Italy Aires and wild camping

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Do they have free or small fee paid Aires in Italy and is wild camping tolerated… Ta.😎
 
There is a network of sostas, similar the french aires.
Many free, some with a fee, services usually available and variable in quality.
I've found some excellent ones.
Where are you going ?
Like France they do get used by fairs / travellers / storage for the local council etc so a plan B is recommended
 
There is a network of sostas, similar the french aires.
Many free, some with a fee, services usually available and variable in quality.
I've found some excellent ones.
Where are you going ?
Like France they do get used by fairs / travellers / storage for the local council etc so a plan B is recommended

I’m going nowhere in particular, I thought about wandering over there for the next 10 weeks after I’ve pottered around France…
Will probably head for water of some sorts, lakes rivers and sea, always like to be near water…😎
 
I’m going nowhere in particular, I thought about wandering over there for the next 10 weeks after I’ve pottered around France…
Will probably head for water of some sorts, lakes rivers and sea, always like to be near water…😎
Whilst staying at Pescheria Garry, on Lake Garda, we found that Sostas we came across were only 2 - 3 x Euros cheaper than the site fees.
If you get that far down, you are only about 3-4 x hours away from Croatia, which we loved. :)

Good luck with the planning. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
Whilst staying at Pescheria Garry, on Lake Garda, we found that Sostas we came across were only 2 - 3 x Euros cheaper than the site fees.
If you get that far down, you are only about 3-4 x hours away from Croatia, which we loved. :)

Good luck with the planning. (y)

Cheers,

Jock. :)

Thanks Jock, if I go over there then I’d like to go as far as Rome, although I don’t do cities, I’d camp outside and travel in for just the day, it’ll be getting warm then so a pool on a site might be a good idea…

Done Croatia, one of my favourite trips and will in time do another visit there…😎

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Wild camping is good over there too. We went over last Sept/Oct. We did Dolomites, Tuscany, Almalfi Coast and down to Sicily where we spent nearly 3 weeks. We only camped in a campsite at Almalfi for a week and a couple of other spots for 2/3 days each. The rest of the time was Sostas (mostly free, sometimes a few euros) and lots of wild camping. Mainly used Park4night and a bit of searchforsites to find places.
 
Thanks Jock, if I go over there then I’d like to go as far as Rome, although I don’t do cities, I’d camp outside and travel in for just the day, it’ll be getting warm then so a pool on a site might be a good idea…
We did similar at a site just outside Venice, then got the bus in to the city from just outside the campsite entrance.
It had to be done, but we won't go back to Venice. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
Thanks Jock, if I go over there then I’d like to go as far as Rome, although I don’t do cities, I’d camp outside and travel in for just the day, it’ll be getting warm then so a pool on a site might be a good idea…
We stayed at Camping Fabulous just outside Rome and definitely recommend it....probably the nicest campsite we stayed on in Italy. And I think it was only about €20 per night with an ACSI card. Its a bit of a trek into the city (bus to the station then train into town) but the campsite more than makes up for it....its nicely shaded, decent sized pitches (we're about 7.5m and had plenty of room), nice pool, a bar and restaurant on site. Supermarket a short cycle ride away.

Camping Fabulous.jpg


Another nice place a bit north of Rome is Cascate del Mulino/Saturnia....thermal springs (around 37.5 degrees) and totally free to visit (or you can go to the posh spa up the road if that's your kind of thing):
Cascate del Mulino.jpg


We stayed at the camperstop Alveare del Pinzi just a short walk away:
Alveare del pinzi.jpg
 
Cascate del Mulino

It was this place that got me looking at Italy, I saw it on a YouTube vanlife vlog. Definitely like this sort of thing and will visit when I’m there..😎

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It was this place that got me looking at Italy, I saw it on a YouTube vanlife vlog. Definitely like this sort of thing and will visit when I’m there..😎
It's absolutely lovely there. Take some water shoes with you though....we forgot ours and its a bit stoney underfoot in places. There's also a pizza vending machine if you're feeling brave (we didn't try it!)
 
