Andalusia has been the highlight of this trip for me whilst planning it the last four years. It’s a region that I know quite well after spending many mountain bike and hiking trips there as well as time on the coastline. But I had never travelled this far South in a campervan before so this would be a very new experience.
Leaving Guardamar we had planned to spend at least another week before arriving in Andalusia but after visiting a few dodgy park-up’s and driving all the way to naturist camping El-Portus only to find that it was completely shut down and somewhat derelict, even though their website said it was open, we were left a little disheartened. And with my sore throat now turning into a fever, we decided to find a campsite and hold out for a few days so my body could heal.
We took a couple of nights just outside Vera Playa where Leela went running and painting and I spent the time shivering and running back and fore to the sanitary block with a foul case of Montezuma’s Revenge. But fortunately I was fit and well again after an unpleasant 48 hours and we were soon back at the beach.
It was really amazing to be able to park the van just 10m from a naturist beach and be able to just walk straight into the ocean from the door. We sometimes don’t realise how lucky we are!
Spending a few nights here we also were able to walk naked the km or so along the coast to the naturist village of Playa Vera. This apartment complex has certainly seen better days and the streets are littered with closed down hotels, unfinished apartments, and bars and restaurants that certainly require some renovation. But the overall feel of the village is of relative safety to walk naked through the streets and the beachfront is quite nice with some bars and activity even so far out of season in early November.
Moving on we wanted to visit the hilltop town of Mojocar but were thwarted by dodgy parking once more and then spent a lovely night just outside Cabo de Gata National Park before the next day visiting Playa de Los Muertos which is ranked as one of the best two beaches in the whole of Spain. And we can confirm it was absolutely incredible! Perfectly clean small stone beach, amazing landscape and the cleanest water we have seen so far on this trip. We spent a wonderful day virtually alone and in very warm sun just soaking up this wonderful environment.
Reluctantly leaving when the sun was getting low we made our way deep into the national park to one of only a few legal park-ups to spend some time in that area before heading to the second of the best beaches in Spain!
We drove through this amazing landscape early one morning stopping at an incredible Mirador and picking up some fresh bread and pastries for a long day ahead. We made our way to San Jose where the tarmac ended and our clothes came off for the day, and drove the few km’s of dirt road to the parking lot at the end of this amazing peninsula.
First we visited Playa de Monsul which is a location used for many films including Indiana Jones. Here we were completely alone for the best part of an hour where we explored the neighbouring Ensenada de Monsul and Leela ran to the top of the huge sand dune that backs the beach and we swam in the cleanest ocean I think we both had ever seen. Going back to the van to pick up our things we then walked to Cala de la Media Luna where we found the perfect spot to enjoy this amazing day. It was the 7th of November and the sun shone a whopping 27 degrees the whole day! Still swimming in the pristine waters late in the afternoon we left the beach and went back to the van for an ice cold beer and a warm shower.
We knew we had to be out of the National Park by 8pm but we also wanted to get to our overnight location before dark, so very reluctantly putting our clothes back on after an incredible free day we started up and made our way out of Cabo de Gata. What an incredible place, we will for sure return.
Having very reluctantly left our beach parking after a glorious week, we were on our way down the coast an hour to spend a few days at Vila Joiosa. We also needed a few days at a campsite with facilities so that I could fix a broken water valve connection on the boiler.
We stayed at Alicante Imperium which was a nice, clean and reasonably priced retirement home and repaired the van whilst taking the bikes along the coast to L’esparrel naturist beach. This lovely beach would have been perfect except for the constant wave strange men once more just ruining these amazing locations. Leela was so uncomfortable that she had to cover up and we left soon after when we would have liked to have stayed much longer there as the weather and ocean was beautiful.
The next days were a little cooler so we took the train to Benidorm to see what the fuss was about and we were quickly re-assured that we did not belong there! Wow what a place… Jam packed on a damp Tuesday at the end of October. Pissed up people stumbling around the streets before midday. Shop after shop selling complete tat followed by bar after bar offering alcohol deals and all day English breakfasts starting from 11:00am…
We walked around the old town which we were advised is absolutely charming but in reality is filled with knock-off shops and Burger Kings and after a walk along the very nice promenade avoiding stepping in the previous nights puke and dog crap, we eventually had a beer and just watched this surreal world of obese, loud, drunks go by as well as the constant stream of mobility scooters.
Both feeling quite dirty from the experience, but not in a good way, we were back on the train and heading for the relative normality of the campsite thinking what the hell we had just witnessed and both vowing never to go back there again!
Backtracking slightly when leaving Joiosa we visited Altea for a day and really enjoyed this charming old artists town with its tiny streets and rooftop views. There were lovely arts and crafts shops to browse through and some nice bohemian clothing stores all hidden away and overlooking the pristine Mediterranean ocean. Quite a stark difference from the filth we had witnessed a few km down the road.
