Discover Italy From the Comfort of Your Own Camper Van

from: http://www.camper-van-fun.com/camping-in-italy.html

Camping in Italy is a a fantastic way to discover this historically rich country. Good weather, excellent historical sites and some of the best food in the world will keep you busy most of the time.

Italy is covered with more then 2500 camping sites around the country and if you plan on touring with your camper van you have more than a 1000 camper stops or Area di Sosta at your disposal. Italy is also the only country that allows camping trailers or caravans to use camper stops.

There is so much to see in Italy, so just deciding where to go can be exhausting. Italy is not only Rome, Venice and Tuscany therefore camping in Italy will let you reach most of the not so popular corners of this charming country.

Camping In Italy -
The North Part

To start right from the top, let me take you to the stunning Dolomite mountain range up in northern Italy. Most of the camping sites in this region are open all year round do to the skiing season. The Dolomite mountains offer all types of activities...the best European ski slopes in the winter and hiking or trekking when the snow is gone. Are you a bicycle enthusiast and want to tackle some mountain passes the guys from the "Giro d'Italia do? Go for it! Top that up with some great Italian mountain food...you can stay here for weeks.

If you love the nature and wide open spaces, the Dolomite mountains are more then worth the trouble. These breathtaking mountains is where I begun camping in Italy. Those were the years I spent on my motorcycle and living pretty much close to these Alpine pearls, I took every advantage of this heaven on earth for a great ride on those mountain passes.

Once you step down from the mountains, there are many wonderful lakes to discover. From the lago Maggiore where you can try to have a cup of coffee with George Clooney at his villa and all the way to the east where you will find the less crowded and much smaller lago Rabuiese on the border with Slovenia. Another place where you can enjoy and relax yourself in a peaceful and less populated environment.

Camping in Italy of course goes down to the south as well. I'm just so emotionally attached to this Alpine part of the world, that I somehow got lost a bit writing this page.

The Veneto region will charm you with some of most scenic and historically important cities and picturesque towns and villages, including Venice and Verona. And you can head to the west if you want a romantic adventure on Lake Garda. Tuscany with Florence and Pisa is one of the top Italian tourist attractions.
Therefore it will be packed with tourists from all over the world from late spring time to early autumn. So don't be surprised if you find the Tuscan beaches and camping sites full of people at this period.

Read about camping in the south of Italy and in the Italian islands: http://www.camper-van-fun.com/camping-in-italy.html

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Of all the places we had visited, Australia was the hardest one to leave. Two months is a respectable amount of time to visit Oz, but like the U.S., still only provides a glimpse of what there is to see and do. Given the time it takes to get there and the distance from almost anywhere, two weeks is the minimum for a visit. It will take approximately two days travel time in both directions plus getting used to the 18-hour time change (East Coast of U.S. to East Coast of Australia). Depending on your personal fortitude and stamina the time change could take several more days to become acclimated.

Originally, we had planned on three weeks in New Zealand - two weeks to tour the South Island and one week to tour the North Island. After looking at maps, distances and the challenges of getting between the two islands we reduced it to 14-days and only toured the South Island. Everyone we spoke to said that it was the more beautiful of the two, and it did not disappoint.

Difficult Driving Conditions Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island and is where we landed after leaving Australia. Both countries take significant measures to ensure no foreign plants and animals are brought into the country.

However, New Zealand immigrations and customs asked the most questions about where we had been, if we had been hiking and where, and if we had tents and/or sleeping bags. Since the answer to all of the questions was yes, the officials took great pains to inspect all of our gear.

In addition to taking our hiking boots and spraying them with disinfectant, they literally vacuumed out the three tents and sleeping bags. That thoroughness took more than an hour. When everything was returned they apologized profusely for the wait, but said it was necessary to ensure non-indigenous species were not brought into the country. Even though they had a very challenging job, they were the nicest, most courteous customs officials we had met.

Once outside the terminal, we met a van from the RV company where we had a reservation, and were taken to the depot near the airport. Because it was winter, we had to go through a number of safety issues and were asked if we wanted snow chains. Since we had no intention of venturing into locations with snow on the roads we declined.