Summer Road trip 2026, through France to Italy

Three children, one car and 18 days on the road! We travelled from the UK through France and into Italy, combining mountain adventures in Alpe d’Huez, two days exploring Venice and a week beside Lake Garda. On the way home, we stopped in Lyon before heading back via Reims and Calais.

This is the route we took, including where we stayed and how we broke up the longer drives.

Summer road trip at a glance

Duration: 18 days
Who we travelled with: Two adults and three children
Best for: Families – you can really make this your own. This can really be tailored to your needs
Approx Costs: Accommodation £2020, fuel £700, tolls £300, Le Shuttle £324
Getting around: Car, walking and local buses
Where we went: Le Mans → Alp d’Huez → Venice → Lake Garda → Lyon → Calais

Our 18-day road trip itinerary

Our route, day by day

Days	Where we stayed	What happened on the way
1–2	Le Mans, 2 nights	LeShuttle from Folkestone to Calais, then the drive to Le Mans (4 hours)
3–5	Alpe d’Huez, 3 nights	Lunch in Clermont-Ferrand on the drive from Le Mans, to Alp D’Huez
6–7	Venice, 2 nights	A long lunch stop in Bergamo
8–14	Lake Garda, 7 nights	Murano and Burano before driving to the campsite
15–16	Lyon, 2 nights	Climbing and a picnic at Parco Avventura Chaberton
17	Calais area, 1 night	A stop in Reims on the drive north
18	Home	An early LeShuttle crossing

Day 1: Le Shuttle and the drive to Le Mans

We started our road trip heading down to Folkestone and getting Le Shuttle to Calais. We have opted for the Le Shuttle over the last few years.

We find it convenient, easy and fast. We find the price is often quite static at approx. £300 for a return journey for our car with roof box. The journey takes around 35 mins and boom were in France!

Le Mans

We stayed with family in Le Mans for two nights. It gave us time to settle into holiday mode and catch up with them before heading towards the Alps.

Le Mans is a detour if you’re driving from Calais to Alpe d’Huez. If you’re choosing an overnight stop purely to break up that journey, Reims, Troyes or Dijon would make more sense along the route. Where you stop depends on how much driving you want to do on your first day.

Day 3: On the road to Alpe d’Huez

After two nights in Le Mans, it was time for the next part of our adventure. We drove for around four hours to Clermont-Ferrand and stopped for lunch at Chai Victorius, a bistro on Place de la Victoire in the centre of town.

The kids meals at this place were incredible. Yes, they had chicken nuggets and potatoes, but they were the best chicken nuggets and potatoes I’ve ever tasted, and we’ve had a lot of chicken nuggets! Lunch for the five of us came to €69.30. We had a little look around Clermont-Ferrand and stretched our legs before getting back in the car.

The final approach to Alpe d’Huez was an experience in itself. The road climbs through 21 numbered hairpin bends, famous from the Tour de France. We counted them down as we drove up, with the mountain views getting better around every turn.

Day 3-5 Alpe d’Huez

We spent a fantastic three days in Alpe d’Huez. Summer in the mountains gave us a bit of everything: gondola rides, playgrounds, swimming, mountain walks, spectacular views, tubing and tobogganing. There was plenty to keep the children busy, but we also loved having time to take in the scenery. The mountains were beautiful in summer, and we’ll certainly do it again! Read our full review on Alp d’Huez.

Day 6: Bergamo on the way to Venice

On driving days, we always aim to leave by 7am and plan a stop of around three hours along the way. It gives the children a proper break from the car and lets us enjoy somewhere new. I’ll share more of our tips for long driving days in a separate post.

This time, we chose Bergamo. I have been here before and its beautiful. Its historic upper town, Città Alta, sits above the lower town and is connected to it by a funicular. We aimed to get the funicular up, but queue was around an hour and a half, so we walked up in about 18 minutes and took the fincular back down – there was no queue!

Tip: Take the funicular in Bergamo down from Città Alta, instead of up, the queue is generally shorter and the views are better! Win win!

We had a takeaway lunch at Ristorazione Di Silvia and ate it in the square with some delightful operatic background music.

Bergamo worked brilliantly as a longer break in the journey. Once everyone had eaten and had time out of the car, we set off for Venice, arriving in the early evening. That gave us time to unpack, have dinner and get ready to explore the next day.

Days 6–8: Venice, Murano and Burano

We spent 48 hours in Venice with the children, staying in Mestre and taking the train into the city – which worked perfectly. Our family-friendly Venice itinerary covers where we stayed, what we did and how we made the most of our two days, including a rainy first day and a trip to Murano and Burano.

