Vanlife in Italy
2 months of vanlife experience in all Italy
We knew that we will spend a lot of time in Italy while living and traveling in our van (Shooby) in Europe, but we didn’t expect to give it 2 months, so there must be something that kept us in Italy for so long. Here are the things that we loved or disliked about vanlife in Italy.
North and West vs South and East
I gotta be honest and say that we liked northern side more than south, and west coast more than east coast. And this is because of the landscape, the people and the natural resources you can find.
Water and food
It was more easy for us to find drinkable water and springs in the north and west than in south and east. We didn’t spend 1 cent on the water in these 2 months.
There are different shops (local, small dedicated shops: panini, macelleria, frutta e verdura) and supermarkets everywhere, even in smaller villages and cities, but you can’t find them all in all country.
For example, Coop is a very good supermarket with low prices and quality food and fresh vegetables and fruits. But you won’t find it so often in south. It is a middle and north area brand (Tuscany).
Regarding the food, we’ve always tried to shop. from local people, farmers, not only because of healthy food but also to support the local area and small producers. Most often you’ll find them in Tuscany.
Pizza it’s a must try in Naples (Pizzeria Trianon or L’antica Pizzeria Da’Michelle) but we’ve found very good pizza in Genoa too (Pizza Express).
Another important thing is that you’ll always find garbage bins everywhere
The same with gray and black water: in any area is a free place when you can empty, fill and refill your van.
Roads and fuel
As we want to stay as long as possible in this vanlife experience, and considering our preety small budget, we avoided all toll roads and highways.
We only took the national roads. And these are way much better, almost perfect, in north and west. As you get to Tuscany and going down or east the roads are getting more narrow and bad, but not really bat. They are ok.
You will find lots of unpaved roads too, that are not so bad, but you can always avoid them if you set your Google Maps or Maps.me to do that.
There is no vignette or other road tax to be paid in Italy except the highway tax, and if you avoid them, the road is free. That is a big plus for your budget. And of course, you can always discover more by taking small roads than highways.
The fuel price, for diesel in our case, varies (at the time of the trip, 2019) from 1.3€ to 1.6€ per liter. As far as you go south the cheaper it gets. Also, there are some no-big-brands gas stations where you find it cheaper and still has a good quality. Q8 is often cheaper than IP or Agip.
The people
Here is a big difference too. In the northern side, you will find more italians, local people that are nice, welcoming and always up for a smile or a small chat.
South part is more about foreigners that work in Italy. Not so chatty, but also welcoming or ignoring you. Nobody disturbed us, in any part. People are ok all over, tho as close as you get with the south, they say that criminality and burglary is more common than in north. We didn’t verify that, and we also found bad reviews of cities like Pisa, Lucca or Firenze (north-west part, touristic zone). So, I guess it’s a common sense after all, that you should not let your phone or valuables on the dash or in view and you should avoid any area that you are not comfortable with.
Just listen to your inner voice and whenever you “don’t feel that place”, just leave, you’ll find a better one. You will be fine, we were.
Parking and sleeping spots
Here you can stay and sleep in a van or any car, in any public parking, paid or free, for a maximum of three days. There is a law for that. We’ve heard all kind of rumors and people saying either it is allowed or illegal.
We’ve discovered that it is legal once we got into Italy, in a free parking for campers, there was a sign that stated,m: “Ordinanza del Sindaco no. 02/2008 del 14.01.2008”.
The important thing about this is to not mistake parking and sleeping in a car with camping. Please do not pull out your chairs and shades and all other camping stuff in a public parking. This is illegal. Respect the place and the laws and no one will have an issue with you.
We’ve always managed to find a good place to sleep with park4night app, the free version. It is a must as it saves a lot of time when you are tired and looking for a quiet, safe place to sleep.
The Mobile Internet and WiFi
We are from Romania, and don’t know how much you know about it, but we have one of the best (as speed and coverage) internet on the planet. Others said it, not me. So, we are used to have high speed internet, mobile and Wi-fi all over. This is not the case for Italy or Europe in general. Tho, the speed and coverage is acceptable, there is a trick: get yourself a Lycamobile sim card.
We’ve also tried a Wind prepaid sim card, but you can’t buy any mobile sim card if you are not italian. We’ve managed to get one by an italian friend who bought it for us. And everything was fine for the first month, but, when we tried to recharge we’ve found that they rejected our cards because they were not italian. We also managed to recharge from tabacchi shop but, it didn’t work out, so we’ve paid 20€ for… nothing.
We’ve ended up with a Lycamobilesim card and for 10€ a month you get 20Gb of LTE data. The coverage is fine, no matter if you are in the city or wild.
The police
There are many type of police and law enforcement. As you probably know about the “carabinieri” that are more like a celebrity – you can always see them in movies, there are also “polizia locale”, “polizia di finanza”, some special forces with the “hand on the trigger” close to very well known places like the Tower of Pisa or Fontana di Trevi.
The thing is that as long as you don’t do crazy things no one cares about you and no one will bother you. We were stopped in traffic once by “polizia di finanza” – probably because they saw a big white van and thought that we carry stuff. But, as we’ve opened the door and they saw a little home inside, they only asked if we have drugs and they enjoyed the van. We’ve had a 10 minutes chat about how we build it, gave us some tips and tricks and leaved us alone. No search or anything else (only the documents). And yeah, they were very polite and always smiling.
Points of Interest
Depending on your personal preference, you can find POI’s all over Italy. This is a country that has it all. You can always find virgin beaches, mountains to hike, glacier lakes, monasteries, ancient cities and roman empire remains.
If you love wine and rural landscapes, Tuscany is a must. Here you can discover cities like Cortona (have you seen “Under the Tuscan Sun movie?) or Civitella in Val di Chiana, Loro Ciuffenna, Siena, Pienza, Firenze, San Giminiano, lots of castles like Badia a Coltibuono, Verrazzano, Meleto and many many others.
If think you will love some natural thermal baths, most of them dating since the roman empire, then you must visit Therme Libere Bagno Vignoni and Saturnia.
Civitavecchia it’s a must if you enjoy wild camping and beaches.
Anguillara Abazia has a spectacular lake with an even more awesome sunset and real authentic gelato.
Lago di Fusine is an awesome place. Two glacier lakes surrounded by mountains. Spectacular views for your eyes in the morning.
Closing words
Of course, we could write an endless article about vanlife in Italy, but we hope that we’ve covered the most important things and also hope to open your appetite for Italy. It is really a great country, with even great landscapes and warm people. Give it a try with a open heart and we bet you will fall in love with it. There is no other way.
From #2hearts4wheels with love.
Our website: https://www.2hearts4wheels.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2hearts4wheels
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2hearts4wheels
