Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta and the mountain lakes
Twelve days in northern Italy: lakes Como and Maggiore, Roman Aosta, the Nivolet pass in Gran Paradiso and the Langhe vineyards on the way back. The route has a rhythm that suits a motorhome — a few quiet days by the water in Lombardy first, then a week in the high valleys below the glaciers, and finally a slow descent into the vineyards. On the way out you take in the wider northern end of Lago di Como and the Borromean Islands on Lago Maggiore, in the middle you get Italy's oldest national park, and on the way home Turin and Barolo. It works best from June to September, when the mountain roads are open and the campsites in the high valleys are running.
The first day is a pure transfer across Bavaria and there is no point dressing it up. If you split the drive into two stages, you will reach the lakes rested instead of just collapsing into bed on the first evening. Pick an overnight stop in the foothills, where parking a motorhome takes no searching.
On the second day you cross the Alpine ridge and drop down to the northern tip of Lago di Como, already on the Lombardy side. The valley opens up wide here, so you manoeuvre far more calmly than in the narrow southern part of the lake. The afternoon leaves room for a first swim and a walk along the shore.
The shore roads to Bellagio are narrow and winding and longer vehicles suffer on them — leave the motorhome at the campsite and cross by ferry; boats run all day from both Menaggio and Varenna. Bellagio climbs up flights of steps between the shops, and the gardens of Villa Melzi above the water are open daily. The return crossing in the afternoon light is the nicest part of the day.
In the morning you move over to Lago Maggiore, where the widest choice of campsites is around Fondotoce and Baveno. In the afternoon you sail out to the Borromean Islands: Isola Bella with its baroque palace and terraced gardens, and Isola dei Pescatori with its fishing village. Boats also leave from Baveno and Verbania, so you can avoid parking in Stresa, which is tight in season.
The drive west pulls you into the valley of the Dora Baltea, where real mountains rise on both sides. The afternoon belongs to Aosta — the Arch of Augustus, the Porta Praetoria and the Roman theatre all stand a short walk from each other in the centre. The campsites are just outside town, so you can walk into the historic core or take a bus.
You spend the whole day in Italy's oldest national park, founded in 1922 to save the ibex. An easy path leads upstream from Valnontey into the head of the valley, and the Paradisia alpine botanical garden sits right by the hamlet. Anyone who wants to go higher can climb to one of the huts below the glacier; anyone who wants less can stay by the river all day.
There is no direct way over the mountains from Valle d'Aosta into Valle dell'Orco — the road over the Nivolet was never finished, so you go around via Ivrea. The transfer takes the morning, and in the afternoon you are already climbing the Orco valley towards Ceresole Reale. The campsite here lies high above sea level, so pack warm clothes for the evening even in August.
The hairpins above Ceresole Reale carry you past the Serrù and Agnel reservoirs up to the pass at 2,612 metres. On summer Sundays the upper section is closed to cars and a shuttle bus runs instead — you can also walk or ride up, and without traffic it is far nicer at the top. The last stretch of road is usually shut by snow from around mid-October to mid-May.
Dropping from the mountains onto the Turin plain is a contrast that takes a while to get used to. The Mole Antonelliana houses the National Cinema Museum and a panoramic lift up to the dome; it usually opens from nine to seven and closes on Tuesdays. The historic centre is a restricted traffic zone that is no place for a motorhome anyway — Turin has a metro and a dense bus network, and from Pianezza you are in the centre in no time.
The Langhe vineyards are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and the ridge roads between the villages show you why straight away — the best view is from La Morra, perched high above the Barolo vineyards. In Barolo the Falletti castle holds the WiMu wine museum, with the regional enoteca in its cellars where you can taste. Alba is the natural hub of the region; white truffles only come into season there in the autumn, so in summer the main themes are wine, hazelnuts and long dinners.
Day eleven is the drive back north and there is no reason to rush it — after days in the mountains and the vineyards nobody wants to do it in one go. Head for the foot of the Alpine ridge and stay the night there; an evening in the foothills makes the return far easier to take. That leaves one last stage for the morning.
The last day is the drive home through Austria and Bavaria; set off early and you are back in Czechia by the afternoon. It is worth stopping for one final coffee in an Alpine valley on the way — after twelve days that is a better farewell than a motorway service station.
Italy has no vignettes — on the motorways you pay at the barrier and the rate depends on the number of axles and the height above the front axle. A motorhome with two axles and a height of more than 130 cm above the front axle falls into class B, regardless of whether it is under or over 3.5 t; a three-axle vehicle already counts as class 3 and costs more. You cross Austria both ways: under 3.5 t you need a vignette (2026: ten-day €12.80, two-month €32.00, annual €106.80), while over 3.5 t you pay distance-based tolls through a GO-Box instead. The most direct way to the northern end of Lago di Como runs through Switzerland (the San Bernardino, or the Splügen pass), which means a Swiss vignette — sold as an annual one only, CHF 40, roughly €44 abroad, valid for fourteen months; vehicles over 3.5 t skip the vignette and pay a flat heavy-vehicle charge instead, about CHF 3.25 a day with a CHF 25 minimum. If you would rather avoid Switzerland and take the Brenner, budget for the section toll on the A13 as well — a single run in a vehicle under 3.5 t costs €12.50 in 2026, and heavier vehicles have it covered by the GO-Box — but the Brenner leads to Bolzano, so it reaches the lakes the long way round. The mountain road to Colle del Nivolet has no toll of its own; it is limited only by the season and the Sunday closure of the upper section.
Camping La Breva, Dongo — western shore of the northern end of Lago di Como · Camping Village Isolino, Fondotoce di Verbania — Lago Maggiore, over 400 pitches with electricity · Camping International Touring, Sarre near Aosta — open 15 May to 30 September · Campeggio Lo Stambecco, Valnontey near Cogne — right inside the Gran Paradiso area · Camping Piccolo Paradiso, Ceresole Reale — 1,613 m above sea level, running from May to September · Camping Bella Torino, Pianezza near Turin — bus and metro into the centre · AgriVillage Alba, Alba — a base for trips into the Langhe
Overnight parking outside campsites and designated areas is governed by municipal by-laws in Italy, and at the lakes or in the Gran Paradiso national park you should not count on it. The network of campsites along the route is dense, so there is no need to improvise — just book ahead in high season, above all on Lago Maggiore and in Cogne. Italian towns also have municipal aree di sosta camper, but these tend to be small and fill up quickly.
Drinking water and a waste disposal point are right at the motorhome pitch at AgriVillage Alba, and Camping Bella Torino in Pianezza has two service stations — the most convenient place to empty the tanks before the drive home. Set off for Ceresole Reale with a full fresh water tank and empty waste tanks, because there are few services at the head of the valley. Czech gas bottles cannot be exchanged in Italy, so bring a supply from home or plan on your own LPG tank.
Adria Compact
The Adria Compact (6,790–6,990 mm long, 2,120 mm wide) is a sensible compromise for this route: it carries a couple for twelve days, yet still fits the narrow shore roads by Lago di Como and gets through the hairpins above Ceresole Reale, where a longer and wider vehicle starts to be a burden. That narrow body pays off in the Alpine valleys too, where you pass oncoming buses with centimetres to spare.
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