Freedombird travels through Europe in Spring 2026 (Part 2)

Monday 11th May 2026 – a day trip to Venice (Part 1)….

May 12, 2026

The moment we have been waiting for (well sort of) ,as we didn’t wish to battle the weekend crowds, we set off bright and early (8am) for a day in Venice. The weather is a bit mixed so we are armed with wet weather gear (which we did need for a couple of seriously heavy downpours) as we leave site to catch 2 buses and a ferry to Venice.

Straight off the boat right next to Piazza di San Marco, we seem to get carried along by the crowds of visitors, particularly when crossing the many narrow canal bridges….

We manage to squeeze our way through the crowds to get a proper look at the Bridge of Sighs….

And into Piazza di San Marco….

As long as you keep your distance from the main buildings the square is huge and likewise once you leave the main thoroughfare you are able to breathe again….

We enjoyed wandering around the side streets for a while and found a small square that was quiet, to sit and plan our next steps. It should be really easy to find your way around but there are a lot of dead ends and bridges where you don’t need them and none when you do! In the end we decided to catch the main water taxi which takes you all the way along the Grande Canal and catch the main sights that way….

Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Punto della Dogano and Basilica Santa Maria della Salute….

Further up the Canal we enjoyed the varied architecture of Palazzio Genovesi and Palazetto Stern….

Rialto Bridge which is much better seen from the canal – the viewing bridge was packed solid….

We alighted at Ca d’Oro which seemed much quieter and prettier and some how less touristy for a welcome walk in the sunshine….

After we had had our fill and recharged a bit we made our way to the Water Taxi, this time deciding to head to the islands – Morano and Burano which we will cover in the next blog.

Not Tilly’s best kind of day – busy streets and boats are her two least favourite things and I have to confess though I appreciate the beauty of the amazing land mark buildings, the main centre around San Marco, somehow felt a little staged and grubby with hundreds of stalls selling every kind of tat imaginable and in complete contrast all the designer shops looked warm and welcoming – not!

As for me – I hate crowds too and whilst I appreciate the beauty of the buildings and the infrastructure of the waterways – I’ve been, I’ve seen and am glad to have done so but I doubt I’ll be back….
Friday 8th to Sunday 10th May 2026 – a relaxing few days on Lido di Jesolo….

May 11, 2026
These are our last few days by a beach in Italy, so we have decided to take them gently and just enjoy.

Sometimes we wander along the promenade, sometimes paddling along the sea edge but generally just enjoying a slower pace of life, thinking, planning or just being….

Tilly enjoying a bit of freedom as the beaches are pretty deserted and she doesn’t get a great deal of off lead time when we are on our travels – though to be fair she is quite content on a lead and mostly seems to prefer it apart from when on a beach.

This resort is pretty empty, with many hotels still not open and acres upon acres of sun umbrellas and loungers either all ready and waiting or still at the set up stage….

Even so the lifeguards are on duty every 100 or so metres…

In between the sea of umbrellas indicating private beaches – though you can still wander along the waters edge, are little tranches of Public Beach….

There appears to be a whole army of staff keeping the beaches clean, sweeping the promenade, selling passes for the loungers, manning the bars and lifesaving huts – I guess most are employed by the hotels but bearing in mind it is almost mid May, the resort is pretty deserted, so the season must be pretty short and I wonder how they make it work? I also shudder to think what it must be like when the hotels and campsites are all open and full – hell on earth!

Still a nice and relaxing venue for us right now – time to catch up on a few things and do some forward planning as time is racing.

Friday’s stats:
- Miles walked – 7
- Beaches – 1
- O/N – £15.50
Saturday’s stats:
- Miles walked – 5
- Beaches – 1
- O/N – £15.50
Sunday’s stats;
- Miles walked – 5
- Beaches – 1
- O/N – £15.50
Thursday 7th May 2026 – from Lake Garda to Jesolo….

May 10, 2026
A lovely morning greets us and we actually get a good look at Lake Garda from the campsite before we leave, without the low cloud cover…

An uneventful journey takes us the rest of the way across northern Italy to a long strip of beach, just on the other side of Venice – the Lido di Jesolo….

