Italy from top to toe (3 Viewers)

[Two on Tour]

We crossed via the chunnel this afternoon and are heading to Italy for seven weeks having no real plans other than to be in Brescia on the 12th and 13th of this month for the build-up and start of this year's Mille Miglia 1000-mile road race, after that it is pretty much take it as it comes.
We have parked for the night in the small village of Steenwerck before heading off down through France in the morning with the plan of crossing into Italy via the Col du Mont-Cenis in a couple of days, but the weather is not looking very good at present so the views going over the Alps may not be as spectacular as we had hope.

We will try and keep you updated with where we are and what we do on our travels as the days go by.

 

[Bobby-gg]

Fantastic, will be following your updates, fingers crossed we'll be doing Italy June next year and trying to catch up with the daughter when she's in Garda on her holidays

 

[Raul]

If you get to Napoli, next door is Pompei, well worth it. We did it this spring, ferry from Patra to Bari and up.

Every first Sunday of the month it’s free tickets, hence the busy site.

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[Two on Tour]

If you get to Napoli, next door is Pompei, well worth it. We did it this spring, ferry from Patra to Bari and up.
View attachment 763129View attachment 763130View attachment 763131View attachment 763132
Every first Sunday of the month it’s free tickets, hence the busy site.

On the list Raul, and thanks for the information on the free tickets.

 

[Raul]

Also near the entry at Hortus porta marina, main entry of the site, it’s a campsite we stayed, very good with nice restaurant as well, book it in advance as it’s popular. Camping Spartacus.

We paid €24 per night, you will need two nights minimum for that site.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Enjoy

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[Wanders from Glos]

Have a great trip. We’ve been in Italy for nearly two weeks, crossing through the Simplon Pass. Whilst the weather has had it’s moments such as the storm on Maggiore it has been fairly warm and sunny most of the days. So far Maggiore

Then we had a day in Bergamo. If you are going to Brescia it’s definitely worth a night.

Then on to Lazise on Lake Garda, which was beautiful but way too busy for us.

Now we are at Iseo which is truly stunning and not as busy.

Hopefully the pictures will show all is not lost on the weather front. We aren’t going as far as you having done the Naples and Rome areas before (not in a motorhome though). But might venture into Tuscany.

Look forward to reading all about it.

 

[scousebird]

Enjoy your trip, don't forget the photos.

 

[VXman]

We did all of Italy last sept/Oct. Wasnt intending to go beyond Almalfi coast but once we'd gone that far we just felt we needed to do it all. Sicily was fantastic. Etna is active at the moment. Stopping the night at the top is a must.

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[Parrot Face]

Did it last year highlights were Lake Isseo, Peschiera, Matara, Lecce, Otranto and Tropea. My travel blog is quite detailed and might be worth a read , some great pics and ideas of where to stay. See below, click on pics to enlarge .

Phil & Barbs "Lightning Tours."

lightningtours.blogspot.com

Phil & Barbs "Lightning Tours."

lightningtours.blogspot.com

Phil & Barbs "Lightning Tours."

lightningtours.blogspot.com

Phil & Barbs "Lightning Tours."

lightningtours.blogspot.com

Phil & Barbs "Lightning Tours."

lightningtours.blogspot.com

 

[Dutch 68]

Have a great trip. We’ve been in Italy for nearly two weeks, crossing through the Simplon Pass. Whilst the weather has had it’s moments such as the storm on Maggiore it has been fairly warm and sunny most of the days. So far Maggiore
View attachment 763146

Then we had a day in Bergamo. If you are going to Brescia it’s definitely worth a night.

View attachment 763147

Then on to Lazise on Lake Garda, which was beautiful but way too busy for us.
View attachment 763148

Now we are at Iseo which is truly stunning and not as busy.
View attachment 763150

Hopefully the pictures will show all is not lost on the weather front. We aren’t going as far as you having done the Naples and Rome areas before (not in a motorhome though). But might venture into Tuscany.

Look forward to reading all about it.

Sienna is gorgeous, it trumps Florence

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Bit of a storm last night to be fair!

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[Manic]

hope you enjoy your trip, we hope for plenty of old photos from Mille.

 

[TheMachMan]

Have fun, there are so many beautiful old towns and cities.
We’re in Mantova now which would highly recommend on a decent Sosta just over the bridge 15 min walk into town. Been very busy due to bank holiday yesterday. Was a big storm last night & outlook unsettled.
Surprised by the lack of proper campsites though, a fair few Sostas, but not always look that nice. Have 3 more weeks and in a quandary where to go next, don’t want to go much further south than say Florence. Was hoping for some quiet and gentle walking.

 

[kevenh]

No mention of Matera and Alberobello but some have said they’ve been to “All of Italy”

Those two towns are close to Bari and are amazing places. On par with Amalfi’s cliffs and other Italian sights

Edit: oops. Parrot Face mentioned Matera. Soz
But Alberobello’s Trulli… Come on

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[Itsmcb]

Saw this on TV last night. Supposedly the best Gelato in Italy. Interesting old town roughly half way between Florence and Sienna. Campsite and Sosta nearby.
Not far from Volterra either.
Gelateria Dondoli
+39 0577 942244

Gelateria Dondoli · Piazza Della Cisterna, 4, 53037 San Gimignano SI, Italy

âââââ · Ice cream shop

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Parrot Face]

No mention of Matera and Alberobello but some have said they’ve been to “All of Italy”

Those two towns are close to Bari and are amazing places. On par with Amalfi’s cliffs and other Italian sights

Edit: oops. Parrot Face mentioned Matera. Soz
But Alberobello’s Trulli… Come on

Wasn't all that keen on Alberobello, after Matera to me it seemed a little commercialised with most of the houses selling tat. However if you wandered off the main tourist streets you could find a few more authentic looking houses.

