UK to Italy via the Black Forest, Dolomites, Sorento, Corsica and the Weston Alps

[Landy-Lee83]

Hello and good day to you all.

We are Lee & Laura and we are currently planning a 4 week trip to Italy starting at the end of June. The route roughly form the UK is the Euro Tunnel then head to the Black Forest then over to the Dolomites were we will head south to Sorrento for a short stay befor going onto Corsica and the Western Alps.

We are looking for campsite recommendations and off road trails so please send me any links that might help and GPX files.

I will be using the OB-1 map and POI but i also just wanted to reach out on the forum to.

If anyone would like to meet up with us along the way then hit me up.


This is us with our 1998 110

 

[El-Dracho]

That sounds like an awesome trip plan. Just a few ideas that come to my mind spontaneously.

If you drive through the Black Forest and want to have a little sightseeing, then look at Freiburg, for example, a very beautiful historic old town. There is even a campground near the city center walking distance to the old town. Also, the area around the Tititsee and the Feldberg (altitude of about 1,200m) are great. Maybe also include the Schwarzwald Höhenstrasse in the route, this is a panoramic road. There are many great hiking trails there.

In the Alps, remember that there are some route closures, some of which are limited in time and days of the week. Follow the signs!

Corsica is really great. Just go for it and discover great routes. On the island you will find everything from forest, mountains to great beaches. Please remember that wildcamping is not allowed on Corsica like it is not allowed in many other European regions. But there are many great campsites there. On Corsica you will find some dirt tracks here and there that are legal to drive on. There are also interesting gardens in Corsica that are worth a visit.

As already mentioned elsewhere, there are good track and roadbooks for Corsica and the Alps in German (e.g., from “pistenkuh”, “experience” and “mdmot”), but whether there is something in English, I do not know. An excellent source for routes in the Alps is the Denzel Alpine Route Guide book, but this is in German. A good online source for the Alps is alpenrouten.de (use an online translator if necessary).

I'm sure there will be a few more members giving tips and hints here.

Enjoy your trip planning,
Bjoern

 

[Landy-Lee83]

That sounds like an awesome trip plan. Just a few ideas that come to my mind spontaneously.

If you drive through the Black Forest and want to have a little sightseeing, then look at Freiburg, for example, a very beautiful historic old town. There is even a campground near the city center walking distance to the old town. Also, the area around the Tititsee and the Feldberg (altitude of about 1,200m) are great. Maybe also include the Schwarzwald Höhenstrasse in the route, this is a panoramic road. There are many great hiking trails there.

In the Alps, remember that there are some route closures, some of which are limited in time and days of the week. Follow the signs!

Corsica is really great. Just go for it and discover great routes. On the island you will find everything from forest, mountains to great beaches. Please remember that wildcamping is not allowed on Corsica like it is not allowed in many other European regions. But there are many great campsites there. On Corsica you will find some dirt tracks here and there that are legal to drive on. There are also interesting gardens in Corsica that are worth a visit.

As already mentioned elsewhere, there are good track and roadbooks for Corsica and the Alps in German (e.g., from “pistenkuh”, “experience” and “mdmot”), but whether there is something in English, I do not know. An excellent source for routes in the Alps is the Denzel Alpine Route Guide book, but this is in German. A good online source for the Alps is alpenrouten.de (use an online translator if necessary).

I'm sure there will be a few more members giving tips and hints here.

Enjoy your trip planning,
Bjoern

This type of info is just what we are after! Thanks you very much.

We are aware that wiled camping is a no no and we are very respectfully when traveling.

I like a drink so we prefer campsites so i know we will not get asked to move on after a few cans

 

[nickburt]

We did a run out to Greece last September, Hull ferry to Rotterdam, down through Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Brenner Pass (boring) down through the Dolomites to Venice, then ferry to Greece.
Not sure I can offer much advice, but a couple of campsites we used and would recommend:
Luxembourg: www.camp-kockelscheuer.lu
Switzerland: www.camping-kaiseraugst.ch
Liechtenstein: www.campingtriesen.li (I believe, the only campsite in Liechtenstein)
Don't bother with the Brenner pass, we didn't get the "Alpine feeling" from it, especially at the top. There are much better, more scenic routes such as the Gt St Bernard Pass etc... but if you're heading for the Dolomites, you might be a little restricted in which pass to use, depending on what time you have.
If you do go over the Brenner, there's a hotel on the Austrian side (Hotel Stolz) that's worth treating yourself to a bit of comfort and quality food.
From Brenner, we dropped down through the western side of the Dolomites to Venice. Unfortunately, we were time limited by an earlier breakdown (see here for that story) and a booked ferry from Venice and other bookings later on in Greece. So the Dolomites is on our list for a return visit.
Hopefully the attached kmz will work for you. It's had the number of points reduced, but is a good representation of the trip.
You probably, know, but purchase Vignettes in advance. Slight cost saving, but also quicker at borders/tolls etc... and a legal requirement in some cases.
If you're passing from Zurich towards the East (past Zurichsee and Walensee & Tuggen), I can highly recommend the guys at OverlandTechnics if you need help. Being in Switzerland, not cheap - probably THE most expensive clutch I've ever bought !!! - but nothing is cheap in Switzerland, compared to the rest of Europe.
There's a campsite on the Black Forest we have stayed at in the past (a few years ago now though - just to the NW of Altburg that is basic, but reasonable.