London-Paris-Alps-Venice-Athens

On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:14:09 +0200, Martin wrote in post :
:

It's not unfeasible, a lot of Parisians go skiing. But it'll probably cost
extra at this time of year.

but do Parisians rent cars to go to the Alps? :-)

Ah. Got me.

--
Tim C. Linz, Austria.

On Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:01:23 -0500, Mark Brader wrote in post :
:

It sounds as though "visit" might mean "drive past". In my experience
driving *anywhere* in Britain takes 50-100% longer than you might expect.
I hope the airport is Heathrow, at least, this being on the correct side
of London.

I reckon, in the Dolomites, even on a motorbike, around 250 km a day is a
good distance. If you stop occasionally for a few photos. (driving day
10:00 to about 17-18:00).

--
Tim C. Linz, Austria.

On Wed, 3 Apr 2013 18:26:57 -0500, Dan Stephenson wrote in post :
news:2013040318265771398-stephedanospam@maccom :

THANK YOU that is very helpful. I'll have to research history opening
dates for Stelvio.

Officially June, but I've experienced it being closed until the last week
of June. It depends a lot on how the Winter was and how much the eastern
ramp has been damaged/subsided. The Austrian motoring club has a map he
http://www.oeamtc.at/index.php?id=2500,,500408,

If you zoom in /mouse over the passes and click you'll get more details. In
German, but I'm sure you can get the gist of it.

--
Tim C. Linz, Austria.

The local traffic /pas conditions can be found here in german and Italian :
http://www.provincia.bz.it/verkehr/default.asp

..


--
Tim C. Linz, Austria.

On Wed, 3 Apr 2013 18:38:25 -0500, Dan Stephenson wrote in post :
news:2013040318382584614-stephedanospam@maccom :

Stelvio should be crossed from the north - that's where the hairpins are.

You mean, to descend along the hairpins, or ascend? It's more
west-east in orientation.

You could go up via Bormio and down into Switzerland to Sta. Maria if the
eastern ramp of the Stelvio is closed. (or the other way, of course). The
Umbrail pass is usually open a bit earlier than the Stelvio. There is about
2km of unmade road, but it's flat and mostly firm. I've seen a (Dutch)
coach go over it. So it's no trouble in any car. Quite fun actually.

--
Tim C. Linz, Austria.

On 04/08/2013 03:12 PM, Martin wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:55:32 +0200, Tom P wrote:

On 04/08/2013 11:47 AM, Tim C. wrote:
On Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:55:53 +0200, Martin wrote in post :
:

On Mon, 8 Apr 2013 09:29:17 +0200, "Tim C." wrote:

On Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:46:14 -0700, poldy wrote in post :
news
How high is it?

I'm going for 2 weeks in late May, spending a few days in Val Gardena,
hoping to drive around the Gardena and Sella passes.

Late may is touch and go for the Stelvio. You'll probably be able to get up
from Bormio but not over the east ramp. There is still over 2m of snow at
the top on the road.

That cause serious problems to his schedule.

Probably.

I expect all the passes in the Dolomites to be open. They are kept clear
for the ski resorts and inhabitants through the Winter, and they are
generally snow-free most of the year.

Grimsel, Furka, Splügen and Stelvio/Stilfserjoch are pretty much the last
to open in the eastern/central Alps.

Here's what the Stelvio looks like now:
http://jpeg.popso.it/webcam/webcam_o...violive_04.jpg

Those doors are the fronts to the shops and stalls, about 2m high. Any
clearance vehicles will come from the left of the camera's view.




In any case, where is he going to get a set of snow tires and snow
chains from a car rental in Paris?

I had a problem getting snow chains from a branch of Avis near Munich,
when there was substantial amount of snow on the roads. Eventually
they gave in, but I had to fit them myself.


Legally, the car should have been fitted with winter tires. I suppose
that Avis is entitled to charge you for the snow chain rental, but I
can't imagine that you needed snow chains to get out of the car park if
the car has winter tires. Last year I was driving round South Tirol in
a ski area in February, and although we had chains, we never needed to
fit them, the winter tires were adequate.

On 2013-04-04, Mark Brader wrote:

One more thing. The last I heard -- which was a few years ago --
the expressway (freeway, autoroute, autobahn, whatever) system in

Why not "motorway"?

Switzerland charged a once-a-year toll implemented as a windshield
sticker ("vignette").

40 CHF

On 2013-04-03, Mark Brader wrote:
Dan Stephenson:

Friday - flight to Frankfurt, flight to USA

Sunday - arrive home

Saturday, surely.

I would have thought Friday. Due to the time zones, most westbound
transatlantic flights are daylight trips.

My snark was a bit rushed there.

On 2013-04-03, Bill wrote:
On Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:49:02 +0200, Jesper Lauridsen
wrote:

I tried Europcar with your data ( dropoff in Mestre; don't see any
point in going to an airport). Prices start at $700 for the smallest
vehicle class.

I'm a bit miffed that prices are lower when I claim to be American
than they are when I go with Danish.

That seems to be related to where the bill is presented and what the
local tax rates are.

I doubt it. Why should a car rental in France lead to taxes in Denmark
of the US?

On 2013-04-06, Tom P wrote:
On 04/04/2013 11:14 AM, Jesper Lauridsen wrote:

Because then you would be returning a Swiss car in Italy and get the
hefty one-way fee.


The one-way fees seem to be highly unpredictable. From what I have
heard, you may be in luck and the car rental station just happens to
have a car standing there which is registered in the country where you
are going to - in other words, you are transporting the car back home
for them.

What are the odds of that? It's seem highly unlikely to me.