Sicily trip - April/May 2023

Day 37

A shorter drive brought us to a hastily arranged campsite, south of Genoa. We originally planned to visit Pisa en route to another campsite but decided at the last minute to save Pisa for another trip, so I rescoped where we are staying.

It's an ACSI site and for €21 you get a decent sized fully serviced pitch with 16A unlimited EHU. There is also a bar and restaurant here too and it's 5-10 mins walk to a supermarket. The receptionist was very friendly and helpful too. There is some road noise from the nearby dual carriageway flyover but it's not too intrusive. All in all a decent find.


Our pitch...

Day 38

We had a nice drive up to our last night in Italy campsite. I have to say out of all the countries we have driven in Italy does provide the most beautiful scenery time and time again.

We are staying at another ACSI registered site and for €19 you get a large pitch; 6A EHU; drainage; water tap shared between 4 pitches; free wifi (but only near reception). A very friendly receptionist spoke good English. There is bread ordering and in high season a restaurant too. Another good thing if you are driving a larger unit is that the inner roads and nice and wide, so easy for manoeuvring.

Day 40

A short yet expensive drive brought us into France today. The Italian tolls seemed to ramp up the nearer we got to the French border plus we used the Frejus Tunnel again at just shy of €70 one way! Nonetheless it was a lovely drive through the Alps with many magnificent mountains still snow capped.

Our campsite for the night is a real find. Again an ACSI registered site and for €19 we get a fully serviced pitch. There is a free choice of pitches and plenty are big enough for the larger units. Reception spoke good English. There is a bar and restaurant on site but they are not open in lower season. It's a 5 minute walk into the local town which has a range of shops, bars, restaurants etc. The site also has a bread ordering service too.

It's a very pleasant site with a rural feel. Birds chirping are the biggest noise! Its near a small airstrip as in the afternoon we had glider tow planes landing followed a couple of hours later by at least 30 gliders flying over us to come in to land. No noise after tea time though.

Family's Camping le Savoy. Camping familial en Savoie - Emplacements et hébergements confortables

Day 41

We had a non motorway/non toll drive today as it only added 40 mins to the journey, which pretty short anyway. This took us through some beautiful scenery in the Savoy/Rhone area: lakes, rivers and mountains. Lovely and as Barry says, it's a shame we had no time to explore. We have travelled through the area several times before but have now added it to our list of French areas to spend more time in.

The site we are at now is a real find. It's ACSI again and at €19 well worth it. The facilities are new, plentiful and immaculate. Reception could not have been more helpful. The pitches are grass and not delineated so you could end up close to someone else if they decided to park too close I guess. We ate in the on site restaurant last night, sat outside as it was so warm and sunny again. The food was excellent if not a little pricey.

The site seems to be surrounded by water, with a canal one side and the River Saone on another (and another smaller river to a third side. It's a family site and quite busy but despite that, nice and rural and quiet. There were loads of campers out on their bikes so it looks like a nice are to explore.

Day 42

Motorway driving all day today unfortunately but needs must.

It brought us to a site near Troyes which again, seems to be a bit of a find. It's only 3Km from the MWay so you can hear a bit of traffic noise on the wind but aside from that it's a very rural feel. Pitches are around a lake and large. I'd say at least 10m x 10m. The facilities block is immaculate (strangely 6 showers but only 2 toilets!). It's not an ACSI registered site but at only €20 for the night it doesnt matter really. Reception very friendly with some English spoken. There is a bread ordering service too.

We spent a very relaxing afternoon sat outside reading.

The view from our pitch...

Day 43

A long drive brought us to our last overnight spot on the Continent for this trip. It's a handy site for Calais that we have stayed at before and also because there is a large Carrefour 1.5km down the road with a filling station too. We will be staying here for 2 nights in September as we plan to visit the blockhaus which is only 1.5km away too.


This is a very well appointed site set in the grounds of a chateau. It's and ACSI site at €23 a night plus local taxes. It also has the most friendly and helpful chap on reception - Julien - who could not be more helpful if he tried! Big pitches that are grass-crete; morning bread available; a swimming pool; well appointed ablutions blocks; all set in leafy surroundings. A very pleasant place for our last night in France.

Day 44

We overnighted in Cirencester last night having caught the 10.50 train through the tunnel. Then it was the normal M20 roadworks and bumpy concrete surface; and M25 congestion meaning we didn't get to site until around 3pm local time.

No Ray. I was going to do a summing up....

We are home now after just over 4,300 miles on this trip. It's probably our longest trip miles-wise I think.

It has been a great trip despite the bump (and a heki roof blind failing) and we would certainly go again. If I had my time again (and in the future) I'd probably go to 3 x 1 week venues (north; east and south) or preferably 4 x 1 week venues (N,E,S,W), so that all the major places can be seen. There is still more than enough to see for us despite our travels as it is is a wonderful place and packed with sights.

If anyone reads this I'd recommend hiring a car rather than taking the MH everywhere as narrow roads and parking would be a challenge in a MH. Make sure to take out a stand alone Excess Insurance before leaving the UK though as for 40 quid or so, it may come in handy. The roads are terrible and the driving crazy but after a short while you get used to expecting the worst and it seldom fails to deliver!

If you don't hire a car then do your research carefully on parking and maybe then use electric bikes to get around.

Beware the petrol stations that offer a filling service as they charge for this. At one place it was €0.47 PER LITRE extra just so you can stand there watching them! Look for pumps with the word 'Self' on them to avoid this. Diesel seemed to be the same price everywhere on the MWays at €1.699 per litre but does vary when off them...and in some cases can be way more expensive. Personally I filled up when we were approaching half full just to be sure.

Next time we go we may well explore taking the ferry from/to Genoa...at least one way if we still want to see some places on the' leg' of Italy.

We found supermarkets to be small and some with no car parking at all. Fresh produce is really fresh and tasty but make sure that you have a veg peeler on board for the cucumbers as they are mainly the ones with the knobbly tough skin!

Overall people have been very friendly and accommodating and the scenery was breath-taking.


...and whatever you do make sure to try the cannoli! You will not be disappointed


I'll add to this thread if I can think of any other general observations.