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Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Old Jun 22nd 2021, 12:20 pm
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Default Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Hello

We are hoping to make the journey (2 fully vaccinated adults, 1 14 years old, 1 dog) in mid July to our apartment in Marche region. We would travel via eurotunnel through France avoiding Switzerland. I can only find information relating to air travel and was wondering if anyone else is considering the journey and what plans they have for rest stops/food etc. on the journey and during 5 days quarantine on arrival?

Thanks in advance for any input.
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Old Jun 22nd 2021, 1:53 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Since you will have a 14 year old with you, I'm pretty sure you can't stop in France. Either way, maybe it's better to travel straight through. I would be very tempted to stay the night in Ashford, take the first train and then share the driving to get there in one hit. As long as you cross the border before midnight you can count that as your first day of quarantine.
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Old Jun 22nd 2021, 2:29 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Do not forget the new procedure for taking a dog into the EU ie an animal health certificate as the pet passport is no longer accepted
https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-a...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Old Jun 22nd 2021, 5:15 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

I am planning on doing it at the beginning of next month. From the gov.uk advice as long as you are double vaccinated then you are allowed into France. I am planning the early shuttle route but as for the rest I have not gone beyond international driving permits, GB stickers, green card and beam benders. The problem as I see it is that Italy, for example, has only 25% double jabbed so if the delta variant takes hold they are going to be in a world of pain. Meanwhile cases here in the UK are increasing but, at the moment anyway, not exponentially. It is foreseeable that if a european government takes fright they may unilaterally close their borders and if our case numbers rise then the EU could close to us. All in all I am getting increasingly nervous and I won't be booking just yet..
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Old Jun 22nd 2021, 8:10 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

I think Italy will be OK until November and then we will get restrictions again. Even the 25% vaccinated will need boosters.
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Old Aug 20th 2021, 3:35 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Originally Posted by philat98
I think Italy will be OK until November and then we will get restrictions again. Even the 25% vaccinated will need boosters.
My husband and I are both double jabbed, and would like to drive from UK to our holiday home in Italy via France, Germany and Austria, with 2 or 3 overnights on route. How realistic is it that we can go oct/Nov. Thanks in advance for any advice
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Old Aug 20th 2021, 6:32 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Originally Posted by LizGosling
My husband and I are both double jabbed, and would like to drive from UK to our holiday home in Italy via France, Germany and Austria, with 2 or 3 overnights on route. How realistic is it that we can go oct/Nov. Thanks in advance for any advice
Hard to predict what the situation will be a couple of months ahead. Since we're planning to do something similar, my hope is that the fully vaccinated won't have to quarantine on arrival in Italy, and simply have to take an antigen test before and afterwards. The quarantine regime was put in place to protect Italy from the Delta variant, which had become prevalent in the UK thanks to the gross incompetence and stupidity f the Johnson Government. But Delta is now prevalent in Italy too, so that argument has gone. However, if the quarantine requirement nevertheless remains in place throughout the autumn, it's not the end of the world. I find it very hard to believe that road travel (including overnight stops) will not be possible at all. Having said that, I suspect that driving through France will be less problematic than Germany and Austria. But my crystal ball is no less murky than yours
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Old Aug 21st 2021, 7:30 am
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Originally Posted by LizGosling
My husband and I are both double jabbed, and would like to drive from UK to our holiday home in Italy via France, Germany and Austria, with 2 or 3 overnights on route. How realistic is it that we can go oct/Nov. Thanks in advance for any advice
As Stanley says, it is impossible to predict the situation 2 months ahead.
I made the journey via Dover/Calais last weekend. Entry to France required evidence of double jab plus a self-certificate that you are symptom-free (info available on the French official site, link available on the GOVUK site.). French immigration check is in Dover. I travelled via Belgium, Germany and Austria and did not encounter a border; entry to Italy at Brenner was similarly control-free. I have a camper, hence the question of accommodation did not arise.
Shopping en route was as per UK and I suspect that, if you limit yourself to m'way service areas for meals, you will not encounter problems.

