What to think about if you want to follow in our footsteps

The blog has been a little quiet since we returned from France somewhat precipitously in March. But as we enter national lockdown number three, there are encouraging signs that travel may be possible again before the end of 2021, if the roll-out of the vaccines is effective. If we can travel, we hope to return to Italy in the autumn. Driving the length of the country in two days was heartbreaking, but if nothing else it underlined how much we wanted to see some of the places we were speeding past. So many beautiful hill towns, the marvels and tragedy of Pompei, the familiar beauty of Umbria and Tuscany, and the staggering coastline of Liguria. One day we will get back there.

In the meantime we have been asked by several people for our advice if they wanted to do a similar trip, so this blog is primarily about the key questions you might want to pose if you wanted to follow in our footsteps.

What Vehicle?

Perhaps the biggest and most important question is what sort of vehicle, and this is very much down to the people involved. While travelling, we saw everything from cars with roof tents to vast American RVs, classic VWs to huge all-terrain vehicles designed to cross continents. Any vehicle will be a trade-off - do you want lots of space inside, or do you want a vehicle that can easy get down small lanes and up mountain passes? Do you want to be able to stop and wild camp almost anywhere, or do you want the security of being in a recognised site with lots of facilities? Will your budget allow you to pay high tolls for bridges, ferries and motorways, or do you need to keep costs as low as possible? 

Elsa likes to drive a Chausson

For us the decision was partly made when we first chose Florence, and then cemented on a three month trip around France and Spain. It was after that trip that we knew we would do our long trip in the same van, and nothing larger. It would be impossible to list all the pros and cons of every type of vehicle in this blog, and we have never experienced some of the alternatives, so I shall simply explain why Florence was the right van for us. She's a 3.5 tonne Chausson motorhome on a Fiat Ducato chassis, 5.99 metres long with a drop down double bed which lowers from the ceiling at night. We saw one at a show in Staffordshire when we still had our previous (and first) van, Beverley, a 5.5m Autosleeper. We knew at once that this layout would deal with almost all the issues we had with Beverley. Let's take some of those considerations in turn.

Length: In our experience, 6m is pivotal length. You can park in an ordinary parking space provided that you can manoeuvre into the space and there is some possibility of hanging over the edge of it. We have rarely failed to squeeze in somewhere. You can drive down almost any road which appears on a map and which does not have a low bridge. That doesn't mean you don't need to look ahead and think twice about entering some small medieval villages, but it does mean that if you are on a through road, a bus route or somewhere with rubbish bins, you are probably okay. 6m is also the length which tends to take you into a higher price bracket for tolls and ferries, and that can mean paying half as much again, or more. The Øresund bridge, between Denmark and Sweden, for example, is currently €50 for a vehicle under 6m, and €100 for a camper between 6 and 10m.

The Øresund Bridge

We met a couple on a small stopover in Greece who were also spent the winter there, but had only been to a handful of places as they had a huge 9m van and were scared to turn off the main roads.

Of course, a smaller vehicle means less space inside, but we managed fine with two of us and two spaniels, and Nick is over 6'. It generally means that only one person can be moving around at a time, and storage is limited. But storage is also limited by weight.

Weight: If you are looking at a new (or new to you) motorhome, one of the key considerations is weight, and payload. Anyone can drive a van up to 3.5t, but you need a category C1 licence to drive a heavier van, and you will need to take a health check to carry on driving after the age of 70. As it happens, we both had C1 on our licences, but Nick has reached his three score and ten, and we didn't want the faff of medicals. There are vans over 6m but under 3.5t, but we think they are unrealistic as they will usually give you such a small payload that if you pack up for a long trip and get on board you will be instantly overweight. It is illegal to drive with a vehicle heavier that the permitted weight, fines can be severe, and your insurance could be invalid. Once we had decided that we didn't want to go over 3.5t, it was a no-brainer for us that we didn't want a van longer than 6m as it would be too tempting to overload it.

Storage: We think Florence's storage is pretty good: we have internal and external lockers, a hanging wardrobe in the bathroom, and plenty of space in the kitchen. You will always want more space than you have, but a 6m van forces you to think vary carefully about what you take. If you can't live with only three changes of clothing (plus some sportswear and extras for other seasons) then a smaller van might not be for you. You also need to be creative with cooking (amazing what you can do with six basic herbs and spices) and with how you pack and store things. Some of the best storage solutions we've seen have been in VW campers and converted panel vans, it's well worth looking at some of those just for ideas.

Fuel for heating, cooking and hot water: There are numerous options for heating you, your food and your hot water. Our aim is not to be dependent on electrical hook-up (EHU) if at all possible. If we are on a site with electricity, then we can use it for hot water, electronics, and charging up our leisure battery. We have nothing that uses three pin sockets - every device we have charges via USB or a 12V cigarette lighter socket (laptop). We had extra USB charging sockets put in Florence before our trip. We have two leisure batteries, and a solar panel on the roof to help charge them. They are also charged by driving, and we are in the habit of moving on regularly when not on EHU to help keep them charged up. 

Most of the time we use our on-board gas supply for hot water and cooking. We had our Calor bottle replaced with a refillable system (Gaslow) which is topped up with Autogas/LPG. Finland is the only country in Europe without LPG fuel for vehicles, which meant we had to drive the length of the country in 12 days. There are other countries such as Italy and Greece which do not allow its use for cooking, and for that reason we have an external filler point which is indistinguishable from a vehicle fuel point. Some vehicles also use gas to heat the van, but we have a diesel powered system which uses fuel from our engine tank which is highly efficient and warm, but can be a little noisy. It heats with blown air, so it also requires some power to drive the fans, meaning you do need to keep an eye on battery levels when it's very cold.

Water: Florence has a 120 litre tank, which we find lasts four to five days if showering every other day. It does mean taking navy showers - turning off the water while lathering up, and then on to rinse off. We drink the water from the tank, but many people choose not to. The tap water we fill up with is safe in all of Europe, and we clean and disinfect our tank periodically, but it is a personal choice. We prefer not to buy bottled water, although we had to buy water twice in eight months when we were not able to find somewhere to fill up from a tap. 

Some people do not use their showers, and smaller vans will not have an on-board shower. This would limit you to staying on a site with showers as often as you want to take a shower, although beach showers may be an option in some places and are frequently used by panel van travellers. 

