Aaand this is why I post on FT
. Thanks, guys, keep the suggestions coming!
Originally Posted by
Aviatrix
I can see several problems with the early part of your itinerary:
1) The route takes you through Italy. You may not be able to take your French rental car into Italy (last time we rented a car in the South of France Italy was a "no-no")
Interesting. I've done this once - rented a BMW 1-er in Paris, drove through Turin to southern France without a problem. Then again, I never thought to ask - to me Western Europe was always Western Europe
. Guess I should check at least with the insurance company.
2) The Stelvio Pass may not be open. It's summer-only, and it officially opens on 1 June. Sometimes mountain passes are open before their official opening date, but it's far from guaranteed.
C...rap. No wonder Google Maps won't route me. I had read in numerous places that it opens in late May, but if it is, indeed, closed, there goes half the trip (OK, I'm being overly dramatic, but Brescia and Davos definitely become unnecessary and I am going to be looking for things to do on the way back to Paris). Is there a definitive source of information for whether or not it's open on any given day?
3) Nice to Davos is over six hours driving time without the Stelvio Pass (and that's Google Time which tends to be somewhat over-optimistic). Driving on mountain passes takes a LONG time. I don't think the trip can be done in a day even if the pass is open. You'd have to drop the pass, and that probably means your whole reason for going to Davos has gone.
And that is why I'm staying in Brescia the night after the race
. Still a long drive, though, but the pass becomes part of the day's experience (if open).
I know you want to see a bit of Europe, but Nice to Paris via Davos and Colmar seems an awfully long detour, and all you'll be doing is driving and driving and driving.
Driving I don't mind (in fact, I enjoy it, especially if the car is right), as long, of course, as the destination is worth it. And if Stelvio is closed, it may very well not be.
Another thing is that it's the Pentecost week-end, which means that the Monday (25th) is a public holiday virtually everywhere in Europe, and with another public holiday (Ascension) only ten days earlier a lot of people will be travelling around that time, so expect roads to be very very busy.
Good to know, will keep in mind.
I'd drop Davos (and possibly Colmar too) and take a more leisurely drive on a more direct route - allowing plenty of extra time for the holiday week-end traffic jams.
If Stelvio is, indeed, closed, that's exactly what I'm going to do, although I will then be looking for other ways to pass the time. Maybe see Basel on the way to Colmar...