Hi everyone. I'm taking the kids to Italy for the first 2 weeks of August. Travelling down with the car on the train from Holland. Small tent. Plan to camp for almost two weeks then drive back stopping off for a night or two.
I'm on my own with them and just wondered what experiences you have of booking/not booking ahead? We have no firm itinerary but would like to spend perhaps 3 or 4 nights each in or near Florence, Venice, lakes.
If possible we would prefer small/er sites as we're not keen on these huge ones with eleventybillion pitches and half the world snoring next door.
I haven't been to Italy for ~ cough ~ number of years, and am just a little trepidatious about being stranded on my own with the kids and no place to peg out the tent (and no loo!) However my natural inclination would be not to want to book ahead.
------------- It's easier to walk down a hill than to climb a mountain, but the view from the top is better!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I think you are very brave attempting all that on your own with children, having to pack up and repitch every 3-4 days, all the travelling with no definite place to rest your head at the end of it all - it could easily become a massive headache rather than a holiday.
I think if I was going to tackle that by myself then I would want everything planned to the tiniest detail to ensure that it runs as smoothly as possible.
It probably isn't as bad as it sounds. Both my kids have camped since they were just 4 and 6 months old respectively and they are now 8 and 14. We are taking our smallest tent (I know space is tight on some of the very touristy sites) and the 14 year old is able to pitch and strike that one on her own.
I'll watch of course LOL!
No, so we three pairs of competent hands, the thought of moving every 3 or 4 days doesn't daunt me at all. I'm just having difficulty getting bookings taken around Florence and Venice and wonder if it's really true that we can just turn up and they will squeeze us on?
------------- It's easier to walk down a hill than to climb a mountain, but the view from the top is better!
We've been to Italy twice with large caravan. We have to travel in the peak July/August season as we are both teachers.
In 2006 we went to Lake Como and then on to Venice. In 2007 we went to Rome and then back via Lake Iseo.
In Italy we have stayed at
Camping La Riva, Lake Como
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=7388
Camping Cavallino, Nr Venice
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=7387
Camping Roma Flash Sporting, Nr Rome
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=7385
Camping Riva di San Pietro, Lake Iseo
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=7386
and I have reviewed all of these Italian sites in the "Campsite Search" section under "Other Countries".
Of these site we only booked in advance at La Riva as it was our first time in Italy. Otherwise we just rang up on the day we hoped to arrive. We have the Alan Rogers, Caravan Club and ACSI campsite guides and we just phoned up using the details in those books. We prefer doing that as it gives us greater freedom to come and go as we wish.
Pitches in Italy do tend to be smaller than in France and often with very little space in between pitches too. The lovely lakeside pitch we had at San Pietro, for example, was 7.5 metres square and there was only just room to walk along the side of our 'van and the one next to it.
All of the sites had room without booking, even La Riva as we had toarrive late and stay longer than we had booked due to breakdown problems. We got some lovely pitches too.
It has generally been our practice NOT to book in 20+ years of touring throughout Europe and I'm sure you'll be able to find pitches even more so as you only have a tent.
We began our European travels as "tenters" in 1994 in Brittany and our 5 children, all now "grown and flown", all had to muck-in with setting up and taking down our frame tent and later setting up the 'van.
I hope this helps. Have a LOVELY holiday.
Tim
------------- Tim and Cary
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
If it is a small tent you may well be alright, but I would still be tempted to book at least the first & last sites. They do get very busy & we saw queues out the gates at check in times at the sites we were at last summer, with people turned away. We found that when we booked in February, many sites were already full for the summer. I would start emailing now. Check my profile for the site reviews I posted.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: N. Italy - need to book ahead?
