Summer in Greece 2018
I have been incredibly lazy and not blogged for ages. I just keep going on trips and forgetting to post about them. Lots of people have been in contact about driving to Greece so I thought I would write up this year's trip a little so the route and possible routes can help people who want to go to this amazing country. There is a 'Driving to Greece' section on here and you can look at Summer 2017 and other summers for ideas for routes and places to stay.
Helpful things to know:
Camping on board where you drive on, plug in and sleep in your vehicle is only done on Anek ferries and gets booked up quickly.
Minoan do 'camping on board ' but you have a cabin or a reclining seat.
The crossing from Ancona to Patras takes about 23 hours and costs the same as Ancona to Igoumenitsa.
You need to buy a vignette to cross through Switzerland. You can get it at service stations on the way up to the border or at the border itself. If you pay cash in euros , you will get Swiss francs in change. You can use a card at the border if you go in the office or at service stations.
There are tolls through Italy at entry and various places along the route.
It gets hot- you need fans.
Driving to Greece 2018- the route and * overnight stops
- *Canterbury park and ride at New Dover Road.
- *Marine Parade Dover ( not sure if this is possible now but it's not far from Canterbury park and ride to ferry)
- Head for Lille. Stop at Junction 16 A25/E42 signposted Bergues to E LeClerc for a fuel fill. Our route is then Lille/ Valenciennes/ Charlesville Mezieres / Douzy.
Carry on to* Stenay ( - about five hours driving with stops) where there is an aire. You drive to the office at the Port de Plaisance and get the code for the barrier and showers. It was 9.40 euros with electric.
There's a Lidl at the top of the town and lots of little shops in the town. The aire is lovely on the edge of the canal and river.
- *Breisach am Rhein Germany
on the way there, we go into Luxemburg to get fuel, gin and other stuff because it's cheap. We went via Virton/ Musson to Bascharage where there are garages and a huge Cactus supermarket as well as an Aldi.
We head along to St Die and there is an aire- picnic only- called Jete de Pierre where we usually stop for lunch. There is an eco loo there which I almost managed to get locked in this time but a panicked thump on the door got me out! We take the Colmar par Col route avoiding the tunnel and payment and have fabulous views as we drive up and over....usually stopping in Fraize for bread. We drive past Kaysersberg ( possible stop over- nice aire, nice town) past Colmar ( also has an aire, also lovely town) and go over the Rhine to the stelplatz in Breisach by the river. We also get fuel here. There's a nice walk along the river or round the walls. Free wifi at the tourist office.
*Salsomaggiore Terme Italy new this year. We used to stay here on a campsite the first years we travelled this way but the campsite is very expensive and you're only there overnight so can't really take advantage of swimming pools etc. So we take a straightforward drive to Basel. We stop at Sursee for coffee with a lovely view. We stop again at Coldrerio after the Gotthard tunnel for lunch but there are stopping places before then. It took us 40 minutes to get around Milan with no stops even though there was heavy traffic. We turned off at Fidenza where new roads made it look difficult to get to Salsomaggiore Terme but it was fine. There is a free sosta by the railway station which was good. The address is Via Antonio Gramsci N44.82025 E9.98994
We parked up and went into the town which was lovely....faded grandeur but beautiful.
-* Brisighella Italy
Back to the autostrada, down to Faenza and off into the foothills at Brisighella. This is a beautiful town with towers and worth a stay and a walk around. The sosta is eight euros and is quiet.
-*San Marino also new this year. We have driven past so many times and wanted to stay overnight so we did. Good idea! We parked on level two of the car park. Level one has more shade and toilets, level two has more room, level three has emptying and filling and loos. We had a fantastic view. We walked up to the cable car- there's one every 15 minutes and it's four euros 50 per person and so worth it. You can see the sea. it's a wonderful place- very touristy but good.
-*Fano Italy
We filled up here with fuel and gas as it is cheap. We took the Fano turn off the autostrada and went into the town following the signs for Ancona non motorway . We turn off to the left where the sign for Spiaggia ( beach) and Sassonia is. It's only a field next to the sea but nice for a swim across the road and an evening walk into town. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes near.
