We left Scuol and headed to the border with Austria on route to Italy. It was just a brief drive through Austria and within half an hour we were in South Tyrol heading towards Glurns.
You hardly even notice crossing the country borders with the exception that the roads almost instantaneously drastically deteriorated as we entered Italy. It felt like we were back in the UK after the great roads in Switzerland.
We arrived at the campsite just outside Glurns not long after midday which seems to be the time you need to arrive if it is a popular area. Everywhere is so much busier in Italy and by early evening the campsite was bursting. There doesn’t appear to be any safety rules on the distance between outfits, the caravan club wardens would have a duck fit if they could see how close people park. We have a technique of putting the awning out plus guy ropes which creates space around us.
Glurns is also known as Glorenza as every place has both an Italian and a German name. German is the language spoken locally, even though we are in Italy. I thought after we left Switzerland where it was either German, Italian or French that was spoken depending where you were it was going to be easier to know what to set Google Translate to!
Glurns is the smallest city in South Tyrol. It really is small, with intact medieval walls and gate towers. It didn’t take us long to walk round the whole ‘city’ walls. You do need to be careful driving in Glurns, as to enter the city you have to go through an arch in one of the three gate towers. It was a tight squeeze in our camper both in height and width. I would recommend that anything bigger than our van parks in one of the car parks outside the walls to visit the city, or loops round and misses the village altogether if going to the campsite.
We really liked the campsite as it was surrounded by footpaths and cycle paths. We walked to Glurns, which takes about 10 mins a couple of times and also one of the neighbouring villages Laatsch. This was a lovely walk through the cherry and apple orchards. It is very agricultural in this area.
I would also recommend Stadtcafe in Glurns for morning coffee and croissants. It is away from the main square and is more of a locals cafe with a dog friendly courtyard in the back. As recommended by our German neighbours on the campsite, Manfred and Francesca the Speck, a local speciality of smoked cured pork from the butchers in Glurns is also very tasty.
Weather – very hot during the day with night thunderstorms
Miles Driven – 49
Miles Walked – 7.9
Overnight – 2 nights at Camping Platz im Park at Glurns. We would highly recommended site, €20.50 a night with electric. 46.670499 10.545546
