Travelnut: StCirq responded to this in her above post, saying "AlanRow, they're Aussies, not Americans. And they've already posted about getting thee correct visa."

If I recall correctly, aussiedreamer took care of the visa situation at some point back around March, but I can't find any specific post or thread about the details.

Even in September you are going to find parking tough-going on the Italian coast, especially around le Cinque Terre (note the spelling). You might consider staying in nearby Lerici or Portovenere with your car and using the boats to visit le CInque Terre. Other towns where parking a car might be easier include Moneglia and Sestri Levante. If you plan to stay in le Cinque Terre itself, book an accommodations with parking.

it is a long way from le Cinque Terre to Bari. Are you thinking of driving a coastal route all the way down past Napoli and then cutting across?

If so, once you leave le Cinque Terre, the road is not marvelously scenic. Some nice towns for overnights along the way are just a bit inland, Massa Marittima and Tarquinia. If you just want a pit-stop Albergo Ristorante, the Locanda Ansedonia is terrific and right on the SS1 near Orbetello, and there a lots of possibilities in Capalbio if you pull into town -- but if possible avoid traveling on a weekend, or else reserve ahead.

If you haven't had enough of sun and see, either Porto Ercole or Porto Santa Stefano are pleasant towns for a night or two. From Porto Santo Stefano you can catch a boat for a day trip to the island of Giglio,

There are other atmospheric stops south of Rome along the coast:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...familyholidays

From le Cinque Terre, it is also possible, if you have time to burn, to take a route that sends you through San Gimignano, Volterra, the scenic Tuscan countryside down through Orvieto. Then you can either cut back to the sea, or travel the historic countryside of Lazio.

Before leaving southern Italy via Bara, you might want to route your travels so that you see Pompeii, Paestum and Matera.

I don't know how you plan to get from Croata to Paris, but I would be tempted to cut across the top of Italy to Genova, take the overnight car ferry to Barcelona, and then make the 10 hour drive to Paris.

Once again thanks so much for your responses. I will clear up the visa issue for anyone still interested. We are in London for 10 days and the Schengen Countries for 89!

I didn't elaborate on our October plans sorry. Heres a rough plan.
Cinque Terre/San Gimignano/Rome/Naples/Positano,(we have 9nights after leaving Cinque Terre) then Bari.

From our research it looks like about 4 hours from Positano to Bari, so we will do that in a day for the evening ferry to Croatia.

Once we split up from our traveling companions Liublianja-Slovinia on the 25/26 Oct we will have 3 days to get back to Paris to drop the car off. So probably the 'quickest' route will be the way we will go.

I hope I am keeping up with answering any queries, because I really appreciate the input.

I have just watched a discovery chanel on Roquefort and the cheese caves so it was great to hear its not far from Millau. (have to drive over 'that' bridge)

It is under 1hr 30m from Montpellier.

Montpellier is on the A9 Spain - Italy coastal autoroute system.

Millau bridge webcam : http://images.webcams.travel/webcam/1202739647.jpg

Peter

aussiedreamer I saw that you are thinking about Andorra and Gib.
I would suggest you forget about Spain for this trip as you are trying to cover a lot of ground without this country. So that could mean no Gib.
Besides you can find a lot more interesting and satisfying places other than Gib and Andorra.