There are two kinds of Italians who go camping, and the only time they cross paths is in the morning, at a local bar at the foot of one of the Alps.
The first guy took the 6am train from Milan, wearing a complete outfit of color-coordinated Arc'teryx spandex. He has already climbed three hours, and he's having a quick coffee before his next eight-hour climb to the summit, the last three hours of which will be straight-up, vertical rock climbing. Before the final stretch, he, and his two closest buddies from the local climbing club, will pass the night in an unheated, one-room stone refuge, gratuitously stocked with food and grappa by the last climbers to pass through. After downing hunks of salami and a generous amount of grappa on the summit, taking the view at dawn the next day, they will run down to catch the 6pm train back to Milan: tomorrow's Monday, after all, and they have to work.
The other group of four Italians at the bar just stopped in after a couple easy hours on the highway. They're dressed in everyday attire: button-down shirts, long pants, belts, and sweaters tied around their shoulders. They'll walk gently uphill for two hours, taking in the view of the Matterhorn, before stopping for a lunch consisting mainly of cheese at a two-table restaurant in a glade operating out of a stone building built in the 1400s (the owners speak only Walser). After another stroll, and a long nap by an opportune stream in a grassy knoll, depending the powers of their purse, they will 1) sleep in the guest house of a forgotten monastic order with immaculate sheets, free dinner, and a spectacular view, politely refusing the three monks' invitation to join in vespers; 2) return to the Walser restaurant and ask if they have a room available - they do; 3) take some shots in the fancy Alpine village and drop in unexpectedly on a friend whose dad has a spare lodge there.
Where, you may ask, is the camping in this scenario? Well, the only people in tents is a camp of Dutch tourists regarded curiously by the four Italians, who pass them at around 2 in the afternoon, who, in addition to their tent, have brought backpacks full of Heineken and gouda cheese from the Netherlands, so they won't get tempted by the Italian food, for which they have not anticipated any room in their budget.