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Grado is a sunny, sandy peninsula between Venice and Trieste. It has several campsites, but the best is Villaggio Europa, with its own stretch of beach, a water park and chalets sleeping six from €62 a night
www.villaggioeuropa.com/
Via Monfalcone, 12, 34073 Grado Gorizia, Italy
+39 0431 80877
Google map: bit.ly/18NLvTf
Torre Del Benaco is a prettier, more relaxing microcosm of the lake's larger, more expensive resorts. Situated half way up the eastern shore, it has a lovely little harbour, the centre for the low key cafe bar night life and the sedate early evening 'passegiata'.
Daytime delights include the lively lido and the castle and its small museum.
Stay at the family run Hotel Belvedere with lake view doubles with ample breakfast from €43 per person. For something authentic and unique locals head to Don Diegos (situated just off the cobbled main street at the harbour end) a bar that serves a heady, inexpensive sangria to a soundtrack ranging from indie to jazz fusion. Cool!
www.belvederetorri.com
Via per Albisano, 9, 37010 Torri del Benaco
+39 045 7225088
Google map: bit.ly/18UWcGk
Cruising the steep southern shores it appears that Lake Como is the preserve of the Clooneys, Bonds and Bransons of this world. Head north of Menaggio, however, and the millionaire quotient drops to nearly nil, the opulent villas and five star hotels metamorphosize into campsites, B&Bs and agriturismi, and the price of a holiday tumbles accordingly. At the tip of the lake (the area known as Alto Lario) the panorama opens up and here the serious Alps begin. The best bases in the area are Domaso, Gravedona and Colico, although the surrounding hill villages do offer accommodation options too. It is a region beloved of outdoorsy types from all over northern Europe, especially windsurfers, kite surfers, mountain bikers and hikers. Pick a road leading uphill from the lake and meander up it to discover ancient churches, alpine meadows, stone hamlets, superb food and incredible views of forest, lake and mountain. Such a beautiful area and yet still very reasonable. And not a movie star in sight.
The local station is Colico, buses and ferries run all around the lake. Better still to travel by car: 1.5 hours from Milan airports.
www.lakecomo.it/
www.domaso.it/
www.lakecomo.it/en/excursions_and_trekking/la_via_dei_monti_lariani
Google map: bit.ly/13kYoSI
For those whose holiday success is dependent on the holy trinity of amazing food, good wine and heartwarming scenery, head for the Langhe area of Piemonte where all three are world class yet affordable pleasures. Accommodation is plentiful and good value, the landscape is a delight, and when Barolo wine, Alba truffles and Gianduia are standard fare even in the simplest trattoria - or available locally at direct-from-producer prices - all seems right with the world.
The official Piemonte tourist information website has suggestions for themed itineries, accommodation listings and details of good places to buy and eat the delicious local produce www.piemonteitalia.eu/en
Bra Cheese festival and Slow Food event: www.cheese.slowfood.it
Alba truffle festival: www.fieradeltartufo.org
Torino chocolate festival: www.cioccola-to.it
Take a trip to the small town of Vinci, birth place of Leonardo, 35 kilometers west of Florence. The small Museo Leonardiano, sited within the 12th century Castello dei Conti Guidi, is jammed full of the artist’s drawings, designs and a mind boggling array of large and small military, textile and travel inventions.
www.museoleonardiano.it/
Via della Torre, 2 50059 Vinci Province of Florence, Italy
+39 0571 56801
Google map: bit.ly/12O4GZp
La Randoulina is a great slow food restaurant in the Staura valley west of Cuneo in Piemonte.
There is no menu, or prices, but they ask for your preference of fish or meat, or if you're vegetarian. And then start bringing food to your table. Delicious local food - boar pate, steak tartar, aubergine tart, fish vol au vent just for your starters. The menu changes according to the season.
The bill came to around 40 euros for one including a great bottle of Nebbiolo d'Alba. I think the set menu is 25 euros. Not dirt cheap, but very good value for a seven or eight course meal. Unfortunately the website is only in Italian and fails to do justice to the food. Just trust me!
www.larandoulina.com/index.htm
Via Gena 12, 12014 Demonte, Piemonte
La Randoulina is a great slow food restaurant in the Staura valley west of Cuneo in Piemonte.
