# So this is the "Final Plan"



## jagmanx (Mar 23, 2018)

After a good deal of research and guidance from forum members (Many thanks)
I have arrived at tis rough plan

1 Leave "Blighty" asap early May
2 Tunnel and drive through France to Delle near Belfort (10 day)
3 Enter Switzerland (£30 vignette) and tour via Lucerne, Interlaken, Chateaux D'Oex then the Rhone valley. Maybe 10 days
4 Exit to Italy via the Simplon pass.
5 Travel south (west coast) some lakes then via Pisa Florence and Sienna to Sicily (1 month)
6 Tour Sicily (up to 1 month)
7 Travel north on the east side to Venice Padua more lakes (again 1 month)
8 Back to Calais via Austria and Germany etc crossing Austria using the "No Tolls route" suggested by "John H" (10 days)

So 4 months all in all 3 months in Italy 
10 days in France
10 days in Switzy
90 days in Italy
10 days in Austria / Germany / Belgium / France

All very flexible !

I anticipate spending up to £1000 a month (all in except yearly MoHo costs).
This is almost the same as we spent
a) in 2017 in UK and ROI (Scotland and Wales as well)
b) in 2016 on our tour to Scandinavia  (Denmark Norway Finland Sweden Denmark and then Euroland to Calais)

The 2 extra costs may well be 
1 Alpine Tunnels ..But trying to avoid
2 Road tolls in Italy ..but will use sparingly
3 Tourist costs (entrance fees etc)

My costs estimates includes amounts for both the above

Switzerland camping at proper sites is not cheap but there are good alternatives
Many will know that we are well served in France (aires) Italy (sostas) Austria and Germany (stellplatz)
I have 2 sources of European info (French and Dutch) but I cannot provide the links as Admin sees this as inappropriate !


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## mid4did (Mar 23, 2018)

Adventure ahead,enjoy:have fun:


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## jeffmossy (Mar 23, 2018)

Sounds like a good plan to me . Enjoy :wave:


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## robell (Mar 23, 2018)

wow! that looks like a really good plan. Hope you really enjoy your trip and have a good adventure :wave: Let us have some updates of course:have fun:


.


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## Pauljenny (Mar 23, 2018)

I love planning. 

It will be interesting to see how your plans pan out. good luck.

                                                                   No matter how carefully we plan, something always goes ast
ray.


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## jagmanx (Mar 23, 2018)

*Thanks to all*

I will post details and photos etc in due course !


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## vanmandan (Mar 23, 2018)

I'm sure you'll enjoy Sicily....I spend 6 months of the year there.
you might find this site useful..... a mix of campsites & wild spots.....

Review of Sicilian campsites Spring 2007

for camping in the south east, I'd recommend....

Chi siamo

rather than Scarabeo.

they're right next to each other....with access to a lovely beach.

have a great time,....enjoy the sunsets.
ciao, D.


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## izwozral (Mar 23, 2018)

My feet came over all itchy reading this, looks fantastic, enjoy.


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## Clunegapyears (Mar 23, 2018)

Phil and Nora

Looks like a super trip. A real mix of scenery and culture. We went to Italy for 1 month and stayed for 6. Driving south you will acclimatise to the increasing chaos, poor driving and charm. We met vanmandan in sicily at camping Corelli ... a really lovey site (you get your own bathroom) in a stunning location. 

Love to hear about the travels as you go.


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## RichardHelen262 (Mar 23, 2018)

Looks a good plan, the nearest I get to making a plan is which day we are setting off on


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## alwaysared (Mar 23, 2018)

Enjoy your trip, I'm jealous though!

Regards,
Del


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## spigot (Mar 23, 2018)

I don’t do plans, just point the van in the rough direction.

But I must admit, that itinerary looks great.

I am particularly interested in the Sclcily section & look forward to your revelations.

Bon Voyage.


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## delicagirl (Mar 23, 2018)

like everyone else  i am in awe of your planning...   but like others  i dont do much in the way of planning   but would  hope to go to many of the same places you mention...     just in passing...  in terms of finance  - have you considered your  costs in view of the fact that the euro was  1.40 3 years ago  and is now  about 1.10   -   this will impact your spending ability significantly.   But i'm sure less restaurants and bars and more sun-set gazing can make up for that.