Posh Norwegian cassette cleaner

Toilet: Most vans will have some sort of toilet cassette, whether it is a small portapotty in a VW, a standard cassette or a tank system in a large RV. They will always need emptying. Some countries, such as France, Italy and Norway, have frequent service areas to empty your cassette. Others, such as most of the UK, Greece and Hungary, have very few. If service areas are limited then the safest option is to stay every third or fourth night on a campsite or camperstop where you can empty the cassette. We always carry a spare cassette and a shovel for emergencies, and try not to put toilet paper in the cassette.

Where to Spend the Night

This is another major consideration. Do you want to wild camp free of charge, are you prepared to stay on camperstops which may be anything from a basic car park to a small campsite, or do you only want to stay on campsites with full facilities? Budget will have the biggest impact on this decision, but it is also about the kinds of place where you want to wake up, and how concerned you are by being alone in an isolated place. 

If you won't sleep for worrying about intruders or police visits, then there is little point in parking wild. If you can't bear the thought of not being able to unpack the camp chairs and get out the barbecue, then you will need to stay on campsites. But if you want the experience of parking in a quiet lay-by in the mountains, or waking up by a Nordic lake, then you'll need to be prepared to go off grid. 

On our trip we used camperstops (Aires in France, Stellplätz in Germany etc) in countries where they are cheap and frequent (eg France), mandatory (eg Germany) or just convenient (eg Denmark). We almost exclusively wild camped in Scandinavia and the Baltic states which have a culture of free camping and places to empty the toilet cassette, and also in most of Greece. We spent two weeks over Christmas on a campsite in Greece, and on two other occasions during the four months we were there. We also stayed more than a few nights in car parks, and in parking provided by restaurants and pubs with the understanding that you will eat there. 

Check it's allowed to unpack the chairs

Apps: Whether you are opting for a mixed economy, exclusively wild camping, or staying on campsites, there will be an app to help you find somewhere. We found Park4Night suited us well, SearchforSites is also excellent, especially in the UK, France and Spain. There are better apps if you want to stay mostly on campsites, and it is worth considering an ACSI card which gives you reduced rates at campsites out of season. In all cases it is important to read the reviews and make an informed judgement. If youngsters frequently party all night and do wheelies in a car park, they are unlikely to refrain the night you plan to be there.

How Much it will Cost

I have encountered several people who vow that it's possible for two people to travel indefinitely for an average of £40 a night. Our experience was that over the eight months, half of which was spent in Greece, we spent just over £50 a night excluding major items, nearer £55 if you include a new battery and new brake pads. But that doesn't reflect the large difference in costs in different parts of Europe. We travelled quite quickly for the first couple of weeks to get up to Scandinavia, increasing the daily fuel cost. We also stayed at the most convenient camper stops, not necessarily the cheapest. So for the first part of our journey the average daily spend stayed relentlessly around £80. From Hungary to Greece it was substantially lower. This cost includes wine and food, but we only ate out about once a week, and that was often a café lunch rather than an evening meal. When we did stay at a campsite we were paying very cheap winter rates. We also spent very little on entertainment, chiefly on museums and sites which were more affordable than the £20 a head you can expect to pay in Norway. On average we drove about 45 minutes a day, so fuel costs were kept as low as possible, but were a considerable portion of the budget in some countries. 

Where to go

Well, that's up to you. Brexit means you will be limited to 90 days in any 180 within the Schengen area, making a trip like ours rather more difficult. If you are new to motorhoming then I would strongly recommend spending some time in France to learn the ropes. It's one of the most Camper friendly countries, and will set you up well for travelling further afield. Do carefully research the law in any country you plan to visit. Wild camping is strictly illegal in Croatia, and is being made so in Portugal, which had previously been more accommodating. Having said that, wild camping is also illegal in Greece and Spain, but parking up and sleeping in your van is not. Sometimes it's about knowing the rules and how closely they are observed. Read some motorhome blogs, such as OurTour, think about how you want to spend your time, what you want to see and what your budget is, and take it from there. 

Return to Blighty and the sound of the last post

It was pretty obvious that the French were taking little notice of the advice not to socialise so it came as no great surprise when we saw the news that Macron had announced a complete lockdown from midday on 17th March. Anyone wanting to leave the house for any reason, even if just to walk the dog, had to complete an online form and print it out. Luckily they were happy to allow a handwritten transcription so Neri copied one out for each of us. We had spent the night in Belleville, just north of Lyon and we found a nice walk around a local lake to give the spaniels some fresh air. I went into the local Intermarché to get some groceries where they were limiting the number of people who could be inside at any one time. Then it was back on the autoroute again. 

Can't travel without this

It was quite an eerie experience at midday, when the new restrictions kicked in. Suddenly the number of cars on the road dropped by about 80% leaving just trucks, and a steady stream of British and German motorhomes all heading north. We spent our final night in France in the beautiful village of Trépail, south of Reims, where the commune had provided a lovely motorhome stopover. The next morning saw us wandering along the paths through the vineyards which were a hive of activity as workers prepared for the first buds to emerge. It was the sort of place where we would normally have spent a couple of days visiting the local champagne shops and restaurants but they were all closed.

A misty morning in Champagne

We skirted Reims on the way north and decided to pull in to the LeClerc hypermarket in Arras to take advantage of the low wine prices. It was a bizarre experience. The car park was deserted, and there were no more than 20 people in the entire store. The cashiers on the two tills that were open were wearing strange yellow helmets with drop-down plastic visors, much like those worn by welders. In contrast to the stories of panic buying and empty shelves we had seen on UK news websites, all the shelves in LeClerc were full, including the toilet rolls. 

Have to get used to this again

Neri's decision to copy the movement permission form proved to be a wise one. As we approached the toll booths to get back on the autoroute we were flagged down by two gendarmes who carefully read both our forms before allowing us to proceed.The rest of the journey to Calais passed without incident and, having had the routine check on the spaniels' Pet Passports, we drove onto the train. It was a little strange to be driving on the left after eight months of being on the other side of the road but we made it safely to my brother-in-law just outside Sevenoaks.

Our plan had been to stay there for a few days and then see if we could find a campsite that would allow us to remain until our tenants leave our house in August. A site near Clitheroe offered us a good deal and it meant we would be a few miles from home and in our own NHS area. This morning we were preparing to leave when we had an e mail from the site, telling us they felt they had to shut down. It looks as if we are going to be in Kent for the duration and fully expect a full lockdown at any moment.. 

