Self-drive touring holidays in Italy

A self-drive touring holiday with Italian Expressions allows you to experience the immense variety of Europe as you drive southwards through France towards Italy. Following a convenient ferry crossing or a quick trip through the Channel Tunnel, visitors can drive through France at their own pace before exploring the varied countryside and cultures of Italy by car.
Having organised tailor-made holidays since 1989, we have a great wealth of experience in creating self-drive holidays and have put together a range of suggested itineraries that combine luxury hotels in popular destinations.
Browse our suggested self-drive itineraries which can all be modified according to your requirements, click here to download a pdf with information. You have the freedom to choose where you would like to travel and how long you would like to stay in each place - please contact us for advice and ideas.
We will tailor-make your self-drive holiday to suit your requirements, including a convenient channel crossing that is most appropriate for you and including as many stops in France as required.
All the hotels that we feature in mainland Italy can be reached by hire-car, so click here to find out more about the full range of destinations that we offer.

Other types of touring holiday in Italy
We have also created a selection of suggested touring itineraries for fly-drive holidays where you travel to Italy by air then collect a hire-car, and rail-drive holidays where you travel by train and then collect a hire-car. Our range of rail holidays to Italy allow you to relax in comfort as you travel southwards to your final destination.

Client Testimonial:
“Brilliant holiday- very special hotels. Felt very spoilt!”, Mr J, about a self-drive touring holiday to Italy, staying in a French hotel, two Swiss hotels and four Italian hotels, July 2017

Italian Expressions organises tailor-made touring holidays that allow you to discover the true flavour of Italy, staying in as many destinations as you like for as long as you like.
Your touring holiday can be as simple or as complex as you wish – you can choose to follow one of the sample itineraries which we have created, you can modify one of these itineraries according to your requirements, or you can allow us to develop a whole new itinerary based on your preferences. We will use our expertise to create a bespoke touring holiday just for you, offering advice to ensure that everything runs smoothly. As we work with a huge selection of hotels throughout Italy, you have the freedom to choose where you want to stay and how long for. We provide directions to each hotel that you are visiting during your touring holiday, as well as our own suggestions for sightseeing and local visits.

Our Hotels
Each of the luxury hotels that are featured by Expressions Holidays has been personally selected to offer you high standards of comfort, service and cuisine. Our hotels are renowned for their charm and character, whilst others provide rest and relaxation amid an atmosphere of luxury and style. We can include hotels from the French Expressions programme as stopovers en route to Italy.

Ferry crossings
Prices in our suggested touring itineraries include a P&O Ferries crossing from Dover to Calais return or Eurotunnel for a car and all passengers. However we do work with other cross-Channel operators and will price your holiday based on other routes if you prefer. Alternative routes include Brittany Ferries Portsmouth to Caen, Portsmouth to St Malo, Poole to Cherbourg, and Plymouth to Roscoff, and North Sea Ferries Hull to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. You may travel out and back on different routes so long as you travel with the same operator.
It is possible to travel ‘Club Class’ with P&O Ferries, offering extra comfort on board with access to an exclusive lounge area. Please advise us at the time of booking your holiday.
If travelling overnight on board a ferry, you will probably want a cabin, which we can book for you at the time of making your ferry booking. The prices do vary but we will advise you of this at the time of booking. Cabins for day-time use on long sailings are much cheaper and a very convenient and comfortable option.
Sample prices in our suggested itineraries are based on the following sizes of cars:
P&O Ferries - up to 6 metres in length
Eurotunnel - under 1.85 metres in height
P&O Portsmouth - under 1.83 metres in height and up to 5 metres in length
Brittany Ferries - up to 5 metres in length and up to 1.5 metres in height
Hoverspeed - up to 5.5 metres in length
For longer and/or higher vehicles an additional supplement will apply.

Other information
It is essential that clients have personal holiday insurance, vehicle breakdown cover and Green Card cover from your car insurance company for taking your car abroad.

Italian Expressions is an independent specialist tour operator which was established in 1989 and offers tailor-made holidays to Italy, providing personal service with a professional approach. We pride ourselves on interpreting your demands and requirements to provide you with the holiday that you want, ensuring a successful match between client and holiday.

Personal and professional service
We personally know the majority of the hotels that we feature, and we put together our holidays with our clients in mind. Contact with Italian Expressions means contact with the people who know the holidays, who will share their knowledge and experience with you – our team of Italian travel consultants know the country, culture and language very well, and operate a concierge service that helps you to explore every aspect of special interest or activity that fits with your holiday.
All aspects of your holiday are personalised, from the itinerary to your holiday confirmation and documentation which provides you with information that is relevant to you. From the point of initial contact with us, you will deal with the same sales consultant, who will handle all aspects of your booking and ticketing.
We approach your holiday in a way that offers you the arrangements you want, not to slot you in to pre-existing arrangements. This might mean juggling dates, securing the last available room at a hotel or tailoring a complex itinerary involving numerous components. Your holiday is as individually fashioned and tailor-made as you want it to be.

How we price your holiday
All prices mentioned on our website and in our brochure are simply guides, as there are many variations that might affect the price including exchange rates, flight costs and special offers. To find out exact prices for the holiday that you are interested in, contact us for a tailor-made quotation.
All our holiday arrangements have been designed to afford you maximum flexibility and freedom of choice. We include travel arrangements, whether it be flight, ferry or tunnel crossing or rail travel as well as many nights' hotel accommodation as you want, in as many different places.

Our Price Guarantee
We guarantee that once you have made a firm booking with a deposit payment, there will be no increases in the price of your holiday due to currency movements. If, for any reason, there have been changes in the price of the holiday you want, you will be advised at the time of booking.

Full Financial Protection
Full financial protection is offered when you book a holiday with us. Our air holidays are ATOL protected, and we are a member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited to protect non-flight packages. We are also members of ABTA and AITO (the Association of Independent Tour Operators), an organisation of some of Britain’s best specialist tour operators.