Family holiday in Italy recommendations

[devadreams]

We are thinking of Italy for two weeks this summer with 3 DCs (11, 9 and 5). We'd like a villa (with a pool would be great, in case it's v hot!) but are trying to work out which area to focus on.

We've been to Sardinia before but pre DCs - thought it was beautiful. We've also been to Umbria and Tuscany pre DCs, also beautiful! Just wondered if you could recommend any particular areas to visit with kids. We like to get out and about, love the outdoors, walking, also love the coast but no idea which are the best bits of the Italian coast for pretty and safe beaches. Love the look of Lake Como and the Amalfi coast. I think there is so much choice and it's all amazing, so if you could help me narrow it down a little that would be fantastic!

I was going to say the Lakes or Amalfi! You can do trips to Venice and Verona from the lakes, plus get up to the mountains. From Amalfi you could do trips to Capri, Pompeii, Versuvius. You really can’t go wrong with Italy though.

If you want avoid the tourists but would like beaches and pretty countryside, tryUmbria on the west coast and the Marche on the east. If you visit the Marche's southern Adriatic resorts of San Benedetto del Tronto and Grottamare outside high season, you'll have the beach almost to yourself. Don't miss the lighthouse at Pedaso, or the family hiking trails in the Sybillini National Park.

There is the Jesolo area which is the beach area very near Venice. Also we went to lake Garda last year with our kids and stayed at Bardolino it was stunning and so much to do I would go back in a heartbeat but the hotel we want was already sold out for this year!

The Amalfi coast is very beautiful - it is very popular with Italians though and isn’t cheap! You may find a villa that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg but that may be somewhere less visited in the summer season for which you’d need a car. Amalfi is lovely and a lot of people like Sorrento ( it was a bit too built up for me). There’s a lot to see ( Pompei, Naples etc). There is a bus network that joins the towns up that you can catch from outside the Sorrento train station. Cheapish flights to Naples are usually easy to find. If you do decide to drive yourselves, the coastal road is pretty steep and Italian driving can be interesting so you need your wits about you!

The Lake Garda area is really pretty - I’ve only visited from Verona but would love to go back and stay longer. It is very popular with Brits though so you might not find anything accommodation wise that cheap!

Taormina in Sicily is very pretty - it’s not a huge town but what there is, is lovely! There’s an old Greek theatre and very pretty beach with a small island attached. It’s spread out over a hillside with Etna in the background - very picture postcard! You can do a trip to Etna and hike up the volcano. We had 5 very relaxing days there 3 years ago. Again, accommodation isn’t cheap! You fly into Catania (worth a day) and take a 30 minute train to Taormina.

We go to Italy a lot. The only place I’ve not liked is the Lido di Jesolo near Venice. It’s a flat sand split developed by Mussolini in a works project. It’s just a beach backed by hotel after hotel, a lot of which look very tired. Getting into Venice is a faff (bus then boat). It had very little of character and is just a built beach resort. To be fair, if you’re just looking for a beach holiday I’m sure it’s fine -I had the holiday from hell there years ago with my eldest DD and nephew in a pit of a hotel one very hot August so maybe I’m not being fair! There is a beach district called Lido in the Venice area itself which is supposed to be pretty nice, I’d look at that first!

I wasnt a fan of the Lakes we went 2 summers ago... the scenery is lovely but it was packed and busy and really really touristy.... Bardolino was our favourite spot as had fab ice cream shop and you could wander off the main area

it was also v hot - so didn't visit venice as tales were all how hot/crowded and smelly it was ....

the water was quite manky in some places and it was expensive... I love italy but this was our worst trip.....probably much better not in the Summer!

The veneto area is lovely. My kids loved the big holiday parks, they have a wide range of accommodation, the last time we had a bungalow, very quiet part of the site but a minute away were 4 pools

Thank you for all of these recommendations, so helpful. Although we love the coast and thoroughly enjoy spending a day on the beach, we aren't the types to want to do that every day of the holiday. We also aren't spending the day by the pool types. We'd like nice authentic villages and towns to explore, places to eat out and enjoy the Italian cuisine, pretty scenery and surroundings.

Will look into all suggestions now. Happy to look at quieter less well known places too. We loved Umbria when we visited years ago as it was stunning and felt rather unspoilt by tourism, although it must be a popular destination. The Sibillini mountains are beautiful so I'll look into family trails there thank you (we love the Lake District and the DC enjoy walking and hill climbing). I do appreciate it may be a little hot for much hiking in August though.....!