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The past few years me and Mrs BF have traveled over to the Italian Lakes in our motorhome, with a stopover in the Alps along the way. Often i find that this is the bit of the holiday i enjoy most and want to spend a bit more time there. Riding and hiking but more importantly just enjoying the stunning landscapes and full on Heidi vibe of the place.
So, where are the most beautiful places you know of in the Alps / Dolomites? Stunning vistas and clear lakes etc. Additional points for ones where there is a good campsite.
Cheers
My favorite is Valsavaranche but most of the dead end valleys out of the main Aosta valley are nice.
I just visited Val Mustair which would be on the way to the Dolomites and it was stunningly beautiful, and the hiking and riding was amazing.
Lake Lucerne and the surround. Lived there for 5 years, so i'm biased.
Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval. A little village in the Haute-Savoie, stunning place. One day I shall live there.
I did the Tour of Mont Blanc a couple of years ago and it was the quieter, out-of-the-way spots that stuck with me most.
I might have a peep on Strava and see if I can identify a couple of my faves.
Been living in my van for nigh on three years now. The last two summers spent in the Italian Alps with a view to riding my bikes.
Currently in Piemonte and have been since the end of May. We were parked up next to a small bike park with a fantastic view of Monviso for weeks.
Right now we're in Valle Stura which is little known and is very close to four bike parks (five if you include Isola 2000 over the hill in France).
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Last year we spent three months in one spot in Friuli on the edge of the Friulian Dolomite UNESCO area. Awesome.
Dolomites
Don't bother... Certainly not with the main chains in Trentino. Massively over-touristed. Campsites are booked out way in advance and checks are made and fines issued with regards to "wild camping".
There are other areas of Dolomites that are less overrun. Go to Wikipedia for a full list of Dolomite areas. It's essentially just a rock. It appears in Liguria, too.
Three problem with most places that you'll find online (park4night etc) is that they're already well known and as such overrun. I'm reluctant to put locations i find on park4night as i don't want to turn up next time to a trashed location.
Camping/sleeping in your van in Austria is asking for trouble. Switzerland can be very expensive if the Polizei catch you outside of a campsite (which themselves are generally quite expensive). Same goes for Germany and Slovenia.
Italy and France are generally more relaxed. Not once has a problem in Italy in fact last year the polizia turned up and we had a coffee together.
Ailefroide
Try the Lienz Dolomites for a quiet change. I've been going to the Dolomites since 2002 and they're mad busy now. The Lienz ones over the border are just as lovely but without cable cars. Better beer too.
If you nice lakes try Ehrwald below Zugspitze. Walk up to the Coburger hut via Seebensee 😍
Plansee is a cracker and not far away.
The Bavarian lakes are fab too. Look at Spitzingsee, Schliersee.
The Karwendel mtns are very underrated... Have a look at them too
We're going to Vorarlberg soon. It's lovely and very quiet compared to Tirol.
It's a secret though so don't tell anyone about it
🙃
Ailefroide
Re: camping
This is very useful
https://stellplatz.info/reisemobilstellplatz?map=45.154927,9.431763,48.239309,12.897949
So are the Park4night and Search4sites apps
It's usually not that hard to find somewhere to stay outside of peak season. We've spent a lot of time in Austria an Germany in the last 10-12 years and rarely had a problem. Beware of local almbetrieb (bringing the cows down from the summer pastures) style festival if going late season. Or Trachtenkleidung (traditional clothing fare). They are the only times we've not easily found a site. Finding free overnight van stops is never that easy in summer months.
Examples of decent sites in nice locations:
Lienz
https://www.camping-falken.com/
Biberweir
You can walk to the lakes on the way to the Fernpass and swim in them
Plansee
https://www.camping-plansee.com/
Mittenwald is a lovely place but the Camping Isarhorn is a hole - don't go there!
Mittenwald
Went there this spring and started at the parking in front of the Seilbahn. 10€ a night.
Rode past one of the campsites. Was crazy. Vans on top of vans and every other spare space loaded with tents. And the lake it's located in had completely dried up!
Gravel riding round there is good. MTB not so much.
Biberweir
Blindsee Trail from Grübigstein is a good ride.
If anyone wants a nice, quiet, free park up without any hassle about 12km from Schliersee and Tegernsee(along the river) let me know.
Also, the Tour of Daniel is a cracking gravel ride if you are in the area.
https://www.lechtal.at/en/tours/gravelbike-rund-um-den-daniel.html
The area south of Zugspitze is great for gravel
https://www.seefeld.com/en/gravelbiking.html
The campsite at Seefeld is now shut though ☹️
Lauterbrunnen valley near Grindlewald. Wasn't there for the riding particularly, just an absolutely amazing vista.
