Park Albatros

Went here during May/June half term in June 2012. Location - a bit out the way for Tuscany but close to the beach and Pisa is just over an hour away by train.
Facilities - absolutely fab pools complex, 5 large pools and plenty of sunloungers. 4 bars/restaurants, playground, bike hire on site. Showers/toilets complex spacious and immaculately clean. We went with Canvas and their kids club was very good, and it was excellent value for money. There was also a site run kids club and a nightly kids disco followed by evening entertainment. A different bar had live music which was very good.
Only annoyances were the mosquites and the noisy group who partied in the tent behind ours each night - canvas did get them to be quieter once we complained though.
Fab weather and a lovely location

We spent 10 days here with Canvas in July 2010. It is a beautiful site. The pools are great, though you need to get down there early to get a sunbed. There is hardly any shade in the pool area though, so most people seemed to have bought an umbrella (12 euros in the on site supermarket).

Facilities on site are good. Takeaway/pizzeria/bazaar in the pool area which is open all day plus the Piazza area with ice cream shop and bar and the grill restaurant which was busier in the evening. The playground/kids club tents are handily close to the bar!

Pizzas on site were great and the cheeseburgers in the takeaway were lovely, but despite the very impressive bbq in the grill restaurant, the food was average. The ice cream on the other hand was wonderful. Same could not be said for the bar staff - who were useless! We always went and got our own drinks, you could wait hours for a waitress otherwise.....

It is a cash free site - you are given a card which you have to charge up to pay for everything. It was a bit of a pain initially but once I got used to it it was useful for budgeting....ie we've spent todays money so no more pinot grigio for mummy!

The Canvas kid's club was fab. Dd really enjoyed it. Plus every other evening, they run one between 7 and 9 which means you stand a chance of a romantic (if quick) dinner, to be followed up by baby disco!

The tents are closer to the centre, though all the UK companies' Mobile homes are away from the noise but not THAT far (10 mins max) from the centre of activities. There is a little train if you have shopping etc. Our Canvas mobile was brand new and spotless.

The mobiles are crammed in a bit though. I would say Aircon (it was at least 35 degrees each day we were there) and a deck are essentials. Otherwise you get a table and chairs in the dust next to your parking place.

Wifi has to be paid for and is expensive! Also the site run excursions are pricey. There are some lovely villages/beaches to visit within a short drive though.

All in all, it is a lovely site. We drove and it is a bloody long way! Flying to Pisa and hiring a car is probably the way to go. It is a large site, but has all the facilities to go with that. If there was a downside, it is the absence of a nice seaside town with a prom for evening strolls. San Vincenzo just doesn't do it. On the other hand, bobbing round the fab pools on a lilo, followed by a jug of pinot grigio and a gorgeous pizza, and a limoncello back "home" life doesn't get much better

Me, DH and DD aged 2.9 had a fantastic holiday at Park Albatros when we stayed for a week in June 2009. I would highly recommend this campsite to families with young children.

Three of the pools were made from a kind of bouncy rubber and were very shallow with bumps and tunnels to play on, so very good for young kids who want more to paddle than swim. DD spent ages climbing up and then sliding down the bumps!

Holiday park entertainment is not really my thing, but they seemed to work very hard doing activities throughout the day, then shows at night. But working on the principle, if DD is happy, we get an easier ride, we took her along to the mini disco (Bimbi Dance!) most nights which she absolutely loved. It was pretty repetitive with the same songs and dances every evening, but I guess that's what young kids enjoy.

We ate in both restaurants and had a pizza from the takeaway - all pretty good although a bit expensive (the exchange rate hasn't helped though!). The on site supermarket was also expensive, but one of the best I've come across on a camp site. There was a really good selection of bread, lovely ham/salami/cheese sliced to order and ready made meals like lasagne and roast chickens to take away.

We stayed in a Thomson Al Fresco Vivaldi mobile home which had three bedrooms (not necessary for us, but all their 2 bedroom homes were full when we booked). The mobile was spotlessly clean and the reps had thoughtfully made up the beds for us when we arrived. The decking was a big plus as we could sit out and have a glass of wine in the evening without worrying about disturbing DD once she'd gone to bed. I'd recommend taking some anti-mozzie stuff along though - the park was sprayed the day that we arrived, but I still ended up with a few bites.

The Thomson reps were very pleasant and pointed us in the right direction for Baratti beach and gave us some sightseeing ideas, although I'm ashamed to say that we mostly flopped by the pool.

All in all, a very good holiday. The parc was immaculate and had a very relaxed atmosphere. Next time we'd like to stay a bit longer and do some sightseeing in Pisa, San Gimignano or take the ferry to Elba, once we'd had a chance to relax - not sure how practical this would be with a toddler mind you!