Featured

A life less complicated

Featured / freedombird / 13 Comments

Having completed a large chunk of the British coastline and visited 1467 beaches on the way, ventured into the unknown, crossing the English Channel for the first time and seeing what the coastline of France has to offer and adding a further 459 beaches to our tally, we are off again. This time, as a complete change we are on the pursuit of stunning scenery and again crossing the channel and meandering down the core of Western Europe to see what we can see…

If you would like to see our earlier journeys around the UK, they have loosely been grouped together by location and you can find the links below.

NB some of the links below are not yet working properly as it is a work in progress….

Beach Guides:

To catch up with our earlier adventures in:

  1. North coast of Cornwall from 5th October 2017 to 11th February 2018 –   Freedombird in Cornwall
  2. Back in Cornwall at various times to complete the coastline – Freedombird back in Cornwall
  3. North coast of Devon from 11th February to 19th March 2018 – Freedombird in North Devon
  4. Somerset from 19th March to 29th April 2018 – Freedombird in Somerset
  5. South Wales coast from 29th April to 14th August 2018 – Freedombird in South Wales
  6. West and North Wales coast from 14th August to 21st October 2018 – Freedombird in West and North Wales
  7. North West England from 21st October to 26th November 2018 and 27th January to 4th February 2019 – Freedombird in North West England
  8. Cumbria from 27th January to 5th April 2019 – Freedombird in Cumbria
  9. South Coast of Scotland from 5th April to 25th May 2019 – Freedombird on the South Coast of Scotland
  10. West Coast of Southern Scotland from 26th May to 17th July 2019 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Southern Scotland
  11. Edinburgh and surrounding area from 18th July to 30th July 2019 – Freedombird in Edinburgh and surrounding beaches
  12. East Coast of Southern Scotland from 28th July to 15th September 2019 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Southern Scotland
  13. North East England from 12th September to 20th November 2019 – Freedombird in the North East of England
  14. Yorkshire from 14th January to 22nd February 2020 – Fredombird in Yorkshire
  15. Lincolnshire from 23rd February to 13th March 2020 – Freedombird in Lincolnshire
  16. Norfolk and Suffolk from 15th to 24th March 2020 and 28th June to 18th July 2025 – Freedombird in Norfolk and Suffolk
  17. Inland England on various dates travelling through – Freedombird in inland England
  18. West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 11th September to 14th October 2024 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
  19. North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys from 15th to 27th October 2024 – Freedombird on the North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys
  20. East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 28th October to 15th November 2024 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
  21. In the Highlands of Scotland from 15th to 26th November 2024 and 10th to 21st June 2025 – Freedombird in the Highlands
  22. West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 8th to 17th April and 31st May to 5th June 2025 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
  23. Outer Hebrides Part 1 from 22nd April to 12th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 1
  24. Outer Hebrides Part 2 from 10th May to 30th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 2
  25. East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 15th to 18th June 2025 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
  26. North and West Coast of France from 11th September to 7th December 2025 – Freedombird on the North and West Coast of France

Monday 11th May 2026 – a day trip to Venice (Part 1)….

/ freedombird / Leave a comment

The moment we have been waiting for (well sort of) ,as we didn’t wish to battle the weekend crowds, we set off bright and early (8am) for a day in Venice. The weather is a bit mixed so we are armed with wet weather gear (which we did need for a couple of seriously heavy downpours) as we leave site to catch 2 buses and a ferry to Venice.

Straight off the boat right next to Piazza di San Marco, we seem to get carried along by the crowds of visitors, particularly when crossing the many narrow canal bridges….

We manage to squeeze our way through the crowds to get a proper look at the Bridge of Sighs….

And into Piazza di San Marco….

As long as you keep your distance from the main buildings the square is huge and likewise once you leave the main thoroughfare you are able to breathe again….

We enjoyed wandering around the side streets for a while and found a small square that was quiet, to sit and plan our next steps. It should be really easy to find your way around but there are a lot of dead ends and bridges where you don’t need them and none when you do! In the end we decided to catch the main water taxi which takes you all the way along the Grande Canal and catch the main sights that way….

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Punto della Dogano and Basilica Santa Maria della Salute….

Further up the Canal we enjoyed the varied architecture of Palazzio Genovesi and Palazetto Stern….

Rialto Bridge which is much better seen from the canal – the viewing bridge was packed solid….

We alighted at Ca d’Oro which seemed much quieter and prettier and some how less touristy for a welcome walk in the sunshine….

After we had had our fill and recharged a bit we made our way to the Water Taxi, this time deciding to head to the islands – Morano and Burano which we will cover in the next blog.

Not Tilly’s best kind of day – busy streets and boats are her two least favourite things and I have to confess though I appreciate the beauty of the amazing land mark buildings, the main centre around San Marco, somehow felt a little staged and grubby with hundreds of stalls selling every kind of tat imaginable and in complete contrast all the designer shops looked warm and welcoming – not!

As for me – I hate crowds too and whilst I appreciate the beauty of the buildings and the infrastructure of the waterways – I’ve been, I’ve seen and am glad to have done so but I doubt I’ll be back….

Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May 2026 – a relaxing few days on Lido di Jesolo….

/ freedombird / Leave a comment

These are our last few days by a beach in Italy, so we have decided to take them gently and just enjoy.

Sometimes we wander along the promenade, sometimes paddling along the sea edge but generally just enjoying a slower pace of life, thinking, planning or just being….

Tilly enjoying a bit of freedom as the beaches are pretty deserted and she doesn’t get a great deal of off lead time when we are on our travels – though to be fair she is quite content on a lead and mostly seems to prefer it apart from when on a beach.

This resort is pretty empty, with many hotels still not open and acres upon acres of sun umbrellas and loungers either all ready and waiting or still at the set up stage….

Even so the lifeguards are on duty every 100 or so metres…

In between the sea of umbrellas indicating private beaches – though you can still wander along the waters edge, are little tranches of Public Beach….

There appears to be a whole army of staff keeping the beaches clean, sweeping the promenade, selling passes for the loungers, manning the bars and lifesaving huts – I guess most are employed by the hotels but bearing in mind it is almost mid May, the resort is pretty deserted, so the season must be pretty short and I wonder how they make it work? I also shudder to think what it must be like when the hotels and campsites are all open and full – hell on earth!

Still a nice and relaxing venue for us right now – time to catch up on a few things and do some forward planning as time is racing.

Friday’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50

Saturday’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50

Sunday’s stats;

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50

Thursday 7th May 2026 – from Lake Garda to Jesolo….

/ freedombird / Leave a comment

A lovely morning greets us and we actually get a good look at Lake Garda from the campsite before we leave, without the low cloud cover…

An uneventful journey takes us the rest of the way across northern Italy to a long strip of beach, just on the other side of Venice – the Lido di Jesolo….

A 15km stretch of sandy beach – as far as the eye can see and beyond….

This will do nicely for a few days off, is it a bad thing to be grateful for a few days of nothingness? Nothing spectacular, historic, pretty or stunning – just a long stretch of more or less empty beach backed by empty hotels and sunshine – ideal….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 140
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Beaches – 1
  • O/N – £15.50

Wednesday 6th May 2026 – a walk into Sirmione….

/ freedombird / 1 Comment

The difference a day makes – having looked set for an unsettled week, the weather has brightened up overnight and another beautiful day has come our way. Good news for us as we have planned a fairly lengthy walk along the peninsula that is Sirmione, one of the most popular spots on Lake Garda.

Again access to the foreshore of Lake Garda is limited but we grabbed each opportunity even if it did add a mile or 2 todays excursion….

As we arrived at the main old town of Sirmione (having wandered through many leafy and affluent residential areas and hotels), this beauty was parked in one of the many car parks on the outskirts…

Rather ruined as the side was plastered with promotional stickers for some Real Estate company – how crass?

Though busy the main entrance to the old town was guarded by this magnificent castle – Castello Scaligero….

We meandered our way through the busy narrow streets lined with shops, bars and Gelateria’s and more typically quieter residential side streets….

Dipping out to check on Lake Garda where possible….

The far end of the peninsula was much quieter and largely occupied by manicured grounds of fancy hotels

At the very end is the Grotto di Catullo a chargeable museum, which we didn’t go into, enjoying the far reaching Lake views instead…

And on the return journey a visit to the much quieter and off the main beaten track, San Pietro in Mavino and its Bell tower dating back to the 1300’s….

On our return we found ourselves a nice quiet spot by the Lake to enjoy a pastry with our coffee and to rest our tired legs….

Before making our way back to the Castle and to prepare ourselves for the long walk home….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 9
  • Pastry – £1.90 (last of the big spenders me)
  • O/N – £24

Tuesday 5th May 2026 – moving inland to Lake Garda….

/ freedombird / Leave a comment

As forecast the weather broke during the night and continued with on off rain and cloud for the duration of our rather long drive (circuitous rather than miles), avoiding the toll roads (mainly because of the difficulty of getting and paying for the tolls in a right hand drive than cost) and heading inland to our next location – Lake Garda.

The first half of the drive was slowly wending our way up over and through the Tuscan-Emilian Pennines – many times breaking above the lower clouds – spectacular in itself….

The second half was very flat from around Parma with it mostly being arable farmland and more latterly vineyards as we eventually arrived at our site for the next few nights on the outskirts of Sirmione right on the shore of Lake Garda.

Once settled we took a break in the weather to wander towards Desenzano, disappointed to find that access to the lake was mostly taken by extravagant residences or luxury hotels (Lake Windermere all over again) and we had to make do with the odd opportunity to see the Lake….

Cloud cover prevented us from enjoying the full experience but the stunning palette of blues and wildlife helped!

As it looked like we might be pushing our luck weatherwise, we headed back to the site and enjoyed a few moments on the site foreshore, before returning to the van and settling in for the evening….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 140
  • Miles walked – 5
  • Groceries – £28.64
  • O/N – £24.09 (ACSI)