# Touring Italy



## Bigmal666

Having made a recent post saying I was planning on going to Spain this summer, before making any decisons, I thought I would check out information on Italy.

My family and I (wife, 18yr old son and 10 yr old son have between 24th July to 31st August. We are travelling in an 8m motorhome.

I have an all in budget of around £4000 to make everything work. I am seeking information on wild camping, sites either on the beach, or with direct access and pools etc. any areas of beach where one can park said motorhome close to.

Town parking re above for major tourist attractions.

I am interested in hearing about what tpo visit. I am prepared to drive as far as Rome or a bit further to see the sites. None of us have ever been to Italy before.

I am a bit concerned about the cost of going to the beach for a whole family, especially as we do this a lot and offset this usually free entertainment against other spending. I have heard that it could cost us between 30eu - 40 eu per day. This would take a big bite out of our spending money. I am also interested in costs of average to nice camp sites as referred to above. I have heard bad things about free public beaches. 

In short, I need as much detailed information about every aspect of travelling and touring around Italy in a motorhome.

Many thanx in advance


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## eddied

*Itay touring*

 Ciao Bigmal, tall order there.
may I suggest you do some in-depth searching on this forum first, and then come back with some more specific questions.
Lots of info on the MHF forums and databases.
saluti,
eddied


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## Bigmal666

*Re: Itay touring*

Hi

Thanks for your reply. There is a problem with the website search facility which causes the browser back button to expire thus making it take an excessive amount of backwards and forwarding in order to view the posts. I am also very short on the time front, and was hoping to gather the info directly



eddied said:


> Ciao Bigmal, tall order there.
> may I suggest you do some in-depth searching on this forum first, and then come back with some more specific questions.
> Lots of info on the MHF forums and databases.
> saluti,
> eddied


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## Rapide561

*Italy*

Hi

It sounds daft, but get a coach holiday brochure and look at the 14 - 21 day coach tours of Italy. See where they go - in terms of cities and travelling times etc. Shearings, Leger and Cosmos Tourama are brochures I often have to hand for that purpose.

Russell

I think you can look at the www.leger.co.uk brochures on line.

I would certainly want to see.....

Milan, Verona, Venice, Lake Garda, Lake Iseo, Bologna, Siena, Pisa, Luca, Montecatini as a stop off point and for a mud bath, Florence, Rome, Orvieto, Chianciano Terme for another mud bath and spa water, San Gemignano (I can never spell that) - the list is endless really.


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## Bigmal666

*Re: Italy*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi some really good starting points for me to look into. Appeciate it - BM
> 
> It sounds daft, but get a coach holiday brochure and look at the 14 - 21 day coach tours of Italy. See where they go - in terms of cities and travelling times etc. Shearings, Leger and Cosmos Tourama are brochures I often have to hand for that purpose.
> 
> Russell
> 
> I think you can look at the www.leger.co.uk brochures on line.
> 
> I would certainly want to see.....
> 
> Milan, Verona, Venice, Lake Garda, Lake Iseo, Bologna, Siena, Pisa, Luca, Montecatini as a stop off point and for a mud bath, Florence, Rome, Orvieto, Chianciano Terme for another mud bath and spa water, San Gemignano (I can never spell that) - the list is endless really.


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## jhelm

The beaches and campgrounds as well as any free bit of parking are very busy during the time you mentioned. You might be hard pressed to find a campsite if you don't make a reservation. If you do a search on Google for camping in Italy you will find lots of reference. Most of the camp grounds have web sites in English.


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## Grizzly

Do you particularly want a sea side beach ? There are some quite interesting resorts round the various Italian lakes and the beach bit is either free or comes with the campsite. We've not seen them in high summer however.

Campsites do get very busy as many German families come to the same pitch every year. We had the last pitch at a site in Garda in late September.

It does get very hot and humid and crowded in many of the honeypot cities- Florence, Sienna, San Gimignano etc. We've done it for years with car and cottage before we got the van and prefer to wait until the evening to sightsee.

We've only seen the Tuscan beaches and were very unimpressed. Mile upon mile of neatly lined up ranks of sunbeds with hardly room to walk between them. There are public beaches where you can buy a recliner for a week ( and a substantial amount of money) but I doubt you'd want to frankly. The sea looked dirty and there was no room to do anything other than sunbathe.

This sounds very negative I'm afraid.

G


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## jhelm

We have camped a few times in the Bibione area north of Venice. It all depends on what you want. The kids love it, nightly entertainment, swimming pools, water slides, etc. And for sight seeing the young topless German girls are never boring.