* Anek /Superfast X1 Ferry to Greece
We drove about an hour down to Ancona watching for the port turning. It is signposted but we missed it once. You have to go to the ticket office- signposted ,to check in before you go to the loading area. You need passports, tickets and sometimes your van log book. It seems to take forever to load- follow the instructions of the guys loading you- they really know what they are doing even though you think you couldn't possibly fit in a space. ...they will get you in. The electricity is from cables above your head- someone will get a pole and give it to you to pull the cable down and plug in. There are showers and loos and of course you can go anywhere on the ship. There's an a la carte restaurant, self service restaurant and snacks by the pool ( don't get excited- it isn't big and only kids go in it) We usually get a plate of gyros ( Greek kebab meat) from the deck and take it down to the van and eat it with extra salad.
Arrival in Patras
It takes a while to get off and you follow the cars in front of you out of the port. If you need shopping- take the first exit off the ramp up out of the port and Lidl is just along on the left where there are also garages. Follow signs to New National Road ( not new any more)
You're there!
There are so many places to go and see , you will have to choose yourself from maps/ blogs/ recommendations. There are places we know and love and have been to many times and most are on here somewhere, Camping Aginara in Glyfa about an hour from Patras, Camping Methoni in Methoni right down south, and our second home, camping Thines in Finikounda where we stay longest. There are many many more.......
Return Home
This year, because of being unable to get a ferry when we wanted to return, we had more time to wander back up to Dunkirk. Here's where we stayed and it is very different to our usual route because we went to some places in Greece we hadn't stayed before and then to Lake Iseo and the Moselle.
After leaving Finikounda:
*Karavostasi. A tiny fishing port just before Limeni - drive past Kalamata and Stoupa. Free stop over, no facilities next to a wonderful fish restaurant.
*Camping Semili, Leonidio via Areopoli,Gythio
We drove via Kosmas where we parked up behind the church and had a coffee in this village high up in the hills. The drive here is lovely. (You drive past Gythio, which is also a lovely place to stay. We usually stay at Gythion Bay site.) It's worth stopping for a look around Areopoli- there's a big car park.
Camping Semeli is outside of Leonidio, near Plaka and there are a few restaurants and a nice place to spend some seaside time.
* Palea Epidavros
We drove via Napflio - another wonderful place to visit but we didn't stay this time. You can visit Epidavros ancient theatre on the way to Palea Epidavros but we have done that before so headed down to the little town where we went to the campsite but there wasn't a waterfront pitch so we went back into town and parked along the end of the spit of land overnight. There was a triathlon on so the town was bustling.
* Afroditi's Waters camperstop Ancient Corinth
We have stayed here before and it's always the same- lovely little camperstop down an improbable route but easily doable for big vans. You get a pitch and a great Greek welcome. Ancient Corinth is a few minutes walk up the street and worth looking at by night too. It is worth driving up to Acro Corinth for the amazing views.
There are lots of tourist places but decent restaurants and cafes. You can buy fruit, wine and veg and eggs from the kitchen in the camperstop.
*Itea via Delphi
I had never been to Delphi so we went. It was about three hours drive from Corinth stopping near Mount Parnassos for coffee.We did the museum first to get things into perspective then walked all around the magnificent site with breathtaking views. We went late afternoon which was a good time as the marauding hordes had left. We drove downhill through what looked like a silver sea of olives to Itea and park on the harbour front. We went to a little souvlaki place there.
*Ayios Vasilis ( Saint Billy)
We almost drove past above this lovely little bay but turned round and went down for a beach to ourselves for most of the day and a very quiet night. No facilities, just a beautiful place.
* Camping Aginara via Nafpaktos and Patras.
We drove to Nafpaktos and had a brief look around but decided to save the castle and most of it for another time. I think we were a bit tired and wanted a bit of staying put. It also didn't feel right to go to the Peloponnese and not call to see Kiki at camping Aginara at Glyfa. We went to camping Ionian Beach nearby as some friends highly recommended it but we didn't like it when we looked around. It was pretty full and noisy so we went to where we love at Aginara and it was worth it to see Kiki smiling and telling us everything about everything. It's a beautiful little bay and it feels like home to us. We like to cycle to Arkoudi to shop and eat and watch sunsets.
* Anek/Superfast Hellenic Spirit.
We called at Lidl to stock up and drove along to Monodendri to meet friends for lunch. It was not the calmest of crossing but we felt safe and snug.
