Welcome to the August edition of the newsletter. It's been a busy month everywhere with the Euros, the elections and now the Olympics. So now it's time for everyone to think about their summer holidays. People often ask us what we do for our hols given that we are away all the time. To answer that question, we greet from an overcast Snowdonia National Park where we are on grand-parenting duties!
We are looking forward to the next batch of tours that go out in September. To keep us in the mood, this month we bring you the two remaining tour reports from the Spring tours this year. These are: Tuscany & Rome and The Swiss & French Alps.
As usual, we have another great cut-out-and-keep recipe and this month's motorhoming tips continue on the topic of vehicle security with a look at surveillance cameras.
2025 Tour Update
Just a reminder that we are now taking bookings for the 2025 season.
The full tour schedules are available on the website and you can also view or download the brand new brochure too.
Click the links for more information:
Tour Schedule: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/tours
Download the brochure: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/brochure
New tour added in May 2025
We are delighted to announce that due to popular demand we are adding an extra tour to the 2025 schedule. This will be our Lake Garda & Venice Tour, which has been a staple of our touring schedule ever since we started Crossings.
The schedule will be exactly the same as the September version of the tour with the dates confirmed as 7th to 24th May 2025. Full details of the tour on the website: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/lake-garda-venice-2025
Bookings are open now for this tour.
Tuscany & Rome Tour Report
Thanks to Rebecca and Andy (Tour Leaders) for the following report:
On a sunny Sunday in June, our intrepid group of travellers met up near Dover where we introduced ourselves and held an initial briefing. Experience levels amongst our guests varied between those who had never taken their vans abroad before, to having done some previous European travel and also others who had previously travelled with Crossings.
Early the next morning we set off for the ferry and thanks to the joys of French travel arrived in no time at all for our first overnight stop where we were able to restock the fridges, appreciate one of the best patisseries in the area and have a small get together.
The next day held a longer run to Strasbourg where we met up with Bob, Wendy and their tour which was returning from Budapest, Prague and Vienna. This gave a number of guests the chance to meet up with friends from previous trips as well as the opportunity to visit Strasbourg itself which is such an eclectic mix of French and German culture as well as of the medieval and the modern.
On leaving Strasbourg it was a run down into Switzerland and two nights in Interlaken. From here people took trips on both of the lakes, to Schilthorn for the James Bond restaurant, cable cars from the town as well as just enjoying the fabulous views of the Jungfrau and the excellent weather.
It was following this that we commenced our Italian trip proper with a stay at Lake Iseo, one of the smaller and quieter of the Italian lakes. Again boat trips were popular as was cycling, swimming in the lake and enjoying life in the small town of Iseo itself.
Leaving here reluctantly we passed through what seemed to be through an amazing number of tunnels including the St. Gotthard prior to our arrival in Florence. This ramped the pace of life up a little (and the temperature) and many miles were walked and ridden. Sites like the Duomo never fail to amaze but people also found so many more fantastic examples of lesser known architecture and scenery, not forgetting the drums at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Another drive took us to the southernmost point of our trip - Rome. This was discovered in many different ways including by a bus trip from our campsite with a night time walking tour which was attended by several guests. However, it wasn’t all city life as a bus ride in the opposite direction from the site took us to the coast at Ostia where apart from the attractions of the beach was Ostia Antica an enormous site of Roman ruins rivaling Pompeii in size but without the lava!
Travelling days between sites allowed for various places to be visited en route including Sienna. The joys of European driving rules which restricted heavy goods vehicles for weekend travel were really appreciated by us all on our longer transfer days.
Our next site near the walled hilltop village of San Gimignano gave us the chance to relax
after the hectic bustle of Rome and was the setting for a very pleasant group meal. Following our shortest day driving, our next stay was another longer one and was in Pisa.
This beautiful town with its iconic tower is very well located to visit the Cinque Terre and Lucca by train but also allowed people the opportunity to discover how much is actually within the miles of walkable city walls. The close proximity of the coast was again appreciated as was the traffic free cycleway to get there. As the temperature had continued to rise the pool and on-site restaurant were appreciated.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we reluctantly headed northwards. Firstly with two nights in Chamonix which allowed us to take advantage of glorious weather and the arrival of the Olympic torch resulting in many festivities in the town. More trips in cable cars, this time up Le Brevent as well as to the ice caves followed. After that the beautiful walled city of Beaune and then on to our last site. Here we had a final get together to say goodbye to our fellow travellers and to thank them for being such good company. May we meet again on a campsite in the future.
