A rest area for vans and campers that combines the comforts of a place surrounded by greenery with the philosophy of partaking in a respectful, original and fun-packed holiday.
It’s becoming a model to be duplicated. Germany, Sweden, Holland, Austria, and England. These are just some of the nations represented – as indicated on the license plates of the very first visitors who turned up at the Van Camp Land, inaugurated this summer in Valchiavenna. We are in Somaggia, within the splendidly green expanse of the municipality of Samolaco.
Van Camp Land was the brainchild of two friends Cristian Zecca and Mauro Ferrari, campers to the very core. Their ambition was to breathe life into a rest area available to anyone like themselves who shared a passion for travel and staying outdoors. A tangible, practical way to encourage sustainable and responsible tourism, serving up to transit campers the chance to spend a few days in a genuinely unspoiled oasis. Vital, fundamental support for the start-up was provided by Tremenda XXL, which made a decent proportion of its parkland available. Van Camp Land is situated just a stone’s throw from the cycle-pedestrian route that connects Chiavenna to Lake Como. Furthermore,
there is a lake nearby for sports fishing. In no time at all, eight rest areas were established
with free services such as water loading, Wi-Fi connection and a very popular relaxation point with grill and barbecue. And all arranged alongside wooden tables/chairs and indeed games made from redundant pallets.
And the potential of the area is limitless. Van Camp Land is already pointed up by the principal App that cater to the camping fraternity and the reviews are exceptional. It’s a formula which has achieved such acclaim that the singer-songwriter Simone Tomassini, a star of Sanremo no less, and a committed camper driver, was moved to dedicate a highly-popular song to the experience. (You can listen to it on the website Vancampland.it).
Excitingly, the start-up of Van Camp Land is ready to be replicated to the advantage of anyone who has a piece of land which could be made available to campers and vans. The organisers are considering extending the initiative using the very same reasoning that triggered the original, one that clearly pays due respect to all aspects naturalistic, including the use of local materials and products. It’s a philosophy which has already grabbed the attention of many, so much so that requests to open Van Camp Land in Puglia, Veneto and Basilicata are presently under consideration.
