Italy 2006 - Lakes and Mountains

Italy 2006 - Mountains and Lakes
We entered Italy from Austria on the fast A23 autostrada through the mountain valleys from Villach south past Udine. Being a Saturday there were no lorries but lots of German estate cars heading to the Adriatic coast. Stopping for lunch at layby the van's brakes felt a bit spongy after a long fast drive so we decided that we would have to be cautious in selecting our mountain routes although the brakes had been serviced a month before the trip (and there wasn't any recurrence of this problem during the rest of the holiday). Turning north-east on a poor quality dual carriageway it wasn't far to Gorizia and the Slovenian border at Nova Gorica. see Slovenia pages
Leaving Slovenia via Kranjska Gora we drove to Tarvisio a busy market town and on the old road south instead of the autostrada which wasn't too busy except for a few slow quarry lorries, turning off at Carnia on the very winding SS52 road to Tolmezzo and a long slow slog up the Paso di Mauria (1298m with only nine hairpins) and into the Dolomites via Pieve di Cadore to Cortina d'Ampezzo, surrounded by impressive mountains but mostly empty hotels, roadworks and an out-of-season air as we strolled around for about an hour; the tourist office was mainly for hotel bookings but had a couple of leaflets about the area. Although an aree di sosta was listed near the ice-rink, motorhome parking was banned there and we drove a few kilometres north to the large aire at Fiames on a disused airstrip (used for helicopters). There was no charge midweek at low season but weekends and high season €12 a night. Water and waste facilities were provided and about 20 motorhomes parked overnight. Aree di Sosta at Fiames near Cortina	Dolomites ahead! Disused airstrip in mountains at Fiames
After studying the maps and deciding that most of the mountain pass roads in the area were not for us we only stayed one night and drove north through wooded and mountainous roads to Toblach (Dobbiaco) near the Austrian border, a smart Tyrolean village among meadows where German was spoken. After finding a small Spar shop but no other supermarkets, only gift shops, we drove along to the Lago di Braies in a beautiful setting surrounded by snowy mountains. Parking was €2 and there were a few motorhomes parked in an aire a short distance before the main carpark. We enjoyed a walk of about 2 miles around the lake, with some steep steps at one section and at last it was pleasantly sunny. We proceeded west after lunch to join the A22 autostrada at Brixen and drove south for about 60 miles (toll €6.10) turning off north of Trento a large industrial sprawl and followed signs to Lago di Caldonazzo where several campsites were listed. They were grouped together at the east end of the lake in a low key resort with very busy restaurants. We found Camping Belvedere to be ok for one night but not our sort of place being mainly static vans and small crowded pitches. Deciding that this area wasn't worth further exploration, the next day we drove back to Trento then up through small towns in the mountain valleys stopping at Malé, an interesting town with a fresco depicting George and the dragon in the main square. Malé - George and Dragon fresco Continuing on the S42 we had another long slow but easy climb to the Paso di Tonale (1883m) where there was an unexpected huge ugly ski resort with new cable cars and apartments being built. A more pleasant downhill road through woods and more small ski resorts took us to the turning for Bergamo and Lago d'Iseo which wasn't signposted until virtually at the lake. Having missed a turning and driven through a long tunnel underneath Lovere, we eventually doubled back and found Camping Riva di San Pietro at Marone, south of Pisogne on the eastern side of the lake, a small but tidy site where we were met by the very friendly owner and managed to get a lakeside pitch. After a day's long drive we set-up our pitch in a few minutes and basked in the hot sun watching the Italians fishing and playing on the lake. Camping Riva di San Pietro - Lago d'Iseo	Lago di Braies in Dolomites Lago di Braies path Chapel at Lago di Braies Pisogne Palio Cafe sign in Lovere (dated 1904)
Lago d'Iseo is one of the smaller Italian lakes in a pleasant setting with mountains to the west, the main attraction being the car-less Monte Isola. We decided to drive back to Pisogne the next morning where the town was decorated with streamers everywhere, a different colour for each ward, as it was their Palio (carnival) weekend. There was a raft race on the lake where everyone got rather wet. We also noticed several motorhomes parked on the quay but it wasn't listed in our aires guide. After shopping in a huge cool supermarket, open on a Sunday and with a custom car show in the carpark accompanied by very loud music, we drove round to Lovere where we parked by the lake and strolled through the old town with narrow lanes and crumbling buildings. There is a minor road down the west side of the lake but it had a 2m width and 3m height restriction at the first tunnel entrance which would have been ok for our 'van - until we met Italian drivers coming the other way, and the poorly lit tunnels between Pisogne and Marone, with fast bikers and cyclists with no lights had been nerve-wracking enough, we retraced our route back to the campsite for more lazing in the sun and a very long talk with a very boring English caravanner obviously glad to meet another British person. We hid inside the van when he came past again later in the evening. A planning evening followed and having agreed as in previous years that Italy doesn't do it for us, decided to head back to France, studying our many maps and guides to find the least mountainous route but avoiding the busy coastal route also hoping to bypass Turin and Milan.
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