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Euro Road Trip July/August ’23
  • Ellen Withers
  • Andy Withers
  • Oliver Withers
  • Ellen Withers
  • Andy Withers
  • Oliver Withers
  • Oscar Withers

Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

Our epic adventure to Italy and back in our T6. Again the 5 of us. Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 22, 2023
    Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 1

    Jul 22–23, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Home to Bruges - Campsite Memling in Bruges

    We started the day at 0100 and headed to the channel tunnel. Travelling in the dark apparently doesnt agree with Grace, and Andy had forgotten to fill up the water tank in the camper. Sods law when you need to run the water to rinse the vomit out of the sink 🤣

    Everyone enjoyed the experience of driving the van onto a train and the crossing was short enough that noone got bored 🥱

    We arrived at Bruges super early and so found the campsite, abandoned the van and got the bus into Bruges city centre. After a lovely wander, a boat trip, some lunch and more wandering we decided to find somewhere meaningful to attach our padlock to. Bruges is special to us, 8 1/2 years ago Andy proposed to me (after knocking me up 🤣) at the Hotel Jan Brito where we stayed ❤️

    We taxi'd back to the campsite, did a little shopping for a 'picky tea' and everyone looks like they need to pass out 🤣

    Super tired, super happy and super excited for the next leg of our adventure!    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 2

    Jul 23–24, 2023 in Luxembourg ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Campsite Memling in Bruges to Luxembourg - Camping Bon Accueil Alzingen

    Not much to report today. It was more about the travel.

    We've been unlucky with the weather 😔 It pretty much rained from the point of settling in and both Oliver and Grace abandoned their coffins over night.

    Oliver was found asleep in Andy's chair and Grace woke us up at 0400 and ended up sleeping on the seats in the van 🙄🤣

    After warming Oliver up and feeding him we packed up in the rain and set off for Luxembourg. Where it rained relentlessly for the whole journey 🌧️

    We've set up in our site for the night and whilst there is a break in the weather we're enjoying sitting and chilling 😊    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 3

    Jul 24–25, 2023 in Luxembourg ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Camping Bon Accueil Alzingen in Luxembourg to Colmar - Camping D'Lill

    I actually caught Oliver and Grace emerging this morning and it made me chuckle 🤭 we were super on fire and got everything washed, packed and fed and we were on the road before 0900!

    After several wee/poo stops, tolls and badges sewn on a camp blanket we arrived at our next campsite, where it was persistently raining (again!). We set up the coffins on our pitch and headed into Colmar, which was quaint. We ate, visited the toy museum and had a wander around before getting rained on again.

    Back at the campsite though, theyd opened the pool and the sun had made an appearance, so they played in the pool and I chilled in the sun.

    A lovely day was rounded off with dinner and beer/wine before heading to bed where all 3 little people basically fell asleep before they'd finished arguing that they weren't tired!!

    The scenery is starting to get a little more interesting now, looking forward to the next leg 😊    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 4

    Jul 25–26, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Camping D'Lill in Colmar to Zurich - Fischers Fritz

    ⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️⚡⛈️

    Omgosh, what a day! We packed up nice and early again this morning, albeit in the rain 🙄. Once packed up, the sun came out and we hit the road.

    We had a seamless drive to Zürich and loved watching the scenery change from the flat landscape of France to mountainous views and an abundance of road tunnels! We arrived at the campsite and set up the camper, but not the coffins as it was 🌧️🌧️🌧️.

    We made lunch and the weather broke again so we got the bus in to Zürich city. It was beautiful, the buildings and area as a whole were just so nice. Then the thunderstorm started ⛈️ so we, again, got soaked! It only lasted about 45 minutes and then broke again and the sun came out so we celebrated with an ice cream and headed back to camp.

    Since getting back the rain has been biblical, the thunder deafening, and plenty of lightening.

    The weather forecast isn't looking good, and we're all wet but loving the road trip and looking forward to tomorrow 😊    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 5

    Jul 26–27, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    Fischers Fritz campsite in Zurich to Bormio - Campeggio Cima Piazzi

    Another day of packing up in the pouring rain, and the first half of the journey was the same. Then, a few miles before the Italian border the weather broke, the sun came out 🌤️ and it wasn't just the weather that changed around the border, the scenery changed too! 😍

    Mountains, windy roads and wide open spaces introduced us to Italy 😁. We travelled through various passes which were scary windy and Andy got to drive Stelvio Pass which has been on his 'must do' list ✅

    Don't forget the ❄️SNOW❄️

    We checked in at the camp site and then went looking for Fonte Pliniana (a hot spring) which was a great ramble and had some fantastic views.

    Tired and hungry we called at a supermarket on the way back and then set up camp for the night. Now just to chill and play uno before settling in for the night 😁

    Really looking forward to Lake Garda tomorrow, and hope the nice weather stays!    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 6

    Jul 27–28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Campeggio Cima Piazzi camspite in Bormio to Lake Garda - San Francesco

    We packed up early and was on the road just after 9am. The sky was as clear as it has been and it was dry, but was a chilly 8 degrees 🥶

    As we travelled south the temperature rose and scenery over the Alps was just breathtaking! We also got to see cows at the top of Passe del Mortirolo and listen to their cow bells as they grazed 😍

    More windy roads over the mountains and into northern Italy, where the temperature was 27 degrees!

