Italian eurocamp /canvas style holiday

[PeacheyPeach]

Hi all xx has anyone got any recommendations for a euro camp style holiday park in Italy?
I've been looking at Norcenni Girasole but wondered if there was anything else that would beat it, in terms of pools, entertainment or even closeness to towns etc.
I hate the idea of being trapped on site and having to stay there every evening. But I'm not sure if my nerves could take being in the car .I've heard the roads can be pretty crazy ( or is this an urban myth!!)
Can anyone help me !!!!!

I would look at sites in Lake Garda. Bella Italia is a massive site but great location from a wonderful town (Peschiara Del Garda). Perfect for drinks/meal, wander with an ice cream on an evening. We stayed a little further up at Camping Bergamini, but it's gone very high end and I don't think we can afford it now!

There are plenty of sites in that area that have family facilities on site, easy access to a beach but you can get around easily. Driving in Italy is much worse in the south (Rome downwards), we've hired a small car and driven no problem in that area.

Parco Delle Piscine is another good one in Tuscany. Easy walk into the town 5/10 mins, a Spar shop that's walkable from the campsite, and a large supermarket 10 mins drive away. Again driving in this area is fine.
parcodellepiscine.it/en/

We’ve been to Bella Italian twice, once with eurocamp (never again), once with Selectcamp (much better!). Got a taxi from the airport as we didn’t want to hire a car.

We also went Union Lido near Venice with Human Travel, got the shuttle bus from the airport and it was an easy day trip into Venice, and to a fab water park in the other direction.

We've spent a night at a lovely campsite at Lake Garda last month, it was beautiful and of course Gardaland is nearby ☺️

We're just back from our 4th holiday in Norcenni Girasole. it's fabulous though (very) slightly less so since covid. You don't need a car though one would be handy to go visit the surrounding area. Driving is absolutely fine - it's a rural area so none of the crazy driving you would have in Rome. There are 2 restaurants and one takeaway on site and lots of nearby restaurants you can get a taxi to. There's a daily shuttle bus a few times per day to the nearest town and from there you can get a train to Florence/Rome. The campsite also organises day trips to San Gimignano/Siena/Florence.

Also, we went with Eurocamp this year - never again- poor service and sub-par mobile home. Vacance Soleil were good as were Human Travel.

@lolarocco thank you for your feedback xx can I ask what is the nearest town like? Would it be somewhere you can go and have a stroll around in the evening??

@SlipperyLizard was it a nice site?

@yoshiblue thank you x I will take a look. Did you find it was nice in the evening, was there much to-do in the area

bella Italia and Union Lido were both great sites, Peschiera on Lake Garda is a lovely little town to visit, eat & wander round, and a nice walk along the lake shore to get there.

the site had good entertainment for kids in the evening.

We bought a VIP season pass to gardaland (owned by merlin who own Alton towers) and went 4 times using the shuttle bus from Peschiera.

you need to choose your accommodation carefully as some vans looked pretty shabby.

union Lido has better/more adventurous pools/slides, and a wider range of restaurants, but not really much to walk to, although Venice was easily accessible it was a longer journey on bus then a boat. I think they must set a higher standard for operators as there were no shabby vans.

I don’t know about walking around Figline in the evening as we never have. There’s a village in the lower end of the campsite at Norcenni with bars & restaurants. There’s a kids’ disco every evening followed by a show (different every night) that our kids love. There’s also a market with local crafts once a week & a pool party & foam party once a week too. In other words, there’s enough at the campsite to keep everyone happy. However I’m interested in the comments re Union Lido above as that’s where we’re considering for next year, just for a change.

Lake Garda amazing! Best of all

@lolarocco we really enjoyed Union Lido but it didn’t seem to have as good entertainment (but might have been the time of year - we went May half term where we get two weeks here, although we went to Bella Italia for the same two weeks). It does have a big play park with inflatables etc which opens in the evening, which was much better than the Bella Italia version. The private beach was lovely. Happy to answer any other Qs you might have.

@PeacheyPeach I 'think' you're asking re: Parco Della Piscine. The town is quiet on a night but a few nice restaurants and bars. It depends what you're looking for. Tuscany is lovely, lots of pretty towns to visit, but if you're entertaining kids, Lake Garda would be better for beaches, theme park, water park etc.

@lolarocco Eurocamp accommodation is very hit and miss. After years of doing this type of holiday we tend to book directly with the campsite. Campsites sub let pitches to third party operators, but keep the best plots for their own accommodation, which is also often of better quality.

@SlipperyLizard when you went to Gardaland - which my lot would love!! Which site had you stayed at? I'm thinking about visiting beautiful sites and historic buildings but I think my teens and little ones would much rather go to theme parks!!!

@acuteanxiety is the site called lake Garda?

@PeacheyPeach we stayed at Bella Italia, walked into Peschiera then got the free shuttle bus from the station. Think there’s a public bus too. The VIP pass was great, nowhere near the rip off that you pay at Alton Towers and meant less/ no queuing.

We've been to Norcenni and it was really busy. The site was well-organized but I was less impressed with Eurocamp. Despite apparently being "deep cleaned in linecwith covid regulations " our mobile home was not even normally cleaned! They did sort it out for us but I was not impressed. Driving is fine in Tuscany. We didn't go to the nearby village but we did get the train to Florence one day.

@SlipperyLizard sorry for all the questions!. Did you fly to Italy or drive? Which airport did you go to you flew?
Bella Italia is sounding like a good bet!

@TheBikiniExpert that's gross isn't it. Can't bear the thought of staying somewhere dirty 🤢
Was Florence enough for one day, was it very hot and busy?

We went on a rainy day so it was perfect!

Florence is always busy but it was the beginning of September so maybe less crowded than August?

www.gasparinavillage.it

We are considering this.

We flew to Verona and booked a private transfer to the site & back - can’t recall how much it was but not extortionate. I think you can get there by public transport but that’s not always fun with kids and luggage!

@SlipperyLizard yes I can't stand the idea of trains and buses with all our luggage and grumpy teenagers!!! Who did you book your transfer with xx

@OneFrenchEgg that looks so pretty 😍 I think my teenagers are a big for thr pool area though!! Would be great if I was just taking my little ones x