Are there really 110 tunnels between Monaco and Genoa?
 

Friends will be making this trip during the morning, early February. Will the sun be blinding? Is there a better alternative route between Nice and Rapallo?

It is the only feasible route, but there are a bunch of tunnels. Not really a big problem, just be sure the driver is alert.

Not 110 - it just seems like that many. If it is sunny, it can get somewhat tiresone taking the sunglasses off & on many times.

Stu Dudley

Have they considered the train? It's a 4.5 hour train ride from Montecarlo to Rapallo with a switch in Ventimiglia, a bit shorter if you make another switch in Genova Brignole. Both are very easy stations to negotiate.

I don't mind the drive, although I would recommend absolutely that they switch to taking a train if it is significantly rainy along the coast on their travel day. Sections of the A12 are prone to big-time puddling, and hence hazards and road closures.

If they need a car in Rapallo, there is a Europecar rental office right in the heart of town. I'm assuming there is a rental office as well in Monaco. If not, they can drop it off in Ventimiglia before boarding the train.

Just for fun, the number of tunnels between the France/Italy border (Ventimiglia just after the border) and Pisa is 157.5 (tunnel straddling the border accounts for the .5!). I used to drive this route a lot (and back from Florence, but not as many times), something like 77 times, so counted one day (insert nerd here ;) ). And from Monaco to Ventimiglia there are, once you get up on the A8, around 6 tunnels (from memory, haven't counted these ones precisely). They could do the lower coast road from Monaco through Menton to Ventimiglia then join the A10

As far as driving this route, I've found sunglasses with a lighter tint (reddish works best - ha, rose-coloured glasses!) help as you can keep them on in the tunnels and still have good vision. Whilst I can't tell you what the sun will be doing on exactly that day in terms of shining or not, I can tell you that if it is a bright sunny day, the views will be spectacular (moreso for the passengers). Your friends should just take their time, do the speed limit, keep their headlights on (low beam) through the drive, not venture into the fast (ie left) lane too much, avoid changing lanes in tunnels (even though they'll see everyone else do it) and allow around 3 hours (a stop would be good and there are a few roadside/cliffside stations along the way, Illario Sud springs to mind - it's close to halfway through the trip, but pops up just after a tunnel so keep an eye out for signs). If they can time there drive for a Sunday that would be good as large trucks/semis are not allowed to drive on Sundays and thus the traffic, and traffic backup with trucks passing each other, is lessened, along with the rattle and wind-drag the trucks create. The tunnels all vary in length, and some are well lit other not, but they will encounter them and this is the most efficient route to get to where they want to go. I don't consider it a white knuckle ride, but as has been mentioned, if it's raining that will necessitate a slower speed. I've always enjoyed the drive, it's one of the top coastal drives in the world, except one December many years ago when storms ripped across Germany and France and I was doing the drive - that was the only time I didn't enjoy it (!).

Thank you bob, stu, zeppole and madame - all your advice has been passed on. They are bringing their own car from the UK so the train isn't an option.

www.viamichelin.com have done this relax fine many tunnels but very pretty nice roads the sun is not "blinding".No
other easy way to go. SanRemo makes a nice pretty stop.

Thanks, quo, they aren't as concerned as I am!