There is no menu, or prices, but they ask for your preference of fish or meat, or if you're vegetarian. And then start bringing food to your table. Delicious local food - boar pate, steak tartar, aubergine tart, fish vol au vent just for your starters. The menu changes according to the season.
The bill came to around 40 euros for one including a great bottle of Nebbiolo d'Alba. I think the set menu is 25 euros. Not dirt cheap, but very good value for a seven or eight course meal. Unfortunately the website is only in Italian and fails to do justice to the food. Just trust me!
www.larandoulina.com/index.htm
Via Gena 12, 12014 Demonte, Piemonte
+39 (0)171955737
The Circumetnea Railway is a narrow-gauge railway that runs in a C-shape for 110km from the city of Catania around Mount Etna to Giarre-Riposto which lies on the coast some 25km north of Catania. At least it's that way round if you start where we did. It's incredible value - around 6.50 Euro - and takes you through stunning landscapes with hundreds of differing views of Etna and the mountains, countryside, towns and villages around it. We stopped in Randazzo for several hours en route and found a spot from where we could gaze up at Etna unhindered. Three hours travel up and through and round the most spectacular scenery for just a few measly Euros. My companion and I both agreed that it had been our favourite ever journey by train.
www.circumetnea.it/
From Catania - take the short underground railway system to the last stop, Catania Borgo.
The Circumetnea station is within sight of the exit and is signposted. From Giarre-Riposto station the CR station is equally close/visible.
The trattoria is cheap, it's full of locals, it's boisterous, and friendly. They give you a massive caraffe of wine and sort of estimate how much you've drunk (it's about €1.50 per glass). They all wanted to talk to my toddler. A chap from a market stall walked by carrying a pig's carcass, and stopped to shout over to his friend, who was serving my panzanella. No one spoke English, no one minded that our Italian was awful, and it was just such a great atmosphere.
The trattoria is within the market, and after lunch we bought the best fruit and veg we found in the city, and some great prepared meat, and some top pecorino. The market is so much better than Mercato Centrale, which is basically just for tourists and sells awful fruit (we actually had to throw away the strawberries and peaches we bought there). And if you don't want the trattoria then Semolina, a very good pizzeria, is just outside, and just down the road is Sancho Panza, another great pizza place.
It's in the Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti, 10-15 minutes walk east from the Duomo.
Google map: bit.ly/13hSdgZ
It's here:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF8&cid=3384849024654938165&q=I%27+Trippaio+Di+Sant%27Ambrogio&iwloc=A&gl=GB&hl=en
It's on TripAdvisor too: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187895-d195019-Reviews-Sant_Ambrogio-Florence_Tuscany.html
Wherever you are in Florence there is a bar within five minutes walk. When I was staying there a few weeks ago, in a cheap Airbnb apartment, everyday I would get up early and walk to my local, sit at the bar, drink cappuccino and eat a pastry and watch Florentines do the same. Sometimes they drank and ate on bar-stools, sometimes just standing there eating with one hand, drinking with the other, before shouting 'ciao' and striding off.
My pastry and cappuccino came to €2.20, about £1.90. Nothing else I did, certainly not that expensive restaurant I went to, brought me closer to feeling like a local.
The dingy looking place down that side-street.
An unimposing little town close to Its more famous neighbour, but draught wine from the local cooperative cantina is just €1 per litre! And eminently quaffable, too!
Main Road through Saline from Volterra
Back in the olden days (60s, 70s, 80s and early 90s), budget travellers - students in particular - could thumb their way around the continent, usually with a dog-eared copy of the Hitchhikers Guide to Europe stuffed in their backpack. Road junctions in/out of major cities would be full of queues of hopeful travellers, thumbs in the air, winning smiles on their faces and a slightly optimistic felt-tip-pen-scrawled destination board (saying something like "Sicily - ONO!" or more nebulously "South? please!" being brandished at each passing vehicle.
In these days of budget air travel, advance-booking websites and widespread increased 'fear of strangers'(mostly media fuelled - it's really not any more dangerous than it ever was - ie, not very dangerous at all with a bit of common sense), such scenes are sadly rare these days.
