Northern Italy, Austria and South West Germany

skinnywhippet · Jun 23, 2015

We have 4-5 weeks to travel in the Summer from mid / late July and plan to make our way to northern Italy (possibly Venice) and back via Austria and Germany (possibly Black Forest).

There's no set itinerary so we'd be really interested if people have any favourite campsites in the general areas above that we could consider. We're imaging maybe small lakeside campsites, ones near to interesting historic towns or castles, and one or two with large swimming pools and waterslides so we can keep a promise to our 14 year-old.

There's such a huge choice that any help to narrow down would be greatly appreciated.

We're also interested in thoughts as to if and where we might need to book ahead for the really peak times in August, or can we be confident that there will always be space for a little red campervan?

Generally we like good showers, a bit of privacy, nice walks / cycle rides, and dog-friendly.

Thanks in advance!

owen_h · Jun 24, 2015

Sounds like a good trip you’ve got planned.

For Austria ive camped on Lake Walchsee at this place: http://www.camping-seespitz.at/en/portal.html . The pitch I was on was nothing special as I was there for a triathlon they have there but the usual pitches alongside the lake were great. Good facilities as well . Also on the lake is another site which also looked good (while I was running past it 4 times anyway) http://www.terrassencamping.at/en/home.html . The lake itself is stunning and the water apparently (almost) clean enough to drink.

On the way down there we had a few days on the German shore of lake Bodensee / Constance. Ended up here: http://www.camping-fischbach.de/ . There are loads of sites along the lake so we worked out way along looking at a few until we found one we liked. This one was smaller than most so a nicer less commercial ‘holiday camp’ feel. The washrooms were spotless and showers on a token system. There is a cycleroute all round the lake, a complete circuit would take a few days but we did a bit and then got a ferry back. The Zeppelin museum is worth a visit as well. For castles you’re not far from Neuschwanstein (as in Chitty Chitty fame). That can be busy and if going again I would try and prebook a tourto avoid the queues and waiting.

Also in Germany but a few years earlier (before I got the Cali) I did a triathlon in a place called Roth just south of Nurenburg. Probably not on your route but used this site http://www.camping-waldsee.de/index.php?id=909&L=1 and would recommend if in the area. Lots of the pitches were separated from each other by hedges. Driving down we saw some of the Mosel valley and I am going to revisit that area this year to explore a bit more. If anyone has recommendations for the Mosel valley I would be interested to hear.

I have tended to prebook sites but often that has been because I’ve been doing an event or travelling with a group and wanted to be sure of getting a space. The Bodensee site was on spec though and there was no issues getting a pitch there. For my Mosel visit (1st week Sept) I’m not going to prebook but take a list of possible sites and see which I like the look of.

skinnywhippet · Jun 24, 2015

Thanks owen_h, really useful.

Re. your Sept. trip we did get as far as the Mosel last year and stayed at http://www.campingpark-zell.de which we really enjoyed as it has excellent facilities, a great location right on the river, is a short walk from the town, and in the immediate area there are a lot of tracks for running / cycling / walking.

owen_h · Jun 24, 2015

skinnywhippet said:
Re. your Sept. trip we did get as far as the Mosel last year and stayed at http://www.campingpark-zell.de which we really enjoyed as it has excellent facilities, a great location right on the river, is a short walk from the town, and in the immediate area there are a lot of tracks for running / cycling / walking.

Looks ideal, bookmarked the site & will check it out :thumb

sapto · Jun 24, 2015

We had a great stay on Island of Reichenau/Germany/Lake of Bodensee:
http://www.sandseele.de
We visited the site in Spring and had a wonderful pitch with lake view. The restaurant is wonderful situated.

sapto · Jun 24, 2015

In Innsbruck/Austria we stayed on a nice camping next to Achensee:
http://www.camping-achensee.com

It is a wonderful place with great clean facilities and Innsbruck is a great place for shopping, strolling through the medival part of the city.

skinnywhippet · Jun 28, 2015

Thanks - those two above look good.

sapto · Jun 28, 2015

great! please write what your experience was.

AlanC · Jun 28, 2015

We stayed in Hopfensee just over the Austrian border in Germany last year.
www.camping-hopfensee.de
Large site right on the lake with EHU on most pitches. Not the cheapest stay that year, but much better facilities than most, including a decent laundry, beauty parlour and children's facilities.

Very close to the Neuschwanstein castle, which was far too busy to visit in early August.

Alan

skinnywhippet · Jul 15, 2015

sapto said:
great! please write what your experience was.

Will certainly let you know how we get on, back late August.

