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  • European Van Tour
    Day 51

    Niesen

    Yesterday in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    What a great day. We used our free train tickets to get to Mülenen, then caught the Niesenbahn funicular railway up to the top of Niesen, at 2362m.

    The funicular runs for 3.5km and has a maximum gradient of 68% which feels incredibly steep. It gets to a height of 2336m so we had to walk the last bit to the top of the mountain. There is a restaurant up there but it was very busy and we had already bought sandwiches.

    The views of the Alps from the top are amazing, especially on a completely clear day like today.

    There was some snow on the slopes below the peak but not very much. The paths are well maintained and well signed.

    The walk down was 7.5 miles and took us about 4 and a quarter hours - the sign at the top said 4 hours but we had lunch on the way! The drop was about 5250ft. Our legs were just about knackered by the time we got to the bottom, i.e. to a bar in Frutigen. We definitely needed a beer… but we decided to stay for schnitzel and fries instead of cooking back at the van. Weirdly, the schnitzel came with sprouts, carrots and braised red cabbage (in addition to the fries) which seemed a bit odd but was very nice nonetheless.

    Think we might have a slightly more relaxed day tomorrow.

    [Btw… the service stairs for the Niesenbahn funicular are listed by Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest stairway, with 11,674 steps and a height of 1,669 m (5,476 ft). The stairs are usually employee-only, but there is a public run called "Niesenlauf" once a year. Run!! Can you imagine??!!]    Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 51

    Breakfast

    Yesterday in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Oats, water, soya milk, seeds, peanut butter, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, and banana. Coffee.

    Pretty much every day of the trip.

    Sara has an apricot instead of banana and cherries. And she has tea rather than coffee.Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 50

    Frutigen

    June 17 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We’re at Camping Grassi in Frutigen. Lovely little campsite with glorious views and walking distance from Frutigen town centre, currently having a beer at the outside bar opposite the Hotel Simplon. Surrounded by mountains.

    Paying the local tourist tax gives us free access on public transport (including cable cars/chair lifts) so just trying to work out how to use it tomorrow. Think we’ll stay here at least two nights.

    I know I said that yesterday’s drive was amazing but I think today’s might have been even better…. certainly more unusual.

    We tend to follow Google maps (which I have to say, has been a bit hit and miss, especially in Italy). Anyway, we stopped for a short walk this morning, and when we got back in the van, Google said it was altering the route because of a road closure.

    We followed the new route around multiple hairpins up into the mountains and then took a sharp left onto what we thought was a toll road. The toll was 27 Swiss Franks which is much more than we have been paying but there wasn’t much else we could do so we paid it. Then we followed the car in front, thinking we’d be driving thru a tunnel, but ended up driving onto a train - literally onto a train! Weird. Then we had to sit for about 10 or 15 minutes as the train took us thru a completely dark tunnel - probably about the distance from Chippenham to Bath Spa. Turns out we were on the Lötschberg Car Train. Amazing.    Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 49

    Camping Santa Monica

    June 16 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We are at Camping Santa Monica in southern Switzerland. The drive here was amazing, probably our most scenic yet, up and across the Simplon Pass and over the Ganterbrücke bridge. Some lovely views of the Alps.

    Here for one night we think, then heading north thru Switzerland.    Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 49

    Monte Rosa massif

    June 16 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Highest point in Italy.

    Finally woke up to some sun this morning after two days of cloudy wet weather. It was worth waiting for.

    We took the chairlift (my first time) up to the glacier that flows down from Monte Rosa (about 1900m), then walked across it for the views, then back down to the car. It’s Sunday so there were lots of people walking up. Beautiful views all the way.

    I was naively expecting ice and snow on the glacier (the woman in the tourism office had suggested that we needed crampons - at least, that’s what we thought she said!) but the snow line was still well above us. We were basically just walking across the rocky moraine below the glacier proper.

