Camping in Italy

You didn't mention where in Italy, but if you are in the north I wouldn't just pull over and sleep in a field....the farmer who it belongs to may not appreciate it! A lot of them post signs saying that camping is not allowed, mostly to keep gypsies from camping there for days at a time.
As for camp grounds, September will be a quiet month, as everyone will be back at work or school. We camped in Puglia once (in a tent) and I couldn't believe how many people were crammed in, most with campers. It wasn't like in the US where everyone had their own site, but it was right on the beach. You might want to look into B&B and see what you find because we had camped to save money and in the end there wasn't much savings at all, though it was high season. Europe is definately a shock after the prices in Guatemala!

Thanx Claire. We will probably be both in the North and the South. We want to explore Umbria and Tuscany and go up to Venice (and yes we would ask if it was obviously someone's field - we live on a farm too and wouldn't appreciate someone just thinking cause it's rural, it is fine to use without permission!).

Then South. After visiting relatives in Rome, we have the use of my cousin's small house in Sperlonga (while they are working in Rome) and we will plan day trips from there (not yet sure what is within a day), but if we get too far afield, we will be looking for camping too...or maybe private homes that rent a room.

Oh lucky you! Sperlonga is fantastic! Have a wonderful time.

Hi, if you're looking for camping have a look at this website: http://en.campingup.com/

Camping in Italy is cheap and often you can stay very close to the sea side.

Hmm - haven't figured out from any site where I can buy a book listing the camping sites. Will keep trying. Maybe amazon.

I stayed at two campgrounds in Italy September 2004. The first was in Rome. Camping Tibor, the campground was on the Tibor river and accessible by public transport. I loved this option. Camping Tibor has a pool, laundry, grocery store, and a complimentary bus to the train station so you can go into Rome and not worry about parking a car.

The other camp ground was near Venice. The campground is called Camping Fusina. The campground is on the mainland and there is a boat into Venice every hour. The only downsides to these campgrounds were that the disco’s stayed open late and are loud.

I treasured my earplugs at these locations. I am 50 years old and the camping option is just the ticket for me.
I did not take a tent, the cabins were good enough and I did not have to sleep on the ground. I paid 15 to 20 Euros per night.
There is a book of campgrounds in Italy published by the Touring cub of Italy. www.touringclub.it
Some campgrounds close for the off season but I did not have a problem.

Thanx Vinny and Jean. I went to that website. They unfortunately did not give pictures or prices (I wrote and asked a couple) but there sure seemed to be alot of them so that was encouraging. I would like to have a list with me.

Then Jean told me about that book - I will go order! Thanx.

Let me understand though...you mentioned a price of 20Euros a nite, will that be 40 for two people and is that @$60?? Oh -that is for a cabin? Do you know how much tent sites are? Did most campsites have a cabin? Would love to get out of taking a tent but $60 for every night is still pretty pricey for us.

For the Venice location Camping Fusina. Try their website, www.campingfusina.com It is best to check the current price.

Some of the sites are in not in English, however, you can figure out the rate page it is pretty easy.

I have been planning a bike trip and I believe that camp grounds are very practical for my needs. There are tent sites, cabins, and trailer options.
I liked the trailer for security sake; since I travel alone. With your car, I guess that would not be a problem. I have some photos if you would like to see some I could send them.

In mid April we visited Il Casale, a beautiful organic farm and agricampeggio in Pienza, Tuscany. We were only there for a tour and an amazing lunch, but had a wonderful time with our host Sandra, and imagine that staying there would be a great experience. They have camp sites and I think some trailers available. The setting is beautiful and the people are friendly and welcoming. The food is out of this world. The website is www.podereilcasale.com.

My pal Linda and I both had the best trip of our lives last year; mostly camping in Sicily. We saved tons of money, and proabably had more fun than 90% of conventional travelers. Flew into Rome, took the train to Messina, and got a rental car there, and headed around the island. On the train down from Rome, by a million to one coincidence, we met Luciano Mangiafico (he had been the US Consul General to Sicily back in the 90's!) what a fascinating conversationalist and charming man! I later bought one of the first copies of his new book "Itay's Most Wanted." Campgrounds range from fun, to adequate, to spectacular. One or two were "World Class." Most charge approx 15-20 eu per night; and most have cute little bungalows when rain threatens. We never "just pulled over into a field" in Sicily (no desire to wake up with a horse's head in the tent.) This next Sunday we do it again hit Rome and turn left, to work our way towards Milan.... love to stay and tutor more, but time is short!

Thanx Dave. We are convinced. Did you find a good book listing campgrounds or did you just wing it?

Carole: Be a bit careful here. Europe has gotten a lot more expensive than when you backpacked there 30 years ago, especially for Americans where €40 x 1.60 = $64. Rick has said he is concerned about "sending people to Europe with too much confidence and not enough money."

The bad news? Finding comprehensive campground info is not easy.
Good news? RS'ers aren't the kind of people who want their adventure pre-digested and pre-arranged. (That's for the sneer tour-bus crowd!)

We got a copy of "2007 Caravan & Camping Europe." (After having searched the net for months this book was an anti-climax; I'd already found 95% of what the book has.) Starting cold, it will be of some help.

For your Net search; key words: camping, campeggio, tende (tent) piazzolo, (tent site) Italy, (your desired city)... and you'll do fine.

Hope your italian va molto bene, or it'll be tough going on the (mostly) italian websites. My italian is a 2-out-of-10, and I am just barely able to stumble thru.

We went to a Big Box bookstore and pulled every single Italy guidebook off the shelves and bruttally culled them; we found the DK Eyewitness Travel to the individual cities (Florence, Venice, etc) suit our tastes.

Rental car, tent, guidebook...you'l have a blast.

Thanx Kent for the warning. Think I need it. Anyone have an idea for daily amount needed to budget for moderately priced meals?

We are also going on a camping trip. We've rented an RV and are planning to see much of Italy over 3.5 weeks. We'd tent camp, but we have little ones, and think it will be easier with an RV. (But NOT cheap!) We're using two books with lists of sites: Traveler's Guide to European Camping by Mike and Terri Church (The better of the 2 books in my opinion) and Camping Europe by Carol Mickelsen. The Church book provides very helpful info. Also don't forget a camping carnet --it offers 10% discounts at many campgrounds and you can leave it with the campground staff in lieu of your passport. You can order one from the Canadian Automobile Association CAA for $20 if you're a member of AAA. Also, many of the campgrounds do have cabins. They range from about 40-100€. Some also have bunkhouses like hostels that are cheaper.

My husband and I will be camping in 13 different sites around Italy from June 24-July 23 this summer. I found most of the campsites using information from InItaly.com

http://www.initaly.com/travel/info/camping.htm

I also just searched for campsites using Google. All of the places we'll be staying have a website with photos and an English translation. I have e-mail confirmations from all of them. My husband and I will be paying an average of 22 Euros a night for two people and a tent.

Last summer we did a similar trip in England, Scotland and Ireland. In my opinion, camping in Europe is definetly the way to go!