My tip is that in Italy, such budget travel is still a viable option for those on a shoestring budget. I last summer hitched from Genoa (having started in France, so coming from Nice) to Venice, via Milan, Verona and Padua, spending a couple of days in each interesting stop off. Italians seem more generous and open-minded to (ie less scared of) picking up and conversing with strangers, and if you show a bit of willingness to be friendly (a smattering of school-level Italian, or even an ATTEMPT at some basic words, really helps) you'll meet some really interesting, often very helpful people.
More than one driver offered me a meal or even a bed for the night (I stress I wasn't looking for this, but it was really nice when it happened), and nearly all had great local tips and advice, and at the very least a bit of local colour and insight.
Travel with a tent if you're doing this. Italians seem more ok with pitching up by the side of a road or in a public park for the night, than their northern European counterparts. I'm not sure if this is a legal thing, just saying they seem much more tolerant and even friendly about it.
When you get somewhere prohibitively expensive, such as Venice, you are still able (oldskool-style) to crash in the train station. Be prepared to be abruptly woken and moved on as the station starts to fill up, say from about 6.30am, so it's not perfect - but it's a place to lay your head for a few hours and see a truly beautiful city for just the cost of your food etc, rather than the literally hundreds of euros it would cost if you had to pay for accommodation/travel.
Doing this, I spent a few days each in Genoa, Milan, Verona and Venice (with the odd stop-off in between, depending on where my driver was going), and hitched back again, and the whole trip was just over a fortnight. I met some fantastic people, had lovely experiences, saw places that I could never in my wildest dreams afford if done through conventional travel means, and the whole thing cost approx 20 euros a day, give or take. And that included everything, even a couple of (supermarket-bought) beers in the evenings. There is no other transport/accommodation alternative that would have come close. Basically, without plucking up the courage to hitch/camp (which turned out to be a lovely way to do it anyway), I'd never have seen Venice and probably never would.
Obviously nice hotels, car-hires and train travel are plusher, but this really does mean that budget travellers can experience this richly fascinating country without spending the next 10 years paying off a credit card debt, and you might just meet some really interesting, often quite idiosyncratic locals along the way.
(Obviously, it suits a flexible itinerary rather than a fixed one! - but this can be an unexpected boon in itself...)
And you'll be reviving the dying art of hitching along the way, and also - perhaps - making people a little bit less unnecessarily afraid of strangers. As it should be ...
Obviously, take sensible precautions. Be clean (you're more likely to get picked up). Be friendly (you're less likely to get chucked out). Don't get in a car with someone who's clearly drunk or appears dodgy. Have an exit strategy, just in case (saying you feel car-sick and need to pull over usually works). Girls travelling alone should of course be particularly circumspect, but even then, with a bit of common sense the risks are far lower than you'd imagine. I know dozens of people who still do this, and there have been only a couple of dodgy incidents out of hundreds of rides, and even they weren't THAT serious. (For example, I've had more threatening experiences on the tube in London to be honest).
Oh, and if the local police do hassle you for camping in a lay-by or sleeping in a train station, just remember to be polite, smile and say you didn't realise - they're nearly always surprisingly helpful and understanding.
So if you're on a budget, go back to the 70s - pack a tent and stick your thumb out! It could open whole new worlds of otherwise unaffordable luxury destinations, and of all the places in Europe I've tried it, Italy is one of the most consistently friendly, safe and open to this of any I've ever been to, even today.
And all that money you save in flights/car-hire/trains/hotels, you can put towards an absurdly priced can of Coke in St Mark's Square. And it'll taste all the sweeter for knowing you hitched there for just pennies. See you there!
Everywhere! (though my Nice - Genoa - Milan - Verona - Venice - and return - trip is not a bad suggested starting route...)
Bussana Vecchia is a sun-drenched hilltop village that was devastated by an earthquake in the 1800s and brought back to life by a colony of artists who settled here in 1960s.
It has a unique hippie charm, stunning architecture and artist ateliers. The slow pace of Bussana Vecchia is a dream come true for any traveller who wants to experience something unique while visiting the Italian Riviera, without breaking the bank.
Go there now, and you may be able to check out - for free, however offers are appreciated - one of the largest railroad models in Italy, with hundreds of metres of tracks winding through tiny stations, fly-overs and mountains. Truly spectacular. To find it ask locals for the "plastico ferroviario", or follow the signs if you are lucky enough to find them.
