Camping Latsch – Campsite in the Vinschgau

Journey

Camping Latsch is located on the outskirts of Latsch, directly on the Adige in Vinschgau.

There are several routes to get here from Austria and Switzerland. We came via the Brenner Pass. At Bolzano, we then switched from the Brenner autobahn to the MeBo expressway (Meran-Bozen). On this it goes west, beyond the upgraded route through Forst (past the brewery of the same name) up the valley. From the brewery it is about 20 km to the campsite.

Shortly before reaching your destination, you come to a roundabout, which you leave at the first exit. Hotel Vermoi is right behind it. This includes the campsite. It lies between the hotel and the Adige. The entrance to the square is to the right of the building (between the hotel and a gas station.

Attention: There is no waiting zone! You stand with your mobile home or caravan in the middle of the parking lot in front of the hotel. You will obstruct the traffic if you are arriving during the lunch break. It is also not possible to stand on the street in front of the hotel, near the cable car (parking for camping vehicles/caravans is prohibited) or in the village. You should therefore plan your arrival so that you arrive during the opening hours of the reception. If you’re lucky (we weren’t) you can park in the hotel’s 2 bus parking spaces for short periods of time.

Location

The campsite is located in the valley at the foot of the southern slopes of the Kofler mountains, below the Hotel Vermoi – right between this one and the Adige. Although the site is on the busy state road (connection of the Engadin via the Ofen Pass and Austria via the Reschen Pass), you don’t even notice this thanks to the hotel complex.

You can reach Latsch via two bridges and you are in the center in just a few minutes. In terms of flair, the place itself has certain similarities with Inzell or some other Upper Bavarian places. The cable car to St. Martin on the Kofler can be reached vis-a-vis. The train station is almost in sight. You can see the train driving, but we never heard it.

Furnishing

Pitches

The access roads to the camping spaces are paved. The pitches itself are graveled and overgrowned with grass. Between the rows are hedges. There is more shade towards the creek due to the vegetation on the banks than on the rest of the site, where isolated trees provide some.

There are no permanent campers here. Almost not, to put it correctly. We only saw a handful. You won’t find mobile homes or camping barrels here either. More surprising – and therefore worth mentioning: There were mostly mobile homes on the campsite. That, although the journey from Meran is very easy.

Sanitary Facilities

Camping Latsch has a large sanitary area for the whole site. Although the place was fully booked when we arrived, there were unexpectedly no traffic jams at the showers or toilets. The premises were very clean and well maintained. They also looked modern.

If you wish, you can rent a private sanitary area.

Washing the Dishes and Clothes

There were some jams when washing dishes. The area consists of two rooms, each with 4 basins. If all of these are used, it is very cramped and there is hardly any possibility to put down dirty dishes or to let the clean ones drain.

For washing laundry there are also 4 basins for hand washing and two washing machines. These are located in the two utility rooms (laundries).

Service

Campsite Supply

The concept includes a small „rest area“ for drivers. You find this snack bar on the left hand side of the hotel building. Accessible from the parking area, but also for campers from the campsite side. Ther you find all you need for breakfast. Also drinks (like juice, beer and wine), cosmetics, German spoken regional newspapers and hiking maps are offered. If you are looking for camping accessories, you will fail here. There is none of this in the range of the shop. The „Rasthof“ has more classical articles of travel needs.

In a few minutes you can walk to the center of Laces. There are two supermarkets here. Just outside there is a small shopping center, too. There is a very tightly stocked Lidl and a large toy and sports shop. But there also no camping articles.

If you want to dine on site, you can use the hotel restaurant. There is a la carte for campers.

If you go through an exit at the back end of Camping Latsch, right next to the cable car to St. Martin on the Kofler. Here is a restaurant that is very well attended on nice days. There are also many different restaurants in Latsch itself, so that you can get your money’s worth when it comes to culinary delights.

Campsite Offers

It is allowed to use the indoor and outdoor pools and the sauna of the hotel. Around the outdor pool is sunbathing area with a pool bar. This was closed and I think it it has been closed for a long time.

The sauna didn’t work. If you want to use it, you have to ask at the hotel reception. Then they will heat the sauna. This is important to know, because there were no information about booking sauna time. The using is for hotel guest and camper for free.

The showers in this area are „in short supply“. We found three (one of them outside). Only one of them worked. So we had some traffic jam

Sports and Freetime

Camping Latsch is ideal for cyclists and hikers. Along the Adige, directly at the campsite, an asphalted path leads from Meran up the Vinschgau Valley, which is easy to drive. The region itself offers mountain bikers a number of route. Care was taken to ensure that some of these lead to different routes than those used by hikers. If the sections are the same, the latter have the right of way, which the bikers usually also observe.

lso in the valley itself there are many paths between the rows of apple trees. (By the way: in the cooperatives you can get a wide variety of apples all year round – especially with real taste and not as bland as our South Tyrolean supermarket apples!).

The way to the Reschensee (the well-known lake with the church tower in the water) or to Meran or Bozen is also not far, so that you are not forced to just hike. There are also various sights in the surrounding towns.

Service

Friendliness

Friendliness is very important here on the part of the staff. One cannot complain about a lack of willingness to help. And there is also time for a little chat.

Child Friendliness

The place has a small playground in the last corner, just before the garbage cans. However, this one is rather careless in appearance and makes a slightly rotten impression. The climbing frames are very crooked and not exactly confidence-inspiring. Overall, the playground has seen better days.

Luckily there is a children’s playground with a small soccer field on the other side of the Adige, opposite the campsite. This is easy to reach via the bicycle and pedestrian bridge at the upper end of the campsite.

Otherwise, the children romp on the inside roads here. The hillside location is very useful, so that the driveways are often used as a „summer toboggan run“ with everything that has wheels. Therefore, all adults must be extremely careful, especially if they are motorized. – As is well known, children cannot judge speeds and whoever brakes loses.

Paying

The nice thing about camping and traveling in Italy in general: When paying, you are free to choose which method you use. Here, too, you can pay in cash, with an EC card (do they still exist?) or with the most common credit cards. If you reserve a camping space, which makes sense during the holiday season, you have to transfer a certain amount in advance as a deposit. This will be fully deducted from the camping fees.

Accepted discount cards