It's a strange and abrupt end to our trip. We are consoling ourselves by looking back on the amazing eight months we enjoyed, the places we saw and the people we met. At the moment we feel a little like nomads in our own land. 

The long road home

Our plans to stay in southern France were relatively short lived. After two nights in Nice on what was effectively a dark parking lot with Motorhome services, we headed west towards St Tropez. We wanted to return to an aire by the beach at Ramatuelle that we’d visited four years ago. We remembered it being big, light and spacious, but most importantly it led directly onto a huge beach remote from the roads. We felt the spaniels deserved some off-lead time to run free after the long journey and the strict rules for dogs around Nice, which allocates them one small patch of shingle out of 23 sections of beach.

Good news: Marmite in Carrefour

Once again we started to construct a set of plans to respond to different circumstances, reacting to news starting to come in from Spain about the lockdown there. People who were on campsites were being allowed to stay, but no new arrivals were being admitted. We wondered if we could find a quiet site in Provence and stay put for, well who knew? A month? More? It would have to be the right site, but we thought we’d found one to fit the bill. 

All the French on the aire at Ramatuelle were behaving as if nothing was happening, although by now Nick and I were wincing every time someone shook hands. We’d been carefully observing social distancing since soon after arriving in Italy, washing our hands before and after leaving the van and trying not to get too close to people. In France it seems no one was taking it seriously, and that was confirmed on Saturday evening when President Macron announced the closure of non-essential shops, and all cafés, restaurants and night clubs. He said it was out of concern that people weren't changing their habits. It wasn’t a total lockdown, but it was enough to put the kibosh on any plans to make a preemptive dash for a site. It was time to go home - at least to the UK. We'll be making other arrangements until we can get back into our house in August.

We decided that this time there would be no mad dash after a sleepless night, and we would take it a little more slowly than the retreat from Italy. The distance ahead of us as much the same as we travelled then, 1100km. Under normal circumstances we don’t drive more than 100km a day, more usually 60-70. Long days in the van are not popular with spaniels. Or with their humans come to that.

Lots of motorhomes waiting in Pélissanne

We had a long walk on the beach, packed up, and by early afternoon we were parked up in Pelissonne, near Aix en Provence, after about two hour’s driving. We had the last formal Motorhome space out of twenty, several other vans were parked elsewhere. Almost all were French, and none looked to be moving in a hurry. We took the dogs out for a stroll in the sunshine, watched people playing boules and teenagers on the skatepark, and settled in for some route planning, and the necessary writing of the pages for the Redruth Rugby programme, which has continued throughout our trip. At that point the inevitable message arrived from my old colleagues on Breakfast - could one of us go on air in the morning to talk about our experience. Nick volunteered, and we settled in for an early night.

A wander around Pélissanne

The next morning the interview with Louise on Breakfast went off smoothly, I phoned the local vet to get an appointment for the spaniels to have their pre-tunnel checks, and Nick eventually managed to get through to the Caravan and Motorhome Club, through which we'd booked our Tunnel tickets. They were suspicious when he said we had tickets for July, having dealt with lots of callers asking what do do about summer holidays. As soon as he said we were in France and trying to get home, they sprang into action, and we soon had a new booking for Wednesday afternoon. We set off to walk the pups, and were detained briefly by a couple of men from French motorhomes, who assured us that the virus wasn't at all dangerous, it was all government propaganda. They also told us rather gleefully that the borders were closing tonight and we wouldn't be able to get home. We made our excuses and left.

By twelve o'clock the pups had been seen by a lovely French vet, and we were back on the road, heading north of Lyon. After three hours driving, with a stop for lunch, we pulled into an aire for the night. It was full, but Florence is small enough to tuck into a car space, and we settled in to watch first Boris Johnson and then Emmanuel Macron doing a press conference. The contrast in style was noticeable, and shed some light on the attitude of the dubious Frenchmen, who clearly don't like being alternatively cajoled and threatened. I make no comment about Boris Johnson, but I'll back evidence based science, computer modelling and behavioural psychology over promises to punish miscreants any day. 

Incontinent pigeons and a mad dash north

                                                                                  

We should still be poodling about in Puglia....instead we are in a French campsite recovering from a two day dash up the length of Italy. Our plans to hunker down in Calabria and Sicily and wait for developments, were knocked on the head on Monday evening when the Italian government announced that the shut down due to Coronavirus, which up till then had been confined to the far North, was to take effect across the whole of Italy. Travel restrictions were due to be imposed from the following morning and we were a long way from anywhere else.

A lot of Italian legal verbiage

A friend in Rome sent us a form which everyone had to fill in if they were going out on the roads giving the reason for their journey. Going to work, returning home after being away or family emergencies were the only exceptions to the travel ban. Given we had no printer Neri laboriously transcribed it onto a piece of paper so that, if we were waved down, we at least could say we had made the effort. An Austrian friend texted us to say their border with Italy was being closed and that was closely followed by the borders with Slovenia and Switzerland. We decided that our only option was to head for France, a journey of 1100 km and hope for the best. All this caused us to have something of a fretful night, not helped by the regular thump of pigeon droppings hitting the roof from the car park rafters above.

Goodness knows what they had been eating

We were on the road by 0730 having risen early and taken the pups for a swift walk to a local park where we were lucky enough to find a dog area. Then it was on the road for a cross-country journey to the west where we could pick up the autostrade heading towards Naples. On the way we passed close to the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum which we had hoped to visit before the pestilence arrived. We will be back another time. The roads were unusually quiet, a lot of lorries but very few cars, as people heeded the requests to stay at home. All the way we were expecting to be pulled over by the police for a check but we saw no sign of any enforcement of the restrictions. On the first day we managed to get to Orvieto, north of Rome, which we had visited some years before. We found a quiet overnight spot near a football pitch. 

A nice walk by the river in Orvieto

An empty autostrade near Florence

The following day was a repeat of the first although we were a little more relaxed about the lack of any security. The Italian government announced that tourism to the country was halted and any foreigners in Italy should leave as soon as possible. We found ourselves driving non-stop through the beautiful areas of Umbria and Tuscany where we had planned to spend some time. Thanks to the empty roads we made good progress, stopping only to eat and refuel. We were concerned about the spaniels who were less than happy about being hitched up in the van for hours on end with just a quick trot outside every time we stopped. Our only major problem was in Genoa where the collapse of the viaduct carrying the A10 autostrade, back in 2018, meant all traffic was diverted through the twisting roads of the city. We did eventually extract ourselves after a couple of wrong turnings, and a bit of shouting, and drove the final hundred or so kilometres towards the French border.