Driving south again we spent some time at the very quiet parking at Carabassi naturist beach and some nice days mountain biking and on the sand. The biking was very good along the hill tops of Monte Faro to the Santa Pola lighthouse and back along this wonderful coastline. The naturist beach was also very nice but the only problem was that we were being hassled constantly once more by the men lurking in the dunes masturbating, which is becoming very tiresome for Leela to be constantly uncomfortable in these locations and causes unnecessary tension. We spoke in depth about it but we could not work out why these men, and its only men, behave in such a pathetic way.
Moving south 30 minutes to Guardamar we met up with Sean and Heidi who we met back at camping Sierra Natura and enjoyed a few days in the area and at the naturist beach Playa Tossals. This really is a beautiful stretch of sand with an impressive pine and sandalwood forest backing the dunes. The weather wasn’t too good for a few days when we were there but we made the most of the beach and lovely walks through the forest.
We did experienced a full 24 hours of relentless 60 kmh wind and constant rain but where we were parked it didn’t actually seem so bad. Then the next day news started to filter through of the horrific devastation that had taken place in the Valencia region exactly where we had been just days before. We were so fortunate to be where we were during this time but hundreds were not. There was nothing that we could really do to help so the next dry and calm day we went to the beach and tried our best to clean-up as much as two people could.
We spent another couple of days at the beach in very nice weather over Halloween before bringing our somewhat strange Costa Blanca adventure to an end and moved South to Andalusia which we hope will be the highlight of our journey and where we have been most looking forward to visiting.
Leaving Catalunya we headed into the mountains surrounding Valencia for a week of hiking and searching for rivers and beautiful swimming pools.
The first stop after a tortuous drive was Fuente de los Baños in the town of Montanejos. This is a natural (luke) warm spring favoured by the locals of the valley and has magical youth capturing powers that we were both keen to try out! The pool is quite spectacular and as we arrived late in the afternoon after the sun had gone we pretty much had it to ourselves. The water was not so warm and the powers not so strong but a very enjoyable natural phenomenon to experience.
We found an incredible location to park for the night overlooking the village and were enjoying a bottle of wine when a psycho local woman started slamming the van and screaming at us in the pitch black which was quite alarming, and after calmly explaining that we were doing nothing wrong she drove off still screaming. Deciding that discretion would be best we left and parked in a lay-by on the main road, but it was our first negative parking experience of the trip so far.
We next drove cross-country on very picturesque and completely empty roads to our next destination of Calles. Finding a lovely parking spot next to the river we left the van and headed out to find the Roman Aqueducts for which this area is famous. The hike takes you deep into the mountains and high above the twin towns of Calles and Chelva until you get to the aqueduct and waterways. Its an incredible feat of engineering with deep walls, tunnels, and a very impressive bridge all hand worked in the middle of nowhere and in times when you cant imagine creating such structures. We followed these amazing waterways and dropped back to the very quiet town of Chelva with its labyrinth of crazy tiny streets and sleepy cats before following the river back to Calles for a deserved beer.
Next on our itinerary was the highlight of this area and a visit to the hilltop town of Chulilla with its gorges, oasis, and hanging bridges. The drive there was again testing but we found the most amazing parking once more and set off on our pre-planned and very long hike to try and see everything on offer in one day!
First heading out of town there are some outstanding views of Charco Azul which would be last on the days itinerary, and then paid the attendant the 1€ each to enter the gorge of Turia. This is quite an amazing natural oasis and almost looks like it has been created by Disney as it is almost too good!
The hike takes you back and forth across the river on high hanging bridges and wooden paths and follows the river to the end of the gorge where most turn back, but after a break we headed on to take a look at the Loriguilla reservoir and then the tough and exposed hike which brings you to Pinturas Rupestres.
These prehistoric 5000 year old cave paintings were first discovered in 1998 and even though natural decay has eroded nearly all of the frescos, it was still worth the effort to witness and to be so close to such amazing history.
Back on the path it was another decent hike to the village but after a break we headed this time back up the gorge to the truly beautiful Charco Azul and after a very hard 20km in hot weather we were ready to finish the day with a swim in this breathtaking location.
Moving on from Chulilla, the final water stop for this section would be the town of Buñol. This town is not famous for the natural pools but more so for the crazy Tomatino festival held in August each year where for 1 hour, 10 thousand people decide to throw tomatoes at each other and then wallow in the sauce filled streets before being hosed down and leaving this sleepy village to get on with its business for another year.
But we were there for the river and cave pools this time and although the larger of the two caves was closed for needed path repairs, we soldiered on to the upper cave which was just an amazing natural experience. As we were there on the Spanish National Holiday, it was a little overrun so we didn’t get in, deciding instead to follow the river back down and away from the crowds.
This turned out to be a great move as we not only saw some wild Ibex but also found some beautiful small pools to bathe in alone. Taking a look around Buñol on our return there didn’t seem to be any party planned for the evening and as our parking was nothing exciting we decided to move on for the evening.
