Campervan Travel in Europe, Part 2

Stunning Alpine scenery during climbing over the Stelvio Pass in a camper van!

Before our return journey, we had our camper serviced at several workshops in the Tychy area. We had the van inspected, minor damages repaired, tires changed, the gas system checked, and window blind replaced. We thought everything was working as it should after all the repairs.

We set off on the way back - to the south of europe (Part 1 - Click Here), on the way stoped in Mszana in Silesia - there, there is a free camper park, you can get water, drop off your waste, and spend the night if you wish (you can find on park4Night).

We left late and decided to spend the night at a motorway inn near the Czech town of Brno. We turned on the fridge - and after a while, we smelled gas. We were worried because the gas installation had been checked and the hoses replaced just before our trip. We had the camper van serviced for almost 3 weeks... It was a holiday in August and everything in the area was closed. We even considered going back to Poland for the service, but we couldn't afford a few days' delay.

We experimented and left the gas system on for a while - unfortunately, all the sensors installed in the camper started to beep after a while... I don't want to imagine how it could have ended if we had fallen asleep very quickly.

We decided to drive on, we had some stuff that needed to be cooled down, but the fridge runs from the battery while driving, and from the electricity at the campsites.

Let's go to the Alps!

1. Austria

I love the Alps, every time we are here I admire the neatness, the beautiful views... When I was a kid I loved watching the TV series "The Bergdoktor" the plot wasn't interesting but I liked the views a lot :)

We wanted to spend some time here by the lakes - we chose Attersee Laketo which we drove along Traunsee Lakeat which we stopped Click Here - Google Maps Link.

Going around the lake, all the campsites rejected us due to lack of places, and we were about to continue to the next lake Mondsee, but we decided to try to get to the last campsite on the way, ,and despite the fact that it had a "No places available" sign, the friendly staff let us in for the night. The campsite doesn't have favourable reviews on Google, but we enjoyed it 🙂 Great access to the lake, mountain trails all around, plenty of space and walking options. Beautiful views of the mountains, and more ...

Our plan was to visit Innsbruck and then hike  
a trail of lakes overlooking the Matterhorn. However, the weather forecast had changed and it looked like we were in for a week of rain. We re-planned the trip and started heading south to escape oncoming heavy clouds. On the way, we visited nice Chiusa, Klausen town.

2. Trafoi

We finally made it to Trafoi a cozy campsite with a view of the glacier. The spot is a base camp for the surrounding peaks. We were in a hurry because of the weather forecast, which was not very promising. We only had one sunny day in total to be able to drive safely Stelvio Pass…

Click for a detailed description of the journey, photos, and video. CLICK HERE

As we descended into Bormio, our brakes started to smoke. The mechanic assured us that this was normal :D. We also noticed that our wheels were creaking in the turns...

3. Italy

We rested for a bit at the camper car park in the Lovero , and drove further south along Lake Como .

The Mediterranean Sea was supposed to be the highlight of our trip. We had hoped to stop at a few places along the way, but the weather was not cooperating. After a couple of hours of rainy driving, we finally arrived at the Columbus w Celle Ligure late in the evening. We were exhausted and I didn't want to think too much about why one family had set up camp and was playing with their children over the sewage grating where one by one the campers drop their wastewater...

4. France

France is always a place where interesting things happen to us. For example, in 2020, when we were driving our previous camper van back to Poland, we had a serious engine breakdown on the motorway. It took us a couple of hours to find help and explain what had happened. We ended up having our camper van towed to a mechanic, but that's another story. :)

Tym razem to „naprawione„ okno (wspomniałam o nim na początku postu), które miało wymienioną roletę  zaczęło przeciekać… Ale od czego się ma srebrną taśmę i stalowe nerwy…

Our trip was full of adventures. If it wasn't for the weather, we could have seen a few more places on our long journey. The weather only cleared up around Valencia, and we reached home, somewhere at the end of Europe, in full sunshine.

We travelled around 3280 km in almost 4 days

PS I shared the post-service issues not to damage anyone's reputation. It was our oversight and trust in the professionalism of the services offered that made the trip a little difficult for us. We thought that since we had entrusted the repair of specific items to specialists who charge fairly, we could be sure that everything had been checked and prepared.
When we arrived home, all the mechanic had to do was put a specialist gas sensor on the cylinder, and after a few seconds it became clear that someone had misconnected the nuts in the lines. If this someone had checked with the sensor, such an important thing after installation, it would not have put us under enormous stress, and who knows, maybe something worse.
I am leaving aside the unsealed window, which has to be removed to be dried and reinstalled, and sealed), and a few other things that were damaged during the "repair". Well, another lesson learned for us. It seems that it's a good thing to have limited trust in "experts" and "specialists".

I hope this experience helps other camper van owners to be more careful when choosing a service center. It's important to do your research and get recommendations from other RV owners.
_____