    Then we arrived at our campsite at lake Garda, where Andy had arranged a lakeside pitch 😍 something was strange though and all the cars in the carpark and everything on the site looked like it had been shot! We eventually found out that they had been hit by a freak halestorm on Monday. It sounded terrifying and the people I spoke to were just devastated 😞

    https://www.newstalk.com/.../they-were-like-gun…...

    The site is stunning though. We all swam in the lake, had a lovely dinner in the restaurant and watched the sunset 😍

    Life is good ❤️    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 7

    Jul 28–29, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Day 2 at San Francesco campsite in Lake Garda.

    Were staying here for 3 nights. It was lovely waking up to the lakeside view this morning, with no rain 🤣.

    We got sorted and headed for the shuttle bus into Sirmione. The main reason was to visit Scaligero Castle, which is a fortress from the Scaliger era. Its also the access point to the centre of Sirmione, on Lake Garda.

    The castle was really lovely, and the views from the turrets were amazing!
    Sirmione was also a stunning town, with lots of restaurants and shops. So we had lunch and a wander after the castle, and finished with gelato before heading back to the shuttle bus. Hot and tired 😊    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 8

    Jul 29–30, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Day 3 at San Francesco campsite in Lake Garda.

    A very chilled day today (apart from an incident with Oscar and the pedalo (thankfully he's ok and we're VERY grateful ❤️).

    Early start tomorrow to visit Verona on our way to Florence for our next stay.Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 9

    July 30, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    San Francesco campsite in Lake Garda to Florence - Camping Village Panoramico Fiesole

    Well. There was a storm last night! Lots of rain, gusts of wind, lightening and super loud thunder! Needless to say not the best nights sleep for any of us, so we had pancakes at the campsite for breakfast as a treat 😀

    We left the campsite and headed to decathlon to replace Grace's tent. Our next stop is Florence, so we're heading there via Verona.

    Verona was such a beautiful city. We had a very hot wander around, visited Verona arena, Juliet's Balcony and obviously had a gorgeous Italian lunch and some gelato.

    The drive to Florence, and our next campsite, was mostly main roads, until after we'd stopped at the supermarket, and then things got really interesting 🤣

    Our home for tonight and tomorrow night is absolutely gorgeous 😍 the views are incredible and the little people are happy to report that there is a lovely pool (even though they'll have to wear swimming caps 🤣)... Best of all, Andy finally got to hang his hammock. So he's the happiest of them all ❤️

    Trip into florence tomorrow, so we're very excited 😁    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 10

    Jul 31–Aug 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Day 2 at Camping Village Panoramico Fiesole near Florence

    Oh Florence, how we've fallen for you!

    Our first night at this gorgeous campsite was SUPER hot. We got up early this morning and ate ready to get the first shuttle bus into Fiesole to get a connecting bus into Florence.

    What a day! Once there, we walked to see the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (huge, and breathtaking). Then we walked to Palazzo Vecchio (also stunning). From there we went to Ponte Vecchio (we've never seen so many jewellery shops in such a small space!).

    We visited a local supermarket and got some local food for lunch and then headed to the Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte... A huge church, with a breathtaking view of the city!

    We then walked to the Piazzale Michelangelo and took in another gorgeous view of the city we were falling in love with!

    Super hot, tired and ready for a swim we headed back for the buses and bought some silly swimming hats so that we could take a dip in the campsites lovely pool!

    Dinner with a view before getting a relatively early night ready for tomorrow's travel to the next leg of our adventure. This is the southern most point in our adventure, and so when we head to Cinque Terre tomorrow, we're officially on our way home... It'll just take a week 😉😍    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 11

    Aug 1–2, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Camping Village Panoramico Fiesole near Florence to Cinque Terre -
    Campeggio Bracchetto Vetta

    Another early start this morning. Up and out by 0830 so that we could see Pisa on our way to the Cinque Terre.

    Pisa was awesome! I've always wanted to see the leaning tower, and it didnt disappoint! We did the obligatory, but wandering was SO hot again, so we had lunch and headed onward to our next campsite (again via a supermarket 🤣).

    After setting up we cooked tea and showered etc ready for an early night ready for visiting the cinque terre villages tomorrow, which we're very excited for! 😍

    For now, I'm chilling and sewing on some more camp blankets ❤️    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 12

    Aug 2–3, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Day 2 at Campeggio Bracchetto Vetta campsite near the Cinque Terre
    🐝 First things first... I probably saved us all from certain death! I caught the biggest wasp I've ever seen in my life! 🤣🤣🤣

    Today was a day we were all looking forward to, so as always we made an early start to use the public transport to get there. We'd been advised to get the train to Riomaggiore and then work our way back. Our initial plans of walking the route from Riomaggiore to Manarola were scuppered as the path was closed due to landslides. So was the next one and so we were confined to using the train between towns as by then it would be too hot to walk the longer, and more difficult, paths.