Randomly picking a remote village parking which was midway to our next destination we arrived early evening to see that there were banners and plastic chairs placed along the main street so for sure there was something going on later. So we parked under the imposing Montesa Castle, had a quick beer, and headed into this tiny village to see what was going on.
The rest of the evening was a surreal blur of a few beers, wine, and tribes of Christians and Moors in full regalia, make-up, masks and horses all stamping through the town. Each tribe was followed by a marching band pumping out an incredible sound, and they were greeted at the end of the village by a blast of fireworks. It was quite an amazing spectacle and a completely random find where we were for sure the only foreigners there but welcomed in by a local family wholeheartedly.
Leaving through the main street and the clean-up operation the following morning, we headed to our last in-land stop for a while and climbed the 700m mountain road to Sierra Natura Naturist camp nestled deep in the mountains. Here we spent some lovely days in this quite unique campsite wishing that the weather was better so we could have stayed longer. It is quite a random collection of buildings and pitches laid out across the forrest, all surrounding the quite bizarre swimming pool. The facilities were spotless and the owners very friendly and together with the quite wonderful forest walks available we would really recommend a visit if you are in the area and want some complete peace and quiet in total nature.
Returning to the coast south of Valencia we found a perfect place to park right on the ocean where we stayed still for over a week and enjoyed the amazing sunrises each day and time on the wonderful naturist beach of Cullera. It was just incredible to be enjoying full summer days in the middle of October and we were making the most of this lifetime experience that we had given ourselves.
After the excitement of Cap d’Adge we would have liked to have gone a little deeper into the mountains, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t in our favour so we decided to head to Cerét a little earlier than planned. This town has the museum of modern art as well as apparently the best street market in the whole of France. Quite a claim!
We arrived on a dank Friday evening and parked under the Devils bridge. The following day was market day so we set off bright and early to see what the fuss was about. And we have to be honest and say that this was definitely the best street market we both had ever seen. The quantity and quality of local goods and produce on offer was quite amazing. Everything you could want in home grown organic foods and grains, flowers, and some pretty decent clothing as well as a lovely buzz to the town.
After the market we went to the museum of modern art for a couple of hours of stimulation. Cerét is famous for housing a few of the so called greats including Picasso, Chagall and Max Jacob. They were attracted by the bohemian atmosphere and openness to male orientation. Although it didn’t fare so well for Jacob when the Nazis came rolling through. The works on display were very impressive as well as being very priceless and it was an enjoyable current instalment also.
The next days forecast was terrible but fortunately for us it was completely wrong so we went on a long hike to a waterfall which was overtaken by locals and continued deep into the forest and came across an amazing pool where we could swim and have our lunch in the sun in this secret natural paradise. Saying goodbye to a nice few days in the foot of the pyrenees we cleaned and serviced the van so that all 3 of us were respectable enough to head for Spain!
Crossing the crazy border towns of Le Perthus we headed for the Camper Aire of Montmeló, just a stones throw away from the F1 circuit. The park up was absolutely terrible. Full of rubbish, a service point drain full of human waste as the black waste was broken and total and utter morons pour their toilet cassette into the open drain. And a fresh water connection you had to disinfect with a pressure washer. But it was late and we wanted to visit Barcelona the next day so we just closed the doors and blocked everything out which is our way in situations like this.
The next morning we were on the train and very slowly heading toward the city, seemingly stopping in every town in Spain on the way. But after a slight backtrack from missing our stop we were emerging into the crazy Barcelona city atmosphere.
Covering over 26km in the day we pretty much saw everything we wanted and more. The city is really diverse and there is pretty much every cross-section of human there as well as every type of business that you could possibly want. We very much enjoyed the tiny streets, the seafront, and especially La Sagrada Família. Its worth the effort alone to walk around this incredible structure.
Returning back to the van after an exhausting day we were good for nothing and even the thought of making a meal was too much for us, so we had a cold beer and called it a night.
Leaving the filth of the car park the next morning we first had to find a clean camper service and then headed for the beach. This would be our last day together for a couple of weeks as unfortunately Leela had to head back to America to sort some things out once more. So we found a lovely naturist beach near Calafell and spent the day in the beautiful sunshine whilst getting sandblasted in the process as the wind was still haunting us.
Leaving Leela at the Airport again was not easy and the next few days I was a little lost so I just stayed where I was to work out a new plan for myself. It really was a lovely place with an amazing seafront and a wonderful Naturist beach where I enjoyed to run each morning and swim in the afternoons. I also managed a well needed hair cut with Abdul, the charming yet ever so slightly menacing local Moroccan barber!
The next days were spent in the quiet and picturesque hillside town of Prat de Comte in the Serres de Pàndols-Cavalls national park where I done some hiking, visited La Fontcalda (not so) hot springs and rode the impressive Terra Alta bike way before returning to the coast.