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## Bigmal666

I am after sea side beaches, as we all like playing in the sand. I note what you say about the beaches. Given the choice, do you prefer Spain or Italy, as I am keeping my options open. Also can't afford to book up sites in advance, and don't want to give up the flexibility. I have been foreign touring and UK touring for about 20 years now, especially over the summer period, and have never booked up anywhere in advance. There are pros and cons to both, but we often find that we end up somewhere different, and doing something different from any pre prepared itineraries that we make.



Grizzly said:


> Do you particularly want a sea side beach ? There are some quite interesting resorts round the various Italian lakes and the beach bit is either free or comes with the campsite. We've not seen them in high summer however.
> 
> Campsites do get very busy as many German families come to the same pitch every year. We had the last pitch at a site in Garda in late September.
> 
> It does get very hot and humid and crowded in many of the honeypot cities- Florence, Sienna, San Gimignano etc. We've done it for years with car and cottage before we got the van and prefer to wait until the evening to sightsee.
> 
> We've only seen the Tuscan beaches and were very unimpressed. Mile upon mile of neatly lined up ranks of sunbeds with hardly room to walk between them. There are public beaches where you can buy a recliner for a week ( and a substantial amount of money) but I doubt you'd want to frankly. The sea looked dirty and there was no room to do anything other than sunbathe.
> 
> This sounds very negative I'm afraid.
> 
> G


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## Grizzly

Given that it's summer and likely to be hot and sticky down south I'd go for the French Atlantic coast. There are some stunning beaches, some pleasant resorts, plenty of good campsites and, in the Landes region especially, miles of cycle tracks and surfing beaches.

You could work your way down from -say La Rochelle ( aires and harbour with world class aquarium) via Hossegors ( world class surfing and a beachside aire), Archachon ( miles of clean white fabulous beaches and a lovely town with excellent restaurants- good campsite too )and the dune de Pyla ( biggest sand dune in Europe and an aire beside it -see the dune by moonlight) Biarritz ( lots of places to stay round Bidart and St Jean de Luz ) and then, if time permits, go round the corner and into the Basque part of Spain.

G


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## Bigmal666

Grizzly said:


> Many thanks for your post. I am looking for hot weather, and have done the atlantic coast of France to death over the years. We have also covered the Frecn mediteranean coast from Nabonne to La Grand Mot extensively over the years. Have done Nothern Spain once, last year, from Santander to the med coast and up to BArcelona and across to France, but don't think I go the best out of it, as 1, I was ill, and 2, because I didn't do enough research. Hence my posts on Spain and Italy this time around. If we go to Spain, then we will be travelling into Bilbao from Plymouth, so I would not want to backtrack along the French coast.
> 
> Given that it's summer and likely to be hot and sticky
> 
> down south I'd go for the French Atlantic coast. There are some stunning beaches, some pleasant resorts, plenty of good campsites and, in the Landes region especially, miles of cycle tracks and surfing beaches.
> 
> You could work your way down from -say La Rochelle ( aires and harbour with world class aquarium) via Hossegors ( world class surfing and a beachside aire), Archachon ( miles of clean white fabulous beaches and a lovely town with excellent restaurants- good campsite too )and the dune de Pyla ( biggest sand dune in Europe and an aire beside it -see the dune by moonlight) Biarritz ( lots of places to stay round Bidart and St Jean de Luz ) and then, if time permits, go round the corner and into the Basque part of Spain.
> 
> G


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## Bigmal666

Your post made me FOMCL (Fall off my chair laughing) My 18 year old is now salivating at the thought!



jhelm said:


> We have camped a few times in the Bibione area north of Venice. It all depends on what you want. The kids love it, nightly entertainment, swimming pools, water slides, etc. And for sight seeing the young topless German girls are never boring.


