VEROVITA

We are hoping to drive down to sicily in the next few weeks instead of flying and having to hire a vehicle. From several previous threads we have picked up that it is best to drive to Genova and catch the ferry.
If we have never driven down before is it really a tough journey to drive all the way to messina and then ferry across to sicily? We would look at it as an adventure but dont want to be stupid about it and end up stuck on the side of the road!!
What are the tolls like? We have looked at the via michelin site and it seems do-able. Has anyone done the trip from UK to Sicily recently? and if so what pitfalls should we look out for?

Thanks for any advice

BRIAN 1

hi,we are driving to calabria soon,i think the best route is dunkirk thru belgium,luxembourg back into france at colmar then thru to basle,that avoids french tolls.after that it is gotthard tunnel,straight down thru italy,you cant avoid tolls economically in italy i was told.the fuel is estimated at £250 and cheapest refuel in luxembourg.you have to get swiss vignette at border.after research this is the route i am taking recommended by our delivery guy who goes there every month,cheers brian.

modicasa

Drive down to Naples and get the ferry overnight to palermo or Catania. Naples/Sicily is the worst part ot he drive - its 12 hours on a terrible road and in summer its worse.

Sancho

There is a way, actually.

You know what they do at the pay-station when you find you've lost the ticket that showed where you got onto the motorway. They make you pay as if you'd come all the way from the beginning. Well that's their key weakness. You must use it.

If the last pay-station on your motorway is, say, Reggio Calabria, and the second last is, say, Palmi, you drive past Palmi then slow down and look for one of those gaps they leave in the central wall for emergency services, road-menders etc. When you see a gap do a smart U-turn, throw the ticket you got at Milan out of the window, then drive back to Palmi and leave the motorway there. You tell whoever you find in the pay-station at Palmi that you've lost your ticket, so, like I said, whoever it is, probably gloating inwardly, makes you pay you as if you'd come from the beginning of the motorway. But now - and this is the point - coming from the direction you've come from, that just means Reggio Calabria (= about 20 kms) rather than all the way from Milan (= about 1500 kms)! Nifty, eh ? Ask any lorry driver.

superman2

Hello If you go on the autostrada.it web site it will calculate the total tolls you will pay. From the UK avoid France where the tolls are high going via Belgium Germany and Switzerland is free except for the Swiss vignette e (32 euro for the year) than if you enter Italy at Como you are on Italian toll roads a lot less. I do these trips all the time and my advice is just pace you journey stop every two hours and have a max of ten a day. The road from Naples down to Calabria isn't too bad, worse in the heat I hope your car has air con this time of year.

ononno

Sometimes people do come out with a load of rubbish on this forum.
In the first instance the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria is totally toll free.
In the second instance it is not the terrible road it is sometimes made out to be. It is true that it is an ongoing 'cantiere', but many new sections have been completed. Avoid summer weekends, and you will be fine.
Taking the ferry from Naples to Palermo or Catania is fine; but expensive. Why not enjoy the toll free ride through southern Campania, Basilcata, and Calabria.
From Calais or Dunkirk to Salerno :
Calais - Dunkirk - Lille - Mons - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg (arrive here on fumes and fill up with cheap fuel) Thionville - Metz - Strasbourg - Basel - St.Gothard - Chiasso/Como - Milano - then A1 down to Caserta. At Caserta take A30 to Salerno to join A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria (Villa San Giovanni)
buon viaggio,
'o nonno

Pinco Pallino

Hilarious to picture all those TIR's doing U-turns on the extremities of the Italian motorway network. Not so hilarious to use our forum to suggest ways of breaking the law and potentially facing prosecution – unless of course Sancho was winding us up!

modicasa

I disagree - it is a terrible road - not because its cantiere, but because the drivers who use it are prats. Mindless braking, queues for no reason, usual ITalian stop and start. I have never done it in less than 12 hours. When people tell me they drive to Naples in 7 they must be one of the prats who drives like a suicidal maniac. Naples ferry isnt all that expensive - especially the tnt catania route. Calculate the cost of the petrol, the coffee stops and the fines for parking in the autogrill in the wrong place, and the ferry and it probably works out the same
For the rest .- I dont get this aversion to tolls. Paya toll, save time and petrol and angst. Take a toll free road and spend more time in hotels and waiting for roadside assistance because some pothole has burst your tyre. Ignore Sancho he obviosuly has a death wish doing a U turn on a motorway.

Sancho

Hi again,

My lorry-driver friend - Jack, the one who told me about the U-turn trick I told you about yesterday - says there's another way. Here's how it works.