* Fano Italy
We got off the boat quite late so drove an hour up the coast and stayed in the sosta in Fano town where we have never stayed before and ate out in Fano. It was a nice experience and the sosta was free and very busy.
* Camping Covelo, Lake Iseo, Italy
This is not our usual route but it was a lovely detour. We were given a welcome drink when we got to the pretty site and a really helpful guy showed us to our pitch- I might book this in future as it was so nice next to the lake. We stayed two nights as we liked it a lot and we could cycle and there was a huge market.
* Breisach am Rhein via Gotthard Pass
We drove towards Gotthard tunnel and there was a sign saying the queue was an hour so we went over the top! It was glorious! It was being in an aeroplane.
We got fuel in Breisach and went to the stelplatz but it was almost full so we went across the river to the other side and parked for the night.
* Zell Germany
The journey to the Moselle too much longer than the three and a half hours it was supposed to because of roadworks around Karlsruhe so we probably won't go that route again. We got a pitch at the stelplatz near the river and went into Zell for a walk and a meal and to buy wine from a little vineyard.
* Traben Trabach Germany
We got the last riverside pitch here- a lovely little spot with showers and toilets. We went into town but most places were closed and as we had been here before, we didn't worry- just collected loads of walnuts from the riverside where the wind was blowing them down. It was cold and wet by now.
* Mouzon France
We called via Bascharage in Luxemburg as usual then went to Mouzon instead of Stenay- a lovely little spot by the canal in a very quiet village with a cathedral and fortifications.
* Camping Les Trois Cloches Cambrais France new this year
Stopped for lunch in Le Catillon. We have driven past Cambrais many times but this time stayed at the really neat municipal site - 12 euros. It's very convenient for a walk into the town and there's an Aldi on the same street.
Ferry then Dover Road Park and Ride Canterbury England
I have been incredibly lazy and not blogged for ages. I just keep going on trips and forgetting to post about them. Lots of people have been in contact about driving to Greece so I thought I would write up this year's trip a little so the route and possible routes can help people who want to go to this amazing country. There is a 'Driving to Greece' section on here and you can look at Summer 2017 and other summers for ideas for routes and places to stay.
Helpful things to know:
Camping on board where you drive on, plug in and sleep in your vehicle is only done on Anek ferries and gets booked up quickly.
Minoan do 'camping on board ' but you have a cabin or a reclining seat.
The crossing from Ancona to Patras takes about 23 hours and costs the same as Ancona to Igoumenitsa.
You need to buy a vignette to cross through Switzerland. You can get it at service stations on the way up to the border or at the border itself. If you pay cash in euros , you will get Swiss francs in change. You can use a card at the border if you go in the office or at service stations.
There are tolls through Italy at entry and various places along the route.
It gets hot- you need fans.
Driving to Greece 2018- the route and * overnight stops
 |
| Dover |
- *Marine Parade Dover ( not sure if this is possible now but it's not far from Canterbury park and ride to ferry)
- Head for Lille. Stop at Junction 16 A25/E42 signposted Bergues to E LeClerc for a fuel fill. Our route is then Lille/ Valenciennes/ Charlesville Mezieres / Douzy.
Carry on to* Stenay ( - about five hours driving with stops) where there is an aire. You drive to the office at the Port de Plaisance and get the code for the barrier and showers. It was 9.40 euros with electric.
There's a Lidl at the top of the town and lots of little shops in the town. The aire is lovely on the edge of the canal and river.
 |
| Stenay |
- *Breisach am Rhein Germany
on the way there, we go into Luxemburg to get fuel, gin and other stuff because it's cheap. We went via Virton/ Musson to Bascharage where there are garages and a huge Cactus supermarket as well as an Aldi.
