hiking

Monday 12th October 2026 – a quiet day just mooching…

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The weather forecast was for a wet day, so even though it was wrong and apart from a few spots here and there it was fine, we had rather got used to the idea of a quiet day.

Early afternoon though we were both ready for a walk and set off in the direction of the nearest resort (heading back towards Salerno). As the sea is still a bit choppy and there is very little wet sand to walk on we chose to walk along the footpath. I will say it was not the prettiest walk as on our left is a series of closed either seasonally or permanently cafes and bars, obscuring our view of the sea and beach and to our right is the main road, not massively busy but not attractive either!

I will also at this point mention the fact that I am rather shocked and very disappointed with the amount of roadside rubbish that is in my opinion a real blight on this journey through Italy. The main roads are just littered all the way along and most lay-bys have piles of sacks of rubbish in them such that a few times where I have wanted to pull in to take a scenic photo, I just haven’t. Why? and what a real shame.

We walked as far as Pontecagnano with more derelict buildings and litter before joining the beach Spiaggia del Sud….

And choosing to walk back along the beach, much to Tilly’s disgust as it is significantly more appealing than the alternative.

The beach at the campsite, Spiaggia di Magazzano was pretty empty so I did encourage Tilly to have a bit of a play, before a big white dog appeared in the distance and she decided enough was enough!….

The highlight of our day was being treated to this stunning sunset….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 2
  • O/N – £21.00

Wednesday 30th September 2026 – a walk to Rochette and Roccamare….

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Today we opt to walk southwards along the cycle / footpath to take a closer look at the prominent Fort on the rocky headland that we can see along the far end of the beach. After about a mile we have to turn off the path and then cover another mile or so along the side of the road which isn’t very pleasant, though fortunately the road is not busy, to return to the coast. There actually isn’t any village here just a string of holiday parks which is a bit disappointing but Spiaggia di Rochette is a welcome sight….

Forte delle Rochette looks pretty impressive as we sit in the shade of some rocks at the waters edge to cool down….

Now that is what you call taking your work with you!!!! Strangely this stretch of coastline has been my first encounter with these beach traders in my travels around Europe. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable and soul destroying it must be just trudging up and down the beach all and everyday carrying your wares which must be heavy and most people don’t want….

Having not particularly enjoyed the walk here we opt to return via the beach which though tough walking and in the full sun is probably about half the distance….

About half way back on Spiaggia de Roccomare there are a number of bamboo roofed shelters (belonging to one of the holiday parks which is closed for the season) along the way for us to stop, sit, cool down and have a drink (as always I am armed with cold water for Tilly and a flask of coffee for me). We are in no rush….

A bit further along we have to leave the beach to cross a stream and that involves wandering through another deserted holiday parks which in the semi shade before rejoining the beach at Spiaggia Pineta di Roccomare….

Wow that was certainly a work out and a bit of recovery is required before taking a latish dip in the sea to complete our recovery before calling it a day.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 3
  • O/N – £18.75

Monday 28th September 2026 – moving south to Castiglione della Pescaia via Castagneto di Carducci….

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Time to move a little further south, as there is not a lot here to keep us amused – apart from the sun, sand and sea! Fortunately my kindly German neighbours were around to help me manoeuvre out of my pitch without any further mishap and we were soon on our way.

We stopped briefly for a quick food shop and then meandered our way up to the hilltop village of Castagneto di Carducci for a walk around the old town, stopping to admire the lush Tuscan countryside on our way up….

We passed the old church perched on the side of the hilltop….

And meandered our way around the narrow cobbled streets adorned with potted plants and laundry drying from upper floors with teasing glimpses down to the lush greenery below…

The main street home to a few bars and restaurants bedecked with outside tables and umbrellas or far reaching views towards the distant sea (from whence we came)….

Even the rooftops have a certain shambolic charm….

After cooling down for a while in the shade of the van, with all the doors open to ventilate the van we left the hilltop village behind and headed back down to the coast joining the main SS1 coastal road south. This section of the coastal road is in fact mostly inland a bit and not that scenic, however within a couple of hours we arrived at Camping Maremma sans Souci, on the outskirts of Castiglione della Pescaia.

No guided tour by golf cart here, we were just handed a map and told to park up in the car park, wander around and choose a pitch (or indeed several as there were quite a few others wandering around with a map) and then report back once done – straight forward – not!

With it being a pine forest with a similar twisty turny layout as the previous site, many of the pitches appeared just too tricky to access (though to be fair some very capable manoeuvering had been deployed as the site was pretty chocca) or were very awkwardly sloped, this was no mean feat. I did however find a few that looked ok and reported back to reception only to be told that my first 2 choices had already gone and my 3rd & 4th were larger pitches for bigger vans, so number 5 it was! It then took over half an hour to get back out of the car park as there were vans abandoned all over the place and when I got to choice number 5 someone had parked in the opposite pitch making it impossible to get sufficient angle to reverse into the pitch!! Suffice to say we did get settled onto a pitch eventually but that is 2 hours of my life I’ll never see again….

Still on a positive note the pitch was right next to a lovely pine forest walk to the much quieter dog friendly bit of the beach – Spiaggia del Camping Maremma….

Todays stats:

  • Miles driven – 49
  • Miles walked – 7
  • Beaches – 1
  • Groceries – £37.28
  • O/N – £19.03