Hi, after a bit of help, am a regular in spain, france and holland but have never done Italy and am shipping out for milan on tuesday afternoon.
Not sure what to expect ie: tolls, law, also what best routes to take.
Also being female can I expect the same facilities ie female showers, like you would in france or spain.
Any advice appreciated
H
Your boss should tell you which way to go but I believe the Mont Blanc tunnel is currently favourite for Milan. You can go down through Switzerland but it’s a pain.
Motorways (Autostradas) have tolls, the procedure is much the same as in France or Spain.
Not sure about female showers as I am equipped with a male coupling.
One thing to be aware of is that a car driver who flashes his headlights as he roars up behind you is not saying “I am letting you out” but the exact opposite.
They do have a very spirited and Latin style of driving, which can take some getting used to.
Overall I like Italy. Have a look at Highlanders diary, here trucknetuk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic. … 31&start=0
or Mad Monk’s, here trucknetuk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic. … 31&start=0 from which you can glean some useful info as well as admiring the view,
or look at Neil (Coffeeholic’s) Mont Blanc video on YouTube, uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tqwIxyLKU20
All the best!
Harry Monk:
Your boss should tell you which way to go but I believe the Mont Blanc tunnel is currently favourite for Milan. You can go down through Switzerland but it’s a pain.
And very expensive these days.
Harry Monk:
Motorways (Autostradas) have tolls, the procedure is much the same as in France or Spain.
Payment is by credit card or cash, although some UK issued credit cards don’t work. Fuel cards aren’t accepted for toll payment the way they are in France and Spain. You can also pay with their own VIA card but you won’t get one of them before Tuesday, although you can buy prepaid ones from service areas and the toll booths.
THIS pdf leaflet might help.
I’m sure I used a UTA card at the peages last time I was there (although this was a while ago) and I’m sure that in the dim and distant past I have used DKV.
Personally I pay tolls with my personal debit card in Europe. I get a much better rate from Nationwide than is available on the boat. I then bill my boss at whatever rate the boat is giving on the way out, and this normally pays for my meals.
Harry Monk:
I’m sure I used a UTA card at the peages last time I was there (although this was a while ago) and I’m sure that in the dim and distant past I have used DKV.
I was never able to use Euroshell or DKV to pay Italian tolls, although when I got my VIA card and then theTelepass the charges from them were charged to my Euroshell account. I can’t even recall seeing the fuel cards an the boards showing which cards they accept.
Coffeeholic:
Harry Monk:
I’m sure I used a UTA card at the peages last time I was there (although this was a while ago) and I’m sure that in the dim and distant past I have used DKV.I was never able to use Euroshell or DKV to pay Italian tolls, although when I got my VIA card and then theTelepass the charges from them were charged to my Euroshell account. I can’t even recall seeing the fuel cards an the boards showing which cards they accept.
As a matter of interest, Coffee … looking at your signature, would you consider today a good day in your life■■? PMSL
im with harry as for going the blanc , its a piece of cake , before the tunel there is a control to pull into , well signposted , up to the first barrier , if your trucks not been through before the bloke will ask for your truck log book and then issue with a sticker for your screen with your euro category on it , then go through the lanes to the other barrier and he will give you a ticket , thats it , then up to the tunnel , through the fire scanner and up to the barrier for paying , you can get a single or return valid i think for 7 days . errr im guessing you not pulling a fridge , if you are then you need to be escorted through . two things in the tunnel , keep your distance and speed right . out of the tunnel down towards the autostrada . one thing in italy and swiss motorway signs are green and nationals are blue ( opposite to us and france etc) , when pulling out of peages watch for fast traffic , an italian going through an automatic lane is something to be seen to be believed . park somwhere well lit up , as anywhere .enjoy it …
and head lights on driving on the auto strada at all times and there is a ladies shower at carisio 
ps total card is no good either at tolls
pps belgium motorway signs are green too
before driving thru any section of road with lots of long tunnels take 10
so your fresh for the mind numbing ordeal the 2 way section require a bit of concentration
Thanx for all of your help, managed the blanc ok and only 2 collections in milan which managed to find ok, sure will get sent that way again, finally home after 2 weeks away
IF driveing on the ring by Milan do keep to the speed limit as the police
seem to stop mainly non italian lorrys for speeding,also ask you boss about useing the train FRIEBURG TO NOVERA train this will allow you to be in ITALY
AND 30 MINS FROM Milan with a fresh disk/card, also you can run into
GERMANY on sundays to the train station on SUNDAYS via BELGIUM
when you have a booking on the train,you need to havea copy of your booking with you when driveing in Geermany on Sundays,
also there are set of maps (3) in a green colour books which are the best one
for Italy, sorry but i have forgotten the name.
also do not for get to tell your Boss you need SNOWCHAINS as the ROAD up to the blanc gets a lot of snow and you should start to carry them from SEPTEMBER onwards, just to ensure that you are prepared for the bad weather,