Route description for Lake Garda, Istria and Lake Iseo 23

After a six-hour drive in rainy weather, we were welcomed by our friends Margrit and Hansruedi at the Campeggio del Garda.

We have been to this campsite before. The sanitary facilities are clean and the site, which is located directly on Lake Garda, has a shop with food, drinks and camping items etc. It has a restaurant, several pools, entertainment and various playgrounds. The plots are medium-sized with electricity. There is also space for RV supply and disposal. For 5 nights we paid a total of €212.

We rode our bikes to SIRMIONE. This place is very touristy and probably the most famous place on the southern shore of Lake Garda. Despite the hordes of tourists in the old town, a visit to Sirmione is a must! The cycle path is usually separated from the rest of the road, but has a number of barriers and obstacles and is therefore not enjoyable.

PESCHIERA DEL GARDA

The place, especially the old town with the old walls and canals, is perfect for strolling. There are various very good restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. in the town. Various scheduled ships also sail across Lake Garda from the harbor.

We then went on a trip with one of these ships

BARDOLINO.

Bardolino is also a pretty place with an old town worth seeing, parks and impressive buildings. We spent a lovely day there and then took the scheduled boat to Peschiera (there are also bus connections).

We enjoyed the beautiful weather before we had to part from our friends on Saturday and set off towards Croatia.

From Lake Garda we then drove on the motorway towards Trieste. I have the Telepass device from TCS that works for Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. The toll fees are then billed by the TCS. For Slovenia you have to buy an electronic vignette (1 week €16). The journey then leads to the border near Trieste via Koper and the mountains after about 50 km to the Croatian border. There are no longer any targeted border controls here, as all states here belong to the EU. In Croatia the AB to Rovinj costs around €10. (Ticket).

After about 5 hours we arrived at CP Polari, where our friends Vreni and Walti were waiting for us in brilliant weather.

It is a large campsite with around 1500 pitches. We had a pitch in the 3rd row, partly shady, with a view of the sea. It has several restaurants, shops and pools. There is daily animation. The beach is very beautiful and you can drive from the campsite along the sea about 6 kilometers to Rovinj (foot and cycle path). The sanitary facilities were very clean and were cleaned regularly. We paid 427 euros for 8 days, and a discount was granted with the ACSI card. We had a superior place.

We went on trips to Rovinj, stayed in the city and bought various things. The drinks are very expensive here (Spezi, 5 dl, about 8 euros). Food and local products are still cheap. Rovinj has a very beautiful old town. We then went on a trip by boat to Red Island, by bike inland and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the crystal clear sea water, with a temperature of around 25 degrees.

After a week we drove on to our main destination, Porec.

After the short journey from Rovinj via the Limski Canal to Funtana, we reached Camping Bijela Ulava. We had reserved a Superior Mare spot here. The seat was on the 4th row in the trees, with a partial view of the sea. The campsite is very large, with very good infrastructure and some new sanitary facilities. It has several buildings, we used block 4. Everything was always clean. We paid 340 euros for 11 nights. The plot has electricity and fresh water.

We had arranged a family reunion with my sisters in Porec because one of the sisters had bought a new holiday apartment here. We then went on trips together to Pula, Piran and the Postojna Cave, the Limski Canal, Vrsar and also went on a dolphin trip. The weather was again very nice and we enjoyed the beaches and the warm sea. You can cycle along the coast to Porec. From Zelena Laguna a tourist train also runs along the sea to Porec. It cost 4 euros per way and person. Drinks etc. are cheaper in Porec than in Rovinj. The city has beautiful old streets and squares and very good restaurants. An aperitif in the tower bar is also recommended. What was astonishing to us was that despite the campsite being almost fully booked, the shelves in the CP's shops and supermarket were emptying and no longer being restocked, as the campsite is going into hibernation on October 1st (despite the very nice weather and that). 25 degree warm sea.

The area is very beautiful and has a lot to offer in terms of sights. We enjoyed every day here.

After 11 days we set off back towards Switzerland. Lake Iseo is about halfway there. We decided to spend a few more days at the Covelo campsite in Iseo after we were assured of a place by email.

Lake Iseo is about 50 km west of Lake Garda. It is smaller than Lake Garda and it is much less crowded with tourists than Lake Garda. Lake Iseo has the largest inland island in southern Europe, Monte Isola. You can get to the island by boat, which is car-free, but there are a lot of scooters and bicycles on the island. We rode our bikes around the island, about 10 km. Iseo itself is manageable, but has cozy bars where appetizers, chips, nuts, etc. are always offered with an Aperol. The first 2 days were rather cloudy, but then it became very beautiful and the area presented itself in its most beautiful dress. An insider tip!!

Camping Covelo is located about 2 km outside Iseo, between the railway line (not disturbing) and the lake. It only has about 70 plots. The place is familiar, the sanitary facilities are no longer the newest, but always clean. We paid just under 30 euros per night for the seat in the 2nd row, all including ACSI. The small restaurant is very good and they also organize special evenings (e.g. pizza evening - very tasty!!).

This was the last stop on our autumn trip to Italy and Istria.

The journey home to Hinterkappelen went well, with only one traffic jam near Milan.

Istria is definitely recommended and, as mentioned, Lake Iseo is an insider tip.