4 day camper van Itinerary North Italy + The Dolomites
The floating city of Venice is the perfect hub to start this itinerary. You can also do it in reverse starting from Milan if flights are better. We picked up our Van from Roadsurfer just outside of venice, grabbed some groceries, gas and filled up with water and headed out.
We elected for the medium sized Couple Cottage and it was perfect. Big enough inside that we didn’t feel cramped but not so big it was difficult to drive in Europe. The couples cottage was perfect for two people. Having a two burner stove, decent sized fridge tons of storage and even a bathroom with shower. I really liked how the driver and passenger seats swiveled to make the middle of the van feel like a living room. There was a more than sufficient power system so we never had to worry about charging our stuff. I think most people plug in every night at campsites but we always just camped at the free spots. The hour or two driving everyday was more than enough to keep the batteries topped up. One thing I would note is if you have big devices and are not planning on paying for camp spots where you can plug in bring an inverter so you can charge laptops and etc from the van battery. The plug in power system in the van is seperate form the batteries and is only “on” when you plug the van in. If you are driving to south Italy I would recommend getting a smaller van like the Surfer Suite as the roads tend to be far narrower. Once we got out of Venice, the mountain roads had tons of space and I was comfortable driving as a Canadian.
Where To Park Or Camp In The Italian Dolomites
One thing that’s amazing about Italy is they have all these publicly funded van camping spots called Area Sostas, or Area Sostas Camper. These usually have water fill stations for the van as well as waste disposal and sometimes bathrooms. The nicer ones usually have a fee but they are far more affordable than campsites and a great budget option. I recommend downloading google maps offline maps before you trip so you can search for these locations with or without reception. The Roadsurfer pickup station in Venice had great wifi if you forget.
The North Italian Mountain Itinerary
Day 1
If you were like us you probably had a late night or early morning flight. Start the day by picking up your van in Venice. Grab some groceries as they are cheaper in Venice than the small towns and head to lake Sorapis. Day 1 is more driving than activity by design so you get a chance to rest on arrival day.
If you are a hiker head to the Lago di Sorapis hike start point on google. From the parking at you are looking at about 200m of elevation and 11 km return. Our weather on our first day ended up being dreadful so we skipped this hike and headed to Lago di Braies ares. We heard from people we met later on that this was the highlight of their time in the dolomites so here it is!
If the weather is bad or you are not a hiking person check out Lago di Misurina another beautiful lake in the area on your way to Lago Di Braies. This is definitely worth a quick photo stop and leg stretch. If you would like to walk there is a 2.5km loop trail around the lake. After you break continue on to the Dobaccio area.
Lago di Braies is the iconic lake you think of when you imagine the Dolomites. Is it out of the way yeah sort of, but if you could drive an extra hour to see this area you would be crazy not to.
There is parking at the lake you are allowed to overnight in. We elected for Parking 2 which is a little farther way (5 min walk) as it was only €6 and had great bathrooms. The closer you move to the lake the more expensive your parking fee is.
Day 2
Drive back toward Cortina D’ampezzo to hike the magnificent tre cime de lavaredo and the cadini di misurina viewpoint.
Tre Cime Di Lavaredo are is a beautiful mountain range with many hiking trails. The traditional loop is about 10km return on a well managed trail.
Tre Cime is incredible and not to be skipped. Unfortunately the word is out and it will be busy here. There is also a very expensive toll road you need to pay in order to visit. The entrance was €45 for us in a camper or any vehicle longer than 2.1m. The road is open seasonally depending on weather usually from May-Oct. In high season the gate is manned 24/7, and in shoulder season there is a credit card machine. Your ticket is valid for 12 hours. In busy season this parking lot up top does fill up and they will block access up the road until there is space. So we recommend arriving early.
If you don’t want to pay the toll road (totally understandable) there is a hike you can do via lake antorno that starts just outside the toll road parking. The hike is supposed to be very scenic but we didn’t feel like adding the 4km and 450 m elevation to our day.
You are allowed to camp at the parking lot by Tre Cime but you would incur another toll road fee of €45 making it an expensive day. There was great camping at a far more reasonable rate just below the toll gate.
Day 3
Drive to Seggiova Cinque Torri to take the €24 return cable car up to the magnificent Cinque Torre. There is a great 2 km hiking loop around these little mountains that is super scenic.
After your hike grab lunch in the refugio and do slight detour back in order to drive the Gau Pass for some epic views and the famous snake road.
After the pass you are heading to Alpi di Suisi but not to early as you are only allowed to drive up after 5pm or before 9am.
spend your evening on the plateau for sunset the drive back down for camping and then head back up in the morning for sunrise. There was a reasonable free camping part way down the hill in the town of Siusi.
Day 4
Today you have the day to relax and explore the Val di Funes area. There are some famous viewpoints here such as the St Magdalena Church and it is just generally one of the nicest mountain valley in Europe.
If you feel like doing more there is a hike up to a very famous lookout in Geisler Alm. You can reach it via the Adolf Munkel Weg trail. The trail is about 10km return and 450m of elevation and it leads you to Cinema Delle Odele rifugio and lookout. If your looking for a more casual day just walking around this valley is amazing.
Day 5
Head back to venice or if you have more time continue over to Cinque terre and see some amazing coastal towns by Genoa.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