Freeley · Jul 16, 2015

owen_h said:
Looks ideal, bookmarked the site & will check it out

+1 for zell. We stayed there last year following recommendation from skinny and thought it one of the best sites we've ever been to.
We were only planning on staying a couple of nights but ended up there for the whole 2 weeks cos we liked the area so much.
In fact we're planning on going back that way in September to do some of the places we never got round to then so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread

Freeley · Aug 16, 2015

Any more suggestions for Austria sites? We're thinking of heading that way in early September. Would like to go to mittenwald on the German side of the border as we never made it there last year, and there is a really good site near there in Austria which my brother in law went to (need to find out what it was as he said it was one of the best sites he's ever been to).
Was just hoping for a couple more sites in Austria to look up.
Hopefully skinny will be back in time to share his thoughts.

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Freeley · Aug 23, 2015

The site in Austria is camping tiroler zugspitze, awesome looking site right next to the mountain.

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skinnywhippet · Aug 27, 2015

Just returned from the five week trip. Campsites we used are below; if anyone wants any extra detail please just ask.

There were three of us, and also two dogs.

http://www.camping-reutte.com
Just a one-night dark and rainy stop-over. There was plenty of space.

http://www.camping-achensee.com
This is a very high-quality site, right on the lake which is lovely for swimming (if rather invigorating). After this site, no campsite showers will ever seem good enough.

Easy and difficult cycling and walking on the doorstep, as well as bars, restaurants and shops. The same for all of the Austrian sites we used.

http://www.barcoreale.it/en
High-up at San Baronto, the area is very popular with cyclists (it's at the top of a climb used on the Giro d'Italia). A huge site with lovely views, and because of the hilly nature of the site it doesn't feel crowded.

It's the only one we had to pay a deposit for, when we called a day or two before to see if they had space. There's a bit of Hi-de-Hi about it, but the main issue here is very variable hot water, which they are trying to address. We used as a base for Pisa, Lucca and the Tuscan countryside.

http://www.agriturismoalba.it/en
The antidote to Barco Reale, a very small informal site, with excellent facilities. A great base for visiting the Euganei hills, and Venice. We used the Tronchetto car park and then the driverless People Mover to get in and out of Venice, which was all really easy and efficient.

http://www.camping-ploerz.at
Our favourite site of the trip, on lake Ossiach in Carinthia. Very informal and full of character. More dogs and Californias per pitch than anywhere we've been, and the lake was very warm too. Very dog friendly indeed, with a dedicated dog beach.

http://www.camping-seespitz.at/en/portal.html
They're expert at cramming people in here, but a nice site all the same. Probably our favourite lake, small and very warm, with lovely scenery. This is fun and just up the road - http://zahmerkaiser.com/sommer/sommerrodelbahn-walchsee

http://www.alisehof.de/index.php/en
Friendly and informal again, right by a stream and a little town, and short walk to an impressive refuge for rescued bears - http://www.baerenpark.de/site2010

http://www.tourisme-obernai.fr/Fr/Loger/Camping-municipal-Obernai.html
A good municipal site, a short walk from the old town. A couple of places we visited that are recommended are http://www.struthof.fr/en/home and http://www.fort-mutzig.eu/pages/_menu/menu_gbus.html which is a long guided tour (dogs allowed)

And finally a night at a small municipal site in Champagne, Intercommunalité Val de Vesle. Nice enough.

sapto · Aug 27, 2015

skinnywhippet said:
Just returned from the five week trip. Campsites we used are below; if anyone wants any extra detail please just ask.

There were three of us, and also two dogs.
...
http://www.camping-achensee.com
This is a very high-quality site, right on the lake which is lovely for swimming (if rather invigorating). After this site, no campsite showers will ever seem good enough.

Easy and difficult cycling and walking on the doorstep, as well as bars, restaurants and shops. The same for all of the Austrian sites we used.
...

Great review/overview!
Achensee is one of our favourit places (even outside the camping) too. And you're totally right: all showers afterwards didn't look so nice and shiny.

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larrylamb · Aug 27, 2015

Great writeup Skinnywhippet, i will check out those links. Can i ask some logistical questions? Do you use an awning or pup tent on trips like this or just pack v. light? Also, is the van very hot at night, what are your tips? Thanks. :thumb

skinnywhippet · Aug 27, 2015

We took our Vango Kela awning, that we either set-up on its own offset from the van or attached to the roll-out awning fully extended, depending on the size and shape of the pitch. The latter gives a good shaded / rainproof area without making the van dark, but does take-up 5m x 8m inc. the van. We don't like the Vango awning right next to the van.

