Cooling Down on the way to Bormio

09/09/2026

After our second day of biking at Pila it was time to move on. We decided to drop down into the valley that evening to do some chores and allow us to move on early the following morning. It became obvious very quickly that we’d made a poor decision. The pleasantly warm 25°C in our mountain park up translated to a humid and sweaty 33°C 1000 meters lower in the valley. A stroll around the air conditioned supermarket was fine, but once we got parked up we just got warmer and warmer. That night was spent with windows wide open capturing any stray breeze that floated past while trying in vain to ignore the traffic noise.

Cascate del Fer

We woke up grumpy and disoriented with a reasonable drive ahead of us. The evening before we had discussed a couple of stops we’d earmarked for the route but we hadn’t worked out whether we’d tackle the 350km drive in one hit or break it up with a stop in the Italian lakes. We figured we’d just make a decision once we were on our way. At least we’d have air conditioning to keep us cool on the drive.

Our first stop wasn’t too far away. Just before the end of the Aosta Valley was somewhere I’d found when I was searching the web for wild swimming opportunities. The Cascate del Fer is a set of waterfalls cascading over large smooth boulders with crystal clear pools for taking a dip. At the bottom of the cascades is a municipal picnic area where we parked up under the shade of a tree. I’d read that the parking was €5 but the lady in the small bar said it was now free as it was a weekday in low season.

We walked up through a small wooded area with benches and BBQs and found the first pool. As we were getting ourselves changed, a man came and asked if we would move the motorhome. He was a tree surgeon and they were trimming all the trees and shrubs around the picnic area. I went back to move the van across the car park (when we left they hadn’t got anywhere near our original parking spot). Finally I got back and we managed to have a very cooling hour of relaxation in the water. It was very refreshing after our sleepless night.

Ricetto di Candelo

Back in the van we made our way out of the Val d’Aosta and into the region of Piemonte. I’d found a small village that looked interesting so we struck off the main road, past terraced vineyards to the Ricetto di Candelo.

We drove through narrow streets in the town of Candelo down to the sosta which is below the walls of the Ricetto. We weren’t sure if we’d stay here but it provided convenient parking for our visit. We could see the walls of the Ricetto di Candelo above us, constructed from river pebbles cemented together.

This medieval complex is known as one of the most beautiful villages of Italy, but really it’s not a village. It was never constructed for human habitation but was a set of warehouses surrounded by fortified walls. Somewhere where produce could be safely stored and people could take refuge in case of attack. Walking around the small grid system of streets it felt as though we were in an abandoned film set. We could see that some of the buildings were now used as cafes and museums but they were all shut. A lot of the buildings are just empty without the trappings of modern life, as though they are just waiting for someone to come along with a cart load of grain or barrels of wine.

Onwards to Bormio

We decided not to stay in the sosta in Candelo, it was still pretty early and too hot to spend any more time wandering around. Instead we cracked on, slowly getting through the snarl of traffic around Milan. The next destination in the sat nav was a sosta on Lake Como but as we approached and checked the temperatures Paul decided he wasn’t interested in stopping. He wanted to push on back up to the mountains and find some cooler temperatures.

So we continued, along the side of the lake and then north east through the Valtellina. By early evening we were at Bormio, somewhere we’ve stayed before and we know has a sosta. The temperature was finally tolerable and I had a meeting that evening. It was the perfect place to stop. The sosta had some old closed notices still up from the Olympics period, but that seemed to be old news. It was busy with vans and the services were all available, but no one came to collect any money.

Since our last visit Bormio has had a face lift. It was a very pretty village anyway, but earlier this year it was one of the venues for the Winter Olympics and you can see the investment that has gone into the town. The following morning, under blessedly cloudy skies, we had a wander around. We needed to pick up some new brake pads to replenish our spares and we wanted to see how much of the town we remembered. I found a pair of new sunglasses to replace the ones I’d been wearing which had delaminated and made me feel like I was developing a strange eye condition. Finally we scoured the bakeries for some treats.

Returning to the sosta we plugged our next destination into the sat nav and moved on, cooled down and ready for our next destination.