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## eddied

*Italy touring high summer*

 Ciao Bigmal, well now I'm compos mentis today, so can give you a bit more info.
Firstly distances/driving times.
You will need at least 18 hours driving time Calais - Como (Italy) following the most popular 'Russell' route of Calais - Lille - Mons - Charleroi - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg - Thionville - Metz - Strasbourg - Mulhouse - Basel - Luzern - St.Gothard - Airolo - Bellinzona - Chiasso(border post) Como (Italian autostrada system).
How you split this up of course is up to you.
Once on the Italian autostrada (motorway system) you have several options.
You mention high summer.
Italian school holidays start 15 June and usually go through to 15 September. However the main top peak holiday period is this year 05 August through 22 August. In July you shouldn't have any trouble finding places on campsites or aree di sosta. Difficult to say this year how August will go. I suspect it will not be as crowded as usual. If you must travel from place to place during August, always try to do it mid week rather than weekends, which are pure hell on the roads. Also to make the best of your time, you really need to use the autostrada toll roads, especially with a larger vehicle.
The areas to head for for sandy beach holidays are :
Eastern Adriatic coast - Lido di Jesolo, Lignano Sabbia d'Oro areas; and then South of Venice the 'Lidi Ferraresi' where there are some really good all inclusive holiday and camping villages. Then further down the coast towards Rimini/Cattolica/Riccione. Along this coast there are also many holiday camping villages available. This is probably about as far South as you can get in the time you will have available, having been distracted on the way I hope by some sightseeing in Venice, or Ferrara, or San Marino, or San Leo, and the Brenta Canal, and loads more places; besides having admired the topless beach girls.
Across the other side, the Ligurian Riviera is beautiful, but not sandy b each or motorhome friendly. The sandy beaches start just South of La Spezia, and stretch all the way down, with few interuptions, to Rome. This coast therefore allows lots of beach lazing with a bit of culture thrown in at say Lucca, Pisa, Firenze, Siena, San Gimignano, Tarqunia, Roma.
Holday camping villages galore along this coast too.
You will find some access to free beaches too, and maybe a bit of wildcamping, along the 200 Km. stretch between Livorno and Civitavecchia.
For driving times, you are best to consult a good road map or the Michelin website. I wouldn't count on averaging more than 65/70 Km. per hour including stops in the high season.
Your best websites for camping and holiday villages are
www.camping.it and
www.assocampi.it
whilst for aree di sosta etc
www.camperweb.it
www.camperonline.it

I think you will also find at Vicarious Books lots of book titles available.
HTH for now.
Don't miss out on the Italian experience, especially for your children. By the way, under 18 year olds and over 65's, get free entrance to most state owned museums and galleries.
Your 4500 pounds budget would do me for 6 months, including motorhoming!
edit : for campsites also www.guidacampeggi.com
saluti,
eddied


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## Bigmal666

Bigmal666 said:


> Grizzly said:
> 
> 
> 
> This is mosy useful. Thank you very much indeed
> 
> Many thanks for your post. I am looking for hot weather, and have done the atlantic coast of France to death over the years. We have also covered the Frecn mediteranean coast from Nabonne to La Grand Mot extensively over the years. Have done Nothern Spain once, last year, from Santander to the med coast and up to BArcelona and across to France, but don't think I go the best out of it, as 1, I was ill, and 2, because I didn't do enough research. Hence my posts on Spain and Italy this time around. If we go to Spain, then we will be travelling into Bilbao from Plymouth, so I would not want to backtrack along the French coast.
> 
> Given that it's summer and likely to be hot and sticky
> 
> down south I'd go for the French Atlantic coast. There are some stunning beaches, some pleasant resorts, plenty of good campsites and, in the Landes region especially, miles of cycle tracks and surfing beaches.
> 
> You could work your way down from -say La Rochelle ( aires and harbour with world class aquarium) via Hossegors ( world class surfing and a beachside aire), Archachon ( miles of clean white fabulous beaches and a lovely town with excellent restaurants- good campsite too )and the dune de Pyla ( biggest sand dune in Europe and an aire beside it -see the dune by moonlight) Biarritz ( lots of places to stay round Bidart and St Jean de Luz ) and then, if time permits, go round the corner and into the Basque part of Spain.
> 
> G
Click to expand...


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## aultymer

Why does the 'large sick beast' have posts with nothing but quotes in them?
Is it my browser? or is there no comment?


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## Grizzly

aultymer said:


> Why does the 'large sick beast' have posts with nothing but quotes in them?
> Is it my browser? or is there no comment?


He has written a reply to my post but has included it in the quotes so it doesn't show up as a reply.

G


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## Bigmal666

aultymer said:


> Why does the 'large sick beast' have posts with nothing but quotes in them?
> Is it my browser? or is there no comment?[Sorry, I am probably not replying properly, I did not realise that my replies had to be within the quotes, that means that for the last 2 days or so there must be a lot of peolle out there who think I am rude in having not replied. The forum seem sto have changed since I last used it, I wqas sure that to post a reply, there was a tab marked reply]Sorry, I am probably not replying properly, I did not realise that my replies had to be within the quotes, that means that for the last 2 days or so there must be a lot of peolle out there who think I am rude in having not replied. The forum seem sto have changed since I last used it, I wqas sure that to post a reply, there was a tab marked reply


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