Italy this Summer?

[TheFrenchConnection]

It looks as though we'll have the opportunity to get away for 10-14 days this August and Italy appeals. As it's been well over 10 years since we took our elderly Hymer to Venice motorhoming in Italy will certainly have changed.

So, a few questions please if anyone can fill us in with more up-to-date info.

 

The OH has set her sights on Florence and we'll be entering Italy somewhere near the Mediterranean coast - other than that everything is flexible, although we won't be going very far south.

 

We have Campercontact, Search for sites, Park4night and ACSI but is there a more Italy focused source of sites?

 

Being August we're expecting it to be busy - is booking ahead advisable?

 

Bearing in mind the situation in Spain and Portugal how does Italy look upon so-called 'wild' camping?

 

We'd be grateful for links to any relevant sources of information - Facebook groups, specialised Forums etc.

 

Comments and suggestions on places to visit and hints and tips most welcome!

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

 

 

[Keithl]

Have you used Archies Camping ? They list over 2,200 sites in Italy.

 

http://www.archiescampings.eu/by-countries_eng/

[mikefitz]

Consider, Firenze camping in town

https://firenze.huopenair.com/

Easy to get a bus to the center.

Recommended.

43.7657 11.3154

Suggest pre booking for this site.

Mike

[mtravel]

Uhm, August is not the ideal month to visit Italy, especially cities of art and history like Florence.

Fourteen days are few, a less than rushed visit to Florence takes at least three.

 

All of Tuscany is wonderful ( https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ ).

Further south and not far from Florence are Arezzo and Siena.

Then the beautiful Val d'Orcia (now all purchased by wealthy English and Germans, see https://www.visittuscany.com/en/areas/val-dorcia/ ).

 

Campercontact is a great source of information for both campsites and stopovers, it's my all time favorite.

Archiecampings likewise but does not include information.

 

In Florence I suggest Camping Panoramico Fiesole (in Fiesole, nice town on the hill over Florence).

As its name suggest, nice landscapes over Florence.

I remember it with an uphill and fairly narrow entrance.

Just in case, try to contact them and give your motorhome size.

A free shuttle from the campsite takes you to Fiesole and to the bus stop ( N.7) towards the historic center of Florence.

See https://campingpanoramicofiesole.com/en/

Considering the period it is highly recommended to book in advance.

 

Wild camping:

Basically allowed or at least tolerated. Exceptions could be regions Liguria and Alto Adige.

You can find everything from simple stopover without services to areas equipped with loading and unloading stations. Sometimes but not always equipped with EHU.

As already mentioned campercontact is an excellent source of information, there is a local one ( https://www.camperonline.it/sosta-camper/aree-di-sosta/italia ) but it is only in Italian.

 

I forgot to tell, I am Italian, Max

 

p.s. Oops, I see that you come from France, this give you some more time...

[mtravel]

I forgot to tell you:

 

If you intend to use the Italian motorways A10 (Menton-Genoa) plus A12 (Genoa-La Spezia), keep in mind that they have an almost infinite number of tunnels.

In addition, the A10 has a large number of construction sites.

To get an idea of the travel time, try a simulation with Google Maps.

Don't expect averages over 60km / h.

 

Perhaps it is best to travel there during the night or very early in the morning.

 

Max

[TheFrenchConnection]

Thanks every one for your input - especially Max, there's nothing like local knowledge!

 

We rarely venture out in summer as we have a Gite in SW France and our usual break is 3 months in Spain and Portugal over the winter. We"re stuck with August as we have a very rare three-week booking which gives us an opportunity - not ideal but the only chance we have.

 

 

[alan k]

Not the best time to visit Florence, it will be busy and hot. Not only do I think you will need to book campsites in the tourist "hot" spots, you will need to book tickets for the museums as well, sometimes a day or so in advance. We visited Florence one November on a long weekend break and flew. No queues, pleasant weather, still lots of choice about where to eat.

 

That was after an abortive few days at Camping Fiesole one June, no shuttle bus then, too hot too humid, better to laze by the pool.

 

However Sienna was great probably June, we managed to land on the weekend of the horse race, and saw lots of stuff going on and watched the race in a local bar. Found a nice campsite just outside Sienna with the local bus that turned in the campsite car park .

 

(we've spent 20 years or so spending 3 weeks to 3 months in various parts of Italy in the motorhome as well as winter weekend breaks to visit the big cities, although we've not managed Naples yet) We mainly travel out of season using ACSI and sostas