We did similar at a site just outside Venice, then got the bus in to the city from just outside the campsite entrance.
It had to be done, but we won't go back to Venice. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
Its a shame i assume you didnt enjoy Venice ,I can understand why as a day tripper. We had a 5 day visit staying in Venice and it was manic after 9am and went quiet about 6pm when it was lovely. I think you need to stay in venice to really enjoy it
 
Its a shame i assume you didnt enjoy Venice ,I can understand why as a day tripper. We had a 5 day visit staying in Venice and it was manic after 9am and went quiet about 6pm when it was lovely. I think you need to stay in venice to really enjoy it
I love Venice, been numerous times, we stay in lido de jesolo , a sort of mini benidorm, and travel into Venice by bus and river taxi all on the same day ticket, almost direct into st marks square.

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We did similar at a site just outside Venice, then got the bus in to the city from just outside the campsite entrance.
It had to be done, but we won't go back to Venice. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)

Its a shame i assume you didnt enjoy Venice ,I can understand why as a day tripper. We had a 5 day visit staying in Venice and it was manic after 9am and went quiet about 6pm when it was lovely. I think you need to stay in venice to really enjoy it

We didn't do Venice on our trip, mainly because we've done Venice and the area a few times in our pre motorhoming life.

So instead we went a bit south of Venice to Chiogga. It's like a little Venice with just a couple of main canals. Lovely place and there are half a dozen beach side campsites on the East coast - 20 mins bike ride from the town centre.

citta-unica-v2.jpg


 
We didn't do Venice on our trip, mainly because we've done Venice and the area a few times in our pre motorhoming life.

So instead we went a bit south of Venice to Chiogga. It's like a little Venice with just a couple of main canals. Lovely place and there are half a dozen beach side campsites on the East coast - 20 mins bike ride from the town centre.

View attachment 738328

That looks like it will be on our list of places next year
 
Its a shame i assume you didnt enjoy Venice ,I can understand why as a day tripper.
Not so much didn't enjoy it, but more finding it a bit manic as you say. Huge queues to get into the Basilica, or if you paid hand over fist, you got fast tracked. :( Almost 100 Euros for a Gondola trip? :whatthe: Rita wasn't having any of it, even though I did point out it would just be a one off.

As we walked the streets and over the small bridges, you could see the same Gondoliers and their passengers pass by at each stage. :LOL:

Yes, Venice had to be done, so we did a taster. ;)
Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
We did similar at a site just outside Venice, then got the bus in to the city from just outside the campsite entrance.
It had to be done, but we won't go back to Venice. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)

Jock

We did similar after arriving on the ferry from Patras. It was like a 16th Century Disneyland with crowds to match

We also feel similar about not going back.

We are happier in small French/German/Greek towns and villages.

Geoff

We would prefer to try some of the smaller cities up the Po valley, like Verona or even smaller.
 
Venice has no appeal for me, take out the tourists and crowds then the architecture will, I know Rome will be the same but it is supposedly the beginning of civilisation and it will be one of those “has to be done” places… 😎

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Venice has no appeal for me, take out the tourists and crowds then the architecture will, I know Rome will be the same but it is supposedly the beginning of civilisation and it will be one of those “has to be done” places… 😎
I much preferred Venice in the late afternoon/evening when all the day trippers left to go home - we stayed at Camping Venezia Village, the busses ran until pretty late.

Apart from a couple of places (the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain) we didn't find Rome particularly crowded....though of course its a lot bigger than Venice and we didn't spend all our time in the main tourist areas. Note that if you want to visit the Colosseum you need to book tickets ahead of time, particularly if you want to access the arena floor (definitely worth it) or the underground (we didn't manage to get tickets for that bit). I was surprised how much I liked Rome....I was kind of expecting it to be just another over-rated big city, but I really enjoyed it and would love to go back (shame its so far away!).
 
