
We left Llanarmon Yn Ial on Wednesday 15thMay 2019 at 7.30.am and drove via Wrexham, Oswestry & Shrewsbury picking up the A5 and then onto the M54. (This part of the journey is different as we have recently moved to North Wales). From here we joined the M6 and then the M42, M40, M25 and M20 to Folkestone (next time we should pick up the M6 toll road as it is usually a lot less busy than the main M6). We arrived at the Eurotunnel check in about 1.30.pm and were able to get a crossing one hour earlier than booked at no extra cost. We departed at 3.20.pm arriving in Calais at 5pm (local time and had an easy drive to Bergues (about 30 miles).

We checked into the Chambres d’Hotes des Capucins about 6pm and after parking the van in the owner’s garage we had a walk around the town. Although we have stayed on the aire in Bergues a couple of times before in our motor home we had not really seen the town. It is a typical French town with cafes and bars and some old buildings and churches. Later we had a pizza at Le Groenberg restaurant in the main square.
On Thursday 16thMay we set off from Bergues and were immediately redirected from our expected route by the Sat Nav. This was because of a hold up on the A25 so we followed the guidance and headed for Belgium on the A16. Unfortunately we had chosen the wrong route and ended up going through the centre of Brussels. Mel drove us safely through but it wasn’t the easiest to navigate. We stopped in Luxembourg as usual to fill up with diesel (1.14 Euros/litre) and continued onto Limbach in Germany. We checked into the Grunder Gastehaus where we have stayed before and had a lovely meal in the restaurant.

On Friday 17thMay we left Limbach and drove through Germany and into Austria. The German motorways are free but they drive very fast and Mel did an excellent job of getting us safely to our destination. Before we crossed the border into Austria we bought the required toll ticket (9.5 Euros) at a service station. The final part of the journey to Telfs is very scenic and an enjoyable part of the route. There was snow on the mountains and apparently it had recently snowed in the town too. We stayed at the Telfer Stuben where we have stayed previously and had an Indonesian meal at a restaurant in town which we had been to last time.
On Saturday 18thMay we continued our journey into Italy via the Brenner Pass (9.5 Euros toll charge) and onto Bologna. We arrived at the Amadeus Hotel in pouring rain but we were able to park in the hotel’s underground car park. The hotel was very busy and we had a meal in the restaurant which was also busy; it was OK but nothing special. We were disturbed after we had gone to bed by noisy children running up and down the corridor and knocking on doors. Mel complained to the reception and eventually they quietened down but then started again early the following morning.

We had planned to visit the nearby Ducati Museum on the Sunday morning but it was closed (even though the website said it was open). So we set off after breakfast for Ancona. We took our time and stopped a couple of times. We put a small amount of fuel (about 10 litres) into the van to make sure we got to Preveza where we would fill up again. We checked in for the ferry about 2pm and went to the port to queue up for embarkation. We were put on the car deck which has a height restriction of 2m but we the van fitted OK. The ferry eventually left about 6pm and after finding our cabin and having a drink we had a meal in the self-service restaurant. We had a reasonable night’s sleep and arrived in Igoumenitsa about 10am. Richard and Philip were staying in Corfu and we sailed past them on our way into the port but we didn’t see them!
We drove to Vass filling up with fuel in Preveza (1.37 Euros/litre) on the way. We did some shopping at Lidl in Lefkada and arrived at the Imperial Studios about 2pm. We unloaded the van and unpacked a few things but then we went along to the Cosmos to say hello to Stelios & Vassiliki. Debbie & Steve Brabbs were there too and we had a quick catch up and arranged to see them again later in the week. We had a meal at Alexander’s in town in the evening and then had an early night.