You want to drive from Milan to Naples, say.

You find someone else - we''ll call him Mario - who wants to drive from Naples to Milan.

You find a motorway service station somewhere about halfway between Milan and Naples that serves traffic in both directions and has a link between the part serving one direction and the part serving the other. There are quite a few like that. You may know the one just north of Bologna, with a glass bridge between the westbound bit and the eastbound bit. Sometimes they have a tunnel.

Arrange to meet Mario there at some mutually convenient time. In the gents, say. Second stall on the left at about two o'clock.

Now you drive onto the motorway at Milan, as per usual, collecting a "Milan" ticket from the pay-booth there. And Mario gets on at Naples, collecting a "Naples" ticket.

You start driving south. Mario starts driving north.

You both stop at the service station you've decided on, find each other, and exchange tickets.

Now you're heading south with a Naples ticket, and all that's left is for you to come off the motorway at the last stop before Naples (Caserta, perhaps), show the character in the pay booth your Naples ticket, and pay whatever it costs for the twenty or so kilometres between Naples and Caserta!!!!

And Mario does something similar in the north.

Kewl or what ? Apparently they do it all over Europe

modicasa

that I can believe, except that most lorries have tele pass. And tickets have times on them - so if you tacho says you drove 8 hours to go 1 stop, you may have problems ....

LivingHere

Back to the original question. Unless you drive the route a lot then you might as well pay the tolls. On the toll stretches of motorway the service stations are cleaner and, well, just nicer. I've never driven further south than Rome so can't help with pitfalls. We always use the San Gottard tunnel. Sometimes there's a queue and sometimes there isn't. If you cross into Switzerland on the motorway the border police will very kindly sell you the motorway tax in Euros.

Pipistrelli

Hahahahahahahaha... Oh my good God!!!

My poor student days of having to buy someone's half price used same rail ticket journey and Tube sandwiches (three people through a tube gate using only two underground tickets) are thankfully long behind me.

Please, take the Ferry or even pay the tolls.. just anything to avoid meeting Mario in the gents. Second stall on the left at about two o'clock.

nicktonight

I drive regularly from the UK to Sicily and would really recommend not driving through Italy but getting the boat from Genova. The exhaustion of such a long drive is dangerous especially if you are not used to driving in other countries. Then you have to be very careful not to pick up odd little fines in places that you don't know - for instance for driving in the bus lane in Milan, parking in the wrong place or speeding at night on a completely deserted motorway such as the ones going round Lyon or Basel with very slow speed limits. I always seem to get fined somewhere! The cheapest route takes you though Belgium (Bruges - but remember where your car is if you leave it in the giant and confusing carpark) France Luxembourg Switzerland and down to Genova.
Useful tips are to get your petrol in Luxembourg and pay for the cabin on the boat rather than on the web site (this last tip may be risky so don't try it unless you are prepared not to get a cabin). For anyone who is a resident of Sicily BTW don't forget to tell them on the boat that you live in Sicily (they won't ask you if they see you look British). You then automatically qualify for a seaview cabin at no extra charge rather than an internal cabin.

VEROVITA

Thanks to everybody for all the great feedback. OH is quite keen to tackle the drive all the way down - especially after reading onnono's comments. I think by the time we reach Naples we will both have had enough of the driving adventure and knowing modicasa I am inclined to think - especially if we are exhausted - the extra miles will be a bit too much of a challenge for our first time round.

A couple of questions:
1. When we arrive in Naples any tips on finding the right ferry?
2. Any recommendations on ferry provider? name of ferry?
3. Is it best to book online before we get there or can we just arrive and queue (or will this be a nightmare)?

We will be leaving the UK from the north so the zeebrugge route would suit us. We dont mind tolls if it means the trip will be smoother but dont want to pay over the odds if there are other pleasant routes.

Thanks again!!!

ononno

As you come down the A1 autostrada towards Napoli, the final tollgate is Caserta Sud. Just keep straight on towards Napoli until you come into sight of the oil refineries. At this point, the autostrada forks - you must keep to the right fork 'Napoli Centro, Porto etc.' Once on the next stretch, after a couple of Kms. the autostrada forks again, with the left fork taking you straight into the dock/port area. At this point you will find the ferry embarkation points well signposted, along with the ticket offices.
Tirrenia is the company operating big swish expensive ferries Napoli - Palermo.
TTT Lines operates more homely less expensive ferries Napoli - Catania.
Both can be booked online.
June- September crossings weekends are better booked in advance; otherwise just turn up.
buon viaggio,
'o nonno