There are also a couple of B&Bs in town, with rooms starting from €70. Drive down the hill and you will find some of the best beaches in the area, some of them with free access.
If you work up an appetite after exploring medieval alleys and church ruins, head for the Relax Cafè - when my friends and I sat down during a recent visit and ordered a glass of local white wine, we were brought an entire bottle. Afraid we were getting ripped off, we mentioned that it was only one glass we were after, and the woman serving us said: "Didn't you read outside? This is an experiment we are running. You pay with a free offer. If you want a glass you drink a glass, if you want a bottle you drink a bottle. You can give whatever you want, even just one euro!" I thought about the cost of living in London, and had to restrain myself from crying of happiness in front of everyone. My friends too were barely able to mask their surprise.
Have I mentioned you also get delicious pizza straight from the wood oven? (Which you can also make yourself, if you like). How about the stunning views over the Ligurian hills? Sounds too good to be true? Well go to Bussana Vecchia and see for yourself.
Driving or walking are your only two options. From Sanremo (or San Remo - not even locals are sure), head east towards Arma di Taggia and make a left, following signs to Bussana. Once past the "modern" village, keep driving up the hill towards Bussana Vecchia. Park your car wherever you can (the road is a dead end, and make sure you are good at driving on narrow roads), and walk into the village. At the entrance of the village, you'll find the Osteria degli Artisti. Turn right and walk up the hill for a couple of minutes until you reach a little square with a tiny church that has no roof anymore. Entrance to the Relax Cafe is there.
Google map: bit.ly/13YfO8E
The cost of bottled water is outrageous in the Italian capital, but there's no need to give in on a hot day. Bring a water bottle with you and fill up at one of the many fountains in the Vatican City centre. The water is cool, clean and free.
All around the Vatican City Centre.
Cheaper, less crowded, quieter, the gondoliers are often a LOT less stressy and more likely to show some good humour and tell you about the city. It's more atmospheric and often, cheaper. What's not to like?
Two summers ago I travelled the length of Italy on my Honda motorcycle. Because I was on my own and wanted company of an evening, I elected to stay each night in a youth hostel. This turned out to be a great idea and, besides having a wide variety of different people to chat with in the evening, I stayed in some splendid buildings and ate authentic Italian food (altho' not at all hostels). And of course, they're incredibly cheap!
Just be aware that some of the hostels can be tricky to find - I'd no satnav with me so spent a good deal of time asking passersby for directions; very basic Italian got me by.
These must be the cheapest drinks in Venice. Wine sells for 80c a glass at the Bacareto, and you can have a glass of prosecco for 2€ at the Bocon. You buy at the bar and there is limited seating at the Bocon, while at the Bacareto you simply sit on the stepped area at the edge of the canal.
Bacareto is in Campo de Tolentini near the Piazzale Roma bus station, and Bocon is in the Campo Santa Margharita.
When I last went I found the dollar was used a lot more and with a better exchange rate than the pound and euros.
I found this place while staying at the hotel next door. I popped in to sit at the bar for a prosecco and a huge plate of food arrived in front of me. I tried to send it back, but it turned out to be a complimentary bar snack! I knew this was an early evening custom in Venice, to give free snacks with a drink, but this was brushcetta, battered sweet peppers, grilled cheese ... Although I suspect it is the Italian equivalent of Pizza Express, it meant I ate for free each evening. You have to be sat at the bar, not in the restaurant and you will likely get your plate refilled with each drink. I refused a refill at first, only to be be answered with a shrug and a quizzical "But lady - it's free!" from the barman.
Calle Larga, 404, 30124 Venezia, Italy
+39 041 243 9951
Google map: bit.ly/12Lqyoc
Family run farm house that you'll only find after walking up 100 or so very steep steps - the view, the warm welcome, the beautiful apartments and the spectacular food (freshly-made by Mamma from produce grown on site) is well worth the exhausting climb!! I only paid about £100 per night, bargain in expensive Positano - so want to go back!
www.rifugiodeglidei.it/index_eng.html
Via Arienzo, 43, 84017, Positano
(+39) 339 8390809
Google map: bit.ly/ZbNbmP
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