Summer 2026 Trip suggestions (The Alps)

[Scotia]

Loved Slovenia, can't wait to visit again. Loved Croatia too, but just gets so busy in holiday season.

I'll definitely go back, we just tipped our toes into Croatia but will go back and head further in next time. I've introduced Pelecon brewery in Slovenia to four or five breweries I look after here, hopefully they will do a collaboration brew and I get invited along.

 

[barryd]

We also did Slovenia in 2012. Never got as far as Croatia. Might be getting a bit too warm to head that far south by the time we get there. I don't fancy a repeat of that awful heatwave this summer.

 

[Morphology]

If you're headed for Orta, then I'd recommend the Gotthard (the pass road NOT the tunnel) - loads of free wildcamping spots up there. This photo was taken in June - not long after the pass re-opened for the summer.

We came back over the Simplon pass a year ago and wildcamped here: 46.25029, 8.02718 but were told by the polite young chap who came to collect the €2.50 tourist tax in the morning that we were in a military area and if the barrier we'd driven though was lowered during the night we could have been stuck there for weeks. We moved on....

 

[barryd]

If you're headed for Orta, then I'd recommend the Gotthard (the pass road NOT the tunnel) - loads of free wildcamping spots up there. This photo was taken in June - not long after the pass re-opened for the summer.

We came back over the Simplon pass a year ago and wildcamped here: 46.25029, 8.02718 but were told by the polite young chap who came to collect the €2.50 tourist tax in the morning that we were in a military area and if the barrier we'd driven though was lowered during the night we could have been stuck there for weeks. We moved on....

Cheers. I remember the Simplon pass from about 2009 in old Hank the Tank. Bloody brakes failed coming down it into Switzerland. I might take a look at the Gotthard (Always came through the tunnel). See if its doable on the bike. I think we went over it with my parents when I was about 15 in an 1100cc Ford Escort.

 

[Drover]

Be careful, I thought there was a thread on how Greece did not like motor homes - or was it " wilding "

It's all sorted now and back to how it was before the government banned it..
I can't find official quote , but

 

[alcam]

Cuneo province in northern Italy is very pretty. I usually stop in Ormea .
Only thing being you don't have to hang off the sides of mountains to get there . Probably won't suit Barry

 

[mark61]

Cuneo province in northern Italy is very pretty. I usually stop in Ormea .
Only thing being you don't have to hang off the sides of mountains to get there . Probably won't suit Barry

Love that area too.
Plenty of roads off of the SS21 if you want to hang off mountain sides.

 

[barryd]

Cuneo province in northern Italy is very pretty. I usually stop in Ormea .
Only thing being you don't have to hang off the sides of mountains to get there . Probably won't suit Barry

Cheers. Just googled that. I might give it a go if the weather in June is a bit cack in the Alps.

The rough plan this morning is to head for the Italian Job Alpine film locations first and then Lake Orta (been before and its fabulous). Cuneo is not far south from there. Will see how it goes.

 

[alcam]

Cheers. Just googled that. I might give it a go if the weather in June is a bit cack in the Alps.

The rough plan this morning is to head for the Italian Job Alpine film locations first and then Lake Orta (been before and its fabulous). Cuneo is not far south from there. Will see how it goes.

I'm sure there will be plenty places to stop in the area but the aire/site in Ormea is a gem .

 

[barryd]

I'm sure there will be plenty places to stop in the area but the aire/site in Ormea is a gem .

Thanks. This one?

Area Sosta Ormea

Details for Area Sosta Ormea a Overnight parking - with services Ormea, Provincia di Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy, 12078

www.searchforsites.co.uk

 

[alcam]

Thanks. This one?

Area Sosta Ormea

Details for Area Sosta Ormea a Overnight parking - with services Ormea, Provincia di Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy, 12078

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Thats the one

 

[mark61]

Bloomin talk of Cuneo and the thought of heading south to some proper heat is making me have a re think about going to Poland and Baltic states this summer.

 

[Drover]

Go east, as west of Seville gets you this
(Last year)

 

[barryd]

Bloomin talk of Cuneo and the thought of heading south to some proper heat is making me have a re think about going to Poland and Baltic states this summer.

After last summers heatwave in the south of France and great swathes of it literally bursting into flames I'm making sure next year I'm never far from somewhere with proper altitude. It was bloody awful.

 

[mark61]

Go east, as west of Seville gets you this
(Last year)
View attachment 147789

Love it, that's exactly what I want.

 

[alcam]

After last summers heatwave in the south of France and great swathes of it literally bursting into flames I'm making sure next year I'm never far from somewhere with proper altitude. It was bloody awful.

I just never travel abroad in the summer months .

 

[Jo001]

I just never travel abroad in the summer months .

Barry's trips are so long he can't avoid summer. Or spring and autumn.

 

[barge1914]

Our latest quest over the last few years was to visit as many of the dead end valleys in the Alps as we could. Fantastic trips. Usually between late Aug-end Oct to avoid the extreme temperatures of summer and winter. Nevertheless 37C in Chamonix was rather unexpected…followed a week later by snow in Valgrisanche…in August! In Switzerland Austria you just have to grit your teeth and stump up the cash…but we never regretted doing so…just go for it…you’re a long time dead.

 

[mark61]

Our latest quest over the last few years was to visit as many of the dead end valleys in the Alps as we could. Fantastic trips. Usually between late Aug-end Oct to avoid the extreme temperatures of summer and winter. Nevertheless 37C in Chamonix was rather unexpected…followed a week later by snow in Valgrisanche…in August! In Switzerland Austria you just have to grit your teeth and stump up the cash…but we never regretted doing so…just go for it…you’re a long time dead.View attachment 147792

That's a lot of dead ends.
About 20 + years ago, I had the idea of doing all the military roads, many between Italy and France, I may have achieved 1% of them so far.
They took a fair bit of finding back then, easier now.

 

[barryd]

Our latest quest over the last few years was to visit as many of the dead end valleys in the Alps as we could. Fantastic trips. Usually between late Aug-end Oct to avoid the extreme temperatures of summer and winter. Nevertheless 37C in Chamonix was rather unexpected…followed a week later by snow in Valgrisanche…in August! In Switzerland Austria you just have to grit your teeth and stump up the cash…but we never regretted doing so…just go for it…you’re a long time dead.View attachment 147792

Bloody hell! Are those all the places and what do the numbers like 9+ mean? Last year our favourite places for stopovers were ski resorts which as you will know in the summer are quiet but great places to use as a base. I found the best ones in the northern Alps were between 3000-4000ft for a sweet spot in temperature and when it got fierce in the south in the Pyrenees between 5000-6500ft. La Planey near Beaufort was our favourite. We stopped there 10 nights I think and the the Col du Tentes in the Pyrenees. So far though I'm concentrating on the Italian Alps and finding nothing like that but its early days. If you have any blinders like that I would very much appreciate you sharing them. PM if you don't want them sharing on the public forum?