The Swiss & French Alps Tour Report
Our ever-popular Alps Tour took off in June for another run-out to the stunning mountains in France and Switzerland. Our group met up in Kent for the pre-tour briefing and then it was off on the ferry to France. The first couple of nights took us on a drive south through France.
On this tour we spend a couple if days winding our way down to the Alps through France. Many of the group chose to head into the vines of the Burgundy Region with Tournus proving to be a bit of favourite this year along with the wine capital of Chalon Sur Saone.
Our first stop proper in the Alps was on the shores of beautiful Lake Annecy where the group spent a few days enjoying the lake and the historic town. Sadly the weather was a bit mixed although the sun did make an appearance allowing guests to wander the canals and cobbled streets in the town. There is a cycle path that runs all the way from our campsite down the shores of the lake and into the town, which proved popular with many.
While staying in Annecy, we organised a fantastic bus trip up the Saleve mountain for some spectacular views across to Mont Blanc. This was part of a longer trip that took us across the Swiss border and into Geneva. Here there is another wonderful lake (with famous geezer) and fantastic old town. Another highlight is the United Nations building, where Philippe the bus driver decided to take the group. The bus trip was a bit of a magical mystery tour!
The next stop was some relaxing driving in the valleys and past various lakes onto the Swiss capital of Bern. This compact capital city has a very laid-back feel with wide cobbled streets and distinctive ancient arcaded streets. It is also home the Zytglogge, one of Europe's most unusual Medieval clocks.
Slightly outside Bern you can take the Gurtenbahn funicular railway, just a short walk from our campsite. This takes you up "the mountain", which is technically only a hill, with magnificent 360 degrees views across Bern and the Alps.
Next stop on the tour is the picturesque town of Interlaken. Positioned between two lakes this is one of Switzerland's prettiest locations with Alpine views in every direction. From here you have loads of options for taking in the view including boats, funiculars, trains, cable cars and even paragliders. Some of the Alps' best-known and most dramatic peaks are in this area including the Eiger (the Ogre), the Jungfrau (the Maiden) and Monch (the Monk). More locally is the more accessible Harder Kulm with superb views of Interlaken itself.
Meanwhile on the water, Interlaken sits beneath two giant lakes, Brienz and Thun. Guests were able to enjoy boat trips including a trip up to the Geissbach waterfalls, with 400m of cascading water across 14 steps.
No-one ever wants to leave Interlaken and our beautiful campsite nestled in the valley with stunning views in every direction, but it was time to head north. Our tour takes it time heading back through France with a couple of nights on the French/German border in Strasbourg. Always lively, our guests were able to spend a couple of days enjoying the canals around La Petite France area and the pink sandstone buildings in the old town.
Our Swiss & French Alps Tour is running again in 2025. Full details are available on our website: https://www.crossingsmotorhometours.com/swiss-french-alps-2025
Coq au Van (the amusingly titled recipe feature)
Creamy Salmon Pasta
Ingredients
500g pack Fresh Tagliatelle
200g pack Smoked Salmon Slices
100g Reduced Fat crème fraîche
2 tbsp chopped dill
25g grated Parmesan
Method
Cook the tagliatelle for 4 minutes and drain.
Chop the salmon into slivers and mix with the pasta, crème fraîche, dill & Parmesan. Serve warm.
Motorhoming Tips
Continuing last month's tips we continue on the theme of security. So far we have covered aspects of physical security and also trackers. This month we look at cameras.
If you store your van at home then you may think about getting a camera and pointing it at your van! First and foremost this will act as a deterrent to any potential thief. Second, it will give you some useful footage should the worst happen.
Modern camera are pretty smart in that you can set them up only to record when certain events happen e.g. human movement, vehicle movement etc. You can then get a notification sent to your phone to view the subsequent recording via an app. The video clips themselves can be stored on an SD card or in the cloud. The cameras record in HD and have night-vision.
As the cameras link to the wifi it means that you can view what is happening at any time via your phone wherever you happen to be in the world. Most set-ups allow for multiple cameras to be attached allowing you to have a complete surveillance system for your whole home.
You can buy decent cameras for as little as £40 with no ongoing subscription fees for the app. Obviously the more you pay the more features you get e.g. motion tracking and the better the quality of the image.
Keep in touch
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Please feel free to contact us at any time. When we are away, calls will bounce to our mobiles at no expense to yourself.
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