Italy 2015

[Costa Warrior]

We are planning a month trip to Italy in June. As we live in Spain we are taking the ferry from Barcelona to Civitavecchia and plan to head North rather to the bottom. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. We hope to end up at Genoa to get a ferry back to Barcelona.

 

[travelbunyip]

Hi
We spent some time in Italy last year. Lots of places to visit, plenty of hilltop towns,we did a lot of walking. Look at our site www.travelbunyip.com
Click on the 2014 trip map. There you will find where on the kangaroo icons where we stayed,including GPS coordinates ,cost per night and also a link the blog post for each location. Hope this is of some help.
Ewout

 

[Costa Warrior]

Thanks for the link. Haven't finished reading it all yet but what we have seen has been very informative. We hope to concentrate on the Tuscany area this time as we think there is a lot to see. Again thanks , and enjoy your travels.

 

[Costa Warrior]

We're on our way. Left ESTEPONA , Malaga this morning on our way to Italy. Started off at 8 am with blue skies and temperatures of 22c and arrived at camping Marjal near Elche just after 2pm having clocked up just over 550 km. We've used this site several times for an overnight stop . With ACSI card its 16 euros including electricity , wifi and use of all the facilities. It's like a five star hotel resort. It's got everything without being tacky. Really professionally run. Hope to get an early start in the morning to make our way to Barcelona for the ferry to Civitavecchia, Italy . If anybody is interested, I will keep you posted.

 

[Judge Mental]

Tuscany! only a hop skip and jump, Assisi nice as well if your touched by the work of St Francis

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[Costa Warrior]

Yes, we are going to concentrate on Tuscany.

 

[Judge Mental]

Yes, we are going to concentrate on Tuscany.

You will not regret that!

 

[andrewjw]

Umbria..just to the right of Tuscany when you look at the map is well worth a look too.

Camping Kursaal on the shores of Lake Trasimeno is a jewel in the crown of of Italian campsites in the area...

Why am I passing this on?

Best kept a secret...

 

[magicsurfbus]

San Gimignano - MH only aire type site at the bottom of the hill, with free shuttle to the town gate: http://areasostasantachiarasangimignano.it/english/
Siena - overnight MH parking tolerated in a couple of spots, but they're basically car parks.
Near Siena the walled village of Monteriggioni is very picturesque but quite small. Overnight MH parking is allowed in the parking area outside the gate.
Pisa - once you've seen the tower and maybe the neighbouring basilica that's it, move on.
Lucca - we used the MH site at 43.850863, 10.486112 which is within walking distance but the pitches are very small.
For Florence we stopped at a campsite above Figline Valdarno and got the train into the city.

 

[Judge Mental]

All good...have not done Florence yet.

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[Spottycatz]

We're currently in Albinia, having been toddling through the upper coastal region of the Italian Med for the past two weeks. Loving Italy, the people are sooooo friendly compared to France and Spain, but the roads are not good. Shaking my poor van to pieces and the pitches are pretty small for a 7.5 m van as well.

 

[Costa Warrior]

We left camping Marjal Sat June 6th and head towards Barcelona to catch the ferry to Civitavecchia, Italy. Left plenty of time for the 600 km. trip. Just as well because we shredded a tyre about 120 Kms from the port. It was a bit daunting as we were on the motorway without much of a hard shoulder, partially blocking the slow lane. The break down truck arrived after about an hour followed shortly by the Guardia Civil and motorway maintenance truck to divert the traffic. We were dragged onto the low loader with some difficulty and taken back to their depot to change the wheel for the spare which is slung underneath. Two and a half hours later we were back on the road with the shredded tyre in the living area and a bit stressed for the experience.

Arrived at the port of Barcelona at 7 pm for the sailing at 10.15 pm. The boat eventually left an hour late and we settled in for the 20 hour crossing .

 

[The Dudess]

Umbria..just to the right of Tuscany when you look at the map is well worth a look too.

Camping Kursaal on the shores of Lake Trasimeno is a jewel in the crown of of Italian campsites in the area...

Why am I passing this on?

Best kept a secret...

Camping Kursaal is gorgeous, however if you have a large motorhome you may struggle to fit into a pitch. Also there are a lot of overhanging trees so be careful if you have a sat dome. Otherwise a brilliant site.

 

[Costa Warrior]

Fitting new tyres.

A carafe of wine and a beer for 3 euros at Camping PORTICCIOLO.

The castle at Bolsena

[/ATTACH] Word must have got out about camping Kursaal. We had already earmarked this site but it was full when we got there and we had to stay next door at La Spiaggia. We have never had to book anywhere before in June. Alas your secret has got out !!
Just to catch up. We arrived at Civitavecchia at just after 8 p.m. Sunday June 7th which didn't really leave us enough time to get to our destination at lake Bracciano. Reluctantly we pulled into a motorway service area and settled down for the night between scores of lorries. The next morning, our main priority was to to find a "gomista" to replace our shredded spare. Our first tyre dealer couldn't help until the following day but our second could source the tyre by the afternoon. I decide to replace all four as although the mileage and tread were fine, I think they had degraded over the last five years in the hot Andalucian sun.

With the help of google translator I struck a deal and ordered the Continental Vanco Camper tyres to be fitted later that day. True to their word they were there at 5pm and all fitted and balanced soon after we arrived.

My wife and I felt relieved and assured now that we had new boots on the motorhome, especially considering the state of the Italian roads. They must be the worst in Europe. Even Morocco is better.

We pulled into Camping Porticciolo on the shores of lake Bolsena and stayed for 2 nights. It's a lovely site with very friendly owners and the town of Bracciano is only a bus ride away ,costing 1 euro,and a beautiful castle to visit.

We are now further North heading into Tuscany at Camping La Spiaggia, not far from Perugia.