beach

Thursday 22nd May 2026 (Part 2) – a lovely walk from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg….

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The bus was crowded and with hindsight we should have walked down as it was probably only a couple of miles, but we are here now. The village was very busy, every cafe / bar doing a great trade on this beautiful afternoon and in fact after the serenity of Murren we were quite keen to see what needed to be seen and then move on, we started at the bottom and walked up the main street….

Pretty but too busy, so enjoying the part shade we joined the few other walkers on this glorious afternoon walking up the footpath back to the car park at Stechelberg, taking a few moments to wonder at Staubbachfall one of 72 waterfalls in the valley surrounding Lauterbrunnen….

From then on it was almost just us and nature with our guiding beacon the Jungfrau, oh and a few tunefull cows and goats proudly clattering their bells as they munch on the lush grass….

You could just loose yourself here….

We passed a couple of small picnic areas with benches and tables on the way, one with a compostable toilet and barbeque area and several other stopping points with fresh water fonts / troughs and plenty to bins – very walker friendly. There was even one of those vending machines selling cheese and random cooked sausage as well as drinks and normal snacks.

A short drive back down onto site after a lovely day, some much needed food and a bit of planning is now required and some decisions need to be made.

Considerations:

  • I am struggling to find anywhere to stay in Switzerland for the weekend as the sites are either fully booked or massively expensive. As an example the site we are currently on, that we would have happily stayed on is £55 a night and even at that, I would have had to have booked it when we arrived as they only had a couple of spaces available. The ACSI card that we used to stay at £28 per night doesn’t apply at the weekends.
  • I had wanted to do the 3 pass route through the mountains – the Furka, Susten and Grimsel but they do not open until June.
  • It is incredibly difficult to find places to park up and leave the van to explore on foot without incurring a ridiculous parking charge.
  • The weather is forecast to be very hot over the next week or so which will make driving around and visiting places a bit of a challenge.

After a fair bit of thought and research, mindful of my remaining time in Europe and the weather forecast I have decided, not totally unsurprisingly, that we are going to head back up to the coast and complete the section from Honfleur to Calais and enjoy the sea, beach and sunshine before returning across the Channel.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 25
  • Miles walked – 6
  • Excursion – £38.69
  • O/N – £28

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

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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….

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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….

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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

Monday 4th May 2026 – Cinque Terre (Part 2)…..

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Continuing on from yesterday’s blog, we arrive at Vernazza, one of the smaller villages. It is by now mid afternoon and this small village, again centred around the harbour is very busy, as people continue to arrive – the trains continue well into the evening….

We quickly pass the crowds and head straight down to the harbour, where there is a nice little beach, too busy for us to linger….

A nice walk along the harbour wall, affords great views of this pretty village….

And we do manage to find a way through under a natural archway to a relatively secluded spot of beach (and I mean spot) for us to sit, catch our breath and cool down for a bit….

Going back to late morning, when we ended up at Montarosso, the closest village to Levanto, here we probably spent the most time, as unlike the other villages Montarosso is spread over a larger stretch of coastline with some pretty descent beaches and a combination of time and space meant that the crowds were much more dispersed….

Here we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the sea front, firstly to Spiaggia di Gigante….

The beach was named after the (mostly) concrete statue of a Giant was sculpted as a feature to the adjoining Villa in 1910, ravaged by the sea and 2 World Wars the Giant was restored in 2021 and creates quite a feature….

Heading back along the promenade, looking down onto Fegina beach….

The far end of Fegina Beach is overlooked by a fortress of some kind (now a restaurant)….

And beyond the much quieter Spiaggia di Monterosso….

A very different experience to the other villages and nowhere near as isolated but a fine beach or two is always good in my experience.

An absolutely amazing day, a long one and both Tilly and I are shattered but enriched!

Thoughts of the day:

  • How amazing that these villages were only linked to civilisation with the building of the railway line in the late 1800’s but much more amazing and laudable is the fact that since then they haven’t been ruined by glassy new builds!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 8
  • Train – £2.33
  • Cinque Terre entrance – £19.01
  • Food – £6.42
  • O/N – £22