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Limpid Lakes – Lago di Como, Piano and Lugano
As we hit the shores of Lake Como the mountains tower up on each side. It’s easy to see how it’s the deepest of the major Italian lakes. It is magical with its lemon sherbet and terracotta houses, iron-work balconies, enormous oleanders and vine-shaded terraces. Some villages are haunting with their air of gracious crumbling.…
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Rambling in Italian Alpine Val Camonica and the Passo dell’ Aprica
We’re both a little shattered by the sadness of the WWI museum, memorial and fort so when we start descending from the pass into Val Camonica, and I spy a campsite sign in Temù, even though we haven’t travelled more than 60 kilometres today, we swing into Camping Presanella and what a find it is.…
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Over the Passo del Tonale from Trentino’s Val di Sole to Val di Camonica – The ‘Terrible Beauty’ of Majestic Mountains and the Shadows of War
We drive from Ossana up the winding road to the mountain pass which takes us out of Trentino’s Val di Sole and into Lombardy’s Val di Camonica – once border country between the emergent Italian state and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As we stop outside the first WWI museum in Vermiglio, we gaze up with awe…
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Trentino’s Treasures – Lago di Terlago to Val di Sole
We drive through Vallelaghi’s mountains striped with rows of golden and red delicious apple orchards, through the narrowest gap in Terlago’s ancient town, its sturdy houses resembling fortresses. There’s a walking trail around Lago di Terlago beneath limestone cliffs, shaded by holm oaks and willows, wildflowers growing out from the rocks. Around the lake…
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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…
Campervan Therapy 