Italy Autumn 2022 - The Italian Lakes

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Joining the A8 toll road from Antibes and crossing the Italian border into Liguria we drove over numerous viaducts and through as many tunnels which is the very scenic Italian riviera motorway.

First stop in Italy was Pietra Ligure and camping Dei Fiori. We checked in and got set up and chilled for the afternoon. We walked into town that evening and into Piazza San Nicolo di Bari which is a very busy place with bars and restaurants, we ate in a pizzeria and had a few beers in the square. That night I woke at 3am with a really bad headache and by 9am I was being violently sick and the other end was equally as bad, nurse Mel diagnosed sunstroke.

Feeling a little better by 11am we left Liguria and headed for Lombardy and Milan. It was an uncomfortable journey as I was feeling rough and it didn’t get much better in the 30 degree heat and when we got to the toll road exit payment area near Milan it was chaos, 22 booths and hundreds of cars fighting to get into a single lane with horns beeping and people getting out of cars everywhere, madness and I was desperate for the loo!!, 1 hour later we were through and 10 minutes later we were at Camping village Milan, thankfully. This is the only campsite in Milan and is very expensive at 43 euros (normally sites are around 20 euros). After setting up the van I was violently sick and felt really ill. We ended up having 2 days of doing pretty much nothing as I tried to recover (we were meant to go and see Inter Milan play but couldn’t). By the 3^rd day I was feeling much better after 2 days of very little sleep, major headaches and sweats, it wasn’t a great few days. So feeling refreshed we did some washing then headed into Milan. The bus and metro journey of 45 minutes took us straight to Piazza Duomo into the heart of the city. It was a Monday but it was extremely busy, especially around the Duomo area, we had a wander around the piazza, the galleria Vittorio Emanuele II where all the designer shops are and it’s an instagrammers hot spot (retards), we walked around to Teatro alla Scala and back through the old streets and into La Rinascente which is a major shopping centre with more designer shops and artisan food stalls. On the top floor of la Rinascente is a roof top bar where we had a drink and had a great view of the Duomo and the Piazza below. (the queue to visit the Duomo was over an hour long and in the 30 degree sunshine so we decided against waiting, we will have to visit again one day). We had a relaxed day just walking around the very centre of the city, there is a lot more to do and I’m sure we will be back. The journey back to site was easy and we were home by 10pm.

Moving on from Milan we were heading north and onto our first Italian lake. The toll roads in Italy are very reasonably priced compared to France so we hit the E62 toll and Mel drove us up towards the Alps and Lake Maggiore in the Piedmont region. Camping Tranquilla in Baveno is just off the E62 and easy to find, although a little tight at the gate for a 7 metre motorhome but we got through and got settled in. The site was quiet and there were plenty of spaces to choose from and ours was right next to the pool where we spent a few hours later that afternoon. We had a stroll down the hill into Baveno town after tea to check out the ferries that operate on the lake, we had a drink in a bar and watched Inter Milan with the very nice bar owner before hiking back up to the site (these Alps are so hilly). The forecast for the next day was cloud and light rain and reduced temperatures (thankfully) so we planned on staying around the campsite. The rain never came and the skies were blue almost all of the day so we had a nice chilled out day, we went in the pool again and we got some cleaning done and a general tidy up in the van.

Just off the coastline of Baveno are the Borromean islands, a small group of islands bought back in the 1600’s by a wealthy Milanese family and they have been the family home ever since. These days they are a tourist hot spot, all the small ports nearby run boat trips and we joined the masses to see for ourselves. The biggest island Isola Bella is only 10 minutes by boat and this is where the family mansion and gardens are, massive house and pristine gardens are well worth a visit and I’d buy the place if I win the euromillions!!. The island has a small village with tiny back streets full of eating establishments and souvenir shops but it doesn’t feel tacky like some similar places, we spent a good few hours wandering before we jumped on the boat to the next island, Isola Pescatore. Another nice place but very busy so we had a walk around here too, then lunch in a lake side restaurant before catching the boat back late afternoon. Another dip in the site pool then a quiet night with a DVD finished off a long day. It was our last day in Baveno so I went out for a cycle along the lakeside whilst Mel caught up with things at home. We had another few hours by the pool before heading into town and having a meal sat overlooking Lake Maggiore, our 4 days in this area were really nice and chilled out, lovely small towns and the lake side is very scenic, time to make a move.

