A road trip with a campervan through Italy and the South of France is an incredible experience and must do! We started our trip in Belgium and rented our campervan ‘Keppie’ with Vanomobil. In one day we drove all the way from our hometown Ghent in Belgium to the beautiful lavender fields in the Provence. This is where our 1-month trip began! Detailed blogposts about every place with must see’s & restaurants are coming soon, as well as all our campervan tips!
DAY 1-2: PROVENCE
Visit cute towns such as Gordes and Rousillon. Make sure to go to places like Lavandes Angelvin and Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque to see the beautiful Lavender fields (in bloom between end of June and end of July).
Campsite: Camping Les Sources. Ask for a spot with a nice view 😉
DAY 3-7: SAINT-TROPEZ
I (Laura) have been going here every year since I was a baby, so I know this place by heart and it will always be one of our favourite places in Europe. Stroll around markets and visit cute towns like Ramatuelle, Gassin and Grimaud are some of our favourite activities here. But you should also visit some of the less popular beaches like L’Escalet, which are completely different than the famous Pampelonne with all the beach clubs.
Booking.comCampsite: Camping Les Tournels. Ask for a spot high up on the hill, far away from the swimming pool 😉
Make sure to check out our Saint-Tropez vlog on YouTube to see what this amazing place has to offer!
DAY 8 – 10: CANNES, MONACO, MENTON
We have seen all these places before so we didn’t spend a lot of time here during this trip. On our way from Saint-Tropez to Italy we just decided to stop for a little stroll in every place, so we did all 3 cities in one day.
We don’t have campsite recommendations in this area, but definitely download the Park4Night app, which was extremely helpful for finding last-minute campsites during our trip!
DAY 11-12: PORTOFINO
Portofino has to be one of our favourite places in Italy! Although there is not a lot to do, the vibe of this place is everything! We could easily spend a week here and just eat, drink, swim and look at people 🙂
Campsite: Campsite Rapallo
DAY 13: CINQUE TERRE
We did 4 towns of Cinque Terre in one day. We woke up very early and got back to our campsite quite late. While Cinque Terre is beautiful and very photogenic, it is also very touristic and it lacks a vibe.
Campsite: Area Camper La Spezia. This campsite was not nice at all, but it was very convenient and there are honestly not a lot of options with a camper van if you want to visit Cinque Terre, so we would still recommend going here. There are no showers and just one toilet! But there is a bus that takes you straight to the train to visit Cinque Terre.
DAY 14 – 15: FLORENCE
Florence is absolutely breathtaking. For us personally, it has the most beautiful duomo in the world. If you are in for it, wake up very early, so you have the square in front of the Duomo to yourself!
Campsite: Camping in Town. Highly recommend it! There is a bus right in front that takes you to the centre of Florence. Everything is very clean and new! And your camper is safe there.
DAY 16 – 19: TUSCANY
You could easily stay in Tuscany for 2 weeks! But we had been here already a lot of times so decided not to spend a lot of time here. Some must do’s: Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Cortona,… and of course some wine tastings!
Campsite:
Agriturismo Podere dell’Albergo: Close to Pienza. One of the campsites with the best views! It’s at people’s home/farm, which are our favourite kind of campsites. You really are in the middle of the vineyards. Another good campsite close to Cortona is The Agriturismo Spineta, which is perfect for visiting Cortona.
Camping Il Treccolo: This one is ideal if you want to spend sunset at the famous spot on Strada Provenciale del Pecorile.
DAY 20: BAGNI SAN FILIPPO & TERME DI SATURNIA
To each their own, but we would not recommend spending a lot of time here. It’s nice to see but it wasn’t really our ‘thing’. Laying in hot water with a smell of rotten eggs isn’t exactly what we call relaxing :-).
Campsite: L’Alveare del Pinzi. Not the most beautiful campsite, but if you want to visit the Terme di Saturnia, you don’t have a lot of options!
DAY 21 – 22: ROME
If you have never been to Rome, you probably need at least 3 days if you also want to visit The Vatican and some musea. For us 2 days were perfect to stroll around and see all the highlights.
Campsite: Camping in Town Roma. Same owners as the highly recommended campsite in Florence. While it’s definitely not a bad campsite, we preferred the one in Florence.
DAY 23 – 26: AMALFI COAST + CAPRI
You can easily stay a few more days in this area. There is so much to see and do! But this will give you a good taste already. We strongly recommend leaving your camper just outside of the Amalfi Coast on the campsite we recommend. Driving along the coast in a camper in high season is definitely not for the faint of heart! The Amalfi Coast is absolutely beautiful and the best way to explore it is by renting a scooter (when in Italy – make that a Vespa). While you could easily spend a week in Capri, we did a day trip to Capri with the ferry and really enjoyed it! There are multiple ferries each day from Sorrento or Positano to Capri at very reasonable prices.
Campsite: Agricampeggio Oasi Verde. A little family owned campsite in the middle of lemon trees. A real oasis of calm in an otherwise hectic area! They can easily arrange a scooter for you and have the drop-off and the pick-up at the campsite.
DAY 27 – 31: PUGLIA
It was our first time in Puglia, and some places really amazed us while others were a bit disappointing. Our favourite town in the Puglia region was definitely Ostuni, so we would recommend using Ostuni as a base and visit other towns and beaches from there.
Campsite: Salinola. This is not really a campsite but more like an Agriturismo. The place is actually a B&B with a swimming pool, but they have room for a couple campers on their parking lot. For us it was perfect: we mostly explored the area all day, but could use the pool and relax a bit in the late afternoon right before going to dinner. Make sure to reserve because there are not a lot of spots!
