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A life less complicated….

Featured / freedombird / 13 Comments

Having started an epic journey around the coast of Britain in October 2017 – with a four year gap including Covid and caring for my elderly father – Tilly (my Toy Poodle) and I (Clare a 60 something female with a severe case of Wanderlust) are continuing to travel in our Bailey Endeavour B62 campervan, predominantly within eyeshot of the sea around both the Uk and Europe.

Returning from an amazing journey through the heart of Western Europe we rounded off our trip with a sunny (and as it turned out – very warm) tour around the South East Coastline of Kent, West Sussex and little of East Sussex and the Isle of Wight and headed home to Cornwall to re-connect with friends and family for the month of August, now in September it is time to head off again….

We have now visited some 1555 beaches around the coast of Britain and 638 in Europe with still plenty more to 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:

Freedombird UK Beach Guide

To catch up with our earlier adventures in:

North coast of Cornwall from 5th October 2017 to 11th February 2018 – Freedombird in Cornwall
Back in Cornwall at various times to complete the coastline – Freedombird back in Cornwall
North coast of Devon from 11th February to 19th March 2018 – Freedombird in North Devon
Somerset from 19th March to 29th April 2018 – Freedombird in Somerset
South Wales coast from 29th April to 14th August 2018 – Freedombird in South Wales
West and North Wales coast from 14th August to 21st October 2018 – Freedombird in West and North Wales
North West England from 21st October to 26th November 2018 and 27th January to 4th February 2019 – Freedombird in North West England
Cumbria from 27th January to 5th April 2019 – Freedombird in Cumbria
South Coast of Scotland from 5th April to 25th May 2019 – Freedombird on the South Coast of Scotland
West Coast of Southern Scotland from 26th May to 17th July 2019 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Southern Scotland
Edinburgh and surrounding area from 18th July to 30th July 2019 – Freedombird in Edinburgh and surrounding beaches
East Coast of Southern Scotland from 28th July to 15th September 2019 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Southern Scotland
North East England from 12th September to 20th November 2019 – Freedombird in the North East of England
Yorkshire from 14th January to 22nd February 2020 – Fredombird in Yorkshire
Lincolnshire from 23rd February to 13th March 2020 – Freedombird in Lincolnshire
Norfolk and Suffolk from 15th to 24th March 2020 and 28th June to 18th July 2025 – Freedombird in Norfolk and Suffolk
Inland England on various dates travelling through – Freedombird in inland England
West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 11th September to 14th October 2024 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys from 15th to 27th October 2024 – Freedombird on the North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys
East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 28th October to 15th November 2024 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
In the Highlands of Scotland from 15th to 26th November 2024 and 10th to 21st June 2025 – Freedombird in the Highlands
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
Outer Hebrides Part 1 from 22nd April to 12th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 1
Outer Hebrides Part 2 from 10th May to 30th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 2
East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 15th to 18th June 2025 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
North and West Coast of France from 11th September to 7th December 2025 – Freedombird on the North and West Coast of France
Travelling down through the heart of Western Europe from 4th March to 27th April – Freedombird in Europe Spring 2026 Part 1
Continuing our journey through Europe from 28th April to 8th June 2026 – Freedombird in Europe Spring 2026 Part 2
South East Coast of England from June 9th to July 8th 2026 – Freedombird in South East England

Monday 21st September 2026 – heading further south and a jaunt around Pisa….

September 25, 2026September 23, 2026 / freedombird / Leave a comment

Taking advantage of the slightly cooler and cloudy start to the day, we head off promptly and follow the coast road south.

The coastal resorts certainly appear more up market as we head just a mile or so south from the campsite but the public beaches are few and far between. Soon the road climbs along the cliff with a similar vibe to that of the Ligurian coast, however the few times we do manage to find a safe pull in the vista is masked by trees and we are unable to see the small coves that we imagine are nestled beneath….

Soon we arrive in Pisa, which is not as large as I imagined and we pull off the road and take advantage of free parking at a Lidl supermarket and take a walk into the centre to see what all the fuss is about….

It is very hot though we try our best to walk in the shade as much as possible. The centre is very very busy with hundreds, correction, thousands of beings all trying to take a unique money shot of the leaning tower. We don’t join in but do take some photos….

Duty done we beat a hasty retreat from the crowds and hurry our way back to the van and after a nice cooling drink, we press on.

Arriving in the small resort of Donoratico, further south along the Tuscan coastline, I top up our groceries before driving to the campsite. The site is huge, a mix of rental caravan/chalets, permanent holiday homes and tourers as seems to be the norm and am shocked to find they have only one pitch available and that is only for one night. The receptionist sends me off with a map to check the pitches suitability but to be honest the map is useless and after 10 minutes or so searching, I am worried about having left Tilly in the van and so I give up. From the shady parking lot, I contact a nearby site and they have plenty of space (may be because they don’t have a pool?).

We head there immediately to check in for a few days and are taken in a golf cart (Tilly too) to check out available pitches and find one in the shady pine forest right next to the entrance to the beach – that will do nicely…..

We followed the golf cart back to our pitch and annoyingly as I was manoeuvring in I just caught a branch against the top edge of the van – our first war wound – only a small dint but even so!

The pine forest is beautifully cool and once settled we briefly visit the beach which is a lovely wide soft sandy one, not too busy, dog friendly and one we shall be happy to call home for a few days.

We then spend a quiet evening in the shade of the trees, luxuriating in the perfect temperatures. I enjoy a cheeky cold Aperol Spritz and Tilly amuses herself playing with a huge pine cone….

