Camping La Quiete di Bertinotti Edo

A lovely campsite on the shores of a crystal clear lake Mergozzo; warm water free from motor boats and high speed craft. I had tried to book this site without success and so when we turned up in July on the off chance... I was not optimistic. Indeed, I was in the process of turning the van around to leave when my wife returned from the office with the news that we were in. Not only that, but we were put on a prime site with views across the lake to the Alps beyond. We ended up staying for six days. This is not a campsite with lots of flash facilities, just a small shop, a cafe/bar, clean well maintained sanitary blocks and a small beach. The staff could speak some English and were very helpful and the other campers were mostly Dutch and German families. There is a good cycle trail to Lake Maggiore which we found to be much more busy than Lake Mergozzo. If you fancy some hill walking and one of the most adventurous drives of your life, head for the small hill village of Intragna. If you survive the drive that far, continue on past the village to a car park at the end of the road. This is an access point to trails into the National Park Val Grande, a wilderness area with ridges which give splendid views of the Alps, and where history hangs in the air, with reminders of the Second World war events which depopulated these hills. I thought Camping La Quiete was quite expensive but it seems that all campsites are similarly priced in this area of Italy. One last thing, despite the name it is not as quiet as you would think for although the other residents settle down at a reasonable hour, goods trains rumble down from the Simplon pass during the night and the noise carries across the still lake. This can be a bit annoying but don't let it put you off what is a gem of a campsite.