roadtrip

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

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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….

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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….

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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….

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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….

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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….

Todays stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 8
  • Gorge – £9.09
  • Falls – £9.56
  • O/N – £28.35