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Anyone done it from the north of England?
What route to the Geneva area and where did you stop off overnight?
Don't want to turn it into some kind of race with the kids and dog onboard so happy to take a couple of days each way.
Two cars.
One with you and all the stuff.
One with kids and dog.
🙂
If only!
😆
13 hours driving from us from Manchester to the Vallais region.
Left work Friday 7pm ish, straight to the chunnel, found a campsite 20 mins south of Calais. Reception was shut when we arrived and when we left 9 in the morning. Through Reims, then Dijon, then west at Poligny and into Switzerland.
Remember to stock up at the supermarket before crossing the border - France is considerably cheaper.
Don't speed in France and be sure to carry all the kit they require you to carry. Oh, and when you are looking for holiday insurance, check that the call centre for emergencies is in the UK and not somewhere in a different time zone where English is not the first language. Experience of dealing with my son's skiing accident tells me this is very important for your mental wellbeing at a stressful time.
I've been looking at driving to lake annecy area, just south of Geneva in France in summer. Think the best idea is to drive to dover, B&b there, v early ferry then drive all the way in one hit, so without breaks it's 6/7 hours driving. Adding a hotel overnight in france will add considerable cost and faff I was thinking.
I'm sure there's loads on here who drive to the alps a lot who can help more than I.
Usually make Geneva in 8-9 hours from Calais doing a steady 70 all the way with plenty of stops. All the Aire's have watering stations for pets, so should be easy to keep the dog happy and let the kids release some steam every few hours.
That's going Reims - Dijon - Geneva round the west of the lake to avoid the Swiss vignette. Could easily stop at any of the major towns/cities en route.
...oh, and you'll need one of [url= http://www.tolltickets.com/country/swiss/vignette.aspx?lang=en-GB ]these[/url]
I've driven down to Geneva/Chamonix area a time or two or three.
It's possible to get most of the way (all the way?) to Geneva from Calais in one push but probably not advisable with kids/dog. I would avoid Paris and take the Reims/Dijon route. Camp at will (great campsites almost universal in France) or a cheap chain hotel.
Or - go to Zeebrugge and down to Reims from there. Quite expensive on the ferry but a decent night's sleep and an early start at the other side.
I've also gone down to Switzerland from Rotterdam through Germany but that was heading more SE beyond Zurich.
All I can tell you about Switzerland is you will have no money left when you come home. Everything is crazy money.
Not done Geneva but we also use Hull-Rotterdam or Hull-Zeebrugge for Switzerland / Austria. Only a couple of hours drive from home without taking whole day off work, sleep overnight on ferry then fresh to do a big drive next day.
If we are going through Germany (probably not the best option for Geneva), then we sometimes break the trip at Speyer (amazing Technical Museum great for kids - Jumbo jet on stilts with a slide tube, Buran space shuttle etc).
Emigrated with three cats to near Basel but in Germany.
Drove down from Edinburgh and chose the tunnel rather than ferry. Thinking that it would be smoother and easier for the cats. I recall that car decks are locked and the car alarms going off for 90 mins would really spin them out.
Dogs chipped, rabis vaccination the required time before, animal passport sorted ? Customs didnt want to inspect the animals on the way out, guess it maybe different returning.
Found a good toll free yet quick route to Basel but I dont think its a good one for Geneva.... HTH