#9! And Best Campgrounds

Steph and Craig's #9 European Tourist Site is ...

Le Grotte de Font-de-Gaume near les Eyzies, France. This is the only place where us regular people can go to see real polychrome cave paintings (Lascaux is closed except for research). We were lucky enough to be the only people on our tour and our guide showed us how the prehistoric artists used the natural curves of the cave walls to create 3-D illusions in their paintings. Amazing. (We did our tour in French, but I think it's available in English. No photography in the caves. Photo here courtesy of hominide.com, and drawing courtesy of Monum.)

List o' the day: Top Ten Campgrounds

These are our favorite "real" campgrounds in Europe (as opposed to our favorite places that we parked the camper overnight).

1. Camping Jungfrau, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
   This huge campground had it all! Beautiful setting with views of multiple waterfalls, fancy restaurant and store, major tourist information at reception, new facilities, activities and the biggest RVs we've seen in Europe.


2. Autocamp Vira, Hvar, Croatia
   A new campsite on Hvar Island, Camping Vira has a spectacular location (prettier than Hvar-town!) and top-notch sites and facilities (with prices to match).


3. Campix, St. Leu d'Esserent, France
   We love Campix because of its fabulous setting - in an old quarry - with all sorts of nooks and crannies for sites. We stayed there for almost a week while we were buying our camper, and watched the construction of an impressive new swimming pool nestled into the quarry rock.


4. Le Parc Isertan, Pralognan la Vanoise, France
   Spectacularly located in a high mountain valley, and with excellent (and warm!) new facilities, this campground offers ski-in, ski-out access in the winter, or rock-climbing and hiking from your "doorstep" in the summer.


5. Camping Michelangelo, Firenza, Italy
   Camping Michelangelo gets our vote for best city camping! It is located on a hill right next to the Piazza Michelangelo in Florence, with a the classic view of the city and its Duomo, and within walking distance of everything.


6. Camping Vrachos Kastraki, Kastraki, Greece
   The big attraction is this campsite's proximity to the spectacular landscape and monasteries of the Meteora. You can see the impressive rock towers from many sites, and can bike or walk to many hikes and climbing routes.


7. Lisboa Camping, Lisboa, Portugal
   Located in a huge city park on a direct bus line (or only a €7 taxi ride) from downtown Lisbon, this campground had the most spacious campsites we've seen in Europe.


8. Nube d'Argento, Sorrento, Italy
   This campsite has a beautiful location overlooking the coastline, and is walking distance to Sorrento. The helpful staff told us where to get the best fresh mozzarella in town!


9. Camping Toblacher See, Dobbiaco, Italy
   A pretty campsite located on a lake in the Dolomites near the Italy/Austria border... The thing that puts this campground on the list is its amazing sanitary facilities. You get key-card access to private bathrooms, each with its own toilet, sink and mirror, and finished in marble and tile.


10. Camping Eggishorn-z'moosji, Fiesch, Switzerland
    Another full-service Swiss campground with great access to hiking, rock-climbing and paragliding that has absolutely everything. It makes our list because it has something we wish we could find more often: a self-serve camper wash station with vacuum!