fishskis

I am taking a 10 to 14 day driving trip in late March, and I would appreciate advice and suggestions.

A little background..I am a 40 year old single male; I will probably be going alone. I have traveled extensively in Europe, mostly to major cities. Last year I did a great driving trip through Bavaria, Salzburg, Bellagio, the Alps, Lyon, Burgundy, then Paris. I am not a fan of overly touristy places, I love: architecture, walking cities, great food, some nightlife , and I can get impatient quickly...

I am picking up a car in Munich (BMW's European Delivery program), planning to return the car to Munich...I am leaning heavily towards Italy, but also considering some other places as alternates or add-ons. Ideally, I would like to go to where I have not been before...so...

-ITALY. I have not been to Tuscany or Umbria (except as a kid); I was thinking maybe 6 or 7 days in Milan, Florence, Siena, and ?? Then maybe a day or two driving up the Ligurian coast??..maybe a few days in PROVENCE. Or should I do the full 10 or 12 days in TUSCANY/ UMBRIA?..or..possibly go Northeast to...
-CZECK REPUBLIC and Prague for a few days. I love Prague; are Karlovy Vary or Cesky Crumlov or any other places noteworthy?...or..a few days in SLOVENIA?....(KRAKOW sounds great, but I think it is too far for this trip.)

Please note: I have been to, and I am not interested in: The French Riviera, Austria, Hungary, Bavaria. Also, security for my car (a convertible) is important. Additionally, some roads/ cities are not built for big German cars; anywhere I need to be particularly wary of (for example, the impossibly narrow two way roads around Belaggio)?

Thank you in advance for your help.

ira

Hi fish,

I think tht 2 weeks driving around Tuscany and Umbria would be a very nice motor trip.

Have you decided against Venice?

>some roads/ cities are not built for big German cars;

How big is this Bimmer convertible?

bobthenavigator

Sounds like fun---can I tag along?
Here is a rough loop I would consider:
Ortisei[Dolomites]
Spello[Umbria]
Pienza/San Quirico[south Tuscany]
Portovenere[Ligurian coast]
Lugano[Swiss Ticino]
Scoul[Engadine valley]

That will give you a good contast and some of the best natural beauty in Europe. Put that into viamichelin with a start and end in Munich. Good luck !

fishskis

Ira, I am undecided on Venice right now. I have been before, and frankly, I htink it is better as a couples place rather than a single place; I don't have a burning need to go back. I am trying to do all new places on this trip. As for the car, it is a 650; larger than your average little Fiat.

Bob, I will do a little research on your suggestions, thanks.

BTW, I took a quick look at hotels in Milan, Florence , and Siena; the prices seem extremely high, and supply low, especially for what I thought would be an off-peak time. Is this normal?

SloJan

I would not, repeat would not, drive a brand new convertible BMW to Eastern Europe. Slovenia will be no problem, but not Poland and not the Czech Republic. Not only is the theft rate higher but the roads stink.

Drive Italy and Slovenia.

Cheers,
Jan

logos999

It IS an extremely bad idea to drive yor car to Czech Rep., Hungary!, Poland! and even Italy .(Guarded parking is a must there.)
You will almost have a 100% chance! of either the car being stolen, or at least the airbags. Plus the aditional damage when they break it open.
Switzland, Austria are nice, too. So why don't you stay there.

fishskis

Thanks for the strong caution Slo and Logo. I concur with your warnings. I am going to do 5 or 6 days in Tuscany/ northern Italy, then fly to Paris.

flanneruk

I've driven BMWs and Mercedeses throughout Romania, Poland, Slovakia and Czech. Not a problem or even a scratch on the car (which is a great deal more than you can say for what happens to posh cars in most of London).

It's not, after all, as if these cars are particularly unusual. Much of Czech is within a hour of both factories.

flanneruk

I've driven BMWs and Mercedeses throughout Romania, Poland, Slovakia and Czech. Not a problem or even a scratch on the car, which certainly hasn't been the case parked outside my London house.

It's not, after all, as if these cars are particularly unusual. Much of Czech is within a hour of both factories.

The crucial thing is to park overnight in secure car parks. Every hotel I've ever stayed in has such a car park, and hall porters have always been assiduous
about making sure my car's been put in the best-lit bit.

logos999

You lucky guy. Why are so different from the rest of us. It usually starts with windscreen wipers, than airbags and then the car is gone... Standard procedure, very very common.

logos999

Try to spent more time on the continent. The "one hour" from the factory separates two different worlds. One where people make +2000€/month from one where they make 200€ or less. You're the taget of organized crime, if you take you expensive car over there. It's not a joke.

SloJan

Agreed. The cars head East very fast. Why take a risk with a brand new car?

kleeblatt

A friend of mine picked up his new Volvo in Sweden and drove down, making stops along the way, to Switzerland. No problem. He continued his journey to Cinque Terre and other places in the Tuscany. He came back to Switzerland and showed me this huge scratch on the car. I thought he got lucky with only a scratch.

We've driven down to Tuscany too. The three lane freeway suddenly turned four lane...without a real fourth lane. Scary!

SloJan

I bet that is just North of Florence. I hate that stretch of road and the trucks are merciless!

zotique

Well we drove a modestly priced Opel in the Czech rep. no problem.

And avoided Prague.

The roads were very good.