Summer Alp tour advice

[tomlinscote]

Hi all,
Planning to go to the French/Swiss/Italian Alps this August. Looked at the map and it looks like there is no alternative to the Mont Blanc tunnel which costs about £25 to go through. Qn is has anyone done this trip and has a better route. Used long tunnels before the Frejus one for ex (but that was because it was November and the alt over the top route was snowed up and only vehicules with winter tyres were allowed up it) so I don't have a prob with them just wanted to know if there was a better way of getting from Chamonix to the Italian side without a massive detour.
Cheers
Tommo

[AyJay]

Don't go via Chamonix then! It certainly awesome seeing the Alps via the route that takes you through the tunnel, but it's not quick and apart from the 'oooo what a long tunnel' thing, it ain't all that. I've been all over that area and I love it though.

Depends where you want to get to in Italy, of course. If you're looking to do it quickly, then across northern France heading towards Nancy, then Colmar, cross into Switzerland near Basel and enjoy  the fast and free flowing autoroutes, then over the St Bernard Pass and it's is doable in a day if you get over the channel the night before and start fresh. You could cross into Germany for a bit of Autobahn blasting, but they can be like the A1 on a bank holiday. Germany's a secret though. It's not that expensive, the food is pretty damned good and they have a very mature attitude to speed!

On the other hand, if you want to stay in France you can cross to Italy via the Petit St Bernard which you'd get to from Geneva via Annecy, Albertville, Bourg St Maurice and takes a bit longer. Personally, I adore the Parc Naturel Regional du Queyras. Find a cheap hotel anywhere there and every road is an adventure whichever direction you take. You can reach the coast for splash in the sea at Nice, get into Italy via a number of great passes, see Monaco, ride up the Col Du Turini the most famous road on the Monte Carlo rally, see amazing ravines, ride up the Col de la Bonette, the highest road in Europe and any number of other great days out, and it's never busy. In my experience anyway.

It's a shame Switzerland is so expensive, but what I do is stay in France or Italy and make a daily raid over the border to search out those wonderful passes and return loaded with memories of fantastic roads and incredible sights.

The other bit of advice is don't expect to get much distance travelling in Northern Italy around the lakes. It's plagued with speed cameras and low speed limits and the traffic is astonishingly heavy in places. I spent an entire afternoon just getting down the north side of Lake Magiori from Belinzona to Verbania. Horrific. Best to get properly into Italy to get any miles done. The Dolomites are fantastic though, but next time I"d get there via Northern Germany and perhaps east Austria. Last time I did them.... well, here's a few pics....

http://thehandlebars.co.uk/Handlebars/Wh..._trip.html

[andydrz]

We rode from Grindelwald to Chamonix and it was a ride worth doing. After the disappointment of the cable car breaking down and not going up Mont Blanc we decided to go through the tunnel to do the St Bernard pass. After the shock of the 27 euro toll we found the St Bernard was closed and it was a huge detour to get to Barcelonnette, so it's worth checking what passes are blocked before heading off. We went back through the tunnel to Chamonix (we were able to get a return ticket price), and started fresh the next day.

[tomlinscote]

Cheers for all the great tips guys, Chamonix really depends on wether or not the people I know live there are going to be there on the days I plan to visit, if not then the route will change to include other passes but the advice to check the passes closed is one I need to remember!
Also great pics Ayjay, sounds and looks like a great trip I hope my mini version will provide some good pics too, now just need to get some new tyres fitted, PR3's maybe??
Tommo

[AyJay]

Thanks Tom. It's definitely worth a look at this site


http://www.bison-fute.equipement.gouv.fr....TC60_10_S


There's a few sites listing open passes if you search but it's been pretty miserable over there recently. Three stages of the Giro D'Italia were cancelled last week due to snow...