My favorite is Valsavaranche but most of the dead end valleys out of the main Aosta valley are nice.
Stunning up there but then my experience of the Aosta Valley is that its all absolutely epic. Val Ferret up from Courmayor (sp?) is stupidly quiet and pretty too.
Stunning up there but then my experience of the Aosta Valley is that its all absolutely epic. Val Ferret up from Courmayor (sp?) is stupidly quiet and pretty too.
I've never found those valleys particularly busy, even in the height of summer. The campsite at the end of the road in Valsavarenche is really nice. Not sure about the mountain biking as I've not done much there but the walking is great. I've also been a few times at Easter ski touring and it's delightfully quiet.
Val Ferret up from Courmayor (sp?) is stupidly quiet and pretty too.
This was one of the spots I was thinking of from the TMB.
Also Les Chapieux, back towards Bourg SM.
Weirdly quiet compared to some of the hotspots on the route.
It's ruinously expensive to get to (though less so now they've put the new gondola in), but I always get taken aback by how beautiful the view is of The Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau from just above and to the North of Kleine Scheidegg in Switzerland.
I also took the time out and walked up the Ahornspitz this summer above Mayrhofen. Something I've been meaning to do for 15 years. It's not particularly dramatic, just a nice view.
Swimming in freshwater lakes is nice. We really like lake Lucerne and the Worthersee near Klagenfurt for this. Having an official swimming place on a lakeside, with changing rooms, showers, beach huts, life guards and restaurants is so cool. We've been meaning to go back to the Kochelsee for ages as they have one of the best vistas while you try not to let your kids drown.
So much to go at here. Thanks everyone for your input so far. Really appreciated. I'm now plotting and googling like crazy.
Worthersee is lovely - it's just one of many lakes in the area
We really liked Keutschacher See, several campsites around the lake
Kochelsee
If you're in the area and the weather is crappy there's a really nice spa/sauna place with a bar in the pool..... Sit there with your Weißbier looking at the view. Ain't bad. And it's not a problem if you've forgotten your trunks.
I've lived in Switzerland for the last 20 years so I could make a few suggestions, although I have to admit I've never been to the Zugstpitze area so I will have to rectify that. Another place I'd never been to before was Oechinensee and on a good sunny day it is amazing. We took the Lötschberg tunnel the next day and went to Aletsch which is also amazing.
Lauterbrunnen valley near Grindlewald. Wasn't there for the riding particularly, just an absolutely amazing vista.
But busy beyond belief... no wonder they are thinking of an entry fee but, yes, it's beautiful
Our friends went in August and complained it was full of tourists
🤦♂️
@Blackflag - where did you go to ?
This is for next year mostly. Loads of great ideas here so its bookmarked and will be used when i start planning our next motorhome jaunt. Thanks everyone
Stunning up there but then my experience of the Aosta Valley is that its all absolutely epic. Val Ferret up from Courmayor (sp?) is stupidly quiet and pretty too.
I've never found those valleys particularly busy, even in the height of summer. The campsite at the end of the road in Valsavarenche is really nice. Not sure about the mountain biking as I've not done much there but the walking is great. I've also been a few times at Easter ski touring and it's delightfully quiet.
We did a ride up there with Aosta Valley Freeride. A big (really big!) hour climb from Degioz to the old King's hunting hut and then a really good descent back to the valley floor. I'm sure theres more epic riding up there but we just spun down the valley on a mix of fire-road and some amazing knee down high speed stuff through the tunnels etc on the valley road before doing some amazing "proper" descents back to Aosta once we'd reached the bottom of the valley.
Would love to go for a summer MTB and walking trip exploring these valleys off the main Aosta one. Been a few times in the winter and some memories of amazing views in that area are:
North across Val Veny up onto the sunny Monte Bianco massive from the most northerly pistes of Courmayeur
Looking South up a stunning valley to the high peaks from the most southerly of the La Thuile pistes
360 loveliness drinking a beer at Passo Dei Salati in the Monte Rosa ski area
Zermatt.
Around Beaufort is lovely too. La Thuile seems like a very nice place in summer.
when i start planning our next motorhome jaunt.
If you're in the van look for places that aren't so filled with tourists.
We were parked up this year for for months in southern Piemont with zero issues.
Last year we were in Friuli, again for four months and in one spot for three with a view of the Dolomiti Friulane. Again, zero issues and not many tourists. Even amongst Italians it's considered a forgotten corner.
We were in Val d'Aosta a couple of years back and finding places to stay was easy, but everywhere was so busy. We were only there to ride Pila and La Thuile for a few days, but wouldn't have liked to stay there for longer.