    Now heading for Switzerland.    Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 48

    Lago delle Fate

    June 15 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Woke up to rain, more rain, then a few small breaks in the cloud, then more rain. That’s been the story of the day really.

    I bumped into a woman called Rachel (originally from Crickhowell) who was running a Saturday morning yoga session in the bar at the campsite. She invited us to her 5pm session on the basis that she didn’t think anyone else would turn up but in the end she had 3 paying customers so we stayed away. She said that we have been really unlucky with the weather and that, generally, this has been the worst/wettest/windiest start to the summer that she can remember (and she has lived here since she was 18).

    Anyway, she suggested that we walk up to a nearby lake for lunch which turned out to be a really good tip. An easy walk in the dry and a lovely meal of salami and cheese followed by local filled pasta for me and gnocchi with cheese and bacon for Sara. All washed down with half a litre of white wine (which, as nearly always is the case around here, was slightly fizzy).

    The only downside was that it rained all the way home so we got soaked. Spent the afternoon in the van trying to dry out.

    Then a small (very small) bbq for tea - our first bbq of the trip funnily enough. Most places in France and Spain have banned them as far as we can tell. Italy seems less worried about them. Mind you, it has been so wet recently, I don’t think there is much danger of setting fire to anything.

    The weather forecast promised us that it would start to clear from about 9pm and, to be fair, it looks like it is. Fingers crossed.    Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 47

    Alps

    June 14 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We are at Macugnaga Natural Camping in Macugnaga, just to the south of Monte Rosa in the Pennine Alps near the border with Switzerland.

    Macugnaga sounds like the kind of place name that the children in Swallows and Amazons would have made up.

    We, well I [Andy], pre-booked for two nights. I have no idea why. We are almost the only people on the site and the weather is pretty foul. The site doesn’t look anything like the pictures on the website. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon things will start improving - fingers crossed. But so far it is wet and cold. We are desperately trying to think of wet weather things to do up here tomorrow but our options are somewhat limited.

    The clouds briefly parted earlier and it looks like we are not that far below the snow line.

    We drove here along the western bank of Lago Maggiore which was beautiful. Some very expensive looking hotels, especially in Stresa. Then a short walk, more or less in the dry, before arriving here.    Read more

  • European Van Tour
    Day 47

    Gottard Park

    June 14 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    What a weird place - a museum full of old mechanical stuff (of all kinds) most of it, apart from the cars and motorbikes, looking in need of a bit of tlc. Well worth the 8 euro entrance fee though!

  • European Van Tour
    Day 46

    Camping Village Lago Maggiore

    June 13 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We’re at Camping Village Lago Maggiore on the shores of Lago Maggiore, north west of Milan. Just had a swim in the lake which was ok - the water was quite warm - though calling a bit of scrubby grass next to the lake, even with a bar, a “beach” is a bit of a joke in our opinion.

    Not quite as we planned but the weather in the mountains seemed worse than we anticipated this morning so we decided to move on. It was cold enough that I had to put my beanie on for breakfast.

    We did manage a short walk on the way, to see the Flaminia Militare (an ancient Roman road) - it’s not often you get to walk on the same stones that Roman armies marched on.

    Then it was a 3 hour drive to get here - most of it on the A1 toll road. 200km for ~20 Euros. The speed limit is 130km/hour for much of the way but most cars seem to drive faster than that, even where the road gets quite windy. I must admit, I found the driving quite stressful.

    So far, I’ve learned that in Italy, nobody uses the inside lane except lorries, indicators are purely optional, lorries often seem to use the outside lane (even when signs say they aren’t supposed to) and nearly everyone ignores the speed limits. On the plus side, the tunnels are amazing though.

    The A1 was also the crossing point for the funny little figure of eight route that we have taken in Italy. We drove it in the opposite direction on the way to Ravenna. For some reason I’m not a big fan of routes that cross themselves. No idea why!?

    [Update: Great evening at the campsite restaurant people watching!]    Read more

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