Category: Uncategorized
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Laghi di Lamar – Trentino’s Watery Wonderland and Awesome Alps
The A22 to Trento is packed with the whole of Europe trying to avoid baking temperatures, so it’s a relief to hit the empty winding mountain road up to Camping Vallelaghi. 16 kilometres upwards and we’ve travelled to another dimension. White and pink limestone canines pierce the blue sky. The wooded slopes are a cool…
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Bergamo – A Superlative Stop-Off
Seán finds a camper stop, 3 kilometres from the centre of Bergamo, Area Camper Citta’ dei Mille, with shade, grass, and full facilities. When we bowl up to the tarmac clad, bleak stop, we’re parked up by a woman who seems confused when we say we’ve booked and paid – that’s because we haven’t. We’re…
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Lago di Varese and Maggiore’s Monvalle
Leaving the peace of the Aosta valley, we wrestle with the A4 before we turn off on the A26. The mountains reappear on the horizon like a mystical mirage. Seán has found a municipal camper-stop, or Sosta as they’re called in Italy, in Lake Varese’s Gavirate, a stone’s throw from its better-known cousin, Lake Maggiore.…
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Italy’s Awesome Aosta Valley Region
In the Valle di Gran San Bernardo, we’re spoilt for choice as to which walking trail to follow. But we have a mission, our good friend Pina, who lives in Aosta, is taking us up to see her husband, Salva’s, paintings which are showing in the Castello di Bosses and who can resist art and…
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Wonderful Walks in Aosta Valley’s Morgex
Just over the Piccolo San Bernardo Pass, we camp up at Arc en Ciel one kilometre walk from the town of Morgex. The terraced campsite is shaded with views of the glacier on the sharp toothed Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco. We fall asleep to the Dora Baltea River rushing by the campsite. The young…
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The French Alps at La Lechère and the Petit St Bernard (or Piccolo Bernardo) Pass into Italy
We camp up on the outskirts of La Lechère merely because Marie France has a vacancy. We’ve got to stop before we face the road up to the St. Bernard Pass whose sheer drops are destined to send my nerves into overdrive and to have Seán demanding that I stop with the hand signals every…
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From the Wicklow Mountains to the Puy de Dome
Walking along Glenmalure Valley granite monoliths are engraved with past battles and leaders from 1580 and 1798. It’s hard to imagine battles raging in this valley though the ruins of the old barracks and the military road are reminders of turbulent times. We walk along the valley floor to the end of Glenmalure to the…
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Moody Mountains and Pirates’ Coves – Waterford’s Dunmore East to the Ring of Kerry
Waterford’s Dunmore East offers up classic seaside holidays. Think, pirate coves ringing with people splashing and swimming until 11 pm. The Strand Inn packed to the rafters inside and out. The cliffside park studded with scarlet montbretia and the sounds of the kittiwakes squawking. As if that’s not enough, there’s fresh hake and Dublin Bay…
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Amboise – A Renaissance Jewel, built for Lingering on the banks of the Loire
Amboise’s white tufa stone lends the town a fairy-tale quality with a suggestion of princesses in towers, or hopefully for contemporary princesses, abseiling from the odd turret. The castle on the south bank dominates the river. The Camping Carpark spot is on L’Île D’Or, opposite the château which soars from the cliffs above the river.…
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Hiking from Zarautz to Getaria – Mountains, Atlantic Islets, and the Discovery of Seafaring Heroes and Fashion Icons
We take the train from Orio to Zarautz for a must-do hike, from Zarautz, up the mountain, to the old fishing port of Getaria with its own island. But first a detour is required along Zarautz’s sculptures on the promenade. Huge bronze sculptures represent conches, the movement of water, surfers capturing the perfect wave, but…
