Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

My girlfriend and I will be flying into Milan Malpensa late June and
leaving after 16 days in early July from the same airport. We'll have a
rental car, a tent and sleeping bags and we intend to stay at
campgrounds to manage the budget.

We enjoy:
a) day-hikes (e.g., Ordesa N.P.)
b) old towns, castles and fortresses (e.g., Le Pays Cathare)

We don't enjoy places which are too crowded and touristy (e.g., most if
not all cities, Carcassonne in July, Costa Brava).

I'd really appreciate your suggestions on where to go.

Right now I'm considering:
1) Massif Central and Cevennes N.P (quite a long way away)
2) The French or Western-Italian Alps (not sure which of the regions to
pick, really)
3) Provance
4) Corsica via Genoa (I'm concerned about getting on the ferry without
reservations)

Do you have any suggestions on where to go or where not to go?

Best regards,
Andris.

P.S. We'd like to limit our driving to a total of 2000 km (preferrably
a total of 1500 km) and stick to Italy and France.

In the vicinity we've already been to the wine growing regions near
Macon, Annecy, Lago Maggiore, Tuscany, Umbria and Marche (which were
all wonderful, by the way - but we were there recently enough to want
to try some place new this time).

I do speak a bit of Italian and French and am looking forward to
practice both a bit more.

Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

Andris Kalnins schrieb:

My girlfriend and I will be flying into Milan Malpensa late June and
leaving after 16 days in early July from the same airport. We'll have a
rental car, a tent and sleeping bags and we intend to stay at
campgrounds to manage the budget.

We enjoy:
a) day-hikes (e.g., Ordesa N.P.)
b) old towns, castles and fortresses (e.g., Le Pays Cathare)

We don't enjoy places which are too crowded and touristy (e.g., most if
not all cities, Carcassonne in July, Costa Brava).

I'd really appreciate your suggestions on where to go.

Right now I'm considering:
1) Massif Central and Cevennes N.P (quite a long way away)
2) The French or Western-Italian Alps (not sure which of the regions to
pick, really)
3) Provance
4) Corsica via Genoa (I'm concerned about getting on the ferry without
reservations)

Massif Central and Cevennes is a you mention kind of
long[er] trip, Corsica [I would choose La Spezia rather
than Genova, but even then] is relatively long and probably
the most expensive option (ferries and cost of living
in Corsica), important part of Provence will be hot and
overcrowded in July .... looks like best option to consider
is Provence to start your vacation in June and then
West Alps for the second part in July

As you already have seen Macon, Annecy and liked
it, I would suggest driving from Malpensa to Southern
Provence, enjoy the time before the main tourist rush
for then driving North/NE to spend the July part of
your vacation in the Alps, mainly the border area
between France, Italy and Switzerland (Vanoise, Col
du Petit-St-Bernard, upper Aosta-Valley), add some
detour to Switzerland for mainly the wine producing
region above lake Geneva between Lausanne and
Villeneuve and further to Aigle, via La Forclaz and/or
Grand-St-Bernard pass road. If you then still should
have time left, continue East for either some days in
Piemonte or via Switzerland (several options) to
Milano

Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

Andris Kalnins wrote:

Right now I'm considering:
1) Massif Central and Cevennes N.P (quite a long way away)

Between the Apennines, the Alps, and the Massif Central you'll find lots of
places to hike.

I was in Lavaudieu (pictures visible on flickr.com) a few weeks ago and
think it will fit you to a T...

Bernard Higonnet

Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

On 22 May 2006 07:42:38 -0700, "Andris Kalnins" wrote:

My girlfriend and I will be flying into Milan Malpensa late June and
leaving after 16 days in early July from the same airport. We'll have a
rental car, a tent and sleeping bags and we intend to stay at
campgrounds to manage the budget.

Well, avoid Milan like the plague. It's expensive and ****!

4) Corsica via Genoa (I'm concerned about getting on the ferry without
reservations)

Do you have any suggestions on where to go or where not to go?

I live near, and work in Genova, and the region has more that enough
hiking to do for a mere 2 weeks. I know, coz I have been here for 8
months now, and have done lots of walking.

I wouldn't bother going to Corsica if I were you. There's plenty more
to do on the mainland without the ferry trip.
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

Thanks for all your help.

Just wondering - why would you choose La Spezia rather than Genova? I
tried to find even one operator that would go from La Spezia to Corsica
and I found none...

Perhaps googling on "la spezia traghetti" and "la spezia ferry" wasn't
enough.

Best regards,
Andris.

Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

Andris Kalnins wrote:

Just wondering - why would you choose La Spezia rather than Genova? I
tried to find even one operator that would go from La Spezia to
Corsica
and I found none...

Ooops ....

You are probably right - looks like services from La Spezia
to Bastia have been suspended ..... sorry!

At least according to
http://www.cemar.it/dest/ferries_corse.html
no more services this year

I liked driving the main road from Genova to La Spezia by
motorbike and then catching [off season, no reservation,
no time pressure] the ferry for Bastia, there across Corsicas
mountain ranges, N/NW coast roads and - less interesting
- a short detour S for Bonifacio and Porto-Vecchio. East
coast is mainly [sandy] beach area - but boring roads,
nothing really scenic

Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

On 25 May 2006 02:33:28 -0700, "Andris Kalnins" wrote:

Thanks for all your help.

Just wondering - why would you choose La Spezia rather than Genova? I
tried to find even one operator that would go from La Spezia to Corsica
and I found none...

Genova would be preferred for almost any reason. Many more ferries go
from there, it's better connected, and it's more beautiful!
--
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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Suggestions for Italy/France for late June to early July (16 days)
 

http://groups.google.it/group/ VIAGGIAMO-INSIEME?lnk=la&h l=it
travel cheap

Suggestions for Italy
 

On Thu, 25 May 2006 21:38:53 +0200, Martin wrote:

On Thu, 25 May 2006 21:24:46 +0100, Dave Frightens Me
wrote:


You could do worse than buy a large quantity of this in Lidl, DFM
http://www.ciao.it/Grafenwalder_Strong_Beer__323922

OK Martin, believe it or not I listened to you!

Here is a pic off my balcony, with the strong beer plus two others
from Lidl. I just noticed that the tower in the background is on a
lean!

http://www.deepfriedmars.com/OddPics/BeerView.JPG

I am drinking the strong one at the moment, and it's actually
remarkably good. I need to go easy, as I got a bit ****ed last night,
and the wife wasn't happy about it! I blame the barman...
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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Suggestions for Italy
 

On Sat, 27 May 2006 20:56:02 +0200, Martin wrote:

On Sat, 27 May 2006 18:40:39 +0100, Dave Frightens Me
wrote:

Here is a pic off my balcony, with the strong beer plus two others
from Lidl. I just noticed that the tower in the background is on a
lean!

http://www.deepfriedmars.com/OddPics/BeerView.JPG

I am drinking the strong one at the moment, and it's actually
remarkably good. I need to go easy, as I got a bit ****ed last night,
and the wife wasn't happy about it! I blame the barman...

Each can of LIDL Strong equals 2 cans of yer normal wimp beer.

That I noticed! The weissbeer wasn't bad either.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Lidl carried some good beer, but
the last lot I bought was pretty lousy and chucked it all out. Thanks
for the recommendation.
--
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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