Hi im shipping out to Milan on Sunday from Scotland, not done Europe for 10 years, What do I need best route etc any new advice would be much appreciated. No weights yet but is there still a 28 ton limit on Swiss ?
I done europe before all the vignette changes and the swiss border has all changed from what I read on here
PS it’s Boyle transport so if any one is gonna be down that way Monday DOVER search me out LOL
Thanx guys 
Best route to Milan is via train at Freiburg (to Novara).
See help Italy for Map (Sticky).
Google Motis for booking.
If you cannot get a confirmed booking for appropriate date/time. Do not get booked on ‘list’.
It’s a rough ride and you’ll be sharing with ‘Jinglies’ affectionately known by our Irish compadres as ‘the taliban’ (eastern block brothers.)
One guy smelt that bad I sprayed him with 'oust’™ and told him it was to prevent insect bites. LOL
Next best route is via swiss Gotthard tunnel.
If you have ADR then you’re looking at Simplon or Frejus.(You can do train with ADR , train height 3.8m. They will let you on if you can lower suspension from 4m to make you 3.8m. (A ‘bung’ will get you on at 4m also; at least on Italian side. No passengers pets (dogs) allowed on train. Second driver must prove he can drive e.g. license before they will let him on train or you need to book through Motis he/she is ‘essential’ crew)
The best route is to follow BuzzardBoy’s diaries through Lux down to Metz - Strasbourg after that it’s either Basel or the ‘train’.
Thanks for that Rob much appreciated
The swisss transit route is now very expensive,
also you lose too much time due to hold-ups, As robB39
said the train is the quickest route, if your drops in ITALY are
up near VERONA ,you could try REGENSBURG-TRENTO
ROUTE; you could also go over the BRENNER ;it is also a option,have you had a read of the stickies in the euro site well worth a look,
Useful Info:
You can get the German maut for return at the Autohoff (located on Freiburg map ‘Italy help’)
Motis site for booking train:
motis.ie/Routes/NovaraFreiburg.asp
I do Milan and Venice regular and find blowing it through the Blanc is as fast as any…
a lot using austria now as well.
i was doing it for a while.
lux…stuttgart…munich…innsbruck…bozen[bolzano.
and away you go.
bon giorno.
sempre domani mattina.
its never changed.
pjboyle is using that route as well,i was with some of his drivers going to florence area and venezia/verona area.
There are a lot of people still going in thru Vallorbe as well.
Basically down to Metz, then into Nancy and down the N57, Lure, Besancon, Vallorbe, then over the Simplon Pass into Italy. Lots of the Dutch drivers use that way when delivering to the SOuth of Swiss en route to Italy. Was talking to a Dutchman in Monthey a few weeks back and he was tellig me that is the preffered route of the Dutch at the moment.
i thought the french put a weight limit on the n57.
i used it years ago when heading to basle,last time i tried i saw no truck signs.
correct me if i am wrong.
it is the easiest way to italy though.
i just checked my map buzzard boy.
i use to use the n57 going to basle.
i see what you are at.
it looks a good and a very cheap way to get to milan.
i cant remember ever using that route.
i now feel like greenhorn on the italian job.
tertible after doing it for 25 years.
whats the position on t forms for transiting swiss?
can we get them done on the border and how much per tform is it?
and whats the weight limit nowadays.
as i said earlie,ri am also confused about the weight limilt on the n57.
cant take chances in france.
we all know what they are like.
i always loved going swiss.
must be the prettiest country in the world.
blanc every time for me, quickest by a long way. there seems to be a lot more brits/irish using the french tunnels than in recent years.
blanc is expensive.
i paid 256 euro for one way ticket in dec,as well as thetoll through france
greg50:
i just checked my map buzzard boy.
i use to use the n57 going to basle.
i see what you are at.
it looks a good and a very cheap way to get to milan.
i cant remember ever using that route.
i now feel like greenhorn on the italian job.
tertible after doing it for 25 years.
whats the position on t forms for transiting swiss?
can we get them done on the border and how much per tform is it?
and whats the weight limit nowadays.
as i said earlie,ri am also confused about the weight limilt on the n57.
cant take chances in france.
we all know what they are like.
i always loved going swiss.
must be the prettiest country in the world.