Last edited by jiminalpago; Aug 21st 2021 at 7:43 am.
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Old Sep 7th 2021, 9:42 am
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Originally Posted by jiminalpago
As Stanley says, it is impossible to predict the situation 2 months ahead.
I made the journey via Dover/Calais last weekend. Entry to France required evidence of double jab plus a self-certificate that you are symptom-free (info available on the French official site, link available on the GOVUK site.). French immigration check is in Dover. I travelled via Belgium, Germany and Austria and did not encounter a border; entry to Italy at Brenner was similarly control-free. I have a camper, hence the question of accommodation did not arise.
Shopping en route was as per UK and I suspect that, if you limit yourself to m'way service areas for meals, you will not encounter problems.
We are driving to the UK from Southern Italy mid October, via Austria, Germany, and the Amsterdam/Newcastle ferry. Have overnight stops booked in Northern Italy and Germany on the way there, thinking it best not to book for the way back, but take pot luck. I'm hoping we can overnight stay in Germany on the way back - it's a long way from Amsterdam to Northern Italy.
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Old Sep 7th 2021, 12:59 pm
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Originally Posted by Margaret M
We are driving to the UK from Southern Italy mid October, via Austria, Germany, and the Amsterdam/Newcastle ferry. Have overnight stops booked in Northern Italy and Germany on the way there, thinking it best not to book for the way back, but take pot luck. I'm hoping we can overnight stay in Germany on the way back - it's a long way from Amsterdam to Northern Italy.
I would, also, leave the detail of the return journey until later. The ferries are empty (for non-freight traffic), as are the hotels. If you wanted a suggestion for Germany, I would offer Dinkelsbühl, between the Crailsheimer Kreuz and Ulm. It will be getting dark about 7 pm and it is about 700km from Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Calais. The town is about 6km off the motorway, on the "Romantischerstraße" and has year-round accommodation.
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Old Sep 7th 2021, 1:09 pm
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021 lo

Originally Posted by jiminalpago
I would, also, leave the detail of the return journey until later. The ferries are empty (for non-freight traffic), as are the hotels. If you wanted a suggestion for Germany, I would offer Dinkelsbühl, between the Crailsheimer Kreuz and Ulm. It will be getting dark about 7 pm and it is about 700km from Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Calais. The town is about 6km off the motorway, on the "Romantischerstraße" and has year-round accommodation.
Thank you, I will investigate Dinkelsbuhl. Which motorway? When I have done the trip in the past, many years ago, we used the 61 and 65, skirting to the south of Stuttgart, and down to Ulm.

Last edited by Margaret M; Sep 7th 2021 at 1:29 pm.
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Old Sep 8th 2021, 5:58 am
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021 lo

Originally Posted by Margaret M
Thank you, I will investigate Dinkelsbuhl. Which motorway? When I have done the trip in the past, many years ago, we used the 61 and 65, skirting to the south of Stuttgart, and down to Ulm.
After travelling down to Puglia and back twice a year for more than 16 years and trying many alternative routes, I found the best one to be Amsterdam to Venlo via Eindhoven, then through Germany on the A61/A6/A7 to cross the border at Füssen/Reutte which then takes you over the Fernpass to Innsbruck, and from there on to Brenner. Same on the way back but in reverse! It's as straight a line as I could find in all my experimentation, although I remember Jim suggested an alternative route through Bavaria a while back which sounded quite interesting but which I never got to try.

I did the route past Stuttgart on the A8 a couple of times but didn't like it as it was consistently busy every time I tried it. On the whole Germany is busy pretty much everywhere these days and with roadworks all over the place but it's always worse on a Friday for some reason. I find the A7, which is the road that takes you down past Ulm, to be generally one of the quietest on the entire Autobahn network. On average and provided there are no major traffic issues and you don't make too many stops you should be able to do Amsterdam to Füssen in 8-9 hours with about a further 4-5 hours or thereabouts to arrive at one of the service stops around Bolzano.