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## jagmanx (Mar 24, 2018)

*The planning is good fun*

But mainly it is to get

1 a good idea of distances so that we don't travel too far on any given day and stopover for 2+ nights as often as we can

2 an idea of costs

3 route options

Other possibilities were
1 to miss out Switzy and drive further south in France
This would be cheaper but WTF Switzerland is stunning

2 to return via Slovenia Hungary Slovakia and Poland Germany Belgium France
But that can be another trip and we might well have to "rush"
This would be OK if we were omitting Sicily

I use google maps with directions extensively and "snip the routes" to copy to a planner app
These routes are mainly simply rough outlines
eg


I am sure many do similar..not difficult


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## 5andy (Mar 24, 2018)

Hi, I think your plan looks great and broad brush enough to give you a lot of flexibility on a day to day basis. I prefer to work within some sort of loose planning framework, the world is a big place and there are lots of places we still want to see. We are currently in Barcelona, we need to be in Milan on the 19th April as the daughter flies in to join us, Venice 9 days later as she flies off again, then Pompei mid May to meet up with a mate. Other than that we want to watch some stages of the Giro’dItalia but still have to decide which ones.We had some other plans but they have fallen by the wayside. Embarrassingly we are struggling to keep within 1600€ a month at the moment but we have stayed in more campsites than originally intended and fallen in love with tapas bars and all that they purvey! Hic! I anticipate we will pull that in a bit as we head towards France there seems to be more options to park up where we want to go.....and no tapas bars! We had hoped to get as far as Sicily but won’t have the time to do it justice so will be interested to read about your adventures th re. Have a great trip.


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## jagmanx (Mar 24, 2018)

*Yes*



5andy said:


> Hi, I think your plan looks great and broad brush enough to give you a lot of flexibility on a day to day basis. I prefer to work within some sort of loose planning framework, the world is a big place and there are lots of places we still want to see. We are currently in Barcelona, we need to be in Milan on the 19th April as the daughter flies in to join us, Venice 9 days later as she flies off again, then Pompei mid May to meet up with a mate. Other than that we want to watch some stages of the Giro’dItalia but still have to decide which ones.We had some other plans but they have fallen by the wayside. Embarrassingly we are struggling to keep within 1600€ a month at the moment but we have stayed in more campsites than originally intended and fallen in love with tapas bars and all that they purvey! Hic! I anticipate we will pull that in a bit as we head towards France there seems to be more options to park up where we want to go.....and no tapas bars! We had hoped to get as far as Sicily but won’t have the time to do it justice so will be interested to read about your adventures th re. Have a great trip.



Food and drink in bars,restaurants, etc does increase spending
likewise Campsites

BUT I regard it all as an extended holiday but as we are fully self-contained with Solar and a good shower we like to use aires(etc) and wildcamps.
I suspect we will overspend the £1000 a month which is simply a guide rather than a budget.

As you note good flexibility especially in Italy


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## jagmanx (Mar 24, 2018)

*Thanks*



delicagirl said:


> like everyone else  i am in awe of your planning...   but like others  i dont do much in the way of planning   but would  hope to go to many of the same places you mention...     just in passing...  in terms of finance  - have you considered your  costs in view of the fact that the euro was  1.40 3 years ago  and is now  about 1.10   -   this will impact your spending ability significantly.   But i'm sure less restaurants and bars and more sun-set gazing can make up for that.



I have based my fuel costs on current prices @1.12 Euros to the £
The mileages include scope for detours.

I know we will spend little for camping in France Austria and Germany.

Italy looks good with Sostas.
Road tolls in Italy may well "take their toll" (groan please !)

There looks to be enough cheap or free camping in Switzerland but no doubt 2 or 3 or 4 Campsites
The other unknown costs are Cable cars and Mountain trains in Switzy (very expensive) and in Italy (probably not much less)
And other tourist items 1


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## phillybarbour (Mar 24, 2018)

Sounds like a great trip.


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