mountains. I tend to go via the Frejus tunnel and then stop for the night in Bardonecchia site of the Winter Olympics (in the mountains above Torino) then it's on the next day via Alessandria and Genova to Livorno.

Both routes take about 13 hours of driving, whch for me is two days. It's worth stoping off at several places along the way. If travelling via Como I'd make time to visit Cernobbio on Lake Como or go over to Lake Maggiore, probably at Ispra. Taking time in Alsace is well worth it, particularly Colmar.

I don't know that side of Italy well. I tend to drive down the other coast most often. If you're in for a detour visit Cremona, Parma and if you can spare the time definitely go to Bologna.

%steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

From experience of doing Portsmouth-St Malo and _not_ getting a cabin, I'd say it's very, very, very well worth the extra.

Dover-Boulogne, LD lines. Your choice as to their fast ferry or slow - both are good. The slow has "proper" food, the fast doesn't.

If you can get near the price of a ferry, it's very good indeed. Shame that's rarely possible.

I tend to use Maersk (Norfolk Lines), mostly for historical reasons. I used to use them when they were mainly for trucks because the crossings were £15 and the greasy spoon food was decent value. Nowadays they have new ferries and are more expensive and a bit too popular.

%steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Boulogne's a vastly better experience than Calais - what isn't? - and Dunkerque's the wrong side of Calais for most of my trips trans-Manche.

messagenews:hdhb3o$kf7$ snipped-for-privacy@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...

... or you could buy one for a fiver on ebay. Not that this would be where the one in the Integrale came from.

For me it's ideal, a gentle drive to either Reims or through Luxembourg towards Metz.

Hmmm. They scare me, in that I'm filled with visions of them conking out in the middle of lingua-other-land in a spectacular and complicated way.

Hum, hoom then. I also considered an s13 200sx, but I'm not sure if you can still get semi-decent ones, at least for that sort of budget. Maybe I should be looking at large engined omegas or something, but I prefer the idea of something nimble for the alpine passes.

Useful stuff - ta muchly.

Damn, yes, forgot to mention - this would be end of march, returning early april. Are the passes likely to be open? If I could I'd love to fit the Stelvio in, but I guess it's a bit of a detour.

Hmmm. Interessin, interessin.

But not even remotely fun, as I understand the word. Not really my cuppa. A T5 has the hooligan factor, but still rather barge-like, I'd imagine.

Excellent. Cheers Steve.

Are you bothered about fuel use? Not TBH that with a 3k round trip the fuel is going to be that significant.

If you're not, I suggest the Exploder. It's ideal for what you want. Fast enough to cruise all day at 130-140kph, tall enough to see over other cars[1] and cheap as anything to buy. You'd get a fairly decent one for about £1K, and you might get an LPG one for £1.5K. Big boot (much bigger than Range Rover/Disco) and as reliable as any modern Ford

- that is not far off Toyota standards.

If you're going rock scrambling it's ideal and at a pinch you can sleep in it. Spares are ford prices which is mostly reasonable. All the standard jobs are easy (such as changing lightbulbs).

Umm just remember 4x4s don't do swerves and they don't stop as quickly as most other vehicles. They do however take on the Vosges, Alps, Jura, Dolomites etc in the worst of weather without any problems at all[2].

[1] This is really, really important unless you buy a left hooker. I've done the drive many times in a number of Jags and Mercs, all of then RHD and all of them a PITA compared to driving a 4x4. You can't see to overtake. [2] You won't think this is important, right up until the moment that it is. RWD cars in the snow on steep mountain roads - not fun. Snow at Chamonix and the Gotthard Pass/Tunnel is happening now and will continue to April.

Despite what Steve F. seems to think, they're pretty straightforward and actually don't have that many weak points. The Sportwagon I just got rid was more a case of deferred maintenance than brokenness...

Forget get. It'll be "drift spec JDM YO" for that sort of money.

Probably not a bad idea.

The higher ones will almost certainly be closed at that time of year. Wikipedia (yes, yes, I know) suggests that the Stelvio tends to be open from June to September which sounds about right given the elevation.