The Vango then serves as a child / dog bedroom and store room. We store the rear board in there too so we can move the bench seat all the way back. We also take a very small Quecha pop-up tent, and when we're just passing through and don't want to spend time setting-up we use that as a store so we can use the lower bed, and all sleep in the van.

Sleeping in the roof we were cool enough at night. Day-time temps. in Italy were mid thirties. However, both the tent and van really heated-up fast as soon as the sun came-up so it was a bit hot for a lie-in.

One thing we've used a lot last year and on this trip is one of these - http://www.doggyride.com/us/en/P1267/DoggyRide-Novel-dog-bike-trailer.aspx. It's great quality so copes with rough ground and means we can get out and about more with the dogs, without having to drive.

Freeley · Aug 27, 2015

Good to hear your thoughts on the achensee site as we're planning on going there.
Italy could be next year for us as we don't like to spend too much time travelling. I quite fancy Croatia as well for a bit of sun.
I need more holidays!

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larrylamb · Aug 28, 2015

skinnywhippet said:
Just returned from the five week trip. Campsites we used are below; if anyone wants any extra detail please just ask.

There were three of us, and also two dogs.

http://www.camping-reutte.com
Just a one-night dark and rainy stop-over. There was plenty of space.

http://www.camping-achensee.com
This is a very high-quality site, right on the lake which is lovely for swimming (if rather invigorating). After this site, no campsite showers will ever seem good enough.

Easy and difficult cycling and walking on the doorstep, as well as bars, restaurants and shops. The same for all of the Austrian sites we used.

http://www.barcoreale.it/en
High-up at San Baronto, the area is very popular with cyclists (it's at the top of a climb used on the Giro d'Italia). A huge site with lovely views, and because of the hilly nature of the site it doesn't feel crowded.

It's the only one we had to pay a deposit for, when we called a day or two before to see if they had space. There's a bit of Hi-de-Hi about it, but the main issue here is very variable hot water, which they are trying to address. We used as a base for Pisa, Lucca and the Tuscan countryside.

http://www.agriturismoalba.it/en
The antidote to Barco Reale, a very small informal site, with excellent facilities. A great base for visiting the Euganei hills, and Venice. We used the Tronchetto car park and then the driverless People Mover to get in and out of Venice, which was all really easy and efficient.

http://www.camping-ploerz.at
Our favourite site of the trip, on lake Ossiach in Carinthia. Very informal and full of character. More dogs and Californias per pitch than anywhere we've been, and the lake was very warm too. Very dog friendly indeed, with a dedicated dog beach.

http://www.camping-seespitz.at/en/portal.html
They're expert at cramming people in here, but a nice site all the same. Probably our favourite lake, small and very warm, with lovely scenery. This is fun and just up the road - http://zahmerkaiser.com/sommer/sommerrodelbahn-walchsee

http://www.alisehof.de/index.php/en
Friendly and informal again, right by a stream and a little town, and short walk to an impressive refuge for rescued bears - http://www.baerenpark.de/site2010

http://www.tourisme-obernai.fr/Fr/Loger/Camping-municipal-Obernai.html
A good municipal site, a short walk from the old town. A couple of places we visited that are recommended are http://www.struthof.fr/en/home and http://www.fort-mutzig.eu/pages/_menu/menu_gbus.html which is a long guided tour (dogs allowed)

And finally a night at a small municipal site in Champagne, Intercommunalité Val de Vesle. Nice enough.

Hi, did you have to prebook all these sites in advance, after bad weather scuppering our recent trip i'd like to try leaving it till last minute before deciding a final itinerary. Thanks.

skinnywhippet · Aug 28, 2015

We didn't book anything, although for the first couple of weeks in August called ahead on the day or the day before to check there was space. That was only really necessary in Tuscany where we had to try a few before we found a vacancy.

The weather is exactly why we didn't plan a fixed itinerary, we looked at the forecasts a few days ahead and took it from there. We managed to get away with only a few days of rain over the 5 weeks.

Skylark2.0 · Aug 29, 2015

larrylamb said:
Hi, did you have to prebook all these sites in advance, after bad weather scuppering our recent trip i'd like to try leaving it till last minute before deciding a final itinerary. Thanks.

Know the feeling. We got wet to the grundies last weekend on a walk. Starlight became a striptesse changing room and we had wet cags, backpacks, boots and clothes contained on the vw heavy duty car mats.
We were booked on the West coast and should have gone East.
Iam usually keen on booking but we were well and truly trapped this time :headbang