Somewhere to stay en route

[jepsonclough]

We will be driving down to our newly renovated house in the Marche next month and are looking for somewhere to stay en route. We are staying in Kent on the first night & expect to get over into Italy on day 2 before doing the final bit on day 3 (we've broken the journey like this as we don't' want to arrive at the house late at night as it won't be fully furnished so we want to arrive in day light)

So has anyone got any recommendations - we will have a car full of stuff for the house. We're just looking for somewhere to sleep rather than somewhere to stay & enjoy.

On the way back we are going to Euodisney with the children (they are flying out to Italy with grandparents) - to get the maximum use of the Disney tickets we are going to stay en route and arrive at Disney in the morning so any suggestions in France would also be gratefully received.

Chris

[anne2]

Assuming you are using the A1/A14 route what about staying somewhere like Parma? From there it should just take you 3-4 hours max to get to your house in Le Marche? I recently stayed in the Hotel Arte which is on the outskirts and very handy for the A1 - literally just a few mins from the exit. It is in a quiet residential area with a car park just outside. The rooms were modern, simple and very clean with air conditionding and a mini bar. It only does B&B but there was a trattoria within walking distance and indeed the centre of Parma was only a 15 min walk. There were also a couple of large shopping centres nearby. I booked it online through e-bookers or yee.go as they gave a good discount but it was also available through many of the others or directly - but more expensive!

[piedmont_phil]

Depends on your route of course. We tend to do Belgium, Luxembourg (cheap petrol), Eastern France (fewer tolls), Switzerland (only once a year fee for roads/tunnels) (& cheap petrol). On that route we have stoped just outside Colmar (France) in an Ibis with a relatively secure car park. In Italy we have tended to go for privately run B&B hotels that have good parking and are not in cities (again for the security of the car's content).

[alan h]

Rather than staying in Kent - have you considered catching a late ferry and staying overnight near Calais?

The advantage is that you 'gain' a couple of hours on your start time from Calais, compared to starting from Kent.

[alan h]

As to the overnight stay - use the 'mappy website' Mappy - plans, itinéraires, guide d'adresses en Europe to get the route [about 12.5 hrs driving time], and use the route map to find hotels - by zooming in a bit on where you think you can get to, and then use the hotel search facility on the left of the page. If you hit the 'tous hotels' facility it shows where plenty of hotels are in the area.

Good luck.



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[jepsonclough]

Originally Posted by alan h

Rather than staying in Kent - have you considered catching a late ferry and staying overnight near Calais?

The advantage is that you 'gain' a couple of hours on your start time from Calais, compared to starting from Kent.

Hi Alan

Thanks for the suggestion - would have been a good idea but we've booked the ferry now - will remember it for next time though!

Chris

[alan h]

Originally Posted by jepsonclough

Hi Alan

Thanks for the suggestion - would have been a good idea but we've booked the ferry now - will remember it for next time though!

Chris

May not cost much to change the booking - the last time I did it [last year] it was about £25 - give the ferry company a ring

[jepsonclough]

Originally Posted by anne2

Assuming you are using the A1/A14 route what about staying somewhere like Parma? From there it should just take you 3-4 hours max to get to your house in Le Marche? I recently stayed in the Hotel Arte which is on the outskirts and very handy for the A1 - literally just a few mins from the exit. It is in a quiet residential area with a car park just outside. The rooms were modern, simple and very clean with air conditionding and a mini bar. It only does B&B but there was a trattoria within walking distance and indeed the centre of Parma was only a 15 min walk. There were also a couple of large shopping centres nearby. I booked it online through e-bookers or yee.go as they gave a good discount but it was also available through many of the others or directly - but more expensive!

Thanks Anne. That looks like a good suggestions & the price on their own website €59 seems pretty good.

Chris

[alan h]

Parma is a hell of a long way to drive in 1 day [plus channel crossing] - I'd think you'd be pushed to get much further than Como [in any sort of comfortable drive] and would have thought Lucerne in Switzerland would be better/more realistic.

[F Bower]

we can reach Lucerne in time for dinner, leaving Cambridgeshire very early in the morning. Parma is a bit too far because we still have the Gotthard Tunnel and queues at the border at Como ahead of us. This year we're leaving later (after school finishes) so are going to put in an extra stop at St Omer. The drive to Lucerne will be a doddle but the scenery so spectacular we love to stop. We can do Rome with one overnight stop and have done many times - with three kids and an epileptic dog, but goind down we've always felt the need to stop at Lucerne