Typical of how we travel these days, nothing had been pre booked. The journey for the day was planned to end at Lake Maggiore and the ACSI book suggested Camping Parisi in the small town of Baveno. Baveno lies at the northern end of the lake.

The first difficulty is access to the site. The site is well sign posted, albeit through a residential area. However, the actual gate/driveway into the campsite was quite “tight” to say the least – a ninety degree right angle from the fairly narrow road leading to the site. I will however add that getting out was a lot easier than getting in .Maybe some of this was “being prepared” etc and in the right place to make the turn.

However, once in, things started to look up and the receptionist showed me a couple of largish pitches. She also took care to ensure that myself and the unit next to me were not “door to door”. This this meant nose end into the pitch rather than reversing in. This is not really an issue, but I suspected as the site filled, getting off that pitch would be nigh on impossible, so I opted for the car park instead! I did note, that unlike many European sites, staff directed campers to pitches rather than a “free for all”

When I arrived at Camping Parisi, I estimate the site was about 50-60% full. As the afternoon drew on, more and more units, mostly motorhomes, poured in. I suspect that the lake view pitches were for those paying the full site tariff, rather than the discounted ACSI rate. However, I had a good view of the lake and as the crow flies, would have been about forty metres from the lake, if that.

Camping Parisi has the usual array of facilities

• Showers/toilets – older rather than newer but clean. Shower cubicles however were small with only one hook, so be prepared!
• Chemical disposal point
• Free WiFi near to the reception building – (under cover)
• Electric hook up at 6 amps (reverse polarity not indicated by our on board equipment)
• Some pitches have a direct view of the lake
• Direct access to the beach
• Washing machine/dryer

A short walk from the site is a small supermarket, various café bars and restaurants. There is also a train station and lake boat services.

Unfortunately, as the afternoon drew on, the site filled up and the gap between units was minimal. Space between vans was certainly a lot closer than any other sites I have stayed on, and that is in seven years of touring!

Would I return? For location, yes, but due to some pitching issues, no!

Details of the site available here.