Distance travelled: 167km
Total distance: 6555km
Ice cream count: 16

 

Next was a short stop in Interlaken in some fairly chilly and wet weather – still a beautiful little place and worth a wander round. If you could ignore the bus loads of tourists taking pictures (I know, we are fine ones to talk!) it was a really gorgeous setting. Loads of watch shops and chocolatiers also made for a Swiss tourist haven, but the prices were somewhat terrifying! We decided our time in Switzerland was going to be limited for fear of blowing our whole travel budget!

 

The campsite in the Lauterbrunnen Valley was also one of the best we’ve stayed at – not just for the incredible views of snow capped mountains, craggy gorges and waterfalls on all four sides, but also for the many thoughtful little extras, like a drying room, dog shower, free wifi and children’s movies daily at 5:30pm. The price tag meant that we were certainly paying for it though and as it was a Swiss public holiday it was super busy, but we had a lovely time exploring JungFrau and taking a train up to Wengen where it was so cold we could see our breath on the air! On our final day the sun was out and we had an amazing walk up the valley letting Wilf run free. We then took a series of cable cars up to Mürren (sorry Wilf!), before another walk to traverse the mountain to Grütschalp stopping for an apple strudel and beer with a view, and a steep cable car back down to the village. We had an awesome day!

Distance travelled: 177km
Total distance: 12,198km
Ice cream count: 35.5

 

 

So, we finally bit the bullet and we rented an AirB&B for the week. With temperatures never dipping below 34° (and regularly rising towards the 40° mark) the camper van was starting to heat up like an oven. With very little respite at night, even with some big electrical storms on the site in Ražanac, there seemed to be no escape from the heat, so we took the plunge and got ourselves a little apartment on the outskirts of Split. (It had also dawned on us that Croatia was no longer the cheap escape it once was, with some campsites wanting €70 a night, an AirB&B was no more expensive).

Now, first impressions weren’t the greatest. Surrounded by high rise apartment blocks rising up the hills that surround Split, you could be forgiven for thinking that you had found yourself in a mini Rio de Janeiro… but, once we had navigated the tiny suburban streets, found our apartment block, unpacked, sat in front of the air conditioning and generally cooled down, we realised that this break from the heat couldn’t have come at a better time; as temperatures continued to soar outside, we could relax without falling asleep to the sound of Wilfred panting his way through the night and knowing that we could try and get Griff back into some sort of sleeping pattern (little did we know Griff would choose this time to grow a selection of teeth?!).

 

 

We soon realised that the downside to having home comforts and the luxury of air-conditioning was that you didn’t want to venture out into the desert-like heat;
we knew that this time would pass us by very quickly and we needed to make the most of it…

…so, our first excursion was to the pretty town of Trogir. Just half an hour up the coast and a recommendation from a friend who had visited a few years prior, and it didn’t disappoint. This is my first time in Croatia, whereas Kate has been before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I have come to realise that beautiful turquoise Adriatic sea and white stone streets are the order of the day. Trogir was no different with beautiful little alleyways winding through the town, a café or bar on every street and plenty of restaurants. Just when you thought that you were lost in the spider’s web of alleyways and lanes it all seemed to open out on to a stunning view of the harbour or the sea.

 

 

Our apartment was situated about 40 minutes walk from Split, so we decided to get up early and head into the town. Leaving the house at about midday (we haven’t mastered the ‘leaving the house early’ bit yet, and I would like to lay the blame solely at Griff’s tiny little feet, but I think the problem lies closer to home!) we sweated our way through the suburban streets and up and down the deep kerb stones, until we reached Split centre. Split is stunning. With a mixture of what looks like medieval and Roman ruins it has a fortress like complex at its centre, Diocletian’s Palace, which was erected by the Roman emperor in the 4th century (a bit of history for you!). Within the walls you have the Cathedral and plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. And as always beautiful white stone floors and walls and views of the Dalmatian coast and Adriatic Sea, that you ‘have’ to photograph at every opportunity.

What we hadn’t realised, was that the very popular (not in our household) TV show Game of Thrones was filmed in Split, it quickly became apparent that the narrow lanes and alleyways weren’t made for the amount of tourists that Split generated, so, we beat a hasty retreat and headed back to the cool isolation of our apartment.

Distance travelled: 249km
Total distance: 12,021km
Ice cream count: 34.5

 

Last stop on our way to Split was a town called Zadar. Our budget (and very basic) campsite was a bit out of the way in a town called Ražanac and as we had another massive storm here and torrential rain for a day and night, it was a quiet first day around the van, with a walk into the small town for some food and an ice cream – nothing special, but another dog beach for Wilf to swim in made up for it.

