After a break from travelling, spent at the Côte d’Azur, we continued our journey. We spent some time discussing our possible routes. Option A: Taking another shot at Africa – not feasible due to climate and a lot of closed borders. Option B: Heading east via the Balkan route – also not doable because of closed borders. Option C: Going east via Hungary, Romania and Ukraine – possible but with the risk of getting stuck in Romania (their COVID-numbers were rising at that time). So we ended up with Option D: Travelling east via Italy and Greece. 

We knew that going for Option D was probably the least adventurist. To battle that feeling we decided to travel the “wilder” parts of Italy and avoid the big cities. So in this blog we’d like to share with you our highlights of a maybe not so typical Italian road trip.

OLD TOWNS AND HISTORICAL SITES

Driving through Italy, you’re bound to come across lovely old towns and archeological sites. We started off in the North with Genua: beautiful old houses in the Strada Nuova but be aware to not stroll off too far or you will end up in the red light district just like us. The old town of Lucca is still surrounded by a wall in good condition. Of course we did a quick stop at Pisa – thanks to COVID there were not many people around which enabled us to take some nice pictures.

In Tuscany, we walked a short part of the old Etruscan ways. That part is close to the town Pitigliano and is named Via Cava di Fratenuti. We also visited some of the pictoresque towns in the midths of vineyards. Among our favorites are Montepulciano, Cetona, San Miniato and Montalcino. We also wanted to visit Monteriggioni but skipped after not finding a parking space within 2 km of the city.

Orvieto is most famous for its colorful Dome – and we can confirm that it is worth a visit. We wandered through the town and ended up eating some Pizza. Later that day we drove inwards to Castelluccio. Castelluccio lies in a high plateau in the Apannine mountains. The small town is still mostly destroyed back from the earthquake in 2016. But together with the vast landscape the ruins make a very good motive.

Before we went to Pompeii we visited the Archeological Museum in Naples – a must to better understand Pompeii. It takes some time to walk through the ruins, we spent almost three hours. After that morning excersice it was time for a relaxing car drive – well, at least for Carole. For Thierry, it was probably one of the least relaxing drives as we made our way around the Amalfi Coast. Often we had to pass other cars with only centimeters at both sides. But the spectacular views made up for it. Along these narrow, windy roads parking was impossible for our Pantherli so we just drove by but you would find some really lovely beaches here.

After crossing over Italy again to the east side, we passed Matera. For us an absolute must-see and a city that left many impressions on us. Still in 1952 people were living under misearable conditions in caves carved into the rocks in Matera. After the inhumane living conditions became known, people got relocated. These settlements are called Sassi. Today, you can still see the many caves although they are either empty or converted into museums. The churches that were carved into the rocks are pretty impressive as well.

One of our last stops before leaving Italy to Greece was Albobello. We already sighted these typical houses called Trulli in that region but Albobello is a whole old town with Trulli. As soon as you leave the main street where there are a lot of tourist shops you get to a quieter part where we really enjoyed the scenery.

NATURE AND NATIONAL PARKS

Due to our approach of getting to know the wild side of Italy, we planned our route along some of the most amazing national parks. This time, we’ll just present you the pictures – enjoy! Unfortunately, we didn’t take any pictures of the National Park Gran Sasso, largely for the fact that we had to make a detour because of bush fires and were occupied looking out for those bush fires.

FAVORITE WILD SLEEPING SPOTS

Of the 10 nights in Italy, we spent 6 in the wild and were almost always lucky with our choice. And for all of you who want to visit them as well, we have included the coordinates in the pictures below. 

One highlight was a viewing point next to a windy road in the Nature Reserve Monte Serra (around 30 km east of Pisa). When we arrived it was only us and another couple. But as it got darker, a lot of locals showed up. With blankets, pic-nic baskets and wine. We learnt that it is a yearly tradition for Italians to head up the mountain and admire the Perseids, the yearly meteor shower.

Another spot that we’ll keep in memory was on the Vesuv. Finding a wild spot around Naples is difficult so we headed up the Vesuv mountain and found a secluded spot next to the former funicular. It was a dead end along a road you wouldn’t normally take so we assumed to be left alone. Well, not in Italy. First, a young woman in a dented Fiat Punto nearly hit our Pantherli because she was driving backwards in quite some speed. She then repeated that maneuver a few times while apologizing to us that she is learning to drive. Later in the middle of the night, numerous cars showed up, stopped for some time and left again. We can only assume for what purpose but the secluded location would have made it a perfect rendevouz/dealing-spot.