Motorhoming in Italy
We are new to motorhoming and planning to go from France to Italy where we will stay with friends. We'd be grateful for any tips about stopping en route in Italy. is it permissable and wise to use motorway service areas for stopovers as in France? any help would be gratefully recieved.
Pat
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Welcome. If you wish to stay at motorway service stations in Italy and in France then of course you may, but frankly there are far more pleasant opportunities available.
If you would like to give an indication of the route you are taking to reach your friends then several people will be able to make suggestions of overnight stops or longer stays, and of guide books and apps which list them.
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I agree with ET. Italian motorway service areas tend to be on the small side and they will certainly be noisy. Just as France has motorhome Aires, Italy has hundreds of Sostas many of which are free, others a few euros per night. They are often near the centre of towns and villages. Use the Campercontact App for details.
The Italians are very relaxed about motorhome overnight parking and parking overnight in almost any car park or lay-by is accepted. However, there are some great Sostas with excellent facilities almost everywhere so its worth travelling a couple of miles off route to have a quiet and safe nights sleep.
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Thank you to both respondents for their help. We are travelling from Cahors in France and have booked a night near Nimes, thereafter plan to travel by motorway along the mediterranean coast to our next overnight somewhere between Nice and Genoa, preferably in Italy. Our eventual destination is near Livorno in Italy. Any info re a suitable stopping place would be great. Is an alternative route through Genoa avoiding the bridge which collapsed well signposted? On our return we have considered using the motorway north to Torino then crossing to Briancon in France. Is that route relatively easy for those new to motorhoming? Thanks in advance for advice.
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As has been said, autostrada service areas are tight for parking space, if any, and the slip roads are short by any standard. Italian campsites can also be tightly packed with small pitches. Acsi listed sites ( not the discount list) using their on line guide is the best source of info.
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Pat, It's a long time since we stopped between Nice and Genoa - at Camping Rustia at Spotorno, which had the usual Italian mixture of caravans with timber built awnings and long established motorhomes with wooden pallets as decking - all very close together. Space was very, very tight but the other residents were very welcoming and it was just a short stroll to the town and the sea front.
Via Michelin is showing a tortuous route round Genoa to avoid the collapsed bridge.
From Torino to Briancon is one of the easiest crossings of the Alps - using the Mont Genevre pass which is not a problem at all.
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You say that your eventual destination is the Livorno area. I can thoroughly recommend the Tripesce campsite in Vada, about 20 miles south of Livorno and right on the coast. It has direct beach access. We’re staying there at the moment and plan to remain until the end of June.
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There is a reasonably nice site in Menton, a few minutes off the autoroute, which is close to the Italian border. As has been said the service areas on the Italian motorways are small and I would not like to spend a night on one of them. Can't help on the diversion around Genoa.
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Re the route from Turin to Briancon. Its a good road, kept open all year long because it accesses the ski resorts in both Italy and France. We’ve used it in our 7.4m motorhome in both winter and summer and its was fine. You will have no problem with the route.
The motorways that skirts the coast between France and Italy is a busy route where you might expect the scenery to be good but unfortunately this is not the case. There are constant twists and turns and tunnels every few miles so its not a particularly pleasant ride. However, there are few alternatives. The route avoiding the damaged bridge in Genoa is well signposted.
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