Italian Lakes in May with 3 & 9 year old

[Pootles34]

We've booked flights to Milan for first week in May, with a view to staying probably near Lake Garda - but could be flexible on that.

We'll be staying in a Eurocamp style place - any recommendations? Not hilly, because of the pushchair. I've seen some have amazing pools, but assume they will all be freezing in May? I was hoping for somewhere with lots to do, particularly if the weather isn't kind... We'll be renting a car.

The south end of Lake Garda is flat, especially in the Pescheira, Bardolino and Garda area. There is a nice flat path that runs between Garda and Bardolino which is ideal for pushchairs.

We went to the lakes with our DD this year, she was 2. We stayed on Lake Maggiore which is very close to Milan. There was lots to do - we took a cable car, went on a day trip up to Switzerland and back (alpine train there, boat back), day trip to the islands. We stayed at Camping Conca D'Oro in a sort of tent/cabin - no pool but a lovely beach with a shallower area walled off (like a tidal pool.) We hired a pedalo, DH took a SUP out, all reasonable. Lovely food on site and the village is a short walk away. We hired a car but you could do it without. There were other campsites nearby, some of which had pools.

After a week we went to Verona for 3 days, it was so hot there and DD wasn't loving the city, so we did two day trips to Garda. By contrast, it was overrun with tourists on the public beaches (think Benidorm) and we ended up paying about 20E to visit a private beach the next time. I visited Garda as a child and it feels like it has been spoilt now by tourism. By contrast, Maggiore retains it's old glamour and we much preferred it. There were hardly any other Brits on our campsite, but loads of very friendly German and Swiss families, and all the staff spoke English.

Thank you both that's really helpful!

Winey when did you visit? We are going in May so I wonder if it might be quieter?

Hi

I recently stayed in the Eurocamp at Bardolino - it was wonderful, not too big, lots of amenities and the pools were fantastic, especially the kids one. The town is lovely and the local wine is great. As a PP says, you can easily walk to Garda as well.

One thing that caught us off guard was the price of boats on the lake to get between the towns as they were extortionate - I'm not sure if driving/parking everywhere is feasible though?

Was the pool heated cool? I was under the impression none of them will be, but hoping that might be wrong.... When did you go?

I was there only last month, so not the height of summer by any means!

I don't think the pools were heated but the kids ones are very shallow so would warm up quite easily I'd have thought. With the adult pool, once you jumped in and swum around a bit it was fine.

It's a really easy drive from Milan as well.

We were there first week of June.

As a kid, the Eurocamp (or maybe Canvas?) site we stayed at on Garda was Camping Eden I think, I only remember it because my parents still bang on about it being the best campsite ever! And I remember thinking it was bliss. I guess if you're somewhere with a private beach on site then you will be fine.