 

[Parrot Face]

Sienna is gorgeous, it trumps Florence

Yes Sienna is well worth a visit. The other nearby great place is Lucca, amazing walls around the city. We stayed in a large garage close to the city walls. Lovely owner let's you park at the back, very secure with your own key, electric hook up, toilets etc. About 25e a night but worth it for the easy walk into the city.

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[Itsmcb]

Following this with great interest as it's something I would like to do. Please add more detail on the stop overs, finding them seems to be the hardest part of touring. Maybe a Google map link or what3words ?

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Yes Sienna is well worth a visit. The other nearby great place is Lucca, amazing walls around the city. We stayed in a large garage close to the city walls. Lovely owner let's you park at the back, very secure with your own key, electric hook up, toilets etc. About 25e a night but worth it for the easy walk into the city.

Sounds good we like the look of Mantova and Lucca. The weather in Iseo isn’t great so time to try somewhere else on Monday. Not sure whether to head to Tuscany, the Italian coast just south of here or cut our losses and go to another country. One place we definitely want to go to is Verona, but that could be on the way back from Tuscany. We have three weeks left too.

 

[kevenh]

Wasn't all that keen on Alberobello, after Matera to me it seemed a little commercialised with most of the houses selling tat. However if you wandered off the main tourist streets you could find a few more authentic looking houses.

We had two nights there. Staying in a lovely Trullo.
Being able to wander around the old town after the cruise ship crowds had left was good.
Matera was more impressive. We stayed in a cave for two nights. Pretty interesting. In our wanders we found a few “fixer upper” caves. Actually, there are a few Trulli needing some TLC

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[daveclare]

If you're doing the Heel, Otranto is very nice indeed, with an aire very close to the town. The chapel under the church is stunning.

On the other side there are some stunning wild camping stops around Porto Cesareo.

If you're going to Matera, the Aire is very tight and right on the main road. 100 metres before it, you can stay on the Race track aire, which is much better. The owner will even give you a lift into Matera.

 

[SpeedyDux]

I'm jealous.

 

[Itsmcb]

Sounds good we like the look of Mantova and Lucca. The weather in Iseo isn’t great so time to try somewhere else on Monday. Not sure whether to head to Tuscany, the Italian coast just south of here or cut our losses and go to another country. One place we definitely want to go to is Verona, but that could be on the way back from Tuscany. We have three weeks left too.

Have a look a the ventusky app for the weather. It's showing mixed weather south of the Alps for a few days, better on the west coast of Italy below Florence and getting better all over Italy later in the week.

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[Two on Tour]

Have a look a the ventusky app for the weather. It's showing mixed weather south of the Alps for a few days, better on the west coast of Italy below Florence and getting better all over Italy later in the week.

Ventsky is my usual go to for weather and the over the top half of Italy was looking pretty rubbish for at least the next two weeks before left, so we are leaving Venice and the Dolomites until the later part of our trip in the hope of better weather.

 

[Holly's mum]

Our parking in Steenwerck last night. Nice and quiet, we were the only ones there overnight.
It was near to a rural museum, that we planned to visit this morning by way of thanks for the use of the car park, but it's only open on a Sunday afternoon, so we headed for our next night stop in Rocroi.

I'll let hubby relay our tales from this morning
At least we awoke to bright blue skies

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Ventsky is my usual go to for weather and the over the top half of Italy was looking pretty rubbish for at least the next two weeks before left, so we are leaving Venice and the Dolomites until the later part of our trip in the hope of better weather.

Yes Ventusky is our go to weather app too. Leaving the north until the end of your tour seems a good idea.

Decision made, we will go to Verona for a night on Monday then 185 miles south to Siena given the recommendations. That will give us a week to ten days to potter about Tuscany where as you say the weather should improve.

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[TinaLes]

A dream of ours was always to go through The Valley of Lentils, in June/July when they are in flower up to the village of Castelluccio where there was a car park with spaces for MH's. The colours look stunning, the different lentils are amazing for long slow cook dishes.
Its just inland from Ascoli Piceno (best pizza in Italy) in the main square, several restaurants. We stayed at friends house just outside Force, in a volcanic mountaintop place called Quinzano, but no way would get the van up there, round & round spiralling up to then top, with stunning views.
Please go visit for us, take loads of photos, a memory I am sure that will stay with you, as far as I know, I think too many funsters miss this opportunity, such as shame.
Here's a link below, hope it works.
Love & Best wishes.
Les & TinaL

Castelluccio · 06046 Norcia, Province of Perugia, Italy

06046 Norcia, Province of Perugia, Italy

www.google.com

 

[BusyBuilder]

Lucca is really worth a visit too. Don't forget whengo over the Italian mountains to play On Days Like These

 

[Two on Tour]

Don't you just love absorption fridges !!!
After a few years of trial and error mods with adding fans, new thermal paste, and chimney mods, our Dometic fridge/freezer had been nice and cold and freezing well for the past 18 months or so including our last outing at the Swaffham Shindig.
Parked up last night and the fridge and freezer temperatures were starting to rise.
Checked we had a flame in the morning which there was, but it looked a bit sorry for itself.
Giving the burner a thump and blowing away any detritus did not improve things.
Fortunately, we carry many spares for the "just in case" which include a new fridge burner assembly and jet.
Swapped out the old for new and bingo, we have a working fridge/freezer again.
Now onto finding out why the solar heated water is only on half power. The tank is heated by 2 x 150 watt heating elements and it looks like either one of the elements has packed up or it's not getting power to it, so it's out with the multi meter next.

Now arrived at Rocroi, so we are about to toddle off for a look around the fortified village and no doubt visiting the boulangerie.

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