We left Croatia by way of Slovenia (they have a very tiny coast), where we popped up into the hills overlooking the Adriatic and stopped overnight on a vineyard. In this part of Slovenia, they all speak Italian as a second language (as opposed to German elsewhere) and the Italian influence is clear to see – it shows in the buildings, the cute little towns clinging onto the hills. 😎
After a peaceful night we crossed into Italy near Trieste, to start our route down the east coast. The first port of call was Lido di Jesselo (pronounced Yezello) and a small, cheap campsite close to the beach. Unless you like horrific beach resorts, rammed with tourist shops and crappy restaurants, I’d advise giving it a miss. Even off season, it’s a bit grim… the beach is nice though. Here we did a few jobs including rotating the wheels on the van, which I’d been promising to do for a while, plus topping up oils etc and inspecting for leaks and so on. No dramas found and after a bit of laundry, we left.
Italy has a great approach to campers and there are many, many free park ups available, even with free electricity on some, but they do vary in quality (read the reviews on Park4Night). We stopped for free in Adria, which was a nice, if basic site but very good for one night. As we ran down the coast, we realised that every lorry in Italy must come this way and in several places we stopped, mosquitoes are waking up. The roads are dreadful, potholes and subsidence on every stretch. Also fuel rocketed up in price as soon as we crossed, from €1:40 in Croatia, to €1:79 and upwards here. 😩
San Marino is a Republic within Italy’s borders – a remnant from the ancient city states and the 5th smallest country in the world. We wanted to go here and were surprised to see two free camper stops inside the city, near to the mountaintop citadel and a short walk from a funicular lift to the top.
The site has all the necessary facilities, but be warned, San Marino and Italy still use squat loos (“long drops”) in some places – remember to read the reviews on P4N people, that way you aren’t caught out (caught short?). 🤣
San Marino itself is beautiful and worth the visit – railway is €3 each to the top (dogs must be muzzled) and is packed with alleyways, boutique shopping (did I mention you get tax free shopping?), cafes and bars, plus castles and staggering viewpoints.
In WW2 it was occupied by the Nazis, despite being a neutral state and sadly this resulted in the British bombing the city, causing many civilian casualties and there’s a memorial of a girl near the lift station.
You can then walk back downhill to the campsite, though you take your life in your hands a bit. Fuel here is taxed less than Italy, so fill up your tanks at €1:56 – we filled our range tank too.
Here we decided to head further inland and to visit the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and Perugia and the drive from San Marino in this direction is one of the most beautiful we’ve done. Unspoiled little villages, castles, fortified towns, with white water rivers cutting through the hills everywhere. There’s so much to photograph, we almost forgot to take any as they are around every turn – like speed cameras. There are many, many speed cameras and speed traps, so take care in the little towns where the speed limits are generally 50 kph, but do reduce to 30 kph in some.
This brings us nicely to Assisi, where St Francis is originally from. There are free campsites in the area, but you’ll be a drive away, so instead we are staying at Camping Fontemaggio, just 800m walk from this most beautiful ancient city. The off season rate here is €21:50 (no electricity), but it’s worth every penny (there’s plenty of solar). We’ve walked into the city everyday, both in the afternoon and evening and it’s really worth it. Plus the cold beers and gelatos are great after a hot day (it’s getting very warm, above 20°C everyday now).
After a long stay in Assisi we decided to head south and take in a few sights along the way, starting with Parco Cascata delle Marmore, a waterfall near Turni, built by the Romans as a means of controlling flood waters, but which are in fact the tallest man made water falls in the world at 165m tall.
There are many walks around the falls, but none are that challenging. We even saw wild boar feeding next to the falls! 🐷 The falls flow rate is controlled and at certain times of day, a siren sounds and they open the gates and let the full flow free. It’s very nice for a few hours, but it’s no Plitivice!
A must see although maybe not actually visit, is Bagnoregio, a small town built on top of a narrow volcanic plug, standing hundreds of feet above the surroundings and accessible only by a footbridge.
It looks amazing, but it’s very small and although the town itself is picturesque, it’s mainly tourist shops and cafes (and many, many cats). We paid to cross and frankly it’s a bit meh….. you decide.
Our route was planned to bring us around Rome and Napoli, which meant we passed very close to Monte Cassino and San Pietro Infini, both of which are worth seeing. Monte Cassino is the site of a famous WW2 battle where the Allied Air Force bombed the monastery into oblivion in the false belief that German forces were holed up there – they weren’t and in fact 150 civilians were killed, though both monks in attendance survived. The Germans quickly moved into the wreckage though and the battle to take Cassino and Hill 593 would prove to be bloody and cost many lives, in particular Polish forces whose cemetery and memorials are located walking distance from the rebuilt Monastery and well worth the visit.
You can park outside the monastery overnight, though if you visit the monastery (go early avoid the school trips), they ask for €8 in lieu of admission to cover the parking. If you don’t go in, it’s free and it’s a beautiful place to stop.
The Polish cemetery and memorials are also free and are a great place to visit with many separate things to see: info boards in English tell the story of the fighting and you can see in the woods the ruins of gun emplacements, barbed wire and a Sherman tank which hit a mine etc. It’s incredibly moving and the view from the Hill 593 memorial is staggering and worth the climb.
That will do for now. Next we area headed towards Amalfi, before turning home.
The Little Red Bus 
Hi just a quick question. Do you use breakdown insurance while your away or just sort it as you go. If you do use breakdown cover which one would you recommend.
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Hi Simon. Thankfully we have breakdown insurance with LV/Britannia, as we are coincidently broken down near Paris and they’ve been footing the hotel and recovery bills since Tuesday.
Do read the small print though, as they often have caps on how much they will spend and what is and is not covered. Some places such as Morocco are impossible to get insurance for though and you’ll have to manage it on the ground, so to speak.
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Thank you for your reply. Hope you get sorted and carry on with your journey. Thanks again SimonC.
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