alan h's activity

Questions Asked

My place is between Lakes Orta and Maggiore, and I have used Flybe in the past to fly from Birmingham to Milan Malpensa.Looking for flights in Sept/Oct, I was disappointed at the high costs - so went to the Easyjet site to look at the Luton to Tur

Thu, 08/20/2009 - 04:27

I have often advocated swinging up through Belgium when travelling from UK to Italy, on the grounds of the cheap petrol in Luxembourg and toll free motorways. I did this route again a couple of weeks ago, but found the roadworks on the Dunkirk-Lil

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 09:32

 I thought it might help people not break the law [or get caught breaking it] to some info on speed cameras they might come across in driving down to Italy. [This really applies to people like me who don’t have a sat-nav that tells them all the in

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 11:03

When driving to Italy, [Lake Maggiore area], from Calais, I almost always drive up towards Dunkirk and then head East towards Luxembourg.   The reasons for doing so is simple:-

    Fri, 07/03/2009 - 12:52

    If you are driving down to Italy, this regularly updated AA site gives you the latest info on fuel prices across Europe.  Its useful for deciding where to fill up. Note - in Luxembourg, [where I always fill up - its worth the minor detour from Cal

    Thu, 07/02/2009 - 05:32

    Terrible accident in Viareggio. 

    Tue, 06/30/2009 - 04:50

    .     I heard this today on Radio 4.  I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble, but not you,On hiccough, thorough, lough** and through.Well done!

    Sat, 06/20/2009 - 16:58

    .   I'm considering handing over ownership of my ½ûÂþÌìÌà Holiday Home to my kids. Does anyone know

    • How easy this is to do, and how costly?
    • Whether this can be done in the UK - or do I have to do it in Italy?
    Fri, 06/19/2009 - 04:54

    Egypt 1 - Italy 0  ÌýÌý.

    Thu, 06/18/2009 - 18:08

    Comments posted

    Answer to: Introduction.
    Wed, 10/13/2010 - 04:49

    If you use the search facility [halfway down the RH side of the page] and type in searches like "van" or "removals" etc etc , you should get some useful info

    Tue, 10/12/2010 - 09:59

    If all else fails - you could taxi it to termini imerese and catch a train to Ragattisi Birgi [2 changes - takes between 4 and 5 hrs].  Ragattisi Birgi  is very close to the airport.  Not ideal perhaps, but it could be a short term solution whilst you sort out parking

    Wed, 10/06/2010 - 18:36

    Not so sure the idea has been thought through properly.   Ban plastic bottles - shops will either sell fizzy drinks and 'juices' in bottles, cans or TetraPaks - these will still get dumped - bottles smash [danger of injury], cans rust, tetrapaks clog everything up. Also - frisk tourists to make sure they don't bring any plastic bottles in? Anyone thought it might be cafes etc dumping their plastic bottles in the canals to save on rubbish collection charges?

    Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:05

    I did read [on the old site I think] that you can ask your Comune to designate your land a 'no hunting' area.  Apparently this can have an effect - presumably because its the Comune and not you saying not to hunt.   Of course - some will say that if you move to a new country, you should accept [but not necessarily agree with] their way of doing things

    Mon, 10/04/2010 - 10:01

    no - its not a proper by pass, just a route that avoids Basle entirely.   Come down the German autoroute towards Basle [if coming from France, join it from Mulhouse], take the exit to Lorrach [jcn 68] and follow this road to the Swiss border where it joins the Swiss motorway system.  The road is mainly dual carriageway [the rest is being upgraded and looks pretty close to opening] and it has always been a quick route into Switzerland that avoids the delays that often occur in Basle

    Mon, 10/04/2010 - 07:47

    "We are particularly relying on Alan as we always follow his advice on the route, especially around Basle which makes an amazing difference."   The best advice on fuel prices I can give is to get off the motorways to fill up with diesel [except in Luxembourg where I believe that prices are fixed by the government] - you can save about 5% by just popping in to any supermarket [the bigger the better] - this holds for France, Switzerland and Italy [where I found prices ranged from 1.440 down to 1.306 for petrol last week]   Have just driven back to UK this weekend - the Basle 'By-Pass' was great - drove through the checkpoints without stopping - although there was a biggish queue the other way [Germany into Switzerland], which I put down to the latest American 'pants wetting' on terrorist threats

    Answer to: first trip
    Wed, 09/15/2010 - 06:23

    I'd take a cossie,.................... unless you're a teapot

    Answer to: first trip
    Wed, 09/15/2010 - 04:50

    If you have space in the car, take a few logs with you so you can at least light a fire when you get there Then wave a log in front of a neighbour and ask where you can buy some - the local farmer delivers ours.  [in my 'Dog ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ' this request boils down to "Dove Comprare"** - I know its grammatically incorrect, but it works] You should be able to get something in the local supermarket - and don't forget the fire lighters and matches     ** - pronounced   "Doh Vay Com Pra Ray"

    Tue, 09/14/2010 - 17:00

    Private Messages can easily be sent [just like an email]   Click on the name of the poster [submitted by XXXXX] to bring up his/her Profile Click on the Contact tab Write the message and click send When you get a message sent to you - a number [1 for 1 m2ssage, 2 for 2 etc] appears after the All messages in the Private Messages box on the right hand side of the webpage   I'll send you a PM to demonstrate

    Tue, 09/14/2010 - 12:02

    "Now you have put doubt in our minds,are you able to say his name on this forum?If not then just his initials." This would best be dealt with using the PM facility