Italy and Switzerland

[traveller353]

we are off to Scicily and Italy in 10 days , for a 3 month trip, going to motor down non stop to reach the sun then work our way back up through Italy then Switzerland, any info on places to visit that are not in the usual tourist books and any aires that are in spectacular locations would be appreciated.We are going from Dunkerque then via Belgium, Luxembourg,France, Switzerland then into Italy if anyone has been on this route would be interested in aires they might have used on the way. Finally an tips from anyone who has done this Journey.
Thanks Traveller 353:Cool:

 

[hilldweller]

We did Calais -> Saverne ( municipal site ) -> Luzern -> Monza -> Garda -> Venice last year, all reasonable hops by our standards.

Luzern, just behind the Lido and motor museum, a minute's walk from the lake and a nice walk into a lovely town was worth a few days.

Monza was specifically for the racing but it's a decent camp site as long as no race crowds.

Garda - Pechiera del Garda - Camping Butterfly - lovely site easy walk to lake and town.

We really wanted to do Malchesini after seeing it from the lake but the weather was so bad we've left that for another year.

Rome Forum/Pomeii/Herculanium are "must sees" in my opinion. Camping right outside Pompeii.

Richioni on the other side is top Italian beech with the lovely hill state of San Marino just inland.

We've got Malchesini/Pisa/Florance(again) unfinished business.

 

[PenelopePitstop]

We set off for Spain last September and travelled via France, Italy and Sicily - long way round - 4700 miles!!

We crossed over to Calais and the first night was spent at a nice site in Seraucourt- le Grand.

2nd night was an aire at Beaune followed by 3 nights at Camping Bagatelle in Avignon - great place!:thumb:

We went down to Port Grimaud from there - expensive site - 3 night stay minimum - not terribly impressed with it.

Then over into Italy and Pietra Ligure. Nice campsite not far from the motorway. Pian Dei Bosche - great site and nice town.:thumb:

Next stop was a sosta in Monticelli d'Ongina - nice quiet village.

We next stayed at Camping Fusina in Venice - great!:thumb::thumb:

The next few days were spent travelling down the Adriatic coast - campsites few and far between along that coast in October.

One night we stayed at Senigallia on a car park with a few other vans. Then a small campsite at San Salvo Marina. Next was a campsite at Monopoli.

We went along the foot and stayed at a site near Coriglioni. Too many mozzies there!

We found a great little site ia Palmi - Village La Quiete - pretty site - free wi-fi too!:thumb:

Then it was over to Siciy - first campsite was near Catania - Camping Jonio - cramped unattractive site - not impressed.
At that point we weren't particularly thrilled with Sicily but then we crossed to the north coast and found a little bit of paradise at Camping Rais Gerbi, FInale - fab site, lovely location, great pizzas!:thumb::thumb::thumb:

We stayed there for a week then crossed back to the mainland and revisited Palmi - we liked it so much the first time!:thumb:

Then it was up to Pompei and Camping Spartacus - great centre for seeing Sorrento, Naples etc. Good public transport in that area.

We stayed a week then went to Rome and Happy Village Camping. Great site - free minibus to railway station - €16 buys you a weekly ticket for train, bus and underground travel in Rome - excellent value.:thumb:

When we left Rome we were going to go to Florence but we were all cultured out and decided to head for Spain toute suite!!

We stayed on a car park in Torre De Largo Puccini for one night - €2. Nice place.

Next stop was back in France at Parc Des Maurettes in Villeneuve- Loubet near Nice and a day trip by train to Monte Carlo - in the rain!!


I would recommend buying the Sostas book for Italy - Vicarious books sells it.:thumb:

If you'd like more details about any places we stayed then give me a shout!

Have a great trip - Italy is great apart from the roads - potholes all the way and the motorways aren't much better, especially in the south!

 

[Bulletguy]

There was a small thread on Switzerland just a few weeks ago.

I've spent many years 'in 'n out' of Switzerland and there is lots to see. Everywhere is accessible by possibly the best and most efficient network of Public transport you will find anywhere in the world....(the reason why many Swiss nationals don't bother owning a car....they don't need to because they have a system which works!).

Don't miss the Bernese Oberland region....this is a real must see! The scenery is absolutely amazing and i'd highly recommend you take a trip on the Jungfraujoch mountain railway from Lauterbrunnen. This climbs slowly up to Kleine Scheidegg giving absolutely incredible views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains. You need to pick the right day with good clear weather. Not cheap, but well worth the expense and a trip you will never ever forget!

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Avoid Zurich and Interlaken.

Zurich is the industrial heart of Switzerland and the city itself isn't particularly anything special either, but it's no more than you'd expect when surrounded by industry.....except of course it's clean.

Interlaken is nice.......but packed full of 'brits' with gi-normous m/h's and caravans who park up on sites by Lake Brienz or Thun, sit there for a fortnight or so, then head back to blighty to tell all their friends they've 'seen' Switzerland. They've seen nothing!!!

Bern is the capital city but a very beautiful city to walk around with plenty of restaurants and coffee bars where 'al fresco' is the norm.

 

[hilldweller]

We set off for Spain last September and travelled via France, Italy and Sicily

Typical woman navigator then

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[weymard]

Typical woman navigator then

Good joke

 

[hilldweller]

Good joke

Sorry I can't hear you, I'm in my deep nuclear bunker for a few days. Well it needed a spring clean.