Venice + Florence or Venice + Verona? or Venice + ? Campsites?

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

Can anyone help?

We are flying into venice next Easter and I am wondering whether to combine it with Florence or Verona and Lake Garda direction. We will spend about 3 nights in Venice and then go elsewhere....

I have Been to venice before and Florence but the dc have not....

ALSO any good campsites in that region>

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

hopeful bump!

[LindowMan]

Verona is close by train and lovely. There are loads of nice campsites near Peschiera del Garda which also has a main line station - I'm not sure how many are open at Easter though.

[peonia]

Verona is beautiful and much quieter than other large cities in Italy so you get more of a feel of local life. Florence has been horrendously crowded the last couple of times I've been (even out of season), although depending how quickly the tourist industry gets back to normal it might be the best time to visit.

[GenderApostate19]

We did this last year at easter - 4 days in Venice, train to Verona for 2 nights then train to Desenzano del Garda for 2 nights, then train back to Venice Mestre for the airport bus to fly home.
It was wonderful and getting the ferry around the bottom part of Lake Garda ( Sirmione, Garda and Bardolino) was lovely, I wish we had stayed longer.
I’ve just rebooked some easyjet flights ( we should have been in Prague now) to Pisa for next Easter, we’ll get the train to Florence for 5 nights and travel to Siena and maybe Livorno from there. Italian trains put ours to shame.

[colouringindoors]

I'd really recommend Verona too. As others have said, a bit quieter, still the classic old Italian vibe. Plus a stunning Roman arena and lovely countryside nearby.

[PurplePansy05]

Personally, Verona and Lake Garda. I've done them all, I did a massive tour of Italy, and out of all places, Florence to me was underwhelming and Verona was a real gem.

[Ricekrispie22]

Definitely Bella Italia campsite

[listsandbudgets]

Another place worth considering though much less touristy is Padua. Easy to get to from Venice by train and a beautiful city - overlooked IMHO.

[ritzbiscuits]

Are you travelling with children? If so, I'd be looking at a campsite on the Venetian coast or heading over to Lake Garda (South Lake - Peschiara Del Garda is a lovely town).

Florence was super hot, crowded and a trawl to get around with our young son when we visited for the day. Verona is much nicer but rather small. If you are a couple great, but I don't think either are the best places to take young children.

Another option is to combine Venice with Bologna? It's a lovely city, rather non touristy. Lots of lovely places to eat and drink if you research in advance. It's a foody city.

[Camomila]

If you are going with children I'd recommend a daytrip to Gardaland - an Italian themepark.
Caneva - a water park is also nearby.

When I camped in Florence I stayed in a lovely campsite 2 min walk away from the beach, but so many mosquitoes! Venice has plenty of mosquitoes too now I think about it - somewhere in the Alps might be better for that.

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

Oh wow thank you, I didn't realise so many people had replied. So perhaps, it's stay north then, Venice, verona and maybe Lake garda?

I wonder if lake como is near enough to visit without mountain roads.

[Samster45]

We went Milan to Venice. Venice to Rome. Rome to Florence then Florence back to Milan then flew home. It was an amazing trip and travelled using the trains in between. Florence was my favourite of all the destinations.

[Mimimama75]

Great campsite half an hour south of Florence is norcenni girasole. Clean, great pools loads of free entertainment and activities.

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

I've been to both Florence and Venice before, we have 2 dc with us. I adore Florence but I'm thinking maybe combine it with Rome another time?

The initial idea was Venice and Florence.

Samster how long did that trip take you?

[Kpo58]

When I went (many years ago), I stayed at a Eurocamp on the edge of Lake Garda, which had its own private "Beach" so that you could swim in the lake. We did many car daytrips to Verona (it's worth watching an opera in the Amphitheatre) and took the train to Venice for the day.

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

Mini that camp site looks gorgeous but it's not open when we go, April, Easter, next year.

[irisnotadaff]

This is my trip of dreams... place marking!

[Ginfordinner]

@Ricekrispie22

Definitely Bella Italia campsite

It's quite chilly at Easter though. I would do Venice and Florence.

[Ohsuchaperfectday]

Yes, the last time we went it was so hot it was unbearable

[Samster45]

Our trip took just over 2 weeks. We actually took the Eurostar to Paris first and spent 2 days in Paris, then through Switzerland to Milan. Then spent 2-3 days in each city. It only took a few hours to move between cities as the trains are very fast. We could have gotten the overnight thello train from Paris straight to Venice which wasn’t too expensive. We stayed at the Spanish steps in Rome and pretty central (4* hotels) all the way round. It came to £1500 each for the whole trip, probably as I booked hotels through booking.com and we got loads of free days for booking in offer. We did all the famous attractions and even timed it so we saw the pope in Vatican City. 3 days was the perfect amount of time in each city I found. We used backpack suitcases which was fine to carry around but also fit in the overhead on the plane and trains so was easy to carry. I was also pregnant at the time (only 3 months) and had terrible morning sickness but everything was fine

[Samster45]

Ah I forgot to add we went in May so all the attractions were open but it wasn’t unbearably hot. I was wearing maxi dresses and cardigans most of the time, we didn’t get any bad weather but it was lovely and warm. There also weren’t any queues to anything which was excellent.

[Meredusoleil]

We stayed at Bella Italia in Pesciera del Garda in April 2014. Gardaland is great with young kids. You can hire a pedalo and go round the lake too. We also did a day trip by bus to Verona. Both lovely places! The weather was unseasonably cold though 😕

This summer we are flying into Pisa and will be taking day trips to Florence and other places in Tuscany.

I've also been to Venice on a different 3 or 4 day city break. That was in February one year I think, so not too overcrowded!

Milan I also visited separately for a 3 or 4 day city break.

I personally would not try to combine too many places in on trip with hound children. We have a 2 hour limit each way for all our say trips, but always keep a base somewhere central to go back to, rather than stay in different accommodation at each new place iywsim.

[Meredusoleil]

Oh and I again went to Rome on a separate 3 or 4 day city break. Lots of city breaks to Italy over the years lol.

[Bearnecessity]

Verona and Lake Guarda gorgeous dying to get back there....