Today’s stats:

Miles driven – 79
Miles walked – 7
Beaches – 1
Fuel – £114.46 (ouch! Note in Italy they charge extra for filling up for you and this chap was particularly quick off the mark and filling up before I had a chance to do it myself!!)
Groceries – £8.56
O/N – £18.90

Friday through Sunday 18th-20th September 2026 – just too hot to wander far….

September 24, 2026September 23, 2026 / freedombird / Leave a comment

As I said yesterday, be careful what you wish for as the following 3 days were just too hot to do anything. Unfortunately too the surrounding area was not very interesting being a fairly long strip of campsite after campsite with not a lot to see or do. Though to be fair the beach itself, Spiaggia Partaccia, was fine, nice and sandy….

A little futher south the sandy beach disappeared for a while, replaced by the more pebbly Spiaggia Angelo del Mare, enjoyed mostly by fishermen.

The mountains (Italian Pennines) running behind us, offering the only scenic feature but too far distant to be of any real use.

I had forgotten that many of the Italian beaches are sectioned off as private, being chargeable to the relevant beach bar / hotel / restaurant and here there wasn’t even a beachside promenade to walk along. So apart from necessary walks, quite often just taking advantage of the shade in parts of the campsite we stayed put.

Actually it did us some good I think, forcing us to slow down, catch up on writing this blog, read and just generally chill as it has been a hectic week or so since we arrived in Europe.

I also had time to consider our future plans as I hadn’t really thought through the possibility that the temperatures might be too hot for us!

Other factors going through my mind:

I don’t really want to venture into the big cities even if they offer incredible sites – I can do city breaks at some point in the future, without the worry of finding safe and secure parking.
I had hoped that the rest of the Italian coastline would be similar to that which we had enjoyed earlier in the year with every stop offering enjoyable and interesting walks

The only conclusion I have really arrived at is that I need to do some extensive research to make sure that I get to see the best bits (for me) and that I need to try and work with the temperatures and travel / walk early or late.

I also need to take the time to embrace both the weather and the journey and not put myself under the pressure of seeing and doing everything.

Stats:

Miles driven – 0
Miles walked – 11
Beaches – 2
Groceries – £9.30
O/N – £60.00 (3 nights)

Thursday 17th September 2026 – taking the toll roads down to Marra on the coast of Tuscany….

September 23, 2026September 23, 2026 / freedombird / Leave a comment

Having looked at the choices for travel last night and taking into consideration that the weather forecast is for a hot weekend down on the coast we opted to bite the bullet and take the motorway (toll) cutting the journey from 7.5 to a manageable 3 hours to make it in one hit.

We got an early start and were soon heading south to sunnier climes. The journey itself was pain free albeit a bit monotonous and only worth noting that inspite of it being September the landscape is significantly more lush than back in the parched UK.

We left the ease of the toll roads a few short miles from our chosen campsite and were soon pitched up at Camping Partaccia a short stroll from the seafront. It was by now approaching 30 degrees (note to self – be careful what you wish for) and we had to leave exploring until quite a bit later and concentrate on trying to keep cool! Should I say – survive the heat!….

Today’s stats:

Miles driven – 186
Miles walked – 2
Beaches – 1
Tolls – £25.00
O/N – £22.62

Wednesday 16th September 2026 – continuing south to Lake Maggiore, Italy….

September 20, 2026September 19, 2026 / freedombird / Leave a comment

It was a cloudy day and raining lightly as we left the site this morning and headed up the Susten Pass (our only option without a major detour) to join the main road network and travel through the Gotthard Tunnel. Of course we could not resist a couple of photo stops on the way….

The Swiss motorway network soon had us crossing the border into Italy and choosing not to use the Italian Toll roads found us winding our way through countless small towns around the edge of Lake Maggiore, crossing what seemed like hundreds of small roundabouts and sets of traffic lights until we arrived at our destination a campsite at the southern end of Lake Maggiore. I think the last 30 miles or so in Italy took far longer than the initial 100 miles on Swiss roads!

Settled for the night on site we took a walk down to the Lake, unfortunately this tail end of the Lake does not give a wider view of the Lake as a whole and there was no obvious walk to take us into a better position so Tilly had to be content with a play on the dog friendly beach….

And a wander around the neighbourhood and along the site foreshore (not dog friendly)….

The temperatures are creeping up towards the 30’s and so I have made the decision to use tomorrows cloudy start and the Italian Toll Motorway system to hot foot it down to the coast.

Todays stats:

Miles driven – 132
Miles walked – 3
O/N – £22.31

Tuesday 15th September 2026 – a walk through the Aareschult Gorge to the Reichbach Falls….

September 19, 2026September 19, 2026 / freedombird / Leave a comment

More overnight storms heralded a beautiful sunny and warm day, For a complete contrast to yesterday we decided to leave the van on site and head on foot to the entrance of the nearby Aareschult Gorge….

Beautifully cool and mostly in the shade the boardwalk path leads through the mile long gorge….

Dipping in and out of tunnels carved into the cliffs….

At the far end we ventured out into the sunlight and took a walk around the village of Meirengin – famous for 2 things – Sherlock Holmes and being the birth place of the Meringue….

Our visit was slightly badly timed as the Bakery was closed for lunch so no meringues for us! We wandered around the village for a while and then made our way to catch the funicular railway up above the village….

To the Reichenbach Falls where famously Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty fought a deadly battle with both being lost in the falls….

We did intend to continue up the footpath but it was pretty much steep steps all the way and after the first section which largely consisted of the type of mesh step that Tilly will not climb and a sit down to recover, I abandoned such madness and we caught the next funicular back down and strolled back through the cool gorge to site….