Days 8–15: A week at Lake Garda

After the mountains and Venice, seven nights at Del Garda Village and Camping gave us time to settle in and relax. The kids loved the campsite, we had a few slow days enjoying the pools, playgrounds and organised activities and then did some trips around the lake and visits to nearby attractions.

For the accommodation we booked, what was included and what we spent, read our Del Garda Village and Camping review.

Lake Garda itself has so much to do, here’s the link to our seven day itinerary.

Day 15: Climbing on the way to Lyon

When we left Lake Garda, we broke up the drive to Lyon with a stop at Parco Avventura Chaberton near Cesana Torinese. Set in a pine forest, it has tree-top courses at different heights and levels of difficulty, including routes for younger children. All three of ours had a go, tackling courses that suited them, and we brought a picnic for lunch.

This is exactly the sort of stop I’d plan again, it was perfect. If I asked the kids about this day, I know they’ll tell me about the climbing routes they conquered and the fun they had, rather than the seven hours they spent in the car!

Our hotel in Lyon

We continued to Lyon afterwards and settled in for two nights at MEININGER Hotel Lyon Centre Berthelot. Our room had a double bed and two sets of bunk beds, with plenty of space for the five of us. It was clean and comfortable. This was amazing value at £212 for our stay.

Parking took a little planning. The hotel’s underground car park cost us €20 a night, but its 1.9 m height limit meant our car wouldn’t fit with the roof box attached. We knew that when we booked and looked at other car parks, but decided it would be easier to take the roof box off and carry it down than to haul all our bags from a more distant, more expensive car park.

The hotel had a nice (slightly pricey) bar and seating area with a table football. There was a communal kitchen was really helpful, we could make our own cereal for breakfast, which helped keep costs down before heading out to explore Lyon. We will definitely look to stay again at Meininger hotels in other cites.

Day 16: Exploring Lyon

We had a full day in Lyon and planned to spend it at Parc de la Tête d’Or, including a visit to the free zoo. Unfortunately, a storm two days earlier meant the whole park was closed while the damage was cleared. It was such a shame, as it would have made for a lovely, easy day with the children. Time for plan B!

We had a slow start, then went for lunch at Brasserie Georges. My husband is the restaurant organiser, and I hadn’t quite realised where he was taking us. We walked into an enormous Art Deco dining room, behind the boys in their caps, it gave me a moment of panic, but it made me laugh too. The brasserie has been serving open since 1836 and the room is pretty impressive!

After lunch, we walked towards the River Saône. From there, we climbed up to Jardin des Curiosités for a brilliant view across the city. We visited the Roman remains on Fourvière hill before making our way back into Vieux Lyon and explored the old town. It became a much longer walking day than we’d planned, but it was a lovely way to see Lyon.

Days 17–18: Reims, Calais and home

On day 17, we headed north from Lyon, stopping in Reims before continuing to Calais for our final night. It was around an 8 hour drive, stopping about halfway.

We had planned to let the children run around at Parc de Champagne and then to visit a champagne house, but when we arrived, the park was closed! We headed into the city instead. Reims was beautiful, and even the tram tracks were planted with grass, making the streets feel very green. We found another park for the kids and had the best burgers at Alfred Burgers. Lunch cost €65 for the five of us, the kids portions were huge and the boys could have shared.

That evening, we drove to Calais and stayed at Gîte Nature M&J. It was just what we needed for our last night. The kids were entertained by the whirlpool bath while we opened one final bottle of red wine to celebrate a fabulous holiday.

Lidl was just down the road, and we stocked up on wine to take home from Calais Wine Superstore. Staying near the crossing meant we could get up early for LeShuttle on day 18 and make the final drive home.

Would we do this road trip again?

Absolutely. Eighteen days gave us time for mountains, cities, a week by the lake and a few unexpected favourites along the way.

Our biggest tip on a driving holiday is to give the driving days a purpose. Lunch in a new town, a funicular ride or an afternoon climbing gave the children something to look forward to between destinations. Those stops became part of the holiday, rather than just breaks in the journey.

You could follow our route or make it your own: swap our family stop in Le Mans for somewhere more direct, stay longer in the Alps or spend fewer days at Lake Garda. Though Lake Garda has a lot to do, we could have done a lot more!

The flexibility is one of the best things about travelling by car, and we’d happily do it all again.