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TRAVELING BY CAR

The fun part. Traveling by car to Italy ! We consider ourselves as ‘veterans’ as we travel to Italy every year. You basically have three routes: (1) Via France, (2) Via Germany-Switzerland or (3) via Germany-Austria. Scroll down for more information

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Some general tips:

  • Don’t forget to buy a Toll badge for Switzerland or Austria upfront. We always order them via ANWB

  • If you forgot - you can buy toll badges close to the border of the respective countries

  • In Italy, you have toll for the Autostrada. We have a toll badge installed in the car (via ANWB) which allows us to just drive through the toll gates. This saves you time, and gives a good feeling ;-)

  • Gasoline is cheap in Luxembourg, Austria and Italy but try to avoid the gas stations next to the highway as price is the same as in The Netherlands.

  • Use the ANWB guide for gas stations (See link below) - they recommend gas stations based on hygiene, price/quality, facilities for kids etc.

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Tips for traveling with an EV

  • Download the Tesla app and create an account. No matter what your 'car preference' is, the Tesla Superchargers are the best. They always work and have a high charging speed. 

  • Subscribe / buy an badge from Shell Recharge. It has the highest acceptance rate for foreign charging stations​

  • Download the EnelX app and create an account. EnelX is the #1 charging operator in Italy with a charging station in almost every city / village in Tuscany

  • Plan in advance (but don't be afraid, its not that big of a huzzle compared to traveling with an ICE)

    • Use the Tesla planner website (Link)​

    • Use the A Better Route Planner (ABRP) (Link)

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When in Italy, we usually stop at one of the next locations:

  • Albergo Bar Ristorante, Modena (also has a Tesla Supercharger)

  • Secchia Ovest, Bologna (also has an Autogrill)

  • Autogrill Chianti ovest, Firenze

VIVA LA FRANCE

VIVA LA FRANCE

This is the route we used when we had the Tesla. The Supercharger Network basically directs you to Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland where you will cross the border at Basel. 

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Driving via France is usually the way-to-go if you are traveling with an EV as there are a lot of Tesla Superchargers.

 

Pros: 

  • Relatively quiet route with mainly 3lane highways in France where you can drive 130km/h

  • Cheap gasoline in Luxembourg ;) 

  • Beautiful scenery around Mulhouse (vineyards!)

  • Beautiful scenery in Switzerland

  • Google says this is the fastest route - but Google doesn’t take the Autobahn speed into account ;)

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Cons:

  • Belgium…

  • French toll can be expensive

  • If you like to travel in 2days, you usually stop around 900-1,000km which is around Switzerland. This is expensive. You can stop in Colmar, but the surroundings are not so inspiring.. 

  • Switzerland Gothard can take some time

 

Overnight stay tips:

​France

  • Novotel Mulhouse Bâle (7.0 Booking.com)

  • Auberge Saint Laurent (8.6 Booking.com)

  • Hotel te Spa La Villa K - Basel Airport (9.0 Booking.com)

Italy

  • Albergo Hotel de Laghi (8.4 Booking.com) We can highly recommend this one

  • Star hotels Grand Milan (8.3 Booking.com)

  • Hotel Mealba (8.4 Booking.com)

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GERMANY RUHRGEBIET

Germany (Ruhrgebiet) - Switzerland - Italy

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We took this one last year. Laurens is not a fan of, but it is -on paper- the fastest route when traveling through Germany. You follow the A3 and eventually end up at the A5 straight to Basel. The amount of baustelle is fine, but the highway mainly consists of 2-3 lane highways with a lot of speed restrictions (90-120 km/h). 

 

Pros

  • On paper the fastest route when traveling through Germany

  • Close to Stuttgart, the home of Porsche and Mercedes-Benz 

  • Beautiful scenery in Switzerland 

 

Cons

  • 2-3 lane highways 

  • Can be very busy as this is the route through Ruhrgebiet

  • Boring route

  • Low number of kilometers with ‘no limit’

  • Switzerland Gothard can take some time

 

Overnight stay tips:

​Italy

  • Albergo Hotel de Laghi (8.4 Booking.com) We can highly recommend this one

  • Star hotels Grand Milan (8.3 Booking.com)

  • Hotel Mealba (8.4 Booking.com)

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GERMANY BAVARIA

Germany (Bavaria) - Austria - Italy

Laurens favorite. The scenery is beautiful as you travel through the center / eastern part of Germany, a more up-and-down hill scenery with awesome 4-6 lanes of Germany’s finest Autobahn. Especially the first part from Frankfurt to Neurenberg (A3) is great with almost no speed limit. Rumor has it that we drove back from Neurenberg to The Netherlands (700 km) in 4.5h to be on time for a Taylor Swift concert in Amsterdam… 

 

When you leave Munich and take the A95, you are welcomed by the beautiful Austrian mountains. 

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Have an overnight stay in Bavaria and enjoy the local Biergarten or visit the BMW museum in Munich and/or the Audi museum in Ingolstadt. 

 

Pros

  • 4-6 lane highways with almost no speed limit

  • Beautiful scenery in Germany, Austria and Italy

  • If you have time, you can leave the highway and take the ‘Romantische Strasse’ 

  • Landenstrasse in Austria are great for those who like to drive. 

  • Cheaper compared to traveling through France and Switzerland as you only EUR 11 toll in Austria

 

Cons:

  • Takes more time on paper vs the other routes as it is more KM, but from experience its faster if you drive with a ‘firm Autobahn speed’. 

  • Landenstrasse in Austria are not so great for those who don’t like to drive. A lot of ‘hairpin bends’ 

 

Overnight stay tips:

​Germany

  • BLOCK Hotel & Living (9.0 Booking.com) We can highly recommend this one) 

  • NH Ingolstadt (8.0 Booking.com)

Italy

  • Albergo Hotel de Laghi (8.4 Booking.com) We can highly recommend this one

  • Star hotels Grand Milan (8.3 Booking.com)

  • Hotel Mealba (8.4 Booking.com)

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