Watch out for the surprise speed camera on the Autobahn just outside Innsbruck going towards Brenner - it's caught me twice in the past. The limit is 60mph (100kph) at all times and if you exceed that at all it will get you. There is also a limit imposed at certain times in certain parts of Germany and I was caught once by a camera on the A61 just outside Koblenz, again in a 60mph zone. Adhere to the signs and do as the locals do and all will be well.

Last edited by Jake.White; Sep 8th 2021 at 6:43 am.
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Old Sep 8th 2021, 7:11 am
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021 lo

Originally Posted by Jake.White
After travelling down to Puglia and back twice a year for more than 16 years and trying many alternative routes, I found the best one to be Amsterdam to Venlo via Eindhoven, then through Germany on the A61/A6/A7 to cross the border at Füssen/Reutte which then takes you over the Fernpass to Innsbruck, and from there on to Brenner. Same on the way back but in reverse! It's as straight a line as I could find in all my experimentation, although I remember Jim suggested an alternative route through Bavaria a while back which sounded quite interesting but which I never got to try.

I did the route past Stuttgart on the A8 a couple of times but didn't like it as it was consistently busy every time I tried it. On the whole Germany is busy pretty much everywhere these days and with roadworks all over the place but it's always worse on a Friday for some reason. I find the A7, which is the road that takes you down past Ulm, to be generally one of the quietest on the entire Autobahn network. On average and provided there are no major traffic issues and you don't make too many stops you should be able to do Amsterdam to Füssen in 8-9 hours with about a further 4-5 hours or thereabouts to arrive at one of the service stops around Bolzano.

Watch out for the surprise speed camera on the Autobahn just outside Innsbruck going towards Brenner - it's caught me twice in the past. The limit is 60mph (100kph) at all times and if you exceed that at all it will get you. There is also a limit imposed at certain times in certain parts of Germany and I was caught once by a camera on the A61 just outside Koblenz, again in a 60mph zone. Adhere to the signs and do as the locals do and all will be well.
Luckily we won't be travelling on a Friday then. Will be in the UK from Friday to Monday. Sounds very similar to our route, will discuss with my husband. We have a Tesla, so to some degree are guided by Supercharger locations, but they seem to be just about everywhere once you get to Northern Italy, and all points north. We are in Puglia too.

Last edited by Margaret M; Sep 8th 2021 at 7:14 am.
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Old Sep 8th 2021, 7:37 am
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

I have used the A61/A6/A7 route suggested by Jake in recent years and found it the best route to the Brenner crossing; and I agree with his comment on the Stuttgart alternative.
In August I found the A61 closed between Bonn and Köln (weather damage from the previous month); the deviation was not well signed but on dual carriageways and relatively fast. It was still closed on my return so I deviated at the West Köln junction to A4 eastwards past Köln to the A3 and south via Frankfurt, Wūrzburg to Crailsheim and the A7: this route is parallel to the A61 but east of the Rhine. The landscape is pleasant.
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Old Sep 8th 2021, 9:53 am
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Default Re: Driving from UK to Italy July 2021

Originally Posted by jiminalpago
I have used the A61/A6/A7 route suggested by Jake in recent years and found it the best route to the Brenner crossing; and I agree with his comment on the Stuttgart alternative.
In August I found the A61 closed between Bonn and Köln (weather damage from the previous month); the deviation was not well signed but on dual carriageways and relatively fast. It was still closed on my return so I deviated at the West Köln junction to A4 eastwards past Köln to the A3 and south via Frankfurt, Wūrzburg to Crailsheim and the A7: this route is parallel to the A61 but east of the Rhine. The landscape is pleasant.
​​
Thanks for the heads up about the A61. We will check the status of that before we leave.

Did you have any Covid related "hassle", and what paperwork did you need/have. I am trying to pull everything together to make sure I don't miss anything.
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