Finding a safe and very nice place a stones throw away from Playa del Torm, a quite amazing naturist beach, I stayed still for the best part of a week. Just running, hiking and enjoying the freedom of nature at this incredible beach before driving back up the coast to pick up the returning Leela from the train station so that we could be back on our way together.
We did take a detour to get four new tyres for the van which were much required and with new running shoes on, we then spent some lovely time back at Playa del Torn together which brought an end to our Catalunya adventure.
Leaving the disappointment of Provence behind, we headed south in search of the ocean, sandy beaches and days filled with endless sunshine. And hopefully no wind…
From Aix we drove to the coast at Martigues and finally had some sunshine and a nice beach where we took a walk along the beautifully rugged coastline and laid in the sun finally. Unfortunately even though it was warm enough the wind was still howling which made everything uncomfortable but we made the most of the day. Deciding to move on early the next morning we drove on to the real south of France to begin our adventure.
Arriving at Le Grau-du-Roi we found the camper park full and complete chaos with road closures and cars everywhere. So we drove out of town and found a nice quiet spot next to a canal and read later that the chaos was due to a Bull run that was going around the town later that day. So we had some lunch and then took the bikes in search of a long sandy beach and we finally found what we were searching for and the weather to go with it.
L’Espiguette
L’Espiguette naturist beach is more than 10 km long with the western side being clothing and the more remote eastern side being Naturist. After a decent walk from the parking lot where we left the bikes we found a nice spot out of the wind and enjoyed a few hours on this beautiful beach. Laying there on a busy Sunday we were confused with the constant stream of men walking by with extreme purpose. It really was quite amazing.
Every 30 seconds or so they would stream by with their focus concentrating on the distance. After some google work we did find out that the far end of the beach, which was fortunately out of sight, was a gay and swingers beach, and Sunday was most definitely the day for gay swinging apparently!
We were just glad that they were walking past us with only a few stopping within a few meters of us to “re-arrange” themselves. Theres nothing I can really say but its just a shame that these men cant control themselves and are ruining true naturist locations for others. But we had a wonderful time in the sun finally and after making our way back to the van and getting cleaned up we headed out to see if we could find some Bulls in town!
The ride in was nice in the evening sun but unfortunately with the road closures and masses of people it was impossible to get around on the bikes to where the action was. So we ended up sitting on the beach watching our first real sunset of the trip before heading back.
After another nice and windy day at the beach watching the men marching by and a couple openly having sex a few meters away from us, we decided we had had enough and headed back to move on, knowing that our next experience was going to be even stranger but at least we knew before hand what we were getting into to!
Driving south we eventually passed through the complicated roads of Montpellier and headed to the infamous town of cap d’Agde and the Naturist camping of Rene Oltra.
Cap d’Agde
Getting to the campsite was the first problem. We had to park the van at the heavily secured entry gates, then walk the few hundred meters to the campsite, then book in, then return to the gates, then go to a different office to purchase a totally unnecessary village entry card which is an incredible money maker, and then drive back to the campsite before being allowed to go to our pitch. This process took the best part of two hours and we were frustrated that we were loosing the best part of the days sunshine. But eventually we were on our way to the beach.
I had heard and read a lot about this place over the years and also watched a few videos on Porn Hub showing the goings on, but sometimes you just have to experience things for yourself. The beach directly outside the camp is, in relation to everywhere else, completely empty! Its lovely, sandy, quiet and a very nice naturist beach to enjoy the sun and swim in the calm ocean. And after a few hours we we were ready to take a look around.
First, walking east on this incredible beach and as soon as the campsite ends, you begin to see the other side of humans. After the bar it goes from people sunbathing about 15 meters apart and minding their own business to literally thousands of people laying towel to towel with no room for a fag paper between them. Its quite amazing and very surreal. Complete strangers within touching distance just staring at each others genitals.
There were many having oral sex, many (and only) men openly masturbating and then there were the women with groups of fat men standing in a circle pleasuring themselves over them. All in public, all with no worries about the police and with all the people around filming them. Pretty strange and somewhat pathetic times we live in…
Moving back up the beach there was again more calm with only a few blow jobs to navigate through and then the beach bars before you get to the towns main access roads. It was actually quite nice to be able to walk naked through the streets and bars and something that is not completely new to us, but the really odd thing is that all the shops and markets are located under the apartment complexes and are dark and narrow. There are sex shops and strip clubs next to supermarkets and hairdressers. There are people selling flip-flops on one rack and butt plugs on the next. It’s all just odd, but if you accept it, it is quite amusing.
We enjoyed three nights in the very well equipped campsite and beautiful beach in complete peace and quiet. The sun shone through the days and we could swim and sunbathe without being bothered by anyone. Actually the safest and unbothered we had been so far on the trip. They were all being kept amused by more interesting goings on further down the beach!