Greg
I worked out the mileage a few years ago on a trip to Florence via Swiss, and if my calculation’s are correct it was in the region of 300km shorter going via Swiss as to going Frejus/Blanc. Ok it was before the Swiss increased the cost of Road tax, so it was a lot more viable then. PTM always used to send us via Swiss to Italy.
As for T-Forms, we used to get them made up at Sterpnich, on the Belgie/Lux border, think if memory serves it was 30 Euro’s.
As far as i know there is no weight limit on the N57, only 2 low bridges when you come to Lure, I used to turn left then cut thru Lure and down thru a place called Villersexel, over a Mountain and back onto the N57 the other side of Besancon, it saved me about 30 mins that way, and avoided any aggro in Besancon.
i think its about 55 euro per day for swiss transit now and a tfome,if its 30.
its a lot cheaper then the french tolls and of course for the driver.
a good excuse to go through lux and get some cheap cigs…for the boss…some cheaper diesel if you can stant the queues in lux service areas.
FOR the transit of Switzerland , you have to pay
for every kilometer you travel on swiss roads,
also if you include the waiting time at the custom
border crossings, for the paper work, traffic jams
along the route due to accidents or the tunnel
filtration system of so many lorrys at a time,
then we have the night driveing ban, lack
of parking space, sorry for me the TRAIN
is the best way to transit , yes the
train is not a five start hotel,but
try working out the costs and you will see
it is cheapest and you have a clean
slate which means in NOVERA
you can do a ful days --10 hrs
driveing
i never been on the train pete.
seems a nice way to go.
its goes from friebourg.it costs about 500 euro.
i used to enjoy the challenge of getting to italy for nothing or as near as possible.
and of course going back to the 80s.
if we had a good cheap way of doing it,we got a share of the profits on the money saved on tolls.
i would still think the same way.
i dont mind spending money,but,
i am mean with parking and road tolls.
the trucks are all taxed in their country of origin and still have to pay again to use european roads.
seems a bit unfair to me.
its extorsion.all right.
the vignette.
for benelux is cheap at 8 euro per day.
looking at french tolls and austria maut.
robbery is all i can describe it as.
my blanc…256 euro…thats approx £180 for a 15 km stretch of tunnel.
and the amount of trucks going through.
how much are they making?
its too dear.the more paid out in tolls is less profit for the haulier and this reflects on our wages as well.
we are all losing because of the greed of the european countries that we are all supposed to be part of as one.
i dont mind running nationals where possible and saving and having a little bonus as well for the extra time taken.
I’ve gone down from basel to chiasso and come back domodossola,up over simplon and round to vallorbe…then up the n57 to besancon…last time i came back that way, was back end of summer 06…didnt see any weight limits at the time…Got t form made up at dhl (nr some freight terminal) b4 for u climb up to domodossola…at least you only need the 1 stamp on the T form going back up that way…Any body know if they still use the pink,going down and the blue tickets coming from italy??
I once left Milan on a friday evening with a clean card, not sure how i always had a fresh card friday night as i,m sure i was out collecting most fridays. Anyway after dropping the trailer back at Laser,s early hours monday the first toll i paid was unit only dartford. Milan to Hythe toll free 
bigsidney:
Hi im shipping out to Milan on Sunday from Scotland, not done Europe for 10 years, What do I need best route etc any new advice would be much appreciated. No weights yet but is there still a 28 ton limit on Swiss ?
I done europe before all the vignette changes and the swiss border has all changed from what I read on here
PS it’s Boyle transport so if any one is gonna be down that way Monday DOVER search me out LOL
Thanx guys
All the boyles men go through nthe blanc tunnell, you’ll find out why when you’ve been there a while.
The nboss prefers you mto go through Germany and Austria as it is quicker.
I do Italy regularly will look out for you, might even be on the Hull Zeebrugge with you sometime.
I stay in Edinburgh
Swiss transit tax at 40 tons Euros 210-215 each way plus T-forms Euros 30 each way, only thing the Swiss are being a right bunch of [zb] at the moment
had a vehicle turned round at Chiasso this week end because the trailer plate was missing (Someone had stolen it whilst parked at Campo) so my driver got weekended in France had to go via blanc, it’s longer and more expensive.
Or go Germany Maut approx 75 euros and Austria Go box 85/90 euros.
Regards
JJSL