Florence to Marina di Castagneto

Florence to Marina di Castagneto - 85 miles

A frustrating day!

It started off okay with fine weather and a plan to head for the coast for a few days, find a nice beach for Jamie and just chill out. We planned a route away from the motorways, following an idea from our Rough Guide for a scenic drive through the Tuscany hills via the hilltop town of Volterra. We also needed some shopping and we hoped to find a decent supermarket along the way.

Despite what people say not all the Italian roads are poor, we found that our route generally was fine although we did encounter a few rough patches. We enjoyed a pleasant run through the hills, often encountering sections of hairpin bends but at the same time giving us nice views although it tended to be a bit hazy and photos weren't working out too well. At Volterra we found a somewhat mediocre hilltop town but with a decent supermarket so we parked up and shopped.

Our target area was the coast between Cecina and Grosseto and there were any number of nice looking ACSI campsites; we eventually chose a small site at Bibbona. However a quick inspection showed it was really too small for motorhomes, the parking area being very flat and open and a long way to the beach. Not to worry, there was a selection at Marina di Castagneto so we found and booked into Belmare Camping, which turned out to be huge, absolutely deserted and with no electric hookups to be found. Neither of us were happy so we booked out again to try Camping Continental next door, but despite driving round and round we couldn't find the entrance! By now it was well past lunchtime and Jamie was starting to make unsettled noises.

Finally we programmed the last into TomTom, Camping Etruria, and set off. Despite it being close by we were directed quite a long way round the village but did indeed finally find a place which looked much more like what we wanted. The idea is you wander around, pick a pitch you like then book in. Now it was not very busy, about 35 units on a 250+ place site and which were quite well spread out but Terry somehow managed to select one of only three pitches that had a reservation! By now not being in quite the best of moods another pitch was selected and we booked in.

But our frustrations didn't end there, oh no! Directed by the receptionist to the “best route for a camping car” we got hopelessly lost on this rambling site and almost stuck amongst rows of chalets and trees sticking out everywhere. Of course we eventually found our pitch but due to the directions approached it from the wrong direction and couldn't get onto it! However some shuffling around got us properly placed and we settled down to a very late lunch. We did notice later a nasty scratch right down the side of the van, including a window, but fortunately it polished out.

And the baguette was stale!

The story doesn't end there either. Once we'd got set up, the skies started to darken and before long we were in the middle of a full blown thunderstorm with torrential rain – luckily there was no wind so we extended the awning to give us some protection. It hardly stopped raining for the rest of the day.

May The Fourth go with you! Huh!

We stayed at:

Camping Etruria, Marina di Castagneto. In a pine forest with good shady spacious pitches right next to a sandy beach. Mini-market, fruiterer, butcher, bazaar, cafes, bars, restaurant and take-away. 

ACSI €17.00 inc. 6 amp electric. Limited mobile phone signal.