I am thinking of driving from Paris to Tuscany. I would like to see if anyone can give me some advice on this. I do have the time, but I'm wondering if it's a tough drive and if it's worth it to stop at a couple of towns along the way (Nice in France? Cinque Terre area in Italy?) I would appreciate the advice. Or should i just fly? One option that i'm pretty sure i don't want is the train, which seems pricey and very very long with no breaks...

Hi M.

A. How long do you want it to take?

2. You are aware that picking up a car in France and dropping it in Italy will cost big bucks?

Z. Will you have a navigator?

7. Maps and driving directions are at www.viamichelin.com and www.mappy.com.

1. i have 2-3 days to spare.

2. seems to be almost the same in terms of $ to either rent a car or to take a train. the flights seem the least expensive way to go, but i don't want to skip over a fun drive/exploration since for once i
have the time to spare.

another choice is to take a fast train down to the south of france and then drive from there?

i'm going to go on mappy to see if it'll tell me exact driving times. thank you for your advice!!

maria,

We have made this drive from Paris into Italy every year for at least the past five years..for us, there is no drop off since we return to Paris...this is a factor for you to consider cost wise...as far as the drive,it is easy...autoroute and autostrada all the way...from Paris down, the drive is very pretty..lots of bucolic countryside and vineyards once you approach Beaune, then the area around Lyon, and finally Provence, where we usually spend the night...the next day, we drive along the French Riviera and into Italy.. we go north, you will go south, again Autostrada into the Tuscan area....you will be on main roads always with good signage and frequent Autogrill stops...it is a personal choice whether to fly or drive, but if you ask can the drive be done easily, the answer is "yes"..if you ask if it can be done quickly, the answer is "no"..plan on two days...and have good maps for leaving Paris and getting into your destination in Tuscany....the rest of it is a straight shot...

PS

Don't forget to factor in the cost of the tolls...they are quite expensive, especially between Paris and the Nice area...

Train to Nice, stay or not, then train to Genoa and get the car there and stay on the coast.

traviata
I read your reply with great interesting since DH and I will be making the drive from La Havre to Orvieto in April (in just a few weeks!)

We always rent a car in Europe (twice a year) and enjoy driving. The scenery changes keep us interesting, no matter where we are traveling.

I did a mapquest search for directions and found that they are recommending a route that passes by Geneva. It looks to be all austrada, but I don't want to be surprised, only to find out that a mountain pass in Switzerland is part of the route and CLOSED.

Question: Does your "all autostrade" route pass by Geneva? Are you taking the same route? It doesn't sound like it, as you said you travel through the south of France.
Carol

Simson,

I have no idea if our routes would interchange since I have never come through Switzerland...don't know how they route you...maybe another Fodorite could supply that information for you...at any rate, I am happy to hear you drive it...I know that's not the preferred method by many, but we really enjoy the freedom if offers, and we are explorers, so it works well for us..

Simson,

I think the route you are speaking of is actually toward Geneva, but taking you through the Frejus tunnel, then onto Torino and south to Orvieto...we took that several years ago when we wanted to bypass Provence...check your map to see if that is the suggested route...

Simpson:

If you specified all-motorway, that's more or less what you've got.

There are no mountain passes immediately close to Geneva, the standard NW France-Italy doesn't go through Switzerland and all European web route finders have the brains to warn you about potential winter closures.

You've probably been given the normal A6/A40 route, which runs through the Geneva suburbs, while remaining in France. It runs up to the non-motorway Mont Blanc Tunnel, which goes for 20 miles from Chamonix to Courmayeur in Italy, then joins the Italian motorway system. To the extent that any road is all-weather, this one is.

marialho:
The route I've sketched out is the basis for the painless, same-day, drive from Paris to Tuscany. The lengthy detour via Nice adds a lot of miles for no benefit if you stick to the motorways. If you come off the motorways for the drive along the French coast, it adds a lot of miles and an AWFUL lot of time (At least an extra day each way) for some quite nice scenery.

The best driving compromise (though not for the fainthearted) is to follow the standard motorway route from Paris to Geneva to Genoa. Then the A12 to Viareggio and the A11 to Florence. Stop briefly at Fiesole for the view of the Florence Duomo.

cotswold and traviata:
Thanks for all the input. The route we will most probably take is the one that goes thru the MtBlanc tunnel, by way of Geneva. According to mapquest, it is a long day's drive, but we've done many a long day's drive in Europe. We don't HAVE to reach Orvieto in one day so if we get tired, we can stop along the way. In fact, Geneva is just about the halfway point so we may stay near there.

The reason I was wondering about passes being closed is because we DID have this problem last April, trying to get from Zermatt to Lugano. It was quite an adventure... but then, we love adventures! We saw some amazing scenery...
Carol

I will be driving from Paris to Torino in May and was interested to know from the ones that have done these trips,which is a better route, thru Mt blanc tunnel or Frejus tunnel? and can it be done in one day?

Hi arce,

You already know my description of the drive, and I can't help you on time since we stayed the night in Chambery...from there, we chose a more southerly route, the Frejus, into Torino..I just wanted to recommend that if you decide to do it in a day, I'd leave Paris very early in the morning...I'd rather drive in the dark leaving Paris than approach Torino in the dark from the mountain routes...

We did the trip from our house about 2 hours north of Toulouse to Menton in one day. Not bad, as the autoroute is attractive - and good. However, on entering Italy we went in and out of tunnels along the coast for what seemed like forever. Great engineering feat, but we didnt enjoy it one bit. Not helped by having the sun in our eyes, so that we were continually going from sun to heavy shade in the tunnels. Not to mention that the road, having to fit in between those mountains, was narrow, and not in good shape. I certainly wouldnt want to do it in one day from Paris.