We are flying to Bergamo airport in July 2007 as its so much cheaper than driving to the south of France. We wanted to hire a car and then drive into France, we are staying in Nice. Has anyone done this journey. Basically we've never driven in Italy before so any hints advice would be helpful

Well where to start! You will need to follow the A4 to Milan and then head south roughly in the direction of Genoa (Genova in Italian). From there there is a good dual carriageway to Ventimillia and then down the French Riviera.

You will need to pay tolls on all Italian motorways and sometimes on French ones. Driving is rather fast and Italians tend to be worse than the French for signalling their intentions! You may find that Michelin's website can give you good and accurate directions, and they are easy to follow.

Please allow yourself plenty of time to do this journey, especially if you have had to get up early in the morning for your flight or arrive in Bergamo late in the afternoon. I would suggest you spend at least one overnight on your way down and one on the way back. After all you ARE on holiday.

Be aware that 14 July is a national holiday in France, and many businesses close early on the 13 July. So make sure you have prebooked accommodation and have food and water and petrol as required. Incidentally, VERY FEW French petrol pumps accept English credit cards, so try to get a manned service station when you fill up. Supermarket petrol is usually cheaper than the village pump or the motorway service station.

Mobile phones being used when driving lead to an on the spot fine so beware!

Take plenty of water to drink ... it gets very hot even if your car has a/c!

I may think of more things, but this should get your replies going! Bonnes vacances - and remember to drive on the RIGHT in both countries!

thanks for tips. We will be driving quite late at night and hopefully staying in an etap in Menton. So heat wont be a problem. But its good to know that the michelin website will give good directions.