About 40 miles away and in Switzerland is Lake Lugano, after topping up the shopping in Baveno we drove around the south end of Lake Maggiore and over the border into Switzerland (another country ticked off the touring list) and onto camping Paradiso in Maroggia. Now Switzerland is known as an expensive country but this campsite was off the scale, the previous 4 days had cost us 19 euros per night (£16), this site was 48 euros per night!! A bloke who was on a bike with a tent was charged 37 euros just to pitch up……unbelievable. Well there isn’t much choice in the area so we checked in and TBF the view from the van of lake Lugano was very nice and the facilities were good so not so bad. The sun was out and strong so we chilled by the van with a drink and watched the activities on the lake for the remainder of the day. We were in the Swiss region of Ticino and if you are staying overnight in this region you can download a pass that gives free access to all public transport plus major discounts on local attractions so the next day we jumped on the train into Lugano. The train being Swiss and very efficient had us in Lugano in 20 minutes, we jumped on the local bus and found the Mont Bre Funicular to take us to the top of the mountain. The funicular ride was about 15 minutes in all and when we stopped at the top the views south across lake Lugano were amazing, it was such a crystal clear day, you could see massive peaks in France in the distance. We took in the views and had a bite to eat and drink whilst sitting on the terrace overlooking the lake and mountains beyond. We walked down the mountain to the small village of Bre and caught the bus the rest of the way into Lugano centre, we hired a pedallo and went out on the lake then had a drink in the piazza before catching the train back to the campsite. Our experience of Switzerland has been good (even if it was just 2 days) beautiful scenery, nice towns and villages, but quite expensive compared to Italy.

Moving on and back into Italy, again in Lombardy but still on Lake Lugano we drove around the north west end of the lake on very narrow roads often having to stop and let trucks squeeze by before arriving at the lake side town of Porlezza. The campsite was big and had plenty of spaces free but like all previous campsites there were no other Brits, just Germans, Dutch and Italians. As I’ve said before most Germans of retirement age must have a motorhome as there are so many travelling around southern Europe and the blokes still like a mullet and a big bushy tash. We spent the day on the beach and had a swim in the flat calm lake before having a quiet night, the views south down the lake are great, you can see Lugano and the surrounding villages all surrounded by big mountains. The following day was another warm sunny day so we decided to trek up the hill side to the Begna waterfall, the route was through Porlezza old town then through a few tiny hamlets before reaching the woods and the valley where the waterfall was. It was a steep climb but again great views of the area, the waterfall was decent but the water was freezing and way too cold to swim in so we had a paddle and walked back to town for a drink overlooking the lake. We’d had a lovely 2 days in Porlezza, I even had cycle ride out over to Lake Como one morning and Como town was our next destination.

The road over to Menaggio on Lake Como and along the coastline south into Como is very tight for a motorhome but some great scenery on route, we drove passed Clooneys house (he wasn’t in) and arrived at Camping No Stress (yes that’s its name) we had read a few reviews of the site and they were very mixed but it’s the only campsite anywhere near Como town so we took a gamble. It wasn’t that bad, it was 30 euro which is still expensive and the toilets were well below average but we parked and hooked up and caught the bus into Como. Another free bus ride (no one asks for any money in Italy?) and 20 mins later we were in the Piazza Alessandro Volta (the bloke who invented batteries). The old town is really nice, loads of small winding streets with boutique shops, cafes, bars and a very large Cathedral which we went inside for a nosy. We liked the place, very chilled out, very smart and down by the lake it was busy with cafes and bars filled with people enjoying the evening sunshine, we drank and ate and caught the free train back to the campsite at sunset. Camping No Stress didn’t cause us any problems and we were up and off by 11am the next morning to a campsite on a different part of Lake Como. The route to the small lakeside town of Onno was again along a very tight road that only just got 2 cars through, so when we were confronted with any large vehicle it was a bit of a nightmare having to back up and then manoeuvre around each other with a drop off down to the lake on my drivers side, it took a while but we got there and settled into Camping La Fornace right on the lake front. We had the first day chilling in the sun, I went for dip in lake Como and we just relaxed soaking up the scenery of Lake Como and into the mountains beyond. On the second day of our stay I went out and climbed a few hills on the bike then after lunch we caught the bus to Bellagio and jumped on a boat across to Varenna (we’ve done a lot of buses and boats). The ports in Bellagio and Varenna were very busy with tourists, especially coach loads of Americans, the most English we had heard spoken for ages. Varenna is a typical Italian lakeside village, steep, on a hill side overlooking the water with stucco buildings in pink, yellow and orange, a few bustling piazzas with busy cafes, we had a nice afternoon wandering around the streets and alleyways. Back on the boat for the scenic crossing to the wealthy looking Bellagio then the bus back to the campsite where we had a meal in the site restaurant that evening. A lovely stay in Onno and a nice campsite apart from the showers and toilets need updating.

