Boat Travel in Italy

Italy - Brandisi, to Pátra, Greece, overnight: The took our RV, with us inside, to the top deck where we parked at the port rail, and enjoyed our slowly-rolling, slightly-pitching campsite as the ship sailed the Adriatic, past Greek Islands, to the city of Patra.

Italy - Cagliari, Sardinia to Trapani, Sicily, overnight: We wondered if it was possible to spend the night in the RV, but when we found a truck filled with smelly sheep parked right next to the RV, we were just as happy that we had a room.

Italy - Livorno, to Bastia, Corsica: Left at 7:30 for the ferryboat. Had been told by the agent in Nice, where we bought the ticket, that they would measure the Van and maybe charge us more because of its length, but no one bothered.

Italy - Messina, Sicily to Reggio Calabria, Italy, Twice: Trains were also being rolled right onto the ferryboat. A large gravel-filled dump truck, had a flat tire. Both times I bought Emmy some breakfast—a round ball about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, deep fried, and coated with fine bread crumbs.

Italy - Pescara, to Split, Yugoslavia: We were almost the last vehicle on the ferryboat in Pescara, and the way this ship is constructed, we must be about the first off in Yugoslavia.

Italy - Reggio Calabria, to Messina, Sicily: We drove directly to the docks, and selected a ferryboat terminal from the several there. The ship’s loading ramp curved round and round, and when we got to the top, we found the main parking area on the ship was 1.9 meters high, and we are 2.65. There was room for a couple of vehicles on the open deck.

Italy - Sorrento, to Isle of Capri, Round Trip: The campsite manager was kind enough to drive us into town to catch the ferryboat for Capri. At the Marina Grande, Porto Turistico, we rode a funicular railway up the hill, to the town of Capri.

Italy - Three trips across Lake Como, to and from Bellagio: Two different years, in the town of Tremezzo we caught the small ferryboat across the western leg of the lake to the little town of Bellagio on a peninsula in the middle of the lake. Once we took the ferryboat across the eastern leg of the lake from Bellagio to Varenna, then drove to Bergamo.

Italy - Venice, many, many rides on vaporettos: Travel about the city is by motorboat, curved-prow gondola, vaporetto or water-bus, or on foot — and we prefer on foot. The beautifully unusual buildings of Venice were a sight to remember as we “sailed” the Lagoon between Lido Isle and St. Mark’s square. We were spellbound by the unique “street” scenes and the lights reflected in the Venetian waters.

Italy - Venice, Plaza Roma to Lido Island, Round Trip: It was a very entertaining trip, since from the ferryboat we could see the beautifully unusual buildings of Venice, and the islands nearby.

Italy - Venice, ride in a gondola, ride in a motor boat: During our gondola ride the gondolier pointed to the home of Marco Polo. We know Marco Polo lived in Venice, but where? We rode a fancy motor boat to the glass factories on the island of Murano. We didn’t bother with the fancy boat ride back to town, as they said we could expect.