tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513944425429620456.post2543160591536950431..comments2023-12-09T08:43:08.028+00:00Comments on Travels with Ian and Sue: Europe trip 2008 - Rome to SeianoIan and Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03067754762002556582noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513944425429620456.post-90813463942294196282016-02-08T17:31:00.128+00:002016-02-08T17:31:00.128+00:00Many thanks for your advice.... all taken on board...Many thanks for your advice.... all taken on board and great to hear someone else goes for the remote spots rather than 'saftey in numbers'. We head off on Thursday and plan on using the Fattore Amico and french passion guides alot as it just feels like we will experience these countries alot more that way.<br /><br />Thanks again.<br /><br />HarveyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11518721452568575855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513944425429620456.post-65394678855723277612016-01-28T09:14:35.710+00:002016-01-28T09:14:35.710+00:00Hi Harvey
Thanks for your kind comments – we have...Hi Harvey<br /><br />Thanks for your kind comments – we haven’t been to Italy since 2013, so I can’t really comment on what the situation might be like now, especially with the increased influx of migrants.<br /><br />Fattore Amico (see the link on our sidebar) is the Italian equivalent of France Passion, which is an excellent organisation and a wonderful way to see and camp at beautiful places off the beaten track. We have never tried any Fattore Amico, but they certainly seem worth investigating. Some of course may be closed for winter like the campsites.<br /><br />Another favourite is the “pub stop”: we look for a restaurant or even a small hotel and ask if we can stay the night in their car park if we have a meal. We have never been knocked back (because they are glad of the business) and enjoyed some good meals in the process. If choosing a town or city car park, ask around with the local retailers before deciding.<br /><br />Our policy is to treat each wild camp on its merits, we listen to our gut instincts and if either of us is unhappy for whatever reason, we move on. Generally, we go against popular wisdom by seeking out remote places, away from habitation, and prefer not to camp with other vans as we feel we just present a larger, more tempting target. On our own, we feel that we are only at low risk from a stray malevolent, and prepare ourselves by having deadlocks on the cab doors, a perimeter alarm, and clearing everything away before we go to bed so we can drive off in a hurry. We also have a couple of other surprises for potential intruders – which we shall keep to ourselves. <br /><br />As our experience as grown we have got better at “sniffing out” good spots to stay and basically avoid campsites unless we really need one. In 13 years of ownership of our current van we have spent over 1600 nights on board, two thirds of that either on aires or wild camping. In all that time we have had one attempted break-in (that failed because of the Heosafe cab door deadlock) and have been disturbed twice by unknown persons – once by someone banging on the window in a Spanish layby, and once in an Italian car park by a (probably) drunk driver backing into us at half past one in the morning. Oh, and a dozy driver in an English pub car park. Not a bad record we think, but we choose carefully and listen to our instincts and each other.<br /><br />“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best”. Enjoy, and good luck!<br />Ian and Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03067754762002556582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513944425429620456.post-54264121646791340032016-01-27T17:18:21.060+00:002016-01-27T17:18:21.060+00:00Hi Ian & Sue
Loved reading sections of your b...Hi Ian & Sue<br /><br />Loved reading sections of your blog, inpartilcuar the articles on winter tyres etc. Has been very helpful.<br /><br />We are looking at going to italy for 2 months, Feb and March and touring in our campervan. I see there are plenty of 'aree di sosta' but most campsites seem to be shut. We are use to wildcamping in Scotland but a little nervous about this in Italy as there seems to be lots of posts about crime in France and Italy to motorhomes. The best advice most people state is stay in campsites. From your experience, are the open campsites few and far between at that time of year? Should I be getting cold feet or from your experience, is it all ok apart from the obvious don't stay in aires on motorways.<br /><br />Many thanks <br /><br />Harvey<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11518721452568575855noreply@blogger.com