Category Archives: Fiat Ducato

Tour: Europe 2023 Episode 5 Chamonix, Bonneville, Epernay and Calais

Posted on by
Reply

Sadly we start to head north in this episode as we start the return trip home.

We stop off at Chamonix where we experience some parking problems, then head North to the lovely aire at Bonneville. We were surprised to see journalist for the Tour de France parking up here.

Then we are off to Epernay for Wendy to buy some Mercier champagne and we park up overnight at an excellent aire. One of the best I’ve stayed at so far.

We then head further north to the aire at Calais and have a nice trip to the beach, and finally we travel on the Eurotunnel, park up overnight at Carlisle and then head to Glasgow. As we cross the Scottish border our normal weather returns!

Tour: Europe 2023 Episode 4 Fussen to Lake Garda

Posted on by
Reply

In this episode we drive from Fussen in Germany at the end of the Romantic Road to Bardolino at Lake Garda, Italy. As we arrive at Lake Gard the pace of our tour slows down a little as we planning on staying here for nine nights.

There’s lots to do here so and we have a booking at a Fiat garage in Verona in a few days to have the van checked over.

The weather is brilliant and then we experience a sudden storm one midnight, followed by a bird having a dislike to my drone.

This is our third trip to Bardolino and whilst little has changed, we are glad about this as we really like it here. It’s the first time we have seen the amphibious classic car.

Europe Tour 2023 Episode 3 – The Castles

Posted on by
Reply

We are enroute from Landsberg am Lech to Fussen in Germany, travelling along the final part of the Romantic Road. We park up in the beautiful Bandwalsee valley and tour the spectacular castles. These are a must see.

The Romantic Road has been great. It’s not always easy to follow but we got there. Sadly, as we arrive in Fussen it is complete. Next we head to Italy, in episode 4.

Europe Tour 2023 Episode 2

Posted on by
Reply

This episode starts in the magnificent Wurzburg on the river Main and we head south along the Romantic Road stopping at Landsbderg am Lech.

This is a beautiful part of Germany with lots of places to see. We stop over at many places for a look around along the way capturing medieval walled cities and lovely traditional towns.

The Romantic Road is a must do if you like touring.

Europe Tour 2023 Episode 1

Posted on by
Reply

We’ve embarked upon our European Tour starting from Glasgow, Scotland and heading to Lake Garda in Italy. We plan to drive through France, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

We plan to drive south through Germany along the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse) before finally heading for Lake Garda in Italy.

In this episode 1 we travel from Folkestone on the Eurotunnel, then drive through France and Belgium arriving in Cologne, Germany.

We’d love to know what you think so feel free to comment.

Van Upgrade: Adding Apple Car Play

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been wanting to upgrade the audio system in the van for some time so I could have Apple Car Play, DAB radio and better connectivity. I wanted the new system to be flush in the dashboard so after some research I found a Pioneer system sold by Dynamic Sounds.

This is quite a comprehensive upgrade. It is not particularly difficult, it is time consuming and you need confidence to cut out internal components of the dashboard to make room for the larger unit, relocate the Fiat Blue & Me module and make space for the wiring harness.

I believe you also need a multi-tool to be able to cut accurately in confined spaces.

Camp Quirky 2023

Posted on by
Reply

Our second consecutive visit to Camp Quirky. The event was good, although due to our 9:30pm arrival we could not park up in the event on the Friday evening. The earliest we could park up the van was 10:00 on the Saturday morning and we were located in the overflow area. The ground is much rougher here and we really didn’t feel part of the event located down here. Pity really, as otherwise Camp Quirky is well organised and run.

Northumberland’s Beautiful Beaches and Castles

Posted on by
Reply

We visited Northumberland for the first time, parking up at Waren Mill campsite. The campsite was very muddy so it was a good opportunity to test our new BF Goodrich KO2 tyres. All went well whilst several vans around us needed towed off the grass. Nevertheless, after the holiday weekend we moved pitch to a hardstanding.

We visited several of the small villages, and castles, along this coastline. There’s lots to do here so we may well return for another trip in the future.

The Holy Island causeway was a chance to try out my DJI mount on the outside of the van. I was worried my camera might fall off. Everything went well though, except I messed up the camera clamp mounting on the way over.

The video captures some of the highlights.