We walked along the beach and witnessed the exhibitionism whilst staying at a very safe distance and walked around the village during the day for a bit of fun and enjoyed shopping naked. We didn’t go out after dark and just enjoyed the van so we cant comment on the nocturnal activities of the place but apparently they are even more odd. And at the van, the nights were very quiet and peaceful.
It is in general a very strange place but as a Naturist somewhere that can be experienced safely without having to be part of the nonsense going on. Honestly for us, we would for sure go back as we surprisingly really enjoyed. The camp is better and cheaper than most in Croatia and France, the facilities are excellent, it is spotlessly clean and it’s amazingly quiet and completely safe. The beach directly outside is also amazing, clean and family friendly with calm water to swim. A real naturist paradise. The rest of the nonsense you can take or leave. Its your choice after all…
Cold, wet, windy, unfriendly and frustrating. Not words that I was hoping to describe this beautiful region of France. But unfortunately the truth of our time there.
After a busy and adventurous two weeks alone hiking and biking through the Italian Alps I finally picked Leela up from Milan airport and we made our way to Provence to look forward to some relaxed time in amazing weather and equally amazing naturist camps.
First we visited le Petit Arlane near the small town of Valensole. The day we arrived the weather was decent and still warm but then things started to immediately unravel. We had a stormy night with heavy rain but nothing that was alarming and in the morning having breakfast whilst in the van, we heard a loud crack and looked out to see that the very expensive Thule awning had collapsed. On closer inspection we saw that the support leg had completely sheared off and the awning had dropped and in doing so bent the upper swing arm and sheared off the roof mounted connection. Quite a feat in itself to cause so much damage and thus rendering it completely useless.
The rest of the day was spent trying somehow to retract it back and make it safe to drive and then beginning the insurance claim and source a replacement somewhere along our travel plan. A lot of stress that we could really have done without…
We left that campsite immediately the following day as the people working there were just unhelpful, unpleasant and the camp not much better. We booked online at Naturist Camping Verdon for a few nights as we thought we would have more chance of a replacement if we headed south and after a decent drive and arriving in very windy conditions the receptionist said that they were full. Explaining that we had booked online and had a confirmation did not move her and in a very polite yet completely arrogant manner told us to bugger off. So another unfriendly French campsite owner.
After another re-think we drove back up to les Lauzons naturist campsite after calling and reserving first and arrived whilst everything was shut for a very extended lunch. Waiting patiently we were eventually taken to a terrible pitch whilst perfectly nice ones stood vacant and told that was all they had. Take it or leave it. A pattern was developing here, was it our Austrian number plate? Surely not.
So we parked and then found out that there was absolutely ZERO phone or internet in the whole camp unless you bought their satellite wifi at a cost. Normally this would be perfect for us but as we were waiting for phone calls and E-mails to organise the insurance and replacement awning this was a large problem. I did manage to receive an email on their terrible wifi to say a company could fit a new awning the following day so we just spent a few hours at the camp and left once more first thing in the morning feeling let-down now by three different sites in the area.
Having the awning fitted the next day where the workers took very little care of our beloved home, we were able to take a short hike around the very nice Pénitents mountains. A strange stone outcrop appearing out of nowhere which has quite a tough and exposed circular walk up and over the top of them. And finally after some decent exercise we felt much better and spent the night in the ghost town of Malijai where we had a quiet evening by the river.
The next day we drove south, hopefully for the last time, and found a naturist camp just outside the Provence Capitol of Aix. It was rustic, natural, very unkempt and the owners were already D-mob happy as they were closing the camp in a few days. Thus they were also very unhelpful, although polite at least, with little facilities open and no provisions or food on offer. They even laughed at us when we asked for a Pizza from the flyer on the desk. But we had 3 nights there in vicious cold and wind and completely unable to enjoy the camp or surrounding countryside.
We tried our best to ride to Aix and take a tour nearby but the constant 70 kph winds were just battering us and the van relentlessly. We even tried to go in the pool but that was pointless and going to the shower was like taking a walk in the Artic so we mainly just hid from the terrible weather unable to enjoy any of the delights of the area.
We were dreaming of two weeks of beautiful Provence sunshine, lavender, naturism, bike rides and laying by the pool. But instead we got one week of stress, problems, atrocious weather and very unhelpful and arrogant campsite owners. Thanks Provence, that was not what we were expecting. Maybe we will have better luck next time.
Reluctantly leaving the Passo Giau I was aiming for a relatively quieter area of the Dolomites for the next days but arriving at my planned park up I found that it had been taken over by construction workers. So after a re-think I decided to call the campsite that I had pre-booked for the weekend to see if I could arrive a day early.
Palafavera
Camping Palafavera is a very old and basic camp but clean and very cheap for these parts. I needed a camper service anyway so it served its purpose for a few days and its also in a pretty good location I found out later.
Arriving in the afternoon I just sorted the van out and the next morning I was on the trail early with a beautiful hike to Rifugio Coldai and then on to Lago di Coldai which is a wonderful place for a stop before returning the same way to the camp.
