Italy in our new Camper-van starting with the F1 Grand Prix
Part 1 of our Fourth Italian Adventure – Monza
Our Fourth Italian Adventure takes us first to the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza then over to Lido de Jessolo where we visit Venice and then up and round the coast to Croatia via Slovenia. We start of here with a quick guide to the Italian Grand Prix. This would be our second visit to the Italian F1 Grand Prix with the first visit being part of our Second Italian Adventure. You can read all about that here.
How did we get to Monza?
This time we travelled down from home in our Camper van Bob and the journey, as before, would take us down through France, Switzerland and then into Italy. We left home around 5pm on the Wednesday night and arrived at the campsite in Monza just after lunchtime on the Thursday.
We travelled from the UK via the Dover Calais ferry and caught a ferry around 1.30am on the Thursday morning. We shared the driving so that it wasn’t too gruelling but the aim is to get to the campsite as quickly as possible.
People tend to get to the Italian Grand Prix in all different ways. We spoke to people that have flown into either Milan or Turin and hired a car/camper-van for the weekend and others that have been on holiday in other parts of Italy and taken the train up to Monza for the weekend. The trains in Italy are pretty excellent.
Where do we stay for the Grand Prix?
Any time we’ve been to the Italian F1 we’ve stayed at the Monza camping campsite which is next to the track. Believe me you literally wake up in the morning and can see the track and stands and hear the cars long before the track is open. Yes, its that close. There are other campsites around that offer similar facilities but we’ve always liked this one because of its location. Monza also has hotel options for those folks not into camping.
We’re there !
We try and get there as early as possible on the Thursday as Thursday tends to be the pit walk day and unlike other tracks if you buy a 3 day ticket for Monza then the pit walk is included. Be prepared for crowds as its incredibly popular but its worth the throng of people to get to see behind the scenes.
How do you get tickets for the Italian F1 Grand Prix at Monza?
Buying tickets for an event that is months away and parting with a significant amount of cash can be daunting. There are various sites which sell F1 tickets and here are a couple that we’ve used and found to be really good:
I’m not saying these are the only places to buy tickets from but these are the ones we’ve used and had no issues with things like extra charges, tickets not arriving, communication etc.
So what ticket to we opt for?
We tend to opt for a 3 day ticket which by all accounts is more reasonable than buying a day ticket. A General Admission ticket used to do us fine however these days we prefer a stand ticket as with General Admission you need to be up pretty early on race day to grab a good spot.
The one good thing about Monza is that if you do choose a General Admission ticket there is plenty spots to get a fantasticview from. You’re spoiled for choice.
Monza track facilities
Food
Like most F1 tracks food and drink can be pretty expensive so take plenty of cash with you. There are loads of food and drink stands dotted around the track. Italians love their pannini with all sorts of fillings – sausage, ham, cheese, vegetarian. They are all grilled in front of you and incredibly fresh. If you don’t fancy a sandwich then there are chips, pastries and other fast food type fare.
If you’re lucky there’s a self service restaurant just up from the main F1 village that serves pasta, pizza, salads and is pretty good. However get in the queue early to make sure you get in as its pretty popular.
Drinks
Drinks are pretty much soft drinks and beer. Johnny Walker has been a sponsor of F1 for a while now and they always have some stalls dotted about the track where they make some good cocktails.
The food and drink stalls work on a token basis, which is similar to other F1 tracks, where you have to queue to pay and get a token and then move over to the vendor area where your token is exchanged for your food. Crazy when its busy and you can be queuing for quite a while on qually and race day.
Toilets
There are plenty of toilet facilities around the track but the majority of these are portable (single toilets) and can get prettystinky. Handy to have some wipes in your bag as there isn’t any hand washing in the cabin. There is one set of regular toiletson the way to the F1 Village but you can imagine the queues there.
Merchandise shopping
As with all F1 tracks the teams stalls are abundant selling all the team merchandise you could ask for. My tip would be to check out a few if you’re after a particular item as some has massively inflated prices for the same shirt/hat etc. Also if you’re buying anything, get it on a Friday as by Saturday/Sunday on race day the prices are hiked up
Outside the track
Close to the track and the campsite you can find an abundance of restaurants, bars and shops. The closest bar to the campsite, which we frequented often, is Neffa Cafe . This cafe is great for after race drinks and you can get some snacks here too. Another great bar is one that we call, the Bar with the Car as there is an F1 car on the wall. However its name really is The Pit Stop Cafe and is absolutely jammed packed over the F1 weekend but with a fantastic atmosphere. These are just a couple that we like but you’ll be spoiled for choice.
For the campers there’s a Lidl not far from the campsite. Probably a 10 min walk where you can stock up on all those gorgeous Italian delicacies..
Andiamo Amigos 12 helpful hints to make your visit to the Italian Gran Prix fantastic.
- The race is usually in September when it can still be warm but there’s a risk of sharp and heavy thunder showers so pack a good waterproof
- Alway be on your guard from pickpockets. Be ultra aware when in crowds & keep your bags close.
- There are no cash machines inside the track
- Bags are searched on entry to the track. There is a separate queue for folks without a bag so if you can, don’t take a bag and you’ll get in quicker
- There is entertainment on the main stage in the F1 village throughout the day
- You can see the old parabolica curve if you sneak through a hole in the fence down at the southern end of the track but be careful, this is patrolled by security but worth a sneaky peek
- If you hang around at the entrance to the Paddock club up past the Helicopter landing area then you may just catch a glimpse of a driver or someone related to the F1 Circus
- If you have a general admission or even some of the stand tickets then the seats are concrete so a little cushion is a good idea. Some of the vendors outside the track sell these little cushions but they’re all Ferrari so if you’re not a Ferrari fan then take your own
- The tifosi are loud but pretty friendly – they don’t like any drivers apart from the Ferrari drivers or any Italian drivers. They’ll boo everyone else but its all done in good fun.
- The track is inside the park at Monza. Its a great place to have a walk around when you’re not inside the track watching the race.
- The Dutch and the Italians have a “who can play the loudest” techno music in the evenings and you’ll be amazed at some of the gear they turn up with.
- There are plenty of gates to enter the track right after the race. Get up and out your seat early as there’s a big squish as soon as the cars cross the finish line.
- Plenty of big screens around the track and commentary in English & Italian
Part 2 of our Fourth Italian Adventure takes us over to the Lido de Jessolo area where we visit Venice, Burano, Murano, Torcello and the surrounding area of Lido. Blog post coming soon!