Grand Tour of Italy - Comments on our provisional itinerary

[Tim2]

Hi All

We've nearly finished drawing up our itinerary for our Grand Tour of Italy lasting 5 weeks this July and August. This is our FIRST visit to Italy so all helpful tips/suggestions very welcome. (We have toured widely in France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland but never Italy.) This is a special trip to celebrate Cary's 50th birthday - her choice, so I want it to be good.

Just before we book I'd be grateful for comments on any of the campsites we've selected. We are touring with our twin-axle 7.36 metre van towed by a 4x4. The car is mainly LPG powered so comments on LPG availability would be useful too.

The provisional itinerary of sites we have found through various guides and which have room are:

Lake Como - Camping La Riva, Sorico

Veneto - Camping Village Cavallino or Sant'Angelo, Cavallino

Rome -Roma Flash Sporting, Bracciano or I Pini Camping, Fiano Romano

Naples/Pompei - Santa Fortunata, Sorrento, or Villaggio Athena, Paestum or Camping Nettuno, Massa Lubrense

We would be particularly grateful for comments on these sites or personally recommended alternatives in the named areas.

In the case of Rome and Naples/Pompei we are hoping to get somewhere that is within travelling (preferably public transport) distance of the city but not necessarily very near.

We generally prefer smaller sites with sea/lake views, shade and privacy, swimming pool and table tennis. We are not interested in bars, discos and the like.

Thanks again in advance for all comments/advice - they will be gratefully received.

Regards

Tim

 

[Claire_5039866]

Hi Tim

We stayed at Cavallino 2 years ago It was a good site with plenty to do. The pitches were a reasonable size and most of them have direct access to the beach. The food on site was good and not too expensive. The pool was a little on the small side for the size of the camp, but as I said most pitches have direct access to the beach so the pool never got too crowded and we were there in August The boat to Venice is 5 minutes down the road and takes about 30 mins to get there, these run very regularly and are reasonably priced if memory serves me well. We enjoyed our stay and will certainly stay there again when we go back to Venice.

 

[Anita_5109950]

Hi Tim

Good luck in your tour around Italy. I don't have a comment on any campsites as we have only been caravanning for 2 years and are haven't been to a Italian site yet, going to Lake Garda in August.

We holidayed in Italy on the Adriatic Coast a few years ago, we drove down and in our experience the driving on the motor roads is horrendous. We found that the lanes tended to be very narrow, often with a concrete central reservation and overtaking by others was done with seemingly little thought for anyone else.

Finding armed guards at a service station we stopped at was fairly disconcerting as well.

However, it hasn't put us off, as I said we are going back to Italy this year. Just be careful and don't underestimate anything you have ever heard about Italian drivers!!

Have fun.

Anita

 

[BarryB_5039906]

Hi Tim

The Italian drivers at times can seem a little....what shall we say.......easy going...or aggressive........But on the whole I find driving abroad ( including Italy ) more relaxing than at home. We too have a large twin axle 'van and have been ok so far on the sites, but we have booked ( via Caravan Club ) well in advanced. We have not used any of the sites you mention, but we are going to I Pini this year for the first time. I would recommend a trip to Verona to see the opera, it is a marvellous experience. And do have a go at the language.the Italians love it......Enjoy and happy travels. BarryB

 

[Tim2]

Thanks Claire, Anita and BArry B

Your helpful advice and re-telling of your experiences is very much appreciated.

Any further advice and/or comments gratefully received.

Thanks again

Tim

 

[Tim2]

I thought I'd just bump this up to the top of the board as I'd still appreciate any further comments from people with experience of caravanning in Italy. I'm sure that there must be more of you with that experience on the board. It's very, very welcome even if it's a couple of years old.

Thanks in anticipation

Tim