Zadar itself however was actually really nice – a large harbour town with a peninsula meant that wherever you walked you weren’t far from the water and some beautiful views of the coast and harbour. We also saw and listened to the Sea Organ – according to Wikipedia ‘an architectural sound art object and experimental musical instrument, which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps.’ It was kind of eerie walking along the promenade and hearing the whale-like sounds floating through the air, but pretty cool and something a bit different for sure. Zadar was definitely a highlight of Croatia so far.

Distance travelled: 162km
Total distance: 11,772km
Ice cream count: 33.5

 

 

Next stop for a couple of nights was Krk, a small island off the Croatian coast that you can actually reach by bridge. This was our first of many slow journeys on Croatia – it seems that everyone is on the move constantly, and we have spent quite a few hours in traffic jams due to congestion, or in some cases accidents that have happened along the way.

Not a lot to say about Krk to be honest – it was quite a picturesque little town, but I have to say nothing all that special and one definitely set up for the tourists. On the plus side there was a dog beach and we found a beer called Grif, which Matt selflessly tried, but I have to admit we were fairly happy to hit the road again after a couple of days (despite the slow-moving traffic!) and get back onto the mainland.

Distance travelled: 291km
Total distance: 11,610km
Ice cream count: 33

 

 

From Zagreb we headed down to the west coast, to Rovinj and Pula, which we had heard good things about. Rovinj was a beautiful old town, quite typically Croatian with its city walls and cobbled, light-coloured stone streets winding between orange roofed houses, but this was another scorcher and it was uncomfortably hot exploring the tourist-filled town. Cool drinks and a banana split by the harbour helped somewhat, and Wilf managed to have a paddle at a small beach, but it was a relief to get back into the air conditioned van.

We headed on to Pula and continued to a little beach called Histria Beach where we had heard about a place to park and wild camp – Croatia was proving very expensive for campsites (some were more than €70 a night just to camp and use the communal facilities), so we decided to give the wild camping a go. Arriving at about 7pm we expected to be able to set up and get Griff ready for bed, but sadly the summer holidays and a huge inflatable water park at this little beach meant it was still heaving with German, Croatian and other nationalities of holiday makers all having a great time in the water. As we were so far from anywhere, we decided to get a drink and feed Griff in the nearby cafe while things quietened down. Eventually we found a spot and pitched up for the night, but it was definitely less comfortable and a little more stressful than we’d have liked, as we both listened out to every sound and passing car/person/groups of people – of which there were quite a few! Griff slept surprisingly well however, and we both managed a couple of hours; on the whole though, we decided that wild camping wasn’t really our thing and that we’d shop around for some cheaper campsites instead!!

Distance travelled: 88km
Total distance: 11,319km
Ice cream count: 32.5

 

After our stay in Slovenia having been such a pleasant surprise we were sad but excited to move on to Croatia. I have been here a couple of times before and had great memories of island hopping from beautiful seaside town to seaside town, so was excited to explore some new places with Matt, Griff and Wilf. We started at a sweet little campsite with a lovely pool close to Zagreb, spending a day trying to keep cool in the next heatwave that was taking over Europe, followed by a day exploring Croatia’s capital city.

Zagreb is a bustling and quite modern feeling place, which was a bit of a culture shock after our time in laid back Slovenia. We had a nice walk around the town and explored some of the beautiful parks and green spaces they also had dotted around the city. Sadly we weren’t able to go into the Botanic Gardens as dogs weren’t allowed, but the other parks were still lovely to wander through, and the old town had some really beautiful buildings. Matt also found a place for a much-needed haircut (to match his short beard!) so Griff, Wilf and I found a nice café to people watch from while we waited. Dinner was burgers and salads in an upmarket take away, before we headed back to the site.

Distance travelled: 508km
Total distance: 11,231km
Ice cream count: 32.5

 

Treviso was a bit of an unplanned stop in an effort to look at kitchen paint colours as they had a Farrow and Ball shop there. Sadly the shop was closed for holidays, but it turned out to be a gorgeous little town so we made the most of some time out of the car and had a good walk round and some lunch.
From there we were on to our next country of Slovenia – somewhere new for us both and a place we had very little knowledge or preconceptions about. Happily it was totally beautiful and from the minute we crossed the border we noticed a change in landscape and feel, being much more quiet and undeveloped as well as stunning landscape all around.

