Italy 🇮🇹 - Tuscany, Ostia Antica and the White City

Sven Walther

September 16, 2026

Tuscany: Certaldo

We continue to Tuscany, and here we stay for a whole week. Near Certaldo we find a pitch on a small winery. The gate leading there is, however… very, very narrow. But Mammothon fits through, and with that nothing stands in the way of our stay.

Mammothon parked between tall cypress trees on the gravel yard of a winery — Mammothon among the cypresses

And the surroundings are exactly how you imagine Tuscany: gentle hills, vineyards, cypresses and in the middle the old town of Certaldo, enthroned on top of its hill. Turns out this is the home of Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of the Decameron. To be honest, we had not known that, but we are very happy to look around his little town anyway.

The brick towers of the old town of Certaldo on a hill between vineyards — Certaldo on its hill

The old town is a dream in brick: narrow alleys, towers, a square with a palazzo whose facade is covered in coats of arms, and that warm colour everywhere in the September sun. In between, a large mural hangs on a wall showing collapsed houses and a figure in the foreground. It does not fit the postcard picture at all, which is why we stand in front of it for a while.

Brick palace with battlements and coats of arms on the facade, with a flight of steps in front — The palazzo with all the coats of arms

Cobbled alley between tall brick houses in Certaldo — Alley in Certaldo

Mural on a brick wall: the rubble of a collapsed house and a seated man eating from a bowl — A mural that makes you think

And then we find, within walking distance, although “walking distance” here certainly means a few minutes, a pizzeria that apparently does not have much to do with tourists. The pizza, on the other hand? Masterclass.

Saskia even dares to take the folding bike down to Certaldo once to go shopping. The way there is still quite relaxed. The way back to our pitch at the top of the hill is then a rather sweaty fitness programme. Lou watches the whole thing from her seat between the cypresses and keeps her comments to herself.

Lou sitting on a blanket in front of dense cypress trees — Lou on her seat

Tuscany and Italy have got us.

Ostia Antica

After a week we continue to Rome, or more precisely to Ostia just outside the city. It is unbelievably hot, but we have a campsite with more than 1,000 pitches almost entirely to ourselves. The season is clearly over. The good news: the swimming pool and restaurant are still open.

On Sunday, despite the heat, we visit the ruins of Ostia Antica. The port city at the mouth of the Tiber was once the gateway of Rome to the sea, and it is genuinely fascinating to see what people in the Roman Empire were able to build, organise and use in everyday life around 2,000 years ago.

The semicircular Roman theatre of Ostia Antica with stone steps under pine trees — The theatre of Ostia Antica

Besides the theatre there is a Capitolium with a broad flight of steps and towering brick walls, and in the former baths mosaics with sea monsters and marine creatures still cover the floor today. Under the pines between the ruins it is even almost bearable.

Flight of steps and tall brick walls of the Capitolium in Ostia Antica — The Capitolium

Black-and-white floor mosaic with marine creatures in a Roman bathhouse, the shadows of the visitors in the foreground — Mosaic with sea creatures

What impresses us most are the public latrines: a long row of seats next to each other, with a water channel in front. Privacy was apparently overrated. Speaking of which: not everything the Romans invented has caught on.

Roman latrines with a row of seats and a water channel in front of a brick wall — The public latrines

It is also the first real test for Lou’s new backpack. We definitely do not want her to walk in this heat, so she gets to ride on our backs. And it works brilliantly.

Lou looks out of a blue backpack on a man's back, pine trees behind — Lou rides along

Right next to the ruins there is also the Castello di Giulio II, a fortress with a round tower and battlements that the later pope Julius II had built here in the 15th century.

The fortress Castello di Giulio II with a round tower and battlements next to a road — The Castello di Giulio II

Dublin: a change of weather

During the week Sven gets a complete change of scenery for work and flies to Dublin in Ireland. Quite a contrast, especially when it comes to the weather.

A gravel path leads through an arbour of vines in a green garden — Green in Ireland

On the way back, Sven’s flight is delayed by more than an hour because of severe weather. And once he is back, Saskia tells him that the storm in Ostia was probably the most intense weather she has ever experienced while camping. So while Sven was escaping the Italian heat in Dublin, Ostia simply decided to deliver some Irish weather of its own.

Across Italy to Apulia

At the weekend we want to cross Italy lengthwise with one overnight stop, almost all the way south to the Adriatic. But everything goes so smoothly that we decide to drive the whole way in one go. And so we end up on a large olive farm in Apulia with a truly idyllic pitch.

Mammothon between pines and cypresses on the grounds of the olive farm — Our pitch on the olive farm

Exactly the kind of place we love. Here even the ancient olive trees wear name tags. Our favourite is called Bernie.

Gnarled trunk of an old olive tree with a sign reading Bernie — Bernie the olive tree

On Sunday we use the time we have gained to hike down to the coast. Olive trees, sunshine and the Adriatic: Italy really knows how to do this. For Lou the rock on the shore is a perfect viewpoint, and Sven has her backpack along just in case.

Lou stands on a rock by the sea with a rocky headland behind her — Lou on the Adriatic coast

Sven with a backpack and cap stands on the rocks by the turquoise sea — Sven on the coast

Straight afterwards it is back on the road: on Sunday evening Sven drives to the airport of Brindisi, because work is calling in Zurich in Switzerland.

Ostuni, the White City

Once Sven is back, we finally explore Ostuni, the “White City” that towers over our pitch on the hill. And honestly, we had not researched it at all beforehand. So we are completely unprepared for how beautiful the old town is.

The white houses of Ostuni on a hill in the evening light, a church tower at the top — The White City in the evening light

Whitewashed houses, narrow little streets, steep steps and an atmosphere that is pretty much the perfect picture of an Italian town. On the square stands the column of Saint Oronzo with a statue at its top, and a little further on the town gets a touch more baroque.

The tall column of Saint Oronzo with a statue of the saint on a square in Ostuni — The column of Saint Oronzo

The cathedral of Ostuni with a large rose window in the evening light — The cathedral of Ostuni

Next to the cathedral, an ornately decorated arch spans the alley, with strollers and restaurant guests streaming through it in the evening.

Decorated stone arch over an alley in Ostuni, people at restaurant tables beneath it — An arch over the alley

And Lou? She sits down on one of the white steps and looks at us as if asking why we do not just stay here.

Lou sitting on the steps of a whitewashed alley in front of an archway — Lou in Ostuni

Sometimes the places you did not plan for turn out to be the best discoveries.