There was a poignant moment as we stopped at the last Italian toll point to pay. The man

Italian motorway services have dog areas

inside gave us a farewell wave as we left, no doubt one of many he had given over the last few days. As we approached France we had passports ready for what we were sure would be checks at the border, and prepared our story to say we had come from Greece and hadn't been in contact with anyone in Italy. In the event there was no border control at all and we only realised we had left Italy when the language on the roadsigns changed. I scrabbled frantically in the glove box for our French electronic toll tag as we approached a péage. We hadn't expected to use it this early in our trip.

France at last

We rarely use camping sites but had decided we needed somewhere to wind down. This we did at a site to the west of Nice where we arrived as darkness fell. Thursday was spent taking the spaniels for a much needed walk along a nearby beach and using the laundry facilities. We have decided we are going to stay in Southern France unless circumstances change. It's an area we visited four years ago so we are more than happy to rediscover the countryside and the cuisine. Everything now depends on how the French react to the Coronavirus. We will keep a close eye on the news while finding somewhere to clean the roof of pigeon shit.

Elsa tends to sleep the journey away......

......while Max hunches up and hopes it ends soon

Quarantine, pollution and a crumbing city

We had been keeping abreast of the news, but neither of us expected to wake up on Sunday morning and discover that Italy had placed 16 million people in quarantine. It had also closed all museums and archeological sites, meaning our plans to visit Pompei and Herculaneum, among others, were now in much the same state as the people who at lived at the foot of Vesuvius. 

With Coronavirus so much in the news, readers may wonder why we still chose to come to Italy. At the time there seemed little alternative. The cases were all in the north, and most remain 1000km away from us. Italy is a big country. Our only other options were to stay in Greece without knowing how long we might be there, or to face a very long drive back through Bulgaria and Romania. While Italy certainly has a high number of cases, and many people have sadly died, there are also more than a thousand cases in both France and Germany. Unless all the borders close, it would be easier to get home from here than it would be from Greece, and discovering new places is far preferable to retracing our steps.

The good news: signs of spring 

Along with the rest of the world we are having to reassess the situation and modify our plans on a daily basis. We now have plans A, B, C, D and E, involving everything from ferries from Sicily to Toulon, to non-stop drives along the autostrada. If all countries close their borders with Italy, then we shall just have to stay here until they open again. In the meantime we are continuing to live life the way we have become accustomed: lots of walks with the dogs, wandering around towns, and driving relatively short distances. We already live a pretty isolated existence, and I was careful to observe the metre separation from other people in Lidl that was instructed over the tannoy at 30" intervals. Nick says no such rules were in place in the small shop in someone's front room where he bought bread for lunch.

A moody day in Gallipoli

We woke up on Sunday in Gallipoli, one of many places in Puglia with a Greek history. Its name is from the Greek Kali Polis, beautiful city. It certainly has a fabulous location, on a small island next to a wide bay. We had spent the afternoon before exploring the old town with its narrow streets and faded grandeur, but it failed to sparkle under a grey sludgy sky. Sunday morning dawned much brighter, and we all had a nice walk along the sea front promenade, where lots of other people were also taking in the fresh air. 

Gallipoli looks brighter in the sun

Once on the road, our first port of call was a service station with motorhome facilities where we hoped to empty the toilet cassette and grey water tank and fill with fresh water - a process for which the Italians have the wonderful phrase "carico e scarico": loading and unloading. Unfortunately the service point was closed as it was a Sunday, and our main cassette (Waterloo) was almost full. Luckily a nearby town had a water fountain with a tap, so we were soon loaded up, and the spare cassette (St Pancrap) was pressed into service. It's good to have it back - we went several weeks in Greece without it as we could only get the replacement part we needed in Athens.

Taranto in elegant mood

Our next stop was in the naval port of Taranto, an industrial city with steelworks making it one of the most polluted places to live in Europe, but once a settlement town founded by the Spartans in 800BCE. Unmarried women were forcibly made pregnant to produce extra soldiers in time of war. The soldiers were stripped of their Spartan citizenship when the war was over, and set out to found Taranto instead. It has an unmatched location, with three peninsulas creating an inner lagoon and outer bay. A canal through one peninsula has turned the old town into an island.  The lagoons are also full of mussel beds, but the molluscs are so full of pollution you probably wouldn't want to eat them. 

We pulled into a car park near the bus station and went for a short stroll. It was very quiet, rather run down, and the stray dogs were vocal and not in good condition. One bad review was enough to plant a seed of doubt in our minds, and we have long since agreed that if one of us isn't sure, then we move. So it was back in the van, and out to a shopping centre on the outskirts with parking for thousands of vehicles. Although it was private land there were no obvious prohibitions, and we spent a quiet night there. The morning brought our first encounter with the Happy Casa homewares store, and the exciting discovery that it was possible to buy a replacement cup and seal for my well used Bialetti coffee maker without having to replace the whole thing.

The Palazzo del Governo, Mussolini 1934

With the sun shining we returned to the car park in Taranto, which looked much livelier on a weekday, and went for a walk around the old town and along the lungomare promenade. The sea front was busy with fishermen and stalls, as well as people caring for the children that can't go to school, or aren't themselves able to go to work. We admired the muscular Aragonese castle, while Mussolini's 1934 colossal Palazzo del Governo inspired a discussion about the similarities between fascist and communist architecture.

Last remains of the Greeks

After admiring the few vestiges of the Greek presence, two columns on the edge of the old town, we plunged into the pedestrianised area. Within a couple of blocks we had left the faded elegance of a few long neglected palazzos for an interior that left us both lost for words. If the former was a Miss Havershamesque one-time stunner, then the latter was a zombie crawling from the grave shedding bandages, with eyes rolling on cheeks and bones bursting through flesh. It was Dickensian in its fall from grace: balconies collapsed from rust, windows were filled with concrete, churches were left locked up and allowed to crumble. Glimpses inside apartment buildings revealed entrance foyers being used as garages. In a city where the air itself is toxic, decaying buildings are just another symptom, but somehow life still continues here. And the walls are brightened by colourful street art, some political, some beautiful, but paint alone can't possibly blight the wreckage of these old structures.  

