Italy - Venice, Sicily and more

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by Jim and Emmy Humberd

Campgrounds in Italy

5 of our 63 Campsites in Italy

We write only about places we have actually visited, and the information is not time dependent. The Colosseum was finished in 69 AD; St. Mark’s Basilica in 1073; da Vinci’s “Last Supper” in 1497; Michelangelo’s Statue of David in 1501. So what we found of interest in Italy in 1970, had not changed in any significant way by the time of our eighth visit in 1995.

When we first arrived in Venice in 1970 we drove our VW Van onto a ferryboat at the dock near Piazzale Roma, for the ride ($8 round-trip) to the campsite on Lido Island, just across the lagoon from St. Mark’s Square. From the ferry the beautifully unusual buildings of Venice, and of the islands along the way, were a sight to remember. Later that evening, for our first ride on a vaporetto, we crossed and recrossed the Lagoon between Lido and St. Mark’s, spellbound by the boats, the unique “street” scenes, with the lights of advertising signs on the top of buildings, reflected in the Venetian waters.

The Lettojannie, Sicily, campsite was right under a very, very high Autostrada viaduct that connects hills north and south of town. Just beyond, south of here, is where the Autostrada goes through a tunnel far below the hill town of Taormina, so as not to disturb that 2500 year old masterpiece.

The weather was bad the April night we spent near Lake Iseo. Expecting a problem, we carefully parked near a high stone wall in the campsite. During the night a terrible wind and rain storm blew down trees, and there was building damage. Storm noise is exaggerated by the tin roof, but the RV only rocked to and fro. While this storm was scary and destructive, it left nearby hills and mountains beautifully frosted with snow.

Our night in Stresa was spent in a campsite on the top of a cliff that rose 25 feet above Lake Maggiore. For much of the night we worried about sliding into the lake in the terrible rain storm, but we were still hoping the weather would permit a visit to the Borromean Islands the next day, but not this time.

Cortina is a very touristy area, with hotels and resorts, with skiing areas everywhere. This was a nice campsite with the exceptional gray or white stone peaks in the distance. The area is filled with an unbelievable number of hotels and ski resorts. We see hay-making by farmers, but mostly resorts and ski runs.

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