We head along to St Die and there is an aire- picnic only- called Jete de Pierre where we usually stop for lunch. There is an eco loo there which I almost managed to get locked in this time but a panicked thump on the door got me out! We take the Colmar par Col route avoiding the tunnel and payment and have fabulous views as we drive up and over....usually stopping in Fraize for bread. We drive past Kaysersberg ( possible stop over- nice aire, nice town) past Colmar ( also has an aire, also lovely town) and go over the Rhine to the stelplatz in Breisach by the river. We also get fuel here. There's a nice walk along the river or round the walls. Free wifi at the tourist office.
 |
| Breisach am Rhein |
*Salsomaggiore Terme Italy new this year. We used to stay here on a campsite the first years we travelled this way but the campsite is very expensive and you're only there overnight so can't really take advantage of swimming pools etc. So we take a straightforward drive to Basel. We stop at Sursee for coffee with a lovely view. We stop again at Coldrerio after the Gotthard tunnel for lunch but there are stopping places before then. It took us 40 minutes to get around Milan with no stops even though there was heavy traffic. We turned off at Fidenza where new roads made it look difficult to get to Salsomaggiore Terme but it was fine. There is a free sosta by the railway station which was good. The address is Via Antonio Gramsci N44.82025 E9.98994
We parked up and went into the town which was lovely....faded grandeur but beautiful.
 |
| Salsomaggiore Terme |
-* Brisighella Italy
Back to the autostrada, down to Faenza and off into the foothills at Brisighella. This is a beautiful town with towers and worth a stay and a walk around. The sosta is eight euros and is quiet.
 |
| Brisighella sosta |
 |
| Brisighella centre |
-*San Marino also new this year. We have driven past so many times and wanted to stay overnight so we did. Good idea! We parked on level two of the car park. Level one has more shade and toilets, level two has more room, level three has emptying and filling and loos. We had a fantastic view. We walked up to the cable car- there's one every 15 minutes and it's four euros 50 per person and so worth it. You can see the sea. it's a wonderful place- very touristy but good.
 |
| cable car San Marino |
 |
| San Marino |
-*Fano Italy
We filled up here with fuel and gas as it is cheap. We took the Fano turn off the autostrada and went into the town following the signs for Ancona non motorway . We turn off to the left where the sign for Spiaggia ( beach) and Sassonia is. It's only a field next to the sea but nice for a swim across the road and an evening walk into town. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes near.
 |
| Sassonia, Fano |
* Anek /Superfast X1 Ferry to Greece
We drove about an hour down to Ancona watching for the port turning. It is signposted but we missed it once. You have to go to the ticket office- signposted ,to check in before you go to the loading area. You need passports, tickets and sometimes your van log book. It seems to take forever to load- follow the instructions of the guys loading you- they really know what they are doing even though you think you couldn't possibly fit in a space. ...they will get you in. The electricity is from cables above your head- someone will get a pole and give it to you to pull the cable down and plug in. There are showers and loos and of course you can go anywhere on the ship. There's an a la carte restaurant, self service restaurant and snacks by the pool ( don't get excited- it isn't big and only kids go in it) We usually get a plate of gyros ( Greek kebab meat) from the deck and take it down to the van and eat it with extra salad.
 |
| on board- outside this time |
Arrival in Patras
It takes a while to get off and you follow the cars in front of you out of the port. If you need shopping- take the first exit off the ramp up out of the port and Lidl is just along on the left where there are also garages. Follow signs to New National Road ( not new any more)
You're there!
There are so many places to go and see , you will have to choose yourself from maps/ blogs/ recommendations. There are places we know and love and have been to many times and most are on here somewhere, Camping Aginara in Glyfa about an hour from Patras, Camping Methoni in Methoni right down south, and our second home, camping Thines in Finikounda where we stay longest. There are many many more.......
Return Home
This year, because of being unable to get a ferry when we wanted to return, we had more time to wander back up to Dunkirk. Here's where we stayed and it is very different to our usual route because we went to some places in Greece we hadn't stayed before and then to Lake Iseo and the Moselle.
After leaving Finikounda:
*Karavostasi. A tiny fishing port just before Limeni - drive past Kalamata and Stoupa. Free stop over, no facilities next to a wonderful fish restaurant.
 |
| overlooking Kardamili |
 |
| Karavostasi |
*Camping Semili, Leonidio via Areopoli,Gythio
We drove via Kosmas where we parked up behind the church and had a coffee in this village high up in the hills. The drive here is lovely. (You drive past Gythio, which is also a lovely place to stay. We usually stay at Gythion Bay site.) It's worth stopping for a look around Areopoli- there's a big car park.
 |
| passing Limeni - Karavostasi is at the other side of the bay |
 |
| Limeni |
 |
| Areopoli |
 |
| after Gythio on Scala road |
 |
| goatherd en route to Kosmas |
Camping Semeli is outside of Leonidio, near Plaka and there are a few restaurants and a nice place to spend some seaside time.
