Best way to visit Paris by motorhome

Arc de Triomphe

Paris is our favourite city. We sometimes make a specific trip just to go there but more often than not we try to encompass a visit on the way to or from other destinations. It's a particularly nice way to end a holiday knowing that you are going to give yourself a day in the French capital.

Our first suggestion for a site would be Camping La Belle Etoile in Melun. The town is OK but the main attraction is that the train station is around 20 mins walk or 5 mins by bike to the train station. From here you can get into Paris for around 30 euros return in about half an hour.

The site itself is on the Seine and is quite large and well laid out. It does tend to attract a few migrant workers and younger people among a fairly mixed crowd of campers, caravanners and motorhomers. It's on the Camping Cheque Scheme, which makes it a cheap option low season. It's also the right side of the city for a trip to Fontainebleau, which is easy to get to and park even in your motorhome.

Me at the near the Eiffel Tower with designer bag

We tried a new site this year, Camping Versailles run by Huttopia. This is just outside Versailles in a wood. It's 10 mins by bike to the palaces and only 5 mins walk to the train station. From here you can catch the RER, which means you can get off anywhere you like along the Seine. It's literally 20 mins by train to the Eiffel Tower.

This is not a busy line if you avoid rush hour, so we had a very relaxed trip in and out of the city, which only cost about £6 for a return. The campsite is expensive though. We went in April and the standard rate is around 30 euros a night. However, it is on the ACSI scheme, so you can get it for 18 euros. We stayed for 2 nights to allow a day around in Versailles itself and just one day in Paris. 

Inside Fountainebleau

It's a bit more tricky to get in and out of than Melun, particularly if you are trying to avoid toll roads. The approach is a bit narrow too. However, this has now become our favoured campsite for Paris and we will be heading back there as soon as we can.

Northern Italy motorhome - including Venice!

We have just come back from a whistle-stop trip down through France to Italy and back. Why? Well mainly to get to Venice. Venice is one of those places that we never thought we would visit, maybe because it's so touristy and expensive. 

Wendy in St Marks' Square, Venice

However, having had a look at the map, although it's on the other side of Italy, it is northern and Italy is so narrow that it's much nearer than we first thought. Add to that, the excellent cheap and reliable Italian train system meant that we were able to drive less and use the trains more than we would in other European countries.

The route we took was down through France using the aires. We over-nighted at the medieval walled city of Provins on night 1 and then onto Suerre on another free aire on the banks of the Saone. Day 3 of driving got us down near the Italian border ready for a crossing via the Mont Blanc tunnel.

A one-way ticket costs around 50 euros (75 for a return). You can queue for ages here but at this time of year we sailed through. Entry to the tunnel is strictly controlled for safety purposes to minimise the amount of traffic in the 11km tunnel at any one time. You also have to keep a 150m gapo between you and the car in front.

You are well into (and under) the Alps by now and having been stuck in them even in May due to the passes still be closed, we were happy to pay the toll charges to stay on the motorway that cuts a lower straighter path. Italian tolls are actually very reasonable.

Gondolas on the Grand Canal

After a night in an Alpine campsite where we were the only ones on, we headed for Lake Garda. There are loads of options for visits around here including Milan, Turin and Verona. We opted for the smaller but much raved about Verona, which we found to be compact enough to have a comfortable day seeing the sights.

The site we stayed on was called Butterfly and was on the very bottom of the lake. We highly recommend it not least for the excellent staff. The site is around 300 metres to the local train station from where we were able to travel the 125km into Venice for just ten euros each (and the same to get back).

Venice has to be seen to be believed. It is like stepping into a movie set. It is just like you see on the TV or in a film. Hundreds of narrow canals, gondalas vying for position with water taxis, delivery boats and tourist boats. It's busy, noisy, crowded and expensive. However, it's also possible to find yourself a quiet corner and cheap(ish) cafe if you look hard enough.

The Rialto Bridge

The highlights are St Mark's Square and the Rialto Bridge, but to be honest, the main attraction is just wandering the narrow paths around the canals and watching the world go by. We were completely exhausted after wandering around for about 7 hours. In all that time we didn't actually go in anywhere as we wanted to see as much of the city as we could and the weather was about 20 degrees (not bad for the end of March).

You could happily spend 4 or 5 days here if you had the budget and wanted to take advantage of the various museums and other attractions. We were happy with the one day though as we felt we really got a taste of the city as a whole.