A Journey to Lake Maggiore

In the summer of 2025 we took our motorhome to the Italian Lakes to meet up with our two daughters and their families. They flew to Milan and hired motorhomes there, and we planned to meet at Lake Maggiore.

Our route is shown below.

In brief after taking a ferry to Calais we then went Belgium before turning south at Charleroi and heading south back into France. We took this route to avoid tolls and to follow a more rural route through France. After that we went through Luxembourg into Germany and then east to the Rhine valley, where we stayed for a couple of nights at the campsite attached to the Speyer Technical Museam. We then headed into the Black Forest and spent three nights there. The next step was to head south into Switzerland and the Gottard tunnet. We stayed for a night at an Aire just before reaching the tunnel at a lovely location Campingplatz Trendcamping Wolfach im Schwarzwald. The next day we went through the tunnel and into Italy, where we made our way around Lake Maggiore on the western shore. Breaking the drive down like this made it a fun trip and not too ardious. I will briefly elaborate on the places we stayed in case anybody else would like to make a similar journey.

Vouziers

Our first stop was at a lovely small Aire in Vouziers. This was free, provided water and waste facilities and was a short walk to the city centre where there were plenty of places to have something to eat and drink. The central square and the town hall are very nice, thought a lot of work was going on in the square whilst we were there.

The Aire in Vouziers	Enjoying the ambiance in the city centre

In the morning we brought some pastries from a Boulangerie (there were three there to chose from).

It looked as though there were also some nice walks along the river but we didn't have time to do any of those.

Speyer

We had wanted to go to the Technical Museam of Speyer for some time (since we saw people walking on the wing of a real 747 there whilst on a Rhine criuse). The museum website is here. There is a campsite attached to the museum hotel which is where we stayed. The site was good value for money and had all of the facilities needed. The pitches were quite tight but then we were there mainly to visit the museum and Speyer so it wasn't an issue.

The museum itself if well worth a visit. It had an amazing collection of place, boats, submarines, spececraft, trains, cars and motorbikes, many of which you were able to climb into and look around. I attach some pictures of some of the highlights below.

The 747 at Speyer	On the wing of the 747
Inside the 747	A massive train from China

You can see the 747 above the museum. Apparently getting it there was, in itself, a significant achievement. Bottom left is a picture from inside the plane, where it is fascinating to see the structure where they have removed the usual floor, roof and other things that you see as a passenger. On the top right you can see my Malvenia on the wing of the plane 50m above the ground. There are lots of other things to see apart from the 747. Several trains, such as the monster from China in the bottom right. This is part of the spacecraft exhibition. I originally thought it was one of the USA space shuttles but it turned out it was one the russians were developing. It never actually flew but looks very similar to the USA version (surprise?)

The Black Forest

After visiting Speyer we took a scenic drive into the Black Forest to TrendCamping Wolfach Halbmeil This was a very nice campsite with great views. It was on a steep hill and the pitches were a bit small and difficult to fit into easily, but all of the facilities were good and the location was excellent. There was a train station only 10-15 minutes walk away, and there were good cycle and walking routes from the site. The site also had a restaurant and bar, though we didn't use them. They also provided fresh bread in the morning provided you ordered it the previous day.

A big plus of camping in the Black Forest is that you get free use of trains and buses within the region.

We took advantage of this to catch the train to the lovely market town of Frudenstadt. The journey was an hour each way. The highlight of the town is the market square, one of the largest in Germany, which is beautifully decorated and has a lovely range of shops and restaurants all around it. There is a picture of the square below, showing some of the water feature and flowers.

When we got back from Freudenstadt we decided to go for a cycle ride along the valley from the campsite. The route we took can be found here:

It was a lovely ride, quite flat and all along nice cycle tracks avoiding the road. We passed through Wolfach ajd Hausach, which were lovely small towns. The views along the ride were really nice.

We would certainly like to return to the Black Forest and spend longer here next time. As it was it had provided a nice relaxing break before the last legs of our journey.

The Black Forest to Switzerland

The next leg was a drive to an aire in Switzerland, called Stellplatz an der Reuss. This is just of the main E2 road before it reached the Gottard tunnel. There is capacity for about 14 vans there, with electricity, water and waste disposal.

There is not much in the area, though a small cafe was about 50m away, but it was a lovely place to spend the night with the sound of the fast flowing river immediately next to the Aire, and also superb views of the alps in the distance.

The following day we completed the journey to Italy, travelling through the Gottard tunnel and then south to Lake Maggiore, crossing into Italy as we went along the western side of the lake. Our destination was Camping Village Conca d'Oro, which is on the shore of the lake mid way between Verbania and Braveno. This is a lovely region and close to the remarkable Borromean Islands

If you are planning to take this route, one word of warning, the road around the northern part of the lake is very narrow with lots of tight bends as the road hugs the steep cliffs. We had a wing mirror clipped by a van coming the other way and several other "uncomfortable" moments. If you have the time taking an alternative route might be sensible.