Day 141 - Driving Italy End to End: Lecce to Lake Garda in One Massive Day

After a late night, we were all up around the usual 8 and headed downstairs for the included buffet breakfast. It was one of those ones that looks great at first glance but ends up being a bit hit and miss. Plenty of sugary options, eggs swimming in oil, but the coffee was good, so that carried it.

Back upstairs, we packed everything up and aimed to be ready by 10 so I could head off and grab the car. The pickup was about a 10-minute walk through a really nice park, which was actually a pretty good way to start the day. The car collection itself was easy, so I zigzagged my way back through Lecce and picked everyone up.

Not long after getting going, we realised we’d left our Australia-to-Europe adapter back at our San Foca accommodation. So we made a quick stop at a shop to grab another one, then finally got properly on the road.

Getting out of Lecce took a bit of navigating, but once we hit the highway, it was exactly that for the next ten hours. Highway, highway, highway. Thankfully, we had the Harry Potter audiobook rolling, which made a massive difference. It honestly turned what could’ve been a long, painful drive into something pretty cruisy.

We stopped at a petrol station for lunch, one of many along the way, and the scenery started to open up more as we headed north. Snow-capped mountains in the distance, wineries, glimpses of the ocean, and the odd castle here and there. It was a really beautiful drive, even if most of it was from the highway.

Driving itself was a bit chaotic at times. Lots of up and down, cars weaving, traffic randomly slowing things down. It actually felt pretty similar to Sicily in that sense. The BYD we hired was a big step up from the Fiat Panda though. Automatic, cruise control, just easier in every way, especially for a long day like this.

I really wanted to detour into San Marino, but it was just a bit too far off the route and we were starting to run tight on time. We could see it sitting up on the mountain in the distance as we drove past, which made it even harder to skip. One for another trip.

The whole stretch from Lecce to Lake Garda is basically one long toll road. We stopped once more for fuel and a quick stretch, then pushed on to the end. The total toll came to €64 for the drive, which, for ten hours on the motorway, isn’t too bad.

We rolled into Lake Garda right on 10pm, just in time to check in. No dinner, straight into unloading the car. By chance, we ran into one of our Norwegian friends, who helped us get everything upstairs, which made a big difference after a long day.

Quick showers, kids into bed, and lights out around 11.

Massive day, but the kids handled the drive really well. A couple of small arguments here and there, but overall they were happy just sitting back and listening to the audiobook. Absolute lifesaver. Credit to Kia for that one.

Now we’ve got two weeks here at Lake Garda before we wrap up Italy and head to Morocco. Keen to slow things down again and see what this place has to offer.