Street art in Taranto

Lived in, but falling apart

It was time for some cleaner air, and we headed inland for Matera, a place with its own colourful history, and its own problems, of which more next time. We had hoped to stay at a camper stop in the stunning hills of the nearby regional park, but it turned out to be government owned, and hence closed because of the coronavirus. A kind ranger allowed us to "carico e scarico" but we are again spending the night in car park, this time in designated motorhome bays in the centre of Matera. We shall explore tomorrow. 

Elsa finds the smallest street in Taranto

Best keep your tail out of that water

Carvings, skeletons and the search for a blocked sewer

Back in 2000 Luciano Faggiano bought an old building in the city of Lecce, planning to transform it into a trattoria. He got a lot of the refurbishment done but noticed that the toilet was backing up. He suspected a broken sewer pipe and decided to dig a trench in the floor in order to repair it. Under the floor he found old corridors and rooms so he kept digging. As he got deeper he uncovered layers of history including an old tomb, a Roman granary, a Franciscan chapel and etchings made by the Knights Templar. Eventually someone noticed him taking rubble away in the back of his car and reported him to the authorities. He was allowed to continue digging under the supervision of an archaeologist. This did put paid to his habit of tying a rope around his 12 year old son and lowering him into the smaller holes. The building is now a

He did eventually find the broken pipe

museum containing the artefacts he found in his search for the suspect pipe.

The tale sums up Lecce where we we spent our second night in Italy. This city of 95,000 people, like many in Italy, is built on the layers of those who have gone before and it is almost impossible to carry out any development without finding more relics from the past. The plan to build a car park had to be abandoned when a Roman temple was discovered under the site while a statue of the city's patron saint had to be relocated when it was realised a Roman amphitheatre was underneath. With all this history under our feet we wandered the narrow streets marvelling at buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. Stone carving seems to have been something of an obsession from this baroque period with churches and public buildings adorned with both human and animal figures everywhere we looked. 

Still space for a few more creatures

This was here all the time

We had spent our first Italian night in Brindisi where the local council had provided a motorhome parking area. We were grateful to park up and relax after the disturbed night on the ferry. After lunch we ventured out for a stroll along the impressive harbour front with its Venetian buildings before venturing into the narrow streets of the old town. The following morning we repeated the walk before heading south to Lecce. In Greece Lidl had been our go-to for food shopping so we were delighted to find they were in Italy as well.  We were also pleased to find that, amongst all the Italian products, they still stocked Greek yogurt. We drove a short distance to a Speed Queen laundrette, the first we had seen since Poland. Having got the washing done we fetched up in a large car park close to the bus station which gave us a great opportunity for people watching as the long distance coaches came and went. 

Nice bit of paving in Lecce

In Greece we had bought the spaniels' food in Lidl as they stocked one that is wheat free. Unfortunately the Lidl in Lecce did not have it so the following morning we drove south to a large shopping centre which boasted a huge pet store. While in the car park we bumped into a couple from Lancashire who were in the process of moving to live in Italy. It was then a short drive to the coastal town of Otranto where we pulled into a quiet grassed area on the edge of the town.

Otranto boasts a large castle built in medieval times which played a central part in the struggles for supremacy in his part of Italy by Franks, Ottomans and, later Napoleon's French forces. The author Horace Walpole used the name in his 1764 tale, The Castle of Otranto, which is generally regarded as the first ever  gothic novel. Ironically Walpole had just picked the name from a map and didn't even know that the town had a castle until some 20 years after his novel was published. 

The castle that launched a literary genre

We took the pups for a very breezy coastal walk and the open rocky countryside enabled us to let them off the lead for a good run. On the way they were able to swim in the so called Bauxite Lake, emerald green water surrounded by steep sides of red rock, the remains of an old quarry. Having left them to sleep in Florence we walked to the castle but unfortunately it was closed. However we were able to admire the extensive fortifications that dominate the harbour before looking for lunch. The small cafe we found was adequate rather than inspiring so after eating, we set off to find somewhere to pass the time before the cathedral opened at three. We discovered a lovely little wine bar where the friendly proprietor showed us down to the cellar with a couple of glasses of the local reds. This part of Italy produces some fantastic wines which are great value. He also sorted us out with a selection of baby cakes and pastries which are something of a local speciality.

Bit of a breezy walk along the Adriatic

Surrounded by wine

Our final port of call for the afternoon was the 11th century cathedral which we found far less ornate than many of the Catholic places of worship we have visited in the past. The whole floor is made up of a mosaic which is quite stunning. However, for me the big attraction was the glass fronted panels behind the altar which contain the bones of some of the 800 townsfolk who were killed by the invading Turks in 1480, reportedly because they refused to convert to Islam. They were all canonised by Pope Francis in 2013 which probably made them feel better. The skulls of the new saints now look blankly out at the cameras of visiting tourists. While not as impressive as the Chapel of Bones in Evora, Portugal, they made quite a show.

All Saints

You looking at me?

This must have taken a while to lay

We have been so taken with this little town and the quiet parking place we have found, that we decided to stay here for a second night. The weather has been a little indifferent since our arrival here and rain is forecast for the weekend. Tomorrow it is back on the road as we head to Gallipoli...that's the Italian rather than the Turkish one. 

You need a narrow car in Otranto

Spending the winter in Greece in a motorhome

We have spent four months in Greece, arriving in the north from Bulgaria in the first week of November and leaving from the port of Igoumenitsa on the west coast in early March. It has been everything we hoped for, offering fabulous scenery, a variety of free overnight parking places, friendly people, beautiful weather and astonishing heritage. We have loved every minute, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to likeminded motorhomers. 

Here are our top ten memories from our winter in Greece:

• Relaxed, welcoming, friendly and approachable people
• More blue skies than we had any right to expect
• Incredible archaeology, from the crowning glory of the Parthenon to bronze age graves lying open on the beach
• Snow capped mountain peaks, sheer cliffs, and sandy beaches by turquoise seas
• Fresh, simple food cooked to order
• Monasteries clinging to vertical rock faces and perched on impossible peaks
• Greek yoghurt with black honey from mountain bees
• Pretty harbours with bobbing fishing boats beside sleek pleasure yachts
• Fresh orange juice for breakfast from fruit bought cheap at the roadside 
• Sun-kissed mountain villages with paved streets and narrow alleyways

We've pulled together this guide to winter motor homing in Greece from our experience. We hope you find it useful.

