Driving to Italian ski resorts
Car travel’s a eco-friendlier, often cheaper way of getting to your ski resort in Italy. If your group has two or more people happy to take to the wheel, you can share the drive and enjoy a scenic road trip to the mountains.
The Italian resorts can be reached by road through France, and the quickest way to cross the channel to France is via the Euro tunnel from Folkestone. This departs up to four times an hour and takes 35 minutes to reach Calais. You can also opt for ferry travel from Dover, which transports you to Calais in about an hour and a half. This tends to be the cheaper method of channel crossing, and many prefer it as a chance to have a power nap or stretch the legs.
Driving from Calais, our recommended self-drive Italian ski resorts take around 9-12 hours to get to. Most routes follow the A26 past Reims, then go south past Troyes and Dijon or east towards Strasbourg. For Courmayeur and the Aosta resorts, routes lead through the Mont Blanc tunnel. While for the Dolomites, you can drive through Germany or Switzerland into Austria and then cross the border at Brenner.
Approx. toll costs for driving to the Italian Alps from Calais:
60 – 120€ (as of 2021):
Approx. fuel costs for driving to the Italian Alps from Calais:
70 – 110€ (as of 2021):
Italy road rules
Legal driving age: 18
Drive on the right
Seatbelts must be worn
Items required for driving through Italy (as of 2021):
- Driving licence
- Passport
- Proof of insurance
- Civil liability insurance (like a Green Card)
- European breakdown cover
- V5C registration certificate
- Reflective jacket
- Spare tyre
- Warning triangle
- Headlamp deflectors
- Snow chains / winter tyres
- Fire extinguisher (recommended)
Also needed for driving through France:
- Breathalyser
- GB sticker
- Spare bulbs
- Crit'Air vignette if you are driving through Paris, Lyon or Grenoble
Also needed if driving through Switzerland:
- Motorway vignette
- Snow chains
- Spare pair of glasses/contact lenses if you wear them
Good overnight stops on a drive to the Italian Alps
Paris – France’s iconic capital (and home to Disneyland).
Reims – the Champagne region
Dijon – the capital of historic Burgundy
Strasbourg – medieval Alsatian city (for drives to the Dolomites)
Zurich – the biggest city in Switzerland (for drives to Livigno)
Best Italian Ski Resorts for Self-drive
With distance and approximate non-stop driving time from Calais
Courmayeur
565 miles, 8.5 hours
Pila
8.5 hours, 588 miles
Bardonecchia
8 hrs 45 mins, 611 miles
Sauze d’Oulx
9 hours, 620 miles
Claviere
9 hours, 627 miles
Sestriere
9 hours, 630 miles
Cervinia
9 hrs 20 mins, 621 miles
Champoluc
9.5 hours, 627 miles
Pragelato
9.5 hours, 635 miles
Gressoney
9.5 hours, 636 miles
Livigno
11 hours, 643 miles
Ortisei
11 hrs 40 mins, 724 miles
Selva
12 hours, 731 miles
Corvara
12 hours, 738 miles
La Villa
12 hours, 735 miles
This information on driving in Italy was correct for the 2017/18 winter season. We recommend checking the most recent laws and journey details via sources like RAC and ViaMichelin.
We have more information about driving to the alps here or you can find more self-drive holidays in Austria, France and Switzerland and browse all self-drive packages here.
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