After an hour break I took the bike and made my way down the pass to Pecol and then the mountain bike trail to Rifugio Pian del Crep, stopping at the picturesque and very cold waterfalls of Gavon picol and Gavon Grand on the way. Both waterfalls had deep enough pools to get into and the fresh mountain water certainly wakes you up! Returning to Pecol on some great forest MTB tracks I then made my way back up the pass and back to the van as the evening storms were coming in only getting a little wet on the way.
The next day and with bad weather forecast for the next week I was on the bike very early. First to Rifugio Col dei Baldi on some severely steep tracks before descending through the picturesque Coldai Alm and back to the camp. A short and sharp bike but perfect to get back before the bad weather.
Driving to Rifugio Marmolade Castiglioni I found a nice spot for the van and hiked the quite steep trail to Rifugio Luigi Gorza the highest I have been on this trip at 2600m. This vantage point gave incredible views of the Marmolade Glacier opposite and after a long lunch I made my way back down before the afternoon rains came.
Getting back there was so much commotion with a family of travellers arrived nearby who had at least 8 uncontrollable huge dogs that were howling constantly at every passer by. This together with more dogs and a now full and partying car park, I decided that I would not be able to enjoy the rest of my day there and moved on to my next destination.
Driving over the extremely challenging and completely chaotic Porodai, Sella and Gardena passes, I eventually and completely exhausted arrived at Santa Christina camper stop.
After a surprisingly good nights sleep considering there was a waterfall behind my head and the van was on a 10% slope even with the ramps, I was up and out the door at 6:00am for what would be the toughest hike so far on this trip.
Seceda
Seceda is one of the most famous mountains in the Dolomites for its unique jagged and angled profile. 90% of people take the cable cars there but there are the 10% who toil up this arduous track. And as I was currently parked 9km away from the summit as well as being 1300m below it, I should get my skates on.
The trek up is remarkably steep in parts and mostly boring until you reach the Alm. And in the early morning light it really looked spectacular, which was more than could be said for the actual mountain in front of me which looked quite uninspiring! This was playing with me as I had put this mountain as number one on my list of hikes and I was feeling a little let down. But the true majesty is only visible when you reach the summit and view it from the side.
It really is an incredible sight and thanks to the hard shift I put in I made it there just as the buzzer for the lifts went off meaning I had 10 minutes of truly magnificent peace and quiet in this location completely alone.
This peace was immediately undone by the 100’s of selfie-takers touching up their make-up, lipstick and straightening their hot-pants before swarming over every spare inch of sacred ground. Which signalled my time to leave and I very carefully make my way back to base camp for a well deserved cold beer…
Seiser Alm
The next day was a bike trip to the Seiser Alm. Lots had been said about this place so I was excited to see it for myself. Heading down the Valley to Oresei you take the very small mountain road directly to the Alm. Unfortunately there was a road closed sign at the bottom but as I had already ridden this far I decided to just try and if I didn’t work out I would just return the same way. As it happens there was no chance to ride a good 2 km section but as I was so early and the workmen had not arrived yet I just pushed and carried the bike through the construction site, jumped a fence, and continued on my way. No-one would ever know…
Getting to the Alm after a very tough climb, I rode around for a while taking in the scenery before heading on a MTB trail through the woods and eventually back to base. I read a lot and saw a lot of photos on Instagram about this place but to be honest I felt a little let down. Don’t get me wrong it’s extremely beautiful but after the previous day I maybe would have liked a little more reward for the extreme effort to get there. Perhaps if you drive there or used a motor-E-bike, it would be worth it. But on a real bike it’s really not worth that type of effort. But at least there was another 1200 meters of climbing in the legs.
Leaving St. Christina after a couple of days I was on my way to the final destination of the mountains. To ride the number one on the list of European road climbs that I have not yet done in my life. And I don’t have many left to climb. The famous Stelvio pass.
Stelvio Pass
Knowing that the climb would be long and also that rain was forecast around 2pm I was on the road by 6:45am as I wanted it done in the dry. The cars and motorbikes are crazy and unpredictable with dry roads and just life threatening to cyclists in the wet. So from previous extensive experience it was important to keep myself as safe as is possible on these mountain passes.
Setting off from the climbs starting point of Spondinig you have only a slight gradient until you pass through Prato allo and then it begins to ramp up through Ponte di Stelvio and Maso di Fuori. By the time I reached corner 45 I was already in my lowest gear and thinking that this was maybe going to be too much for me after only 10 days of hard exercise in the last 8 months. But the views of the 3900m Ortler glacier were distracting me from the next 44 corners!
Continuing to constantly increase in elevation and steepness you reach the Franzenshöhe hotel and corner 22 which is where the real climbing starts! Now beginning to find a nice rhythm I was thinking that I could actually make it. And apart from a slight blip at corner 8 where I had to stop and stretch my knee, I comfortably made it to the summit. But my joy was short lived as you are met by complete and utter chaos!
