ITALY: DOWN AT THE HEEL

The following article has been published in the MMM (Motorhome Motorcaravan Monthly), the UK's premier motorhome magazine. It describes a motorhome journey through the Heel of Italy.

Full-timing in Rosie, our 27 ft Four Winds Motorhome, Margaret and I were very slowly making our way across Europe towards a winter in Greece.

After France, the Alps, Hungary and Slovakia, by late October we were at Camping Strandbad in Klagenfurt in south-east Austria, considering our next move. We couldn't visit Slovenia without full insurance cover so we crossed the border directly into Italy at Arnoldstein and followed the mountainous road through Udine to the Italian shore of the Adriatic, near Trieste - our first sight of the sea since crossing the Channel 7 months earlier.

We were to follow that shore for 5 weeks as it ran south and east, hoping to catch the sun as it, too, travelled south for the winter. We drove 1100 miles from Trieste to the tip of the Heel of Italy at Capo S Maria di Leuca, although the most direct route, paying tolls on the autostrade and avoiding all distractions, could be as little as 700 miles.

On our route, we first visited Venice, staying at Camping Miramare (Sea View) at Punta Sabbioni, at the end of the 15-mile long sandspit of Lido di Jesolo, east of Venice. A 5-minute walk and a 30-minute ferry ride landed us at the very edge of St Mark's Square, outside the Doge's Palace, below the Bridge of Sighs. We'll let the rest of Venice, quietly, magnificently and sadly sinking into the soft, watery, autumn light, speak for itself, directly to you, when you visit, as you must!

Beyond Venice, we visited Chioggia (Port Car Park), Ferrara (Centro Storico Car Park), Bologna (Camping Citta di Bologna) and then followed the arrow-straight Via Emilia back to the coast at Rimini (Central Car Park). After a few days in the mountainous Republic of San Marino (Camping Centro Turistico), we followed the SS16 (Via Adriatica) all the way to the Heel, spending time in Ancona (Dockside TIR Lorry Park), Roseto degli Abruzzi (Eurocamping), Peschici on the rocky Gargano Peninsula (by the Customs post on the harbour), the port of Bari (Camping Internazionale, San Giorgio), the splendid ruins of the 5th century BC Greek/Roman city of Ignazia (Camping San Stefano in Monopoli) and Brindisi.

These are the highlights: other nights were spent on marinas, promenades and fishing harbours along this beautiful coast. Few campsites were open in November but car parks often had special facilities for motorhomes, including water taps and waste-dumping, for £2 or £3 per night. Otherwise, we felt free and safe to stay where there was a space for us (a time and place for us . . . )

Approaching the Heel from France, Turin or Milan, you could visit Pisa, Florence, Siena, Rome, Naples, Pompei and Sorrento before crossing to Bari or Brindisi. What more does life offer?

Arriving at Specchiolla, about 10 miles north of Brindisi, we spent a few nights on the well-named Camping Pineta al Mare (Pine-wood by the Sea), using our bikes to explore inland and along the coast, gaining our first impressions of Brindisi. It's a brash and bustling port, even in late November; in July and August it must be hell on wheels! For over 2 millennia, the 20 ft high marble column Colonna Romana has marked the end of the Via Appia Antica (Ancient Appian Way) which, like all good roads, leads to Rome. For the Romans, as for us, it also led to Greece and their other possessions in the east.

When we arrived in Brindisi, HMS Beaver was at the quay alongside the main street, proudly flying the red ensign among a scattering of other NATO warships on patrol along the shores of the former Yugoslavia. An articulated lorry from Wigan was off-loading stores and other essentials - hot-pot, black puddings and cakes from nearby Eccles?

Brindisi has no campsite of its own (although it's all right to spend nights on the quayside) so we moved 12 miles south to the hugely empty Camping Village Torre (Tower) Rinalda. Cycling inland to Squinzano, we bought a sack of 'dog soup mix' with pasta and made friends for life with the campsite's resident family of homeless dogs: Mum, Dad, Limpalong and puppies Fluffy and Piccolo (Little One). No language problems there!

The Heel is exceptionally quiet in late autumn and winter. We stayed on 6 of the 11 sites that offer those magic words Aperto Tutto l'Anno (Open All Year) and they were almost empty. The sites give good access to equally empty beaches but the toilets may not always be what Alan Rogers calls 'British' and the showers may be the sort that used to be thought 'good for you'.

Costs averaged about £8 per night including electricity without meters but with a low current rating. At our favourite site, Camping La Scogliera at the spa of Santa Cesarea Terme, the cut-out cut out in response to the very modest demands of our little electric kettle, but the kind patrono soon plugged us into the toilet block which gave all we asked of it!

The climate of the Heel is Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and mild winters. Unlike most of Italy, the countryside is low-lying, excellent for easy cycling and it grows cereals, vines, tobacco, almonds and 10% of the world's olives. The buildings (particularly the strange trulli houses) and the customs of the people have been described as 'oriental'. Once thought of as the end of the world, this is still the far end of Europe; to the east is Asia, to the south Africa.

The coastline is rugged, with coves and caves and sands and isolated ruined watchtowers. The inland town of Lecce and the coastal ports of Otranto, Gallipoli and Taranto will each reward a leisurely visit. To the west, the Gulf of Taranto has miles of sandy beaches and a good choice of winter-opening campsites around Metaponto. Inland, behind these beaches, the mountains of Italy reassert themselves.

After 3 weeks down and around the Heel, we chose the roughest night of the year to cross to Greece, hoping to spend Christmas at Delfi. But we will return to the Heel. We want to follow the Bay of Taranto to the Toe of Italy and round to Reggio di Calabria for the ferry to Sicily and a circular tour of its fascinating coastline. But that would be another story!

Practically: £10 at an open-air book market in Ferrara bought the Istituto Geografico DeAgostini Road Atlas of Italy at the useful scale of 4 miles/inch with a full index. We also used some of the Carte Stradali delle Regioni (Regional Road Maps) published by Studio FMB Bologna, on the same scale. The Lonely Planet and Rough Guides are good and the Michelin (Green) Tourist Guide to Italy is an invaluable companion to the country's cultural and historic treasures.

Insurance: Our insurance company gave us a 'free' 12-month green card for the EU and other 'safe' countries (as it should), but it wouldn't extend its cover to Slovenia (nor Bulgaria, Romania, Asian Turkey, the Baltic Republics, etc), even for extra payment. So we have now changed to Norwich Union which has much better coverage, although still with some limitations. Insurance can be bought at border crossings, but it is expensive and often just the minimum 3rd party cover.