Campervan adventure – week 5 – north-west​ Italy, and a look at solo van life…

Hi, and thanks for taking the time to read this post.  I’m on a road trip through France, Switzerland, and Italy at the moment, capturing moments and sharing back through this blog and my Instagram account.

This post is week five and covers what’s happened since leaving behind Switzerland and driving south to Piedmont – a region in the north-west of Italy.

So far, I’ve stumbled across a truffle festival; crossed another mountain pass in the snow; sampled the delights of Italian cuisine, and eaten my first pizza since I’ve been away. 

Like most adventures, some of it has been good, and some of it has not. I’ve decided to also talk about that in this post as I wanted to share reality on what it can really be like to solo travel in a campervan.

If you wanted to catch up on the earlier weeks you can view them here: Week one, week two, week three, and week four.

Into week five…

From the region of Ticino, I crossed the border in Italy and slept the night at one of the smaller villages (Menaggio) on the west side of Lake Como.

Having just come from the snowy heights of Monte Generoso (you can read about that here) I welcomed a few beers, a pizza, and a glass of wine with open (and greedy) arms.

Lake Como was a nice place to be for a few days. I caught the ferry across the water and spent time exploring Bellagio.  It was a pretty and quaint village but also very quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet for me.

From Lake Como, I decided to drive deeper into Italy. A friend had mentioned it was the end of the wine season for the region of Piedmont, and that Asti and Alba were both nice towns to visit for the food and wine.

Asti was the first to visit. It was nice but I’ll be honest here, whilst it was pretty and full of stylish (and I mean stylish!) people, I struggled to get into it. For the first time on the road, I felt what it was like to be on my own.

I was surrounded by people in little groups drinking and eating together and the loneliness hit. Normally I just suck this up. This is solo travel. This is what it can be like but for some reason, it stuck with me.

What pulled me out of it was something I’ll hopefully not forget. As I walked a street at night I saw a lady on a bike had been hit by a car. I didn’t see what happened but the driver of the car was shouting and she stood and just looked on bewildered.

I stopped to help her and spent 1/2 an hour fixing her bike so she could at least push it wherever she needed to get to. Without being judgemental I knew she didn’t have much money. Perhaps she was almost living on the street.  Either way, she was happy for the help, and I was happy to have had the chance to have helped.

I can’t help but wonder if her situation was enhanced in some way by my own as it changed my mood for the night and the following days. There really is something in helping other people…

From Asti, I continued to Alba – and to a Truffle festival. Strangely enough, I met more people here. First, a friendly Italian guy working behind the counter of a bar, and second a QC from London on holiday with his Italian wife.

He not only invited me to sit for a drink and lunch with him, but he also dragged me along to a truffle festival and tried to get me to come out to dinner with him and his wife that night.

Maybe he just wanted company so he didn’t have to talk to his wife or maybe he felt sorry for me as I was travelling alone. I politely declined and found a cosy bar to sit, drink wine, and people watch, but I did appreciate the offer.

Alba, as a place, was preferred over Asti.

My last stop in Italy was Cuneo, less than an hour from Alba. I liked it straight away. People seemed happy, made eye contact, looked stylish but not pretentious.

The food was good. And I mean good. The city was also interesting and easy to explore. I ended up staying three nights, recharged myself and my van, and took things easy – only venturing out for a few short hikes / a drive to the mountains close by.

The Maritime Alps form a close backdrop to the city and offer good hiking potential. As such, I’m sure I’ll come back here at some point.

Perhaps a short flight into Turin from the UK, hire a car, spend a few days in Cuneo and then a few days hiking the mountains. This time they were covered in snow. And they were only 200m higher than where I was in Cuneo! 

I believe there are refuges available to stay in the mountain, and I’ve got a feeling the area is understated, of good quality, and yet to be fully discovered. This is another area I’d recommend to explore.

So that’s week five. Here’s a quick video on a Truffle to lighten the mood. This is what happens when you spend five weeks in a campervan on your own. Thank god for social media as a way to express what’s going on!

Next stop – the south of France before deciding which way to loop back up to the UK.

A few tips…

Italy is cheaper than in Switzerland – at least for food – and the food is good!

I hadn’t realised, but I was getting tired of moving – I spent 8 nights in 8 different places without even meaning to. Spending 3 nights in one place gave me a chance to recharge.

Don’t take it personally if other drivers stay close to your tail. If you’re not flying along, this is just how it is.

Italian driving is terrible (sorry). I’ve not been in a country before where no indication means you’re coming round a roundabout and an indication means that you’re not!