A 15km stretch of sandy beach – as far as the eye can see and beyond….

This will do nicely for a few days off, is it a bad thing to be grateful for a few days of nothingness? Nothing spectacular, historic, pretty or stunning – just a long stretch of more or less empty beach backed by empty hotels and sunshine – ideal….

Today’s stats:
- Miles driven – 140
- Miles walked – 5
- Beaches – 1
- O/N – £15.50
Wednesday 6th May 2026 – a walk into Sirmione….

May 9, 2026
The difference a day makes – having looked set for an unsettled week, the weather has brightened up overnight and another beautiful day has come our way. Good news for us as we have planned a fairly lengthy walk along the peninsula that is Sirmione, one of the most popular spots on Lake Garda.

Again access to the foreshore of Lake Garda is limited but we grabbed each opportunity even if it did add a mile or 2 todays excursion….

As we arrived at the main old town of Sirmione (having wandered through many leafy and affluent residential areas and hotels), this beauty was parked in one of the many car parks on the outskirts…

Rather ruined as the side was plastered with promotional stickers for some Real Estate company – how crass?

Though busy the main entrance to the old town was guarded by this magnificent castle – Castello Scaligero….

We meandered our way through the busy narrow streets lined with shops, bars and Gelateria’s and more typically quieter residential side streets….

Dipping out to check on Lake Garda where possible….

The far end of the peninsula was much quieter and largely occupied by manicured grounds of fancy hotels

At the very end is the Grotto di Catullo a chargeable museum, which we didn’t go into, enjoying the far reaching Lake views instead…

And on the return journey a visit to the much quieter and off the main beaten track, San Pietro in Mavino and its Bell tower dating back to the 1300’s….

On our return we found ourselves a nice quiet spot by the Lake to enjoy a pastry with our coffee and to rest our tired legs….

Before making our way back to the Castle and to prepare ourselves for the long walk home….

Today’s stats:
- Miles walked – 9
- Pastry – £1.90 (last of the big spenders me)
- O/N – £24
Tuesday 5th May 2026 – moving inland to Lake Garda….

May 8, 2026
As forecast the weather broke during the night and continued with on off rain and cloud for the duration of our rather long drive (circuitous rather than miles), avoiding the toll roads (mainly because of the difficulty of getting and paying for the tolls in a right hand drive than cost) and heading inland to our next location – Lake Garda.

The first half of the drive was slowly wending our way up over and through the Tuscan-Emilian Pennines – many times breaking above the lower clouds – spectacular in itself….

The second half was very flat from around Parma with it mostly being arable farmland and more latterly vineyards as we eventually arrived at our site for the next few nights on the outskirts of Sirmione right on the shore of Lake Garda.

Once settled we took a break in the weather to wander towards Desenzano, disappointed to find that access to the lake was mostly taken by extravagant residences or luxury hotels (Lake Windermere all over again) and we had to make do with the odd opportunity to see the Lake….

Cloud cover prevented us from enjoying the full experience but the stunning palette of blues and wildlife helped!

As it looked like we might be pushing our luck weatherwise, we headed back to the site and enjoyed a few moments on the site foreshore, before returning to the van and settling in for the evening….

Today’s stats:
- Miles driven – 140
- Miles walked – 5
- Groceries – £28.64
- O/N – £24.09 (ACSI)
Monday 4th May 2026 – Cinque Terre (Part 2)…..

May 7, 2026
Continuing on from yesterday’s blog, we arrive at Vernazza, one of the smaller villages. It is by now mid afternoon and this small village, again centred around the harbour is very busy, as people continue to arrive – the trains continue well into the evening….

We quickly pass the crowds and head straight down to the harbour, where there is a nice little beach, too busy for us to linger….

A nice walk along the harbour wall, affords great views of this pretty village….

And we do manage to find a way through under a natural archway to a relatively secluded spot of beach (and I mean spot) for us to sit, catch our breath and cool down for a bit….

Going back to late morning, when we ended up at Montarosso, the closest village to Levanto, here we probably spent the most time, as unlike the other villages Montarosso is spread over a larger stretch of coastline with some pretty descent beaches and a combination of time and space meant that the crowds were much more dispersed….