We climbed into the beautiful mountains and lakes of Triglavski Narodni Park, passing through some pretty alpine-esque villages to eventually arrive at our campsite on the Soča River. This was a really lovely place to be based for a few days – much cooler (we had to get our sleeping bags back out!) and really quiet and peaceful – we even had some rain! We had lots of lovely walks for Wilf and some restful time for the rest of us.
From here it was on to another secluded site between Lake Bled and Ljubljana. This one was set in an orchard and again was quite chilled and peaceful – other than a monster thunder storm one night that bashed and battered the van!! Lake Bled was stunning, as well as its nearby companion lake Bohinj, which was a bit less touristy and developed. Both sparkling in the sun (it was scorching again!) and Lake Bled with stunning views of the Castle and the pilgrimage church of the Assumption of Mary out on the island that you see in all the tour guides. We also tried Bled Cake (like a vanilla slice but with half custard and half cream – yum!) and found Somersby cider for the first time since Portugal which made Matt very happy!

 

Next stop was lovely Ljubljana for a day – the capital of Slovenia set on the River Ljubljanica and still a fairly small town with less than 300,000 inhabitants. What it lacked in size it made up for in beauty though! From the park that we arrived at to the castle towering over the town (reached by some extremely steep paths) and everything in between, it was stunning! As always, our favourite thing was strolling along the riverside and crossing all the many bridges (some guarded by dragons) back and forth between various cafés and restaurants. We had an amazing pizza for lunch and some tasty Friday night drinks at a really nice bar on the river too, as well as exploring a few arty shops where we picked up some souvenirs including some lovely wooden toys for Griff. One of the most interesting and pretty towns yet I think.
Final stop in Slovenia was a bit unplanned and was a quiet site near Dolenjske Toplice, a spa town surrounded by forests and on two rivers. This was two days of walking with Wilf, a run for me and some cycling for Matt. More thunderstorms resulted in us getting a bit of a soaking too, but it was a nice rest and gave Griff some time out of the van getting some fresh air, which he enjoyed.

Distance travelled: 1143km
Total distance: 10,723km
Ice cream count: 30.5

The next week or so was our final set of stops in Italy and included some really beautiful places that probably rate in our top 10 places we’ve visited so far. Things are really starting to get busy now as summer holidays across Europe are kicking in, but we weren’t deterred by the enormous and crazy busy campsite and enjoyed a wander round Chioggia which lived up to expectations as a mini Venice with lots of lovely canals and bridges connected by lanes and winding side streets.

 

 

Meeting Matt’s friend Nicole in Verona we then spent a day exploring this beautiful city – from the Arena to St Mark’s Square and all the beautiful cobbled side streets, this is still one of my all time favourite places to visit and get lost – there is nowhere I’d rather sit with an Aperol Spritz to watch the world go by! After a couple of nights in a lovely little Air BnB outside Verona and our first rain in about a month, we then headed on to Trento in the Dolomites, stopping in Torri del Benaco (amazing banana split and amaretto ice cream sundae!) and Malcesine on Lake Garda – also two beautiful little towns for a wander.

 

 

Our little house in the Dolomites was also gorgeous and so nice to have a proper kitchen and bathroom for a few days – we used it to full effect making spag bol that we could blitz up for Griff – he loved his first taste of beef! We also had a drive out to Lago di Tovel which is also known as the Red Lake – legend had it was due to the blood of an army that was fighting for a Princess – but the last time it was red was back in the 1960s, and it was apparently due to a particular kind of algae, not blood! It isn’t red any more and was a beautiful blue colour – and made for a gorgeous cool walk around the lake in the shade of the trees, enjoyed by us all, but especially Wilf who got to take a well-earned dip.

Our final stop before packing Nicole back off to London was Venice – yet another stunning Italian city that we loved roaming and eating in! This time it was pasta and Prosecco followed by a customary gelato. More light rain here followed by an amazing thunder and lightening storm through the night.

 

Distance travelled: 390km
Total distance: 9580km
Ice cream count: 27.5

 

 

Little stop at a good value campsite right on the beach on the east coast at Peschici, as well as a night at a much more expensive (and arguably just as basic) campsite near Pescara. This was all about resting and trying to keep cool as the heatwave soared on. Matt and Wilf enjoyed swimming in the sea and I enjoyed relaxing with my book, while Griff had fun rolling and playing on the blanket. Griff also had his first swim in the sea, which he seemed to enjoy just as much as the pool.

 

The journey here was along some fairly ‘scenic’ (read unmanaged and windy) roads, where we saw herds of goats being shepherded by dogs, parakeets, flamingos and more herons nesting on pylons. The east coast is certainly less developed and beautiful than the west, but it has a rustic charm and a feeling of local holidays, as the Italians escape the heat of the cities over summer.