It’s the weekend again (we lose track) and we were moving onto the city of Bergamo…..well we thought we was, when I tried to start the van up to move nothing happened, flat battery, something had tripped onsite and drained all of our power batteries, to cut a long story short we called out the euro AA but in the end didn’t need them as we got a booster pack from someone on site and got the van going 1 hour later. The problem was now that our control panel in the van was dead (you need this working) but we left the site anyway and drove onto Bergamo, remember those tight roads well we almost got stuck on this one, it took a few cars and a big lorry to back up so we could get through a tiny gap (wing mirrors in) with an Italian bloke out of his car trying to direct me in Italian but we got through. It was also the first day of rain so it wasn’t a good day all round. When we got to the ADS in Bergamo the guy who runs the site reversed me into a pitch and crashed me into his electricity box, no damage to me thankfully but another thing gone wrong on this day. Even though it was raining we walked into Bergamo and although it was dull it was a really nice place, we only walked around the new town, the old town up on the hill is meant to be the best part but as time was against us we will have to save that for another day. I’d emailed our van dealer back home to see if they could help on the control panel issue and they sent me the reboot details and by bedtime we had everything back up and running.

After the one night in Bergamo we left town at lunchtime and headed for yet another lake, this time Lago D’Iseo and Camping del Sole in Iseo town. I mentioned before that the roads are quite tight and on this journey we ended up hitting an Italian Range Rovers wing mirror with ours, our bottom glass came loose but we carried on driving as we had nowhere to stop on the small road, 5 minutes later up came the Range Rover with lights flashing and horn beeping and he forced his way in front of us and made us stop. He got out ranting in Italian and realised that when he walked to the drivers side it was actually the passenger side and he’d been swearing at Mel, he then changed his approach when I got out and showed him our mirror was damaged, his was actually hanging off! He was still ranting and I told his wife who spoke a little English that there’s no point in shouting we don’t understand, eventually he gave up and got back in his car, our mirror was fine and working again his was knackered. After that little episode we got settled into the very nice campsite in Iseo and once the light rain had stopped and the sun came out we walked the short walk into Iseo town and had drinks during sunset in a great little Indie bar on the lakeside. We decided to have a very leisurely morning the next day before walking into Iseo port and catching the boat across to Monte Isola. The island is the largest lake island in Europe, we got dropped at a tiny village called Sensolo and walked the 30 mins along the coast to the next village of Peschiera. We had a drink in a lakeside bar and enjoyed the tranquil setting on this very quiet island. There are walks and cycle tracks that can take you the full circumference of the island and plenty of people we doing that. The boat back took 30 minutes and after a bit more refreshment in Iseo we were back on site where Mel knocked up another banging tea. The following morning I cycled the full circuit of the lake while Mel caught up with home and did some washing, we had a relaxing afternoon sat by the van listening to music and went and did a small shop at teatime before cooking in the van.

Back on the road after 3 lovely days in Iseo, where a visit is recommended. Our next stop is our last on the northern lakes and an hour’s drive to Lake Garda. Camping Bella Italia on the south shore of lake Garda is a massive campsite, there’s over 2000 places here, a mixture of camping, touring, bungalows, lodges and even an hotel, it also has 4 pool complexes and all the bars, shops etc that you would expect of a big site. We chose a place and got hooked up then got on our fold up bikes out and cycled to Sirmione. Sirmione is labelled as lake Garda’s prettiest village and it’s definitely the busiest, it’s built on a thin peninsula that juts out into the lake and has many villas, a castle, a grotto, thermal spa’s, many churches and loads of gelataria’s, one on every street corner, it’s worth a visit but it is very touristy. The next 2 days were wet and a bit miserable so we had a walk to the shops, a visit to the bar and generally chilled in the van with books, DVDs, Netflix (not so chilled watching Jeffery Dahmer) and music. After the weather front had cleared on the Saturday morning I went out for a cycle up to Garda town, the place was rammed with loads of motorhomes, cyclists and pedestrians walking around the lake side, it is definitely somewhere the Italians visit on a weekend. We walked into Peschiera del Garda after lunch and it was a lovely little place, busy but not too much, we found a table in the sunshine in piazza Ferdinando di Savoia and enjoyed a few drinks before grabbing a bit of street food in the old town as we wandered around the old back streets. We walked back to site along the lake side and had a few more drinks and some great food in the campsite restaurant.

That’s a month we have had on the Italian lakes and it has been great, the positives were: the scenery is amazing, the towns, villages and cities are all beautiful, the food and drink is great, there’s loads to see and do and the campsites we all of a good standard, the negatives were: the roads around the lakes are not wide enough for motorhomes, the campsite prices are expensive if you don’t use an ACSI discount card (google it) and the Italians are a bit rude, there’s no such thing as queueing and they don’t move out of the way when walking for anybody!!

Read part 3 for the next part of our trip

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