Here we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the sea front, firstly to Spiaggia di Gigante….

The beach was named after the (mostly) concrete statue of a Giant was sculpted as a feature to the adjoining Villa in 1910, ravaged by the sea and 2 World Wars the Giant was restored in 2021 and creates quite a feature….

Heading back along the promenade, looking down onto Fegina beach….

The far end of Fegina Beach is overlooked by a fortress of some kind (now a restaurant)….

And beyond the much quieter Spiaggia di Monterosso….

A very different experience to the other villages and nowhere near as isolated but a fine beach or two is always good in my experience.

An absolutely amazing day, a long one and both Tilly and I are shattered but enriched!

Thoughts of the day:
- How amazing that these villages were only linked to civilisation with the building of the railway line in the late 1800’s but much more amazing and laudable is the fact that since then they haven’t been ruined by glassy new builds!
Today’s stats:
- Miles walked – 8
- Train – £2.33
- Cinque Terre entrance – £19.01
- Food – £6.42
- O/N – £22
Monday 4th May 2026 – Cinque Terre (Part 1)….

May 6, 2026

A much better day than forecast but still a reasonable amount of cloud and breeze around to make today’s outing pleasurable – especially as it was soo busy! An earlyish start as we caught the 9.30 shuttle bus down to the station and caught the train to Levanto again. This time though we only needed to alight at Levanto to pick up entry tickets to Cinque Terre National Park – the tickets included train travel between the villages as well as access to the many footpaths. We hopped back on the train and decided to start at the far end, getting out at our first village – Riomaggiore – the main hub of this beautiful village was very busy leading down to the focal point, the harbour….

From here we followed the coastal path, which was significantly quieter, around to the secluded stony beach….

Here the path ended and on our return we watched for a while as the rather choppy sea made havoc of those trying to embark and disembark the ferry that is an alternative mode of transport (at additional cost to the ticket that we had bought), between the villages….

Trying to keep our distance from the crowds we wandered back along the path enjoying the stunning views of the village and coast….

Battling our way around the small harbour to get alternative views of the village as it makes its way up the hillside, with agricultural terracing visible above the houses….

Very pretty indeed but an absolute nightmare to live I should imagine – this is a Monday in early May – July and August don’t bear thinking about!

At this point I made a bit of a cock up, assuming that all trains stopping at the station, would stop at each of the villages – wrong, so before we knew it we were back at the first village – Monterosso! However for the sake of continuity, the next village heading east to west is Manarola….

This village is perched high up on the cliff top, looking and reaching down to the small harbour….

Here too we found that most people were concentrated around the bars, shops and restaurants lining the main street down and surrounding the harbour and so we made our way to the coastal path and were rewarded with a bit of breathing space and some pretty spectacular views of the village and surrounding coastline….

This was in fact our last village of the day, as by this time it is late afternoon and the trains are jam packed and frankly we have had enough. Fortunately, we had saved the least picturesque village (allegedly), Corniglia to last and contented ourselves with distant coastal views from Manarola…

We shall continue this excursion in tomorrow’s blog, otherwise it is at risk of becoming to media heavy to open….
Sunday 3rd May 2026 – a lovely walk from Levanto to Framura….

May 5, 2026
A very hot day yesterday and being a Saturday we decided there was no point trying to find a spot on the beach so we stayed put and got on with a few housekeeping bits and stayed in the relatively cool spot we have under the shade of the trees.

It is still a fine day today but with a little bit of cloud and breeze around we venture down to the station and catch the train the short distance to Levanto as there is a section of old railway line that has been converted into a cycle / pedestrian way linking the coastal villages of Levanto, Bonassola and Framura, most of which is through tunnels affording a nice bit of cool for walking in.

Arriving in the pleasant resort of Levanto, we take a stroll around the old town first….

Before joining the seafront for a stroll along the promenade and the beaches of Levanto – Spiaggia la Pietra and Spiaggia Levanto….

At the far end of the resort is Spiaggia Scapinera with it’s collection of colourful small boats….