* Palea Epidavros
We drove via Napflio - another wonderful place to visit but we didn't stay this time. You can visit Epidavros ancient theatre on the way to Palea Epidavros but we have done that before so headed down to the little town where we went to the campsite but there wasn't a waterfront pitch so we went back into town and parked along the end of the spit of land overnight. There was a triathlon on so the town was bustling.
* Afroditi's Waters camperstop Ancient Corinth
We have stayed here before and it's always the same- lovely little camperstop down an improbable route but easily doable for big vans. You get a pitch and a great Greek welcome. Ancient Corinth is a few minutes walk up the street and worth looking at by night too. It is worth driving up to Acro Corinth for the amazing views.
There are lots of tourist places but decent restaurants and cafes. You can buy fruit, wine and veg and eggs from the kitchen in the camperstop.
*Itea via Delphi
I had never been to Delphi so we went. It was about three hours drive from Corinth stopping near Mount Parnassos for coffee.We did the museum first to get things into perspective then walked all around the magnificent site with breathtaking views. We went late afternoon which was a good time as the marauding hordes had left. We drove downhill through what looked like a silver sea of olives to Itea and park on the harbour front. We went to a little souvlaki place there.
*Ayios Vasilis ( Saint Billy)
We almost drove past above this lovely little bay but turned round and went down for a beach to ourselves for most of the day and a very quiet night. No facilities, just a beautiful place.
* Camping Aginara via Nafpaktos and Patras.
We drove to Nafpaktos and had a brief look around but decided to save the castle and most of it for another time. I think we were a bit tired and wanted a bit of staying put. It also didn't feel right to go to the Peloponnese and not call to see Kiki at camping Aginara at Glyfa. We went to camping Ionian Beach nearby as some friends highly recommended it but we didn't like it when we looked around. It was pretty full and noisy so we went to where we love at Aginara and it was worth it to see Kiki smiling and telling us everything about everything. It's a beautiful little bay and it feels like home to us. We like to cycle to Arkoudi to shop and eat and watch sunsets.
* Anek/Superfast Hellenic Spirit.
We called at Lidl to stock up and drove along to Monodendri to meet friends for lunch. It was not the calmest of crossing but we felt safe and snug.
* Fano Italy
We got off the boat quite late so drove an hour up the coast and stayed in the sosta in Fano town where we have never stayed before and ate out in Fano. It was a nice experience and the sosta was free and very busy.
* Camping Covelo, Lake Iseo, Italy
This is not our usual route but it was a lovely detour. We were given a welcome drink when we got to the pretty site and a really helpful guy showed us to our pitch- I might book this in future as it was so nice next to the lake. We stayed two nights as we liked it a lot and we could cycle and there was a huge market.
* Breisach am Rhein via Gotthard Pass
We drove towards Gotthard tunnel and there was a sign saying the queue was an hour so we went over the top! It was glorious! It was being in an aeroplane.
We got fuel in Breisach and went to the stelplatz but it was almost full so we went across the river to the other side and parked for the night.
* Zell Germany
The journey to the Moselle too much longer than the three and a half hours it was supposed to because of roadworks around Karlsruhe so we probably won't go that route again. We got a pitch at the stelplatz near the river and went into Zell for a walk and a meal and to buy wine from a little vineyard.
* Traben Trabach Germany
We got the last riverside pitch here- a lovely little spot with showers and toilets. We went into town but most places were closed and as we had been here before, we didn't worry- just collected loads of walnuts from the riverside where the wind was blowing them down. It was cold and wet by now.
* Mouzon France
We called via Bascharage in Luxemburg as usual then went to Mouzon instead of Stenay- a lovely little spot by the canal in a very quiet village with a cathedral and fortifications.
* Camping Les Trois Cloches Cambrais France new this year
Stopped for lunch in Le Catillon. We have driven past Cambrais many times but this time stayed at the really neat municipal site - 12 euros. It's very convenient for a walk into the town and there's an Aldi on the same street.
Ferry then Dover Road Park and Ride Canterbury England
Thanks loved your blog so many great places and tips. Cheers.
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