# Europe Tour Has Begun!



## HikerG (Nov 20, 2009)

My tour of Europe has begun. After spending a week in the French Alps I decided to head over to Lake Garda and visit fellow MHF member Russell who has been a great help in getting me online with an Italian SIM and giving me some advice on places to visit in Northern Italy. 

I will be making posts to here and to my blog when I can. I've found some of the mountain roads in the Alps hard work. Here at Garda it's incredibly hot and so I'm thinking of heading higher to the Dolomites. 

As funds are limited on this tour I'm keen to get info on any wild camping or sostas I can use. I downloaded the French Aires before I left but finding it harder to get info on Italian sites. 

Ideally looking for places in either Canazei or Cortina D'ampezzo. Also thinking of a quick trip to Venice and reading here there seems to be a sosta at Treviso with a cheap train into Venice. 

Anyway must dash. 

Gary


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Cortina has an Aire/aree di sosta at an old airfield about 4 km north. We stayed for a couple of nights and enjoyed some walks from there.

There is also a bus into town and a campsite across the river where we had a meal at their restaurant.


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## geraldandannie (Jun 4, 2006)

Good morning, Gary

We saw from Russell's post that you'd met up. We've been to Garda twice and loved it, although it was horrendously expensive. Venice is absolutely my favourite city in the world, and I'd cheerfully spend days and days just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere.

Sorry, I can't be too much help with suggestions.

Have a great rest of your trip.

Gerald


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Enjoy your trip Gary. If you're going to be spending any time in Italy then the _Guida Camper; Aree di Sosta_ is a very good buy. It has excellent maps as well as a very clear guide to sostas.

Don't forget local and regional tourist offices; they have free booklets of campsites and sostas - and similar in France.

Best wishes to Russell too

G


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## eddied (May 9, 2005)

*Soste etc*

 Ciao hiker,
if you can get on line, a good source for soste etc is
www.camperonline.it
or
www.turismoitinerante.it
or
www.caravanecamper.it

Also if you find a good news kiosk, or a caravan/camper accessory store, try and get hold of a copy of the 'Autocaravan' (AC Magazine) guide to soste, or a little booklet called 'Portolano' published by a magazine called 'Plein Air' an Italian publication despite French name.
enjoy your trip.
saluti,
eddied


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## Sonesta (May 10, 2005)

Have a great trip Gary and enjoy Italy. It is a truly fascinating country, seeped in history and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour around Italy & Sicily in 2007. Sadly, due to a personal crisis, we had to cut short our trip and return to the UK early but we plan to return either next year or the year after and we cannot wait to see even more of this fabulous country.

When we toured Italy, we too were given some great advice from Russell and also an immense amount of help from another fellow MHF member called Eddied. Eddied lives in Italy and is a coach driver and an ex motorhomer, so he was able to pass on so many useful tips and suggestions as to where to visit and where all the best campsites and sostas are located. Hopefully Eddied will read your post and pass on his wealth of knowledge re Italy to you too.

Enjoy your travels.

Sue


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## Sonesta (May 10, 2005)

Oops, didn't realise Eddied had already posted! He must have been writing his reply whilst I was writing mine! :lol:

Sue


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hi Gary;

We have always used the Satnav POI's from the excellent Turismo Itinerante site Eddie mentions, I think they are the most up to date Sosta POI's you can get.

A direct link to save you ages searching....

>Turismo Itinerante POI Downloads<

>Sosta Search Page<

Have a good one,

Pete


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## HikerG (Nov 20, 2009)

Wow, thanks to all for the great info and the good wishes. I've managed to download the POI and will use the text file to see which are nearest to me. 

Currently parked up at a cable car station. Not sure if it's a sosta but there are about 15 other motorhomes parked here and since some of them have their silver screens on them I can't help but feel some are here for the night. 

I've got about 30 minutes drive before I reach Canazei. As the TIM SIM works here ok I will use the time wisely to work out where I might be able to stop the next few nights for free.

Huge thanks must also go to Russell who has been a great help. The sense of community that there is among motorhomers that sadly seems to have been lost in big cities is one of the reasons I love motorhoming and fulltiming. 

Thanks again to you all for all the great advice. Oh Eddied if you are reading this I understand you live Sorrento way. I will be in your neck of the woods between 14th-21st October. If you fancy meeting up for a drink would love to buy you a pint. 

All the best,

Gary


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## HikerG (Nov 20, 2009)

Hi,

Just to update. As per suggestion I did stay at the disused airfield a short distance from Cortina d'Ampezzo and I can confirm that in high season the charge is €12.00. 

Tonight I at another sosta, this time in Arabba which is also €12.00! Since I am on my own these prices make me think I might as well use campsites. It would be handy to know which of the Aree Di Sosta's charged and which did not before arriving. 

For anyone interested in the one in Arabba they charge €12.00 a night from Dec 1st - April 15th and July 1st to August 31st. The rest of the year it is €10.00. Electric per day is €3.00 and a shower if you need to use theirs is €3.00 per person. 

They also do a loading and unloading of water / toilet service for €5.00 which is included in the overnight fee.

Would like to visit Venice again but the temperature is too hot for my liking so thinking of staying in the Dolomites a little longer. Will hopefully find some Sostas that do not charge.

I've added another post to my blog. 

All the best

Gary


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hi Gary;

Some sosta's do tend to be a little on the expensive side in the touristy bits, thats Italy for you.

If you are going by the POI's then what probably hasn't been explained is that 'Sosta's' can be split into 3 types similar to the French aires system.

The excellent Turismo Itinerante POI's will have the following prefixes before their descriptions which separate them into 3 categories....

AA - [Area Attrezatta] This is usually a full facility stoppover with parking, servicing facilities and sometimes with a warden, these are usually (but not always) the expensive ones.

CS - [Camperstopp] - This is normally a motorhome service point only, mostly with no overnight parking facilities. Sometimes free, sometimes with a charge.

PS - [Punto Sosta] - An overnight parking area with no facilities, sometimes just a carpark. Sometimes free, sometimes with a small charge, but usually a lot cheaper than Area Attrezatta's.

So, when using the POI's, the 'PS' entries are usually the cheaper (sometimes free) places for an overnight stop.

Hope this makes sense and helps you to find some more cost effective options on your travels.

Pete


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## eddied (May 9, 2005)

*A Pint!*

 Ciao Gary, might be expensive. Whiskey isn't cheap here!.
Feel free to PM me when you arrive in the area. In the meantime happy travels.
saluti,
eddied


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