Looking for all the seasoned travellers on here to recommend

What sort of route do you want?

Fast, scenic, cheap, how many overnight stops, how many hours driving a day? etc etc.

More info please.

Possibly scenic for part of the journey. With two overnight stops, destination from last stop will be West Midlands

The route to Calais from Padua is about 800 miles.

Assuming you stay within legal speed limits, allowing for sensible stops each day, you'll average about 55 mph overall, so (including sensible stops) you'll be on the road for approx 15 hours.

If you stop overnight at anywhere like Bapaume before Calais, that will leave a 90 minute drive to Calais, and an acceptable drive on to W Midlands.

That leaves about 13+ hrs travelling, which means about 6hrs to 7hrs each day on the way from Padua.

Is that acceptable, or would an extra overnight make it a more pleasant journey?

(I know some will say "just blast through and do it as quickly as possible:, but you need to consider who is travelling (number and ages) and is driving shared etc etc)

Many thanks for your comments

this is the last leg of a long trip for us next July

our stops outbound are Reims, Colmar, Regensburg, Vienna, Budapest (3 days inc Grand Prix) 2 days Belgrade, 2 days Sofia

return via Zagreb & Lake Bled, thought Padua as we’ve never visited Venice

we are now retired so an extra day is no problem nor is the driving as I drove HGV’s for 20 years. Switzerland is somewhere I’ve never been to

The best way to see Venice from Padua is to catch the train in, and be amazed by the views as you leave the Station in Venice and gaze onto the Grand Canal. Gobsmacking

Personally, I'd take the following route.

Get on the autostrada and head past Milan and on towards Lake Maggiore and up past Gravellona Toce and into Switzerland (buy vignette at Swiss border Post or Petrol Station by border).

Through the Simplon Pass - well worth the trip for the scenery - and on past Lake Geneva.

We then go across the border into France near Pontarlier and then go towards Lyon and on the autoroute to Calais.

Where to stay -

Stop 3. I recommend Hotel la Paix in Bapaume - great restaurant and good breakfast, and handy for Calais

Stop 2 We stay in Beze. Couple of fair hotels including Hotel Le Bourgignon , but last time we stayed at a B&B just outside, called the Moulin de Belle Isle.

Stop 1.. Swiss hotels tend to be expensive. We stay in the Ibis in Sion Est - nothing fancy but good food and clean bedrooms .

You however should look at the route and decide your stops.

Planning the route is half the fun of the trip- yours sounds great.