Weather

Let's face it, the reason for spending the winter in southern Europe is in the hope of better weather than in the north. Even four-seasons motorhomers struggle when it rains for days on end. We can't promise that every winter will be as dry and warm as 2019/20, but this was our experience:

• A handful of washout days, mainly in the north, barely any in the Peloponnese
• Half a dozen spectacular thunderstorms, sometimes with high winds
• Average daytime temperatures of 14-18º C
• Average nighttime temperatures of 4-6º C
• Spending most days in a light jumper or t-shirt
• Only needing a jacket at night, or on a dozen or so cooler days
• Being able to sit outside comfortably in 12-14ºC, because the sun is so strong
• Swimming on Christmas Day
• Blue skies and sunshine for some part of most days

We had two weeks in Halkidiki, northern Greece, in November, in which the weather was 18-22ºC most days, but we were told this was unusually warm. We also had four weeks of almost unbroken dry weather in December and January in the Peloponnese. The weather  was noticeably wetter and cloudier as we came north along the west coast in late February. Water temperatures were 16/17º C in November, but nearer 13ºC in March.

Blue skies...

In short, it was perfect weather for being active and outdoors, but not really sunbathing weather. Being from the north of England we were also wearing at least two layers less than the locals, who were invariably in their big coats.

...and wet days too

Getting there

Overland
We chose to take the longer route south through Romania and Bulgaria, avoiding most of the former Yugoslavia, for three reasons. 

• Our insurance only covers us for the EU and a few other named countries, and we would have had to buy extra cover 
• We do not have titration test results to prove the dogs have rabies immunity, required to cross some non-EU borders 
• Romania and Bulgaria are beautiful, fascinating countries to visit, Transylvania was one of the highlights of our trip, and we would have no hesitation in recommending that route to Greece.

By ferry
We decided to leave Greece via the Grimaldi Lines ferry from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi, one of the shortest crossings. It was still winter, so camping on deck was not possible (only allowed from April) so we booked a pet cabin for the four of us. The cabin was large and fairly comfortable, if basic. Organisation for tourist passengers left a lot to be desired, and it's largely up to you to find the ship and where to board it. These ferries are the truckstops of the ferry world and mostly consist of vehicle decks full of trucks. Passengers board on the vehicle ramp and drivers need to exit the van quickly or risk being blocked in.

On the road

Driving
We found Greek drivers to be, on the whole, good natured and tolerant. They make it their business to get past you, and if they make a few death defying manoeuvres to do so, then that's their business. Pulling over to make it easier is appreciated, and you'll often see lorries driving on the hard shoulder so others can pass. 
We rarely felt that anyone questioned our presence in their small mountain/fishing village. Lorries, buses and tractors are probably using the same roads - in fact one of the few occasions we had to reverse was when the truck in front and the scheduled bus service all had to make way for a truck and trailer at a pinch point. 
If you take it slowly, watch for high level balconies and branches, and are prepared to reverse, then you should be able to drive most places that you want to go. Impossibly tight places are usually clearly marked to exclude lorries, caravans or vehicles over 3.5t. Larger vehicles may want to stick to trunk roads for most of the journey.
You may find stress levels higher in cities and in the summer season. 
  
Roads

Best not drive here

The roads themselves are generally good quality, with the infrequent frosts making the surfaces better than many we have seen elsewhere. They tend to be worse through villages, where regional road maintenance clearly doesn't extend. Dirtroads through olive groves may appear on maps as part of the road network, and will often be very rough and narrow.  
If you are driving around the Peloponnese peninsulas, or on a mountain pass, then you will need to negotiate hairpins, but those we encountered were generally wide and not too steep. The edges of the roads were usually in acceptable condition, with cones, rocks or barriers placed where crumbling was likely to be a hazard. We didn't attempt the Langada pass (1500m) but we did drive the Kosmas pass (1168m) and found it straightforward, if a little dizzying. There were sections with no barriers, including some of the hairpins. 
For almost all of our trip the roads were quiet - we encountered only six vehicles on the Kosmas pass - and that made driving much easier than it might have been. By contrast we went to the pretty mountain village of Arachova on a Sunday near Christmas and found the roads lined with cars and the streets thronging with people. Fortunately the spacious lookout point about a mile away easily accommodated Florence.

Signs and road markings
These were usually familiar, and not too hard to follow, although both signs and white Iines are often badly faded. If a destination sign is in Greek characters it will usually be repeated in Roman ones.
Speed limits are a maximum of 50kph through villages and 80 or 90 elsewhere. The limit starts with the village sign if there is no speed limit sign. Some areas have 30kph limits, especially near schools. Speed cameras are signed and not uncommon.
Stop signs are frequent where we would expect a Give Way - on roundabouts, when merging with a main road and even at traffic lights. This appears to be the only way to get the attention of Greek drivers, but we've observed that a "rolling stop" is common. It may also be to reinforce roundabout rules in a country that has had priority to right in the past, and there are still a few roundabouts where the priority remains with the major road, so it's important to look for Stop signs.
Double white lines are common and may prevent you from making a left turn towards your destination. Google Maps was aware of many, but not all of the banned left turns. The alternative will usually involve a detour.
Traffic lights go directly from red to green. They are preceded by flashing amber lights to warn you of an approaching red.

Fuel
There are fuel stations everywhere, and if there is one, there will usually be several. We used a variety of different brands without problem, preferring those on the outskirts of towns where there is more room for a motorhome to manoeuvre. Some fuel stations in smaller towns close on Sundays. All the fuel stations we used had serviced pumps. All took cards - except for a small one outside Nafplio being looked after for the afternoon by granny, who was adamant her eyes weren't good enough to use the machine!

Tolls
Tolls only apply on motorways, but they can quickly become expensive. The higher rate applies to any vehicle over 2.7m high, which meant that where a car might pay, for example, €1.80, we would be charged between 4 and 5 euros for as little as 15km. Generally we avoided toll roads, but there were occasions around Thessalonika and Athens where it was easier to use the motorway. 
You can use ViaMichelin to calculate tolls.
In some places where a motorway has replaced an old national road, the old road may now ban traffic over 3.5t (eg the 8 between Corinth and Patras) and all maintenance will almost certainly have ceased, making these some of the worst roads to drive, albeit the most picturesque. 

