4.078 km = 1.737 km München – Capo Milazzo + 1.662 km Siclia Φ + 680 km Palermo – München

Let’s start with the base line: It is so worth it! Every km, every moment. Sicilia is a wonderful destination that offers you almost everything. Except for good surfing conditions, but that is another story of another holiday.

Perfect vanlife, even without being even

With Martina, I joined two weeks of a fantastic road trip. We followed the sun and the cultural attractions, we tasted local delicacies in all kinds of restaurants and faint sulphur smell on the volcanos. We shared Hector’s space, doubts where to find the next bus stop and wine with a view.

The peak of the entire trip was the peak of Stromboli: Lucky us, we were spontaneous and in time for perfect conditions, five weeks before an unusual strong eruption caused death and danger. We are grateful for our harmless, yet impressive-as-hell experience on top of the volcano.

Apart from that, every day and every place offered various highlights:

(1) Kaltern am See: Nice region, especially with good weather. We compensated endless rain with good company and tasteful dinner (special greetings to Michael!).

Happy Feet, Heading South

(2) Baia Domizia: Probably a boring place with a neat campsite. After 24 hours constant rain, we worshipped bright skies and sea view. Price: 31,60 € for 1 Hector + 2 Ladies.

(3) Tropea: Beach, a relaxed campsite (18,- € and well-located) and the first of the most beautiful sunsets during the trip, accompanied by wine and snacks and the view towards Stromboli.

(4) Capo Milazzo: Arriving on Sicilia! Camping Riva Smeralda might have seen better days in the late 80ies, however, it is the ideal starting point for an excursion to the Aeolian Islands. With sunny weather, low expectations and with 20,- € (per night) you can enjoy sea view all over.

Camping Riva Smeralda, Capo Milazzo

(5) Stromboli: Terrific!!! Count in at least 4 hours on the boat, 40,- € for a charming bed & breakfast and unconventional volcano guides. Most people tend to see everything on Sicilia except for the Stromboli – what a mismatch, given that it has been the outstanding sensation of the journey.

(6) Taormina: Hector is well-located on Camping Paradise at Letojanni (23,73 €/night) while the crew is well-located in the general setting of Taormina – ancient theatres, vivid city streets and mouth-watering restaurants included.

Happy Travel Girls at Taormina

(7) Siracusa: Not the simple parking (20,- €), but the famous peninsula Ortigia seemed worn-out at first. Hour by hour, though, it turns out to be interesting, old, young, touristic, vivid and delicious.

Siracusa

(8) Noto: Public bus transport is a bit of an adventure between Camping Sabbiadoro (28,80 €/night) and Noto. The baroque town of Noto is all worth it, including a cathedral and further churches, food and arts. If you think that Avola might be fine for a stop over: it is not and we are proud having it found out all on our own.

Noto

(9) Etna + Catania: Hard, very hard to catch a cloudless day on the 3.000 m peak. Although we failed on that part, we still claim being the lucky ones as we decided against an overnight-stay on the 2.000 m parking at Etna Sud – we would have been shaken with the eruption happening a mere three hours later. Instead, we can confirm that even outside of Catania downtown they have fantastic seafood!

Etna

…more to come in Part 2…

Expectation = Rough, yet Romantic Ccoast with Concrete Platforms for Swimmers

Some places look wonderful on pictures. Even on the map. And descriptions point out the wonderful setting of a simple campsite at the shore with a nice village close by. Then you arrive and it is – different.

Reality = Uninviting for Activity in the Sea

With 37°C, I arrive at San Vito lo Capo and start learning. First, the campsite I have been looking for does not exist anymore. However, the very same GPS address once shared by two campsites now leads to the survived one = Camping Village El Bahira. It looks like old camper places have been abandoned. Which is a pity as they have been located close to the sea – and which is comprehensible as they had been very small and very basic, worse than most simple camper parkings. There is no real sea view from the remaining camper slots, so being close to the shore does not get you the expected buenavista. Next learning is about the “beach”: It is a dry and sun-burned mixture of gravel, stones and outworn deck chairs.

Not my Kind of Beach

At least I manage to get the spot closest to the pool and with a bit of body work there is even a glimpse on the distant sea.

So this is our View for the next Days

The plan was to spend some relaxed days here, surrounded by beautiful nature and the village of San Vito lo Capo. During Thursday afternoon, I am fine with the pool and it’s reasonable size. I swim and show off with experienced style, getting me in touch with the pool attendant. He is a typical young Sicilian with the typical accent, meaning I hardly understand anything he says. It sets limits to our conversation, as there only is a small overlap of Sicilian language to the Italian I once learned in Liguria. I try my best to give senseful replies to what I interpret as questions from his side, accompanied by a helpless smile as faint coverage of my cluelessness.

What you see is a nice Pool. What you don’t see is the Colour Change in my best Bikini after 45 minutes in it’s Water

In the evening, the view from the restaurant close to the pool is wonderful, while my next learning is: Today is Thursday. The restaurant is closed on Thursday. The only option is the pizzeria, but no, they do not have gluten-free pizza. Fortunately, I got several packages of potato chips – before I leave this place, I will have eaten up all 3 of them.