    We were actually really disappointed in the experience today. The sheer volume of people made it difficult to do anything without queuing for 1/2 hour first. One train got so full, we had to wait 25 minutes for the next one (having waited 15 minutes for the one we couldn't get on!).

    The towns are beautiful, and we had a lovely lunch. But the volume of tourists, and consequently the stressful atmosphere has definitely put us off going and doing the bits we didn't do today 😔

    Despite leaving at 0830 this morning and only briefly visiting 3 of the 5 towns, it was 5pm when we got back to the campsite! Weve chilled since and we're battoning down the hatches as we're expecting more rain over night, and probably for the next day or two 🙄

    Tomorrow is our longest leg and we're heading to Chamonix via the Mont Blanc tunnel. We're just hoping the weather will be kind to us!    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 13

    Aug 3–4, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Campeggio Bracchetto Vetta campsite near the Cinque Terre to Chamonix - Camping les Cimes

    Soggy start to the day! Although there was enough of a dry spell for the little people to pack away their tents. Today was one of the longer legs of the trip so we tried to make good time, even getting a cheeky maccas to avoid staying anywhere too long.

    The queue for the Mont Blanc tunnel was looooong and took us a while to get through, but we soon arrived the other side!

    Tonight was the only night that Andy had been unable to pre-book a campsite, so we had a little list of some to try, and thankfully the first one had space!

    Like true tourists we got the bus into Chamonix centre... and whilst we were waiting for the bus had a classic from Grace (our super smart daughter)
    Grace: "so... like... that Mont Blanc tunnel we drove through is it called that after the mountain it's in?"
    All of us: 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏽🤦🏽‍♂️

    A wander round Chamonix, a gorgeous meal and the bus back to the campsite for a few games of uno before bed ❤️

    Can't quite believe we're at day 13 already! It has gone so quickly 😥    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 14

    Aug 4–5, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Camping les Cimes at Chamonix to Geneva - TCS Camping Geneva

    Today was the shortest leg of the adventure, so we decided to head back into Chamonix on our way out to have brekki and look in some of the outdoor shops that were closed last night. Andy does love an outdoor shop! 🤣

    Once we arrived at the campsite we set up (in the rain) and made some lunch before Oscar wanted to play in the pool. When we were eventually able to get him out we had tea and decided to use the family room at the site to play games. Everyone is starting to feel tired so chilling tonight before a day in

    Geneva centre tomorrow 😀    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 15

    Aug 5–6, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Day 2 at TCS Camping in Geneva

    Such an awesome little campsite! We had a good night and a little chill this morning. We decided to get the bus into Geneva centre and have a wander, we got some lunch and then took a boat across the lake which was lovely!

    The weather was gorgeous and we had lots of chances to admire the 140m high water fountain, which happened by accident in the late 1800's but proved so popular, they made it a thing!!

    We headed back to the campsite, played some pool, borrowed a kayak and SUP and played in the lake for a while before it got cold and suddenly windy.

    True to form, as we were making tea, the rain started so it's another of games night in the family room tonight!

    It's our penultimate night tonight and a long journey tomorrow.    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 16

    Aug 6–7, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    TCS Camping in Geneva to Reims - Camping de Chalons-en-Champagne

    A fairly long day of driving, mostly in the rain!

    We arrived at our home for the night which is like the campsite that time forgot 🤭 reminded us of a super old holiday camp! But it's clean and we're only here for a night.

    All tired after the long, boring (and quite frankly expensive!) journey. We set up, had a wander to see where everything was and sat and chilled.    Read more

  • Euro Road Trip July/August ’23

    European Road Trip - DAY 17

    Aug 7–8, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Camping de Chalons-en-Champagne near Reims to Home

    Another long day of travelling. We woke up having had a pretty good night at the campsite that time forgot and packed up leisurely. We went to Reims and had a wander around the cathedral and the centre and found some lunch before heading back to the van to make our way to Calais.

    We were early getting to the eurotunnel so chilled in the picnic area and made a coffee and some food. Before we knew it we were boarding the train and went back in time!

    What an adventure!!!

    Approximately 2,200 miles, 5 tanks of fuel, 16 nights, 17 days, 11 campsites, 9 cities, 3 lakes, countless wee stops, supermarket visits, church's and 1 hot spring later and we're home!

    We're all looking forward to our beds, nice smelling towels and home cooked food. But my god we've had a blast! We've loved every second of our adventure and it was well worth the 6 months Andy spent planning it (thank you baby, you smashed it).

    There might be a little radio silence whilst I get through the 5,678 loads of washing and we all all start operation 'clean up'. Including sorting a broken patio door window, and replacing a broken washing machine 🙃

    Then we'll plan the next one 😉    Read more

    Trip end
    August 7, 2023
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