Parking 
Parking gets a special mention in Greece because it appears part of the culture to park anywhere the vehicle will fit. Parking on corners, in narrow streets, and double parking are all common, although double parked vehicles usually have their hazards on. However, in most cases people do seem to have a psychic ability to know how much space to leave, and we never failed to find a way through, even if there was sometimes only a couple of inches either side. 
We didn't actually see anyone with a parking ticket, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It does mean that, out of season, you are unlikely to be bothered if you park somewhere sensible like the side of a road or an area of rough ground that looks vaguely like a car park. 

Food and drink

Supermarkets
There are several big chains of supermarkets. We tended to favour Lidl as the brands were familiar and almost everything is labelled in English as well as Greek. We became fond of Sklabenitis, which is more upmarket and has an excellent range. AB and Masoutis were good middle market options.

Convenience stores are in most small towns and villages, often still signed as supermarkets. Many carry an excellent range. Don't expect fresh bread if there is a bakery in town - you'll have to buy that separately. 

Local produce

Wonderful black honey

We enjoyed Kalamata olives, and olive oil; greek yoghurt; honey, and fresh orange juice. Oranges are €3-4 a bag at roadside stalls - don't forget to bring a hand juicer.

Eating out
Eating out in the closed season isn't always easy, as most of the tavernas in tourist areas close over winter. In non-tourist areas food is not always served at lunchtime, when Greeks seem to exist on coffee, and perhaps a pastry. When food is served in the day it's more likely to be burgers and pizza than traditional fare. Souvlaki and Gyros are also easy to find.
That said, we had several lovely meals, usually by just checking ahead that they would be open. A couple of times we were the only customers, and the menu was short and reeled off by the proprietor, but none the worse for that. 
Out of season dishes that require long preparation times may not be available. Be prepared to be flexible. Traditional tavernas usually provide a free starter and desert, often fruit. 
We had a couple of nice meals by asking for a few starters as a meze when a menu was offered. Nibbles are usually given free with drinks.
Fish is expensive in Greece, but it's caught in a traditionally labour intensive way, and was still swimming earlier that day. If you are worried, check the price first.
We ate out about once a week, spending an average of €30 for two, with wine.
See Taverna car parks below for more info on using them as Motorhome stopovers.

Alcohol
To anyone who thinks Greek wine starts and ends with Retsina, well, think again. The quality of Greek wine has come on in leaps and bounds....just as well as you will struggle to find imported wines in Greek supermarkets and, when you do, they will be eye-wateringly expensive. 

If you are eating out just ask for a carafe of the house red or white and you will not be disappointed. When shopping we bought most of our wine in Lidl where it is possible to get perfectly acceptable reds and dry whites for less than €4. Nemea red was consistently reliable. If you want to push the boat out Santorini is seen as the peak of Greek wines but be prepared to pay €15-20 a bottle. Mavrodafni is a rather nice sweet red wine, like a light port. 

Greece makes a lot of lager which isn't normally to our taste. The brands we most liked were Fix and Vergina. Lidl beer range is pretty poor but you will find German and Belgian beer in many other supermarkets. Lidl was useful for gin €9 a bottle, and also sold Tuborg tonic. Imported spirits are expensive.

Motorhome servicing

Fresh water

A roadside fountain

Water is seen a public good in Greece, and there are numerous fountains by the side of the road, standpipes in marinas, and beach showers with taps in resorts. Many of these are no longer in use, or are turned off in winter, but their recent status is usually clearly marked on Park4Night, and we rarely struggled to fill the tank. On one occasion roads to the fountain were too narrow to risk, and we had no problem filling at a local garage, but we rarely had cause to ask.
Many of the fountains and beach showers have screw fittings for hose connectors, but by no means all. We carry two collapsible 10l water carriers, and we used them to fill the tank via the internal cap on half a dozen occasions in Greece. (They were a lifesaver in Bulgaria.)
We drink the water in our tank. We know some people choose not to, but the water from mountain springs and rural fountains is usually lovely. City water is more heavily chlorinated.

Grey water
There are virtually no official places to dump grey water, certainly not drive-over ones. We stopped regularly on waste ground and let it run into the gravel. We were careful not to let it run onto a road, drop it on a tarmac parking area or leave puddles. Even in the campsites we stayed on we had to empty with a bucket, and it's worth having a collapsible bowl and bucket to collect grey water so it can be emptied into grass or bushes.

Black water
This is the most challenging aspect of motorhoming in Greece over winter if you do not use campsites. We found only one official motorhome cassette emptying point in Greece. (At a services east of Thessalonika.)
Public toilets are usually locked out of season, although the tourist information officer in Edessa was keen to tell us we could not only park next to his office but use the nearby open public toilets to (mimes chucking). Others we met were told the same by the attendant at a motorway services. Most people in Greece are not precious about bodily fluids, and where public toilets are open few would think it strange to put down them what usually goes down them. Think grannies and chamber pots. 
Do remember that you should not usually put toilet paper down Greek toilets, there will be a bin provided.
Where we failed to find public toilets or portaloos, and we were between campsites, it was not hard to find remote places to take a shovel. We do not use chemicals. 
As you can see, a spare cassette is a must.

Rubbish
Large communal rubbish bins are everywhere in Greece, usually accompanied by blue recycling bins. We didn't find it difficult to dispose of waste and recycling. Few bins were quite as hi-tech as the talking underground bins we encountered in Areopoli, but then they don't need to be. 

Talking bins

LPG
We use a Gaslow cylinder for cooking, heating water and for the fridge when not on hook-up, which is most of the time. We refill using an Autogas filler point in the skirt of the van. We were refused a fill-up twice, and told that suppliers are not allowed to provide autogas for cooking in Greece. We successfully filled up ten other times. 
We deduced from this that most places either assume we are using it for engine fuel, or operate a don't ask/don't tell policy. To assist with this we never opened the gas locker, keeping the adaptor separately, and we never filled up with diesel at the same service station. 
Autogas was widely available and well signed, with at least one fuel station stocking it in each town, generally on the outskirts.
Park4night also has details of suppliers which will refill other gas canisters, but we never had to use them.