Friday comes and with it the arrival of the weekenders: all around me, resident campers appear out of the blue and take over – everything. It is not only that all caravans to my left and to my right are now inhabited by families. It is the fact that each family owns several places and I happen to be in the middle of them like a foreign body. The pool is no place for sports anymore, it has become an immense playground for kids of all ages, chasing one another and swimming around the legs of their chatting grannies. Still, I am grateful. It would be worse being a family member of those strident 10-12 heads-parties, but perhaps it feels more natural when you are born into that kind of life.

Making my Way

Time to go! Knowing that all campgrounds will be full with weekend families by now, I flee by foot, making my way on a small path that seems to lead to San Vito “downtown”. Temperatures reach solid 38° these days and the distance is slightly exceeding my expectation. However, it is nice to be all alone and silent here and even the landscape develops a certain charm.

In the early afternoon, I reach the beach of San Vito lo Capo.

Central Beach of San Vito lo Capo

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so best is to look out in the blue of the shimmering water or towards the lighthouse.

Now, isn’t it Beautiful?

Same same, but Different

Looking at it from another angle, the white sand is hardly visible beneath all the deck chairs and parasols and thousands of people. I leave the crowded beach behind and try out several bars and cafés. First try: beverages, food, it is all there, at least on the menu. After 30 minutes of waiting for a waiter, I give up and try the café next door. No food, just ice cream – seems like San Vito works best with an unhealthy life style. Being a brave girl, I give in and enjoy ice cream, coffee and Campari-Soda. All with the aim to bundle my forces for the 4,5 km way back.

San Vito, Downtown

I look around some more, but do not feel like spending the evening here. The town is okay, but not as inviting as Cefalú. It is all very focussed here: 2 or 3 streets close to the beach, the promenade + the small line of sand take in all inhabitants from Sicily’s inlands, at least on weekend days. The rest of the town fades out with hardly anything to offer, so due to the lack of appealing restaurants, I skip my plans of wonderful seafood and turn back to another round of potato chips with Hector.

>> Hello sheep!<<  >>määähhh!<<

The return route is familiar and nice in the warm light of the late afternoon. I greet the sheep along the way, enjoy the calm and the panorama, and decide to design my last Sicilian days a bit more thoroughly. I abandon the idea of a daily trip to Trapani (39°C and it will be overcrowded even without me and my van) and instead look forward to my favourite place on this island.

The resumé of San Vito is that I might have been better on another campsite. However, I can easily accept that there are places that touch you with beauty and comfort (Scala dei Turchi with it’s sosta camper, Cefalú with the small bay) and others that don’t. Over all, I prefer independent or alternative places, where people are more travellers than (resident) campers.

>> Next Destinaion

After some Sicllia-style traffic, I wave goodbye to Martina and continue the lonely part of the journey. Only me. And Hector. And thousands of tourists. And Sicilians. Guess, I won’t be that lonely after all.

Dead End at Etna Nord – Mr. Lava-Lava = Hector

The first impression, however, is: empty spaces. Seems that there is no one around at Etna Nord… Might be because of yesterday’s eruption. On my way from Catania to a vineyard north of Etna, Hector decides more or less on his own that we should check if everything is still ok up there. And, strange enough, apart from a huge sulphur cloud, we see blue skies all around us.

Looking at former Eruptions

Next stop is the famous Gole d’Alcántara: a gorge with artful, yet natural basalt rock and ice-cold water. And a Disneyland of tourism around it. I had an idea about nature, maybe an uncomfortable tour with marching through hip-deep water, stunning views on cathedral-like stonewalls and such things. Instead, it is all about boring pathways, blocked ways to the gorge and picknick-forbidden-all over.

Hidden River

At least, some of the facets become visible by holding up the camera and taking pictures on the assumption that the angle + distance might lead to some photos worth my memory’s space.

Finally, I make it to “the beach”. If you want to see the Gole d’Alcántara, believe me: going down (by elevator even) to the beach is all you need. Do not let yourself get talked into any further than this… Silly enough, it might be no problem at all to wander through the water to further sections around it and find even better paths then the ones created by the tourist-machinery here.

The Beach / Alcántara

Perhaps it is some common rule during mixed holidays: The first day alone always is a weird one. Consequently, when I turn to a recommended vineyard, there is neither a possibility for wine tasting during the afternoon, nor do they accept tiny shiny Hector on their front-yard for an overnight stay.

In the end, I spend a relaxed evening at the well-known camping paradise, about 20km south of the Etna. And only there, sitting outside and wondering why I seem to feel grains of sand on every surface, I realize that the volcano still is active and erupting diminutive grains of lava. They float through the air, invisible except for µ-sized particles in my wine glass… Finally, the happy end of the day is that Hector took me up on Etna North, down to the Gole d’Alcántara and, via a vineyard, back to the sea – without being boiled, drowned or drunk. Now, isn’t that something?

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