Honestly it was terrible. Hundreds of motorcycles, cars, people, sausage stands, tat stands, loud music, and general disrespect for the mountain. I had a very quick turnaround, a photo at the summit post, and then immediately dropped back down a few hundred meters away from it all. It is so sad to see how people behave in such incredible environments. It’s bad enough that they treat these mountain passes like their own personal race track and how there are not more fatal accidents truly amazes me. In the 5 hours I was on the road I saw only 2 ambulances but at least 50 near misses.
Positively it was nice to see many roadies making their way up as well as a few idiots on real mountain bikes so it was not only me. But I think that I may have been the only one carrying a full chicken curry in his rucksack for lunch! And after thoroughly enjoying this feast I made my way back down but now wearing what looked like winter hiking gear except for the shorts. I am so glad I took everything with me as it was an absolutely freezing 28 km descent.
Getting back to the van and after 56km, 5:30 of riding, and an elevation gain of 1810 meters, I was good for nothing. But an incredible final day in the Italian Alps. Now I will make my way to Milan Airport to pick up my beautiful girl on her return from America so that we can head to France and finally be together again.
Finally the time had come to be back on the road and the departure time had finally arrived for both of us. Unfortunately we were heading off in completely different directions, and continents…
To begin our trip Leela was heading stateside for two weeks and whilst she was there I would make my way slowly to our rendezvous point of Milan Airport through the Dolomites in Northern Italy.
So I finalised the apartment in a state to be left alone for the best part of 5 months and got the van ready. It was loaded to the max and after a visit to a weigh bridge I found out quite literally to the Max. But it was gleaming in the sun and patiently waiting for me to get my fat arse into the drivers seat again.
Cortina d’Ampezzo
After a long drive I made it to a ski lift car park about 10 km outside Cortina d’Ampezzo which would be my first base for a couple of days. The following morning I was up and raring to go.
First was a bike trip down the Passo Tre Croci to Cortina and after a look around the town which more resembled a building site as preparations were already well underway to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, I made my way out and up the very steep climb to Rifugio Mietres and on through some beautiful woodland and back to the van. The views in every single direction no matter where you are in the Dolomites are utterly indescribable so I won’t bore you on every tour. You can see yourselves from the photos.
Taking a break and putting the bike away I was feeling very good so I thought I would chance my arm for a first short hike in nearly 8 months. Donning my new fangled knee support I headed out up Monte Faloria keeping to the forest road to be as safe as possible if I needed to turn back. Hiking along I was feeling very little to no pain so I continued through the rain and ended up at Rifugio Faloria which was an amazing feat, although I still had to get back down which usually caused all the problems!
Sitting a while on this majestic view point high above Cortina you had the most amazing views of the mountains. I could also see from a distance a storm coming my way so it was time to head back down. With my earphones on, which were not drowning out the thunder all around, I made it back to the van in one piece and only a little wet.
Waking early the next day I was out on the bike making my way back down to Cortina and then up the road climb to the ski station at Pie Tofana and on to Lago Po’Druscie. Heading back down to Cortina a little later I was still left with the daunting climb back up Passo Tre Croci and after a tough first km I was beginning to find my bike legs again. Slowly… Heading up I passed 2 E-bikers and managed to hold off a group of 5 Ironmen until the last km when I was running out of gas.
Now completely exhausted from my day on the bike I was good for nothing except a shower and a sit down with a cold beer. But I couldn’t relax for long as I was back on the road and very excited to be heading to Passo Giau.
Passo Giau
The last time I was there was in 2012 to watch the Giro d’ Italia and I woke on the morning of the race with 4″ of snow covering the van, so I was hoping for better weather this time! I found a lovely flat and relatively quiet park up and took a short walk to the col. It was late afternoon and the amount of people there was really quite amazing. So I took a few photos and milled around for a while before returning for an early night.
The following morning I was on the trail at dawn and heading back up the col and deep into these incredible mountains toward my planned destination of Forcela Ambrizzola. It was a very difficult climb to Forcella di Giau but I think that the sublime early morning beauty took my mind off it as I seemed to be at the top in no time at all!
Walking down this majestic alpine scene after already covering over 6km and with my destination still quite far away I decided not to push my luck as going back down was going to be tough on the knee. So after hearing the Marmot’s screaming their alarm bells off in a distant meadow I decided to try my luck with some wildlife photography!
Not ever having seen one of these furry creatures in the wild didn’t put me off. So I wondered slowly way off piste until I saw some things scurrying in the distant scrub. And there they were, 5 or 6 just playing in the morning sun.
After locating the entrance to their Den I set the phone on a tripod as close to the entry as possible and then retreated as far as my bluetooth remote trigger would allow and waited. And waited. And waited. Then finally not one but two heads appeared to take a look around but they were way to cautious and retreated back to safety very quickly.