Motorhome Stopovers

Wild camping
Wild, or free camping is illegal in Greece and subject to a €300 fine. It seems clear to us that the definition of camping is well understood by the local police, and parking a motorhome legally and sleeping in it is not a problem, especially out of season, as long as you do not indulge in camping behaviour. The rules for this are much the same as in Spain: no unpacking tables and chairs, no hanging washing outside the van, no dropping fluids. 
We found some truly fabulous wild camping spots, and only one or two we wouldn't use again, all with the help and guidance of park4night. 
The places we found fell into three main categories: marinas and harbours, quiet roads beside the beach or parking areas off them, and mountain lay-bys. 
Marinas and harbours are the most dependable option, used as they are to having visiting yachts, and generally providing plenty of space for parking and accessible water points. 
We spent a lot of time parked alongside beaches where we could usually walk our spaniels, find water from beach showers, and enjoy a nice view. The best of these were off the beaten track, and dead-end roads are worth seeking out.

A quiet cove

Mountain lay-bys can be limiting if you need to walk dogs, but offer great views and can be invaluable when travelling.
You'll notice that No Camping signs tend to have pictograms of tents and caravans, and it's these that they are primarily intended to discourage. Self-contained motorhomes staying a single night are usually overlooked out of season. Officially you aren't allowed to spend the night at an archaeological site, but we used their car parks several times without comment from staff.
Three places where we stayed were visited by police. Once they asked a French van which had been parked for several days if they would move on the next day. The second time it was to enlist our help to find a missing person who'd been seen travelling with someone in a motorhome. The third time it was to point out that the area where seven motorhomes had now gathered by the beach in Kalamata wasn't actually part of the car park and could we move. Many other times police drove by, looked us over and moved on.
The message is clear: don't unpack, leave the area clean and tidy, don't outstay your welcome and don't assemble in large numbers. 
I'd add one other: be nice to people fishing. At most harbours and beaches people will turn up to go night fishing. You are on their turf. If you say hello and don't get in their way they will just work around you. And they are the best security system you could have. 

Wild camping as it should be

Campsites
Most campsites in Greece close over winter, but not all. In the Peloponnese there are at least ten open through the year, and they can be a great place to spend some downtime, or to come off the road for weeks at a time. We spent two weeks over Christmas at Camping Finikes (€14 a night) and loved it. We also spent time at Camping Mani Beach (€18), and Camping Argolic Strand (€18). There is also an all-year campsite at Meteora (€15), and a great Camperstop at Ancient Corinth (€13).
Bear in mind: the campsite will be almost empty, and bars, pools and shops won't be open; there will be a few people there spending the whole winter, often in caravans; other campsite facilities are pretty basic. 
For all that, it's somewhere to indulge in all that camping behaviour - take out the chairs and tables, set up the barbecue, hang out the washing. 

Taverna car parks
The Greek equivalent of Britstops, these are growing in popularity, and can be a great option if you accept that eating in the taverna is expected, if not obligatory. We had a great experience near Areopoli, with a friendly host and a good value meal. However, many of these will be closed out of season, and are primarily to offer people an option on the road in the summer.

Laundry

Some laundrettes cater for pups

In the North of Greece, particularly in the large cities like Athens and Thessalonika, self service laundrettes are common and good value. They often have free Wifi so you can browse the internet while your clothes go round and round. We found these much less common in the Peloponnese. The alternatives were to spend a couple of nights on a site to allow for laundry and a bit of cleaning of the van. Park4Nights usually indicates whether a particular site has a washing machine although there may only be one. Dryers on sites are rare, hardly surprising given the climate, so do your wash when you know you can hang up the damp clothes.

One other alternative in some towns are service washes, often attached to a dry cleaners. They will normally return your clothes dried and folded the same day or, at worst, within 24 hours. Expect to pay more here than in laundrettes. We paid €20 for two 7 kilo loads in Sparta.

Things to do

An interest in history is invaluable when visiting Greece, and we went to most of the major UNESCO world heritage sites on the mainland. In winter everyone pays the reduced rate, usually €3-6, which will also allow you entrance to the associated museum. The first Sunday of the month is free. Many small local sites are also free, and can be fun just to wander around.
We didn't visit many monasteries, some aren't very motorhome friendly to access, but we could have seen dozens. An interest in frescoes would be an advantage.
Hiking and climbing are growing in popularity in Greece's off-season. Mount Olympus and the Mani peninsula are great for hiking, Leonidio is a climbers' Mecca.

Language and communication

As long as you can say Kalimera and Efkaristo to everyone, you will get by okay with language. While not all Greeks speak English, those working in tourist areas, at campsites and attractions will know enough. The two garages and camping shops we visited also spoke good English. It's sensible to practise recognising Greek characters in order to decipher food labels, place names and signs, but not essential. A smattering of German will help when conversing with fellow travellers.

Fortified hill towns

Dogs

Dogs are everywhere in Greece. They bark from every garden and olive grove, follow you down every street, and accompany you on walks. Pet dogs are walked on city streets, and pet shops are abundant. But the stray problem is persistent and widespread. 
Travelling with our two spaniels was largely trouble free. They couldn't accompany us into Athens on the metro, or on the rack railway to Kalavryta, but were not banned from beaches (out of season) and sat outside with us at any number of cafés and tavernas. They were threatened three times by packs of town strays, but each time locals came to drive the strays away, or we were able to make them back off. We took to carrying a stick. Most strays are fearful and submissive, and will quickly slink away. Some will adopt you at the slightest friendly gesture and appoint themselves your guardians until you leave, including accompanying you on runs or walks.
Walking past guard dogs is more upsetting for our two, who don't like being barked at, but these dogs are usually chained or behind fences. It can however make village walks a bit stressful.
Pine processionary caterpillars were leaving their nests while we were in Greece, from mid-February. Encounters with these can be fatal for dogs, and we were very careful to keep an eye out for them underneath pine trees.

Costs

We calculate costs in pounds as we have used a variety of currencies.
Our average daily spend in Greece over the four months would have been £38. Unfortunately two new leisure batteries, new brake pads, a windscreen excess and the ferry to Brindisi added almost £1500, so the actual average is £50. It still managed to reduce the average daily spend over the whole trip by about £3, so we think it's been pretty good value.

Precipitous monasteries

Any other questions?

If you want to know more, you can follow our journey using the map link here which also links to our blogs. Feel free to leave a question or comment at the bottom of the page.