Apart from a couple of places (the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain) we didn't find Rome particularly crowded....though of course its a lot bigger than Venice and we didn't spend all our time in the main tourist areas. Note that if you want to visit the Colosseum you need to book tickets ahead of time, particularly if you want to access the arena floor (definitely worth it) or the underground (we didn't manage to get tickets for that bit). I was surprised how much I liked Rome....I was kind of expecting it to be just another over-rated big city, but I really enjoyed it and would love to go back (shame its so far away!).

My eldest grandson was filming in Rome and elsewhere for six weeks in late spring during one of the Italian Covid lockdowns (Leonardo, he played young Francesco Da Vinci). Along with his father, who was his paid chaperone, they had unimpeded access to all the great classical sites which were devoid of visitors - no booking, no queues, no nothing! To say we were all a bit jealous would be a massive understatement!
 
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Try Lake Orta, less touristy than other lakes, theres a cracking free sosta at the top of the hill, short walk along to the church (Sacre Monte di Orta) where there are beautiful views of the lake below.

45.79683 8.41199

Screenshot 2023-04-13 103004.png
 
Its a shame i assume you didnt enjoy Venice ,I can understand why as a day tripper. We had a 5 day visit staying in Venice and it was manic after 9am and went quiet about 6pm when it was lovely. I think you need to stay in venice to really enjoy it
We had a half day stop over at Venice when we were on a med cruise, wasn’t that impressed!
Decided to try again last year on our way back from Croatia and stayed on a site just outside that had a water taxi to take you into the back of Venice.
Thoroughly enjoyed the day as so much more to see without all the hassle of the main square.
We also walked along a fare bit to a large park where the dogs had a good run around.
Will be going back for sure when that way.

We also wanted to revisit Florence as we did the half day on the same cruise.
Stayed just outside and got the sites coach into town,was not impressed with it and definitely wouldn’t go back again☹️
 
Venice is best enjoyed out of season. Visited many times and there’s a lot to see and explore when the hordes have gone. Although you don’t want to there after high tides and rain. Had to buy wellies from the hotel as it was flooded. St.Marks square was under a couple of feet of water. We even sat in a cafe in a foot of water!

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We had a half day stop over at Venice when we were on a med cruise, wasn’t that impressed!
Decided to try again last year on our way back from Croatia and stayed on a site just outside that had a water taxi to take you into the back of Venice.
Thoroughly enjoyed the day as so much more to see without all the hassle of the main square.
We also walked along a fare bit to a large park where the dogs had a good run around.
Will be going back for sure when that way.

We also wanted to revisit Florence as we did the half day on the same cruise.
Stayed just outside and got the sites coach into town,was not impressed with it and definitely wouldn’t go back again☹️
Strange how we all enjoy different things. My wife and I have just come back from 6 days in Florence. We really enjoyed it. We walked all over. We also really like Venice, we have been twice for 4 or 5 days each time. As mentioned, it's much better out of tourist season.
 
Strange how we all enjoy different things. My wife and I have just come back from 6 days in Florence. We really enjoyed it. We walked all over. We also really like Venice, we have been twice for 4 or 5 days each time. As mentioned, it's much better out of tourist season.
Just found Florence so busy with people and even more with traffic.
Might be that as we had come from Venice with no traffic it seemed worse.
 
Venice is best enjoyed out of season. Visited many times and there’s a lot to see and explore when the hordes have gone. Although you don’t want to there after high tides and rain. Had to buy wellies from the hotel as it was flooded. St.Marks square was under a couple of feet of water. We even sat in a cafe in a foot of water!
It is lovely out if season. We went in Winter, very cold but not very busy. I think you get a completely different impression. For us it is one of the best cities we have been to, I suspect if it had been June we would have hated it.
 

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