Route to Italy
Hi smarty156,
I’ve taken my 156 GTA to Italy perhaps 30 times over the years. I only got back from the Dolomites yesterday.
I generally use the Dover to Dunkerque ferry for a number of reasons:
• I have a 3-4 hour journey to get to Dover so a 2 hour ferry crossing provides a break which the tunnel can’t.
• My route generally takes me though Belgium so landing in Dunkerque is helpful.
• Dover to Dunkerque is generally the cheapest route.
In the early days, I was worried about grounding on the ramps inside the ship leading up to the upper car deck and notified the ferry company I had low ground clearance. They put me on the main deck. Later, I had confidence that those ramps if taken slowly weren’t an issue.
I haven’t gone via Eurotunnel in many years.
As others have said, the Quadrifoglio’s ground clearance seems to be about the same as the 156 GTA.
Nevertheless, on my first trip abroad in the Quadrifoglio, which may only be a week off (I got it today), I will play safe and warn the ferry company I have low ground clearance.
The choice of route is dependent on three main factors:
• Where you want to go in Italy
• How long you want to allow for the journey.
• How many French autoroute tolls you wish to avoid
I’m normally aiming for NW Italy, Valle d’Aosta (skiing), Lombardia (lakes and Alfa Museum) or Liguria or Toscana (sea).
Before I retired, I was generally taking the fastest and shortest route, ie French Autoroutes to Strasbourg, Autobahn (part without speed limits) to Basel and through Switzerland and into Italy through the Grand St Bernard Tunnel. Or via Dijon and the Mont Blanc tunnel.
These days, I have more time and I generally go on Belgium autoroutes passing Namur down to Luxembourg (where petrol is cheap) to Metz, Nancy then minor roads to Pontarlier, Lausanne and Grand St Bernard.
The D50 from Lure to Valdahon is a fun road.
If I’ve got even more time, the minor roads on the Belgian French border are very entertaining.
eg Chimay – Bourliers – Bourg Fidele - Montherme – Rochehaut
If wanting to go further East and exploit limit free autobahns, the route from Luxembourg via Merzig to Pirmasens, which I used on Sunday, is fast and often empty.
Currently, the autobahn past Stuttgart has huge roadworks and I suggest you don't go there for a year or two.
Hope this helps.
Andy