Ready to cool down a bit we venture into our first tunnel….

In between sections of tunnel are little glimmers of light with amazing views across the aquamarine sea and Levanto’s secret beach – Spiaggia Valle Santa….

After a couple of miles we are in sight of Bonassola….

A small and not especially remarkable village….

Busy on this beautiful Sunday afternoon with plenty of folk enjoying either alfresco dining or the sunny, part pebbly beach….

After a short break we continue our way through more tunnels, in fact this stretch was nearly all tunnel with the odd delightful gap here and there…

After another mile or so we reach Framura with it’s pretty natural sheltered harbour…

And small stony beaches – Spiaggia Torsei near the harbour and Spiaggia la Valla, just beyond the village which mostly sits perched high above the sea….

Here we take a last look at the beautiful sea and catch the train back to Deiva Marina, as walking any further involves roadside walking up through the hills for a further 5 miles – not happening especially as we have a big day planned for tomorrow….

A beautiful walk, only really made possible in this heat because of the long stretches of tunnel.

Today’s stats:
- Miles walked – 8.5
- Beaches – 7
- Train – £4.40
- O/N – £22
Friday 1st May 2026 – Deiva Marina….

May 4, 2026
A beautiful hot sunny day and a bank holiday here in Italy as we took the courtesy bus the couple of miles down to Deiva Marina, noting that in fact there is a footpath from about half a mile south of the campsite. There isn’t much of a resort here just a few hotels and campsites (mostly higher up the road as we are) and the main beach is understandably heaving!….

Though we do manage to find a quiet corner, where there are a few other dogs, for a bit of a sit down but to be honest it was too hot for Tilly and though there are other dogs on the beach, the signage quite clearly states no dogs so we didn’t loiter. We wandered along the promenade to see if walking along the coast for a bit was an option but to the left just led into a campsite (no dogs) with it’s own tiny private beach, Spiaggia Camping Framura….

At the end of the site was a closed off tunnel preventing any further progress, so we about turned and headed in the opposite direction and low and behold….

So it would appear that short of doing some serious hiking, there is only one way in and out of the village. Oh well, we’ve had a nice walk and rather than calling for the courtesy bus we decided to walk back….

I imagine that tomorrow will be even busier, so we have decided to have a bit of a day off and do some laundry and other van bits and just be….

Today’s stats:
- Miles walked – 6
- Beaches – 2
- O/N – £20.71
Thursday 30th April 2026 – Rapallo and the mountain road to Deiva Marina….

May 3, 2026
Another beautiful morning and we start the day with a walk down to Rapallo sea front just over a mile away from our Sosta. What we hadn’t appreciated was the fact that the weekly market was on this morning down on the sea front and so it was rather busy.

We were however able to walk along behind the market on the sea front, with a brief stop on Spiaggia Rapallo…

As we hav ecome to expect the colourful graceful buildings along the sea front do not disappoint….

And at the far end of the sea front the small castle and it’s small beach is a sight to behold….

Upon returning to the van, we were soon packed up and on our way, knowing that we have a somewhat interesting journey ahead of us. The drive is not far distance wise but after about 10 miles of coast hugging the SS1 coastal road heads more inland as it climbs through the inland hills, the coast, I guess was too tricky to viably construct a road and the few resorts are reached by some pretty steep and narrow declines – if the SS1 is coming inland then so are we. The road is steep and very windy, which makes for slow going but still an enjoyable drive with more distant sea views…

Eventually we reach the turning for Deiva Marina and start the equally slow and windy decline to the campsite we have booked for the next few nights. Unfortunately there is no footpath down to the sea from the site (about 2 miles) and the shuttle bus from the site only takes guests down up until midday, so we just take a wander around the site and relax for the afternoon.

Thoughts of the day:
- The Wifi and phone signal is much better in Italy than we found it to be in France – so far at least.
- Supermarkets with ample parking on the outskirts of towns do not seem to be a thing here which makes shopping a little trickier – but we are managing.
Today’s stats:
- Miles driven – 29
- Miles walked – 6
- Beaches – 2
- Fuel – £75.56
- Food – £7.07
- O/N – £20.71