Calling it a day I turned around to see a much more inquisitive one watching my every move from behind me the whole time, so I set up station outside his home and waited. And after no time at all he was up and out and I managed to have my first wild experience with these amazing creatures.
I took one more detour to a remote location away from the gathering hoards and just lay in the sun for a while before returning to the path and the long hike back to the van. A truly exceptional day on the mountains and time to think about moving on. Where to next?
My birthday was approaching and although we don’t make a fuss about anything these days we still wanted to go away in the van as it has been a sad sight just waiting in the parking lot through my operation and rehab the last 6 weeks. It needed a damn good clean and to evict the ants that had made it their new home. But after a week of deep cleaning it was once again gleaming in the sunshine and raring to go.
We wanted to go to the ocean and preferably to Valata but after checking the prices for various camps that we like, we just could not believe the cost of a piece of dirt for one night at the end of June. So we decided on pretty much the cheapest option for the facilities on offer and also for somewhere we had never visited before which is always exciting.
Naturist Camping Solaris is a very famous naturist resort in Istria and lies around 12 km north of the tourist town of Poreč. It is an extremely large Camp which has a Capacity of over 4ooo guests and something that has always put us off from going there. But we decided to try it and make a decision for ourselves as we have been quite surprised before, especially with Valata which is also huge.
The first good thing about the site was that they allowed us to park overnight outside their camp free of charge which was really great as we were arriving quite late on the Thursday evening. The next nice thing was that they let us into the campsite at 7am and just park on the road until our booked pitch became available at 12. This was also great as we could go in, take a walk and get our bearings, take a dip in the ocean and have breakfast. And also I could work out how the hell I was going to get the van manoeuvred into the pitch as it was a little tight to say the least.
After breakfast we went to the pool and took a couple of loungers and an umbrella to lay in the sun for an hour. At this time the pool was still relatively quiet except for the water aerobics class. And with a lovely view over the ocean it was a very nice place to relax before breaking away to put the van in the pitch and set-up for the weekend. The afternoon was spent at the pool and diving in and out of the ocean before watching a wonderful sunset with a glass or two of wine.
The following day was my birthday and we had a morning coffee at the shoreline at dawn then did pretty much nothing for the day except lie in the sun and take dips in the pool to cool down. As well as a treat of a burger and fries at the pool restaurant where we could eat naked which was a nice touch from the campsite as with other sites you normally have to dress to eat even during the day.
Sunday the wind had picked up due to a storm somewhere out at sea and a quite disgusting Algae slime had formed on the shoreline. This had forced most of the campers away from the ocean and to the pool area so that was an uncomfortable place to be and very overcrowded. So we hung out at the van, took some walks, and had a couple of cold beers through the day whilst painting and listening to music before being treated to an amazing sunset for our last night.
The following morning we packed up and parked the van outside the camp before returning inside to have a couple of hours at the pool. The camp by now was nearly at its capacity of over 4000 people and was becoming very loud so we showered and left Croatia for the summer returning to a cold and very wet Austria by evening!
It was a very nice break and although the campsite was not that great in general, the location of the pitch we had was amazing. Direct at the ocean with incredible un-obstructed views. But you get what you pay for and although it was cheaper than our preferred campsites in Croatia, it still set us back a whopping €60 per night! And with the incredibly inflated supermarket and restaurant and bar prices, this type of camping is getting extremely expensive just for a few days.
But maybe in off season and with the luck of some good weather, it would be a nice place to be. Just buy all your food and drink before you arrive and dont eat out as a burger will set you back €16 and a single portion of fries €5. We didnt even bother looking at the drinks prices…
Last year we visited the wine region in Styria a couple of times and over the weekend we decided to re-visit the lovely Buschenschank of Toni Peter.
Now you would think with two first names that he would be a male hairdresser but this lovely gentleman had been running his independent vineyard and restaurant his whole life and we were looking forward to having a meal there finally as last year we were unable due to parties going on. But this time we had no luck either as it was closed. He had just retired!
After arriving and talking to him we found out that he had rented the property out to new landlords who would re-open in a month or two and that he and his wife and their 2 cats would be taking his campervan on an extended tour of Kazakstan! But he very kindly let us park-up for the weekend free of charge although we did buy 3 bottles of wine from him.
The Friday afternoon we arrived was the summer Solstice, the longest day, and also world Naked hiking day! so we took advantage of the very nice weather to take a walk through the quiet vineyards and forest behind the park-up. We were alone there for the whole weekend and enjoyed the complete peace that this area gives you with amazing sunrises each day, long bike rides through the vineyards, and evening meals with a view over the countryside.
We hope that the new owners will keep the camper van pitches available and put as much effort into the quality of them as fellow traveller Peter Toni has done over the years. If you find yourself in this region of Austria we fully recommend taking a few days to explore this beautiful corner of Styria. There are many alternate Buschenschanks that offer free or cheap parking with incredible views and fresh, local, food and wine.
