Friday blog: Motorhome journey north through Switzerland

Writer: Helena Bergström

We are now heading north, after our long motorhome trip in southern Europe. This week we first travelled north through Italy, and then continued through Switzerland. It was a completely new route, which offered some surprises ...

New headlines on our weekly posts!

But first, we have to tell you about our new headlines on our regular weekly posts!

Mondays: Travel news

On Mondays we present travel news (short extracts from press releases), which we previously called FREEDOMtravel NEWS. Now we have simply renamed this Monday post to "Travel news". Why? Well, simply because we think it is clearer!

Fridays: Friday blog

Similarly, there is now a new name for our Friday posts. On Fridays, we usually blog about the here and now, our week, what's going on behind the scenes, and what we're thinking about and planning for. We've long called these posts "Happy Friday", but we think it's probably just clearer with "Friday blog”!

Farewell to beautiful Lake Garda

We've been hanging out on the stunningly beautiful Lake Garda for a relatively long time. So far, we have had time to tell you about the beautiful city Sirmione and the lovely park Parco Giardini Sigurtá. In reality, we have had time to visit even more places (report coming soon!) and we have headed north.

Northwards through Italy ...

We travelled north through Italy, in the direction of Switzerland. Here we saw lots of apple orchards and a huge number of 'apple tractors'.

We also had to get through some medieval village, where the city gate was so small that it was on the centimetre that we got through ... (We first thought of turning around, but a villager persuaded us and said "No problem" and he was right, after all!)

And northwards through Switzerland ...

Then it was time to roll into Switzerland. For anyone in doubt, we can confirm that you have to buy a ticket for 40 CHF (about 450 SEK), but on the other hand it is not much worse than what can happen on toll roads in some other countries. At the same time, you are treated to fantastic views!

The roads wound through the landscape and sometimes we drove up, up and up in spirals that never seemed to end. Suddenly we were close to the clouds and as if by magic it became ... cold!

But so incredibly beautiful! The Swiss countryside really takes your breath away!

Motorway service area in Switzerland

But where would we stay for the night? The rules for free camping in Switzerland are restrictive - in some cantons, sleeping in the car may be allowed as long as you are not 'camping', but in other cantons it is also forbidden.

Just to be on the safe side, we decided to stay in an organised place, and we found the campsite Eider ice cream. A small and very cosy place, with good service and fresh showers, where we paid 27 CHF (about 300 SEK) for overnight stay without electricity. By the way, here we had 9 degrees at night, which is the coldest we have experienced in a very long time ...

This week: Grateful for ...

There is much to be thankful for, and this week we are thankful that we were able to do this great motorhome trip this year, through France, Corsica, Sardinia and Italy. We are grateful that the motorhome gives us all these great opportunities!

Your turn ... What are you grateful for this week?

The week ahead

We now continue northwards, through France, Germany and Poland, where we take the ferry across to Sweden. The goal right now is the fair Elmia Caravan Motorhome 10-14 September, where we will talk about 1) Travelling by motorhome in Europe, 2) Gold in France and 3) On four wheels in Corsica and Sardinia.

Here on freedomtravel.se you can expect some more inspiration about great places around Lake Garda, and then reports on the fair. Please also follow us on Facebook and Instagram! Now we wish you a nice Friday and weekend!

Did you miss the last Friday blog? Read it: North through Italy - several nights of free camping