Holidaying in Italy

[jodee]

I was reading the Holidaying in France thread with interest - does anyone know of any similar sites for villas in Italy, somewhere around the Lakes? TIA

Thanks for your help, Sunflower, I will check it out.

We have booked an apartment in Italy through Villa Breaks, leaving on Thursday hooooray!!
I'll let you know what they are like. We have corresponded directly with the owner and he has been extremely helpful, helping with baby equipment, car hire, even offer babysitting!

jodee

We had a couple of weeks in a villa in Umbria at the end of September. The company we booked through was Tuscany Now and they were just FANTASTIC!! I can't rave about them enough! We took our 9mth old daughter and there was a cot, sheets etc, high chair, baby bath, babysitting if required - even a cook if you wanted it! The guys really knew their stuff and were SO helpful. They have some pretty impressive villas, but also good discounts for end of season. Must say also - the Italians really are great with children and we got great service and attention where ever we went with our blond haired blue eyed daughter! Tuscany Now also have a web-site: www.tuscanynow.com (the villas are not just in Tuscany!)

Thanks Kiwishell, that sounds great! We still haven't sorted anything out yet, so will definitely look into that too.

Susanmt, how was your holiday, btw?

Had a brilliant time, thanks, apart from getting my purse stolen in Genoa (felt a right prat, ahve travelled round Latin America, been to Naples and even London (!LOL) and this was the first time it has ever happened to me). The villa was great, really out in the middle of nowhere which suited us great, it was well equipped with plenty space for us all on the rainy day, and had a babysitter! We really loved the area and will probably go back sometime. The only thing we found awkward was all the driving, as we were at a wedding in the Alps first then on the far side of Genoa, and the children didnt like all the driving much (dh did, now he drives like an Italian yikes!).
And my top tip - remember that only children over 8 can go up the leaning tower in Pisa, but 2 1/2 year olds are easily bought off with an icecream!

Hi everyone (belated happy new year)!

I'm thinking it's about time I booked something now, but I am now having second thoughts about a villa - the only reason being I am concerned about having a pool right outside the back door with a 3 year old running about.

We would be going with dh's brother, wife and their 2 kids (5yo, 6yo) (this will be the kids' ages when we go in August, btw). The older kids are used to the water now, but when their eldest was about 3 they had a scare with him in a pool and bil had to jump in and bring him up from the bottom (he was OK).

I'm worried because my dh is not a very good swimmer at all and I'm OK, but I don't think I would be able to manage if there was an emergency and bil wasn't around.

I was just wondering of your experiences with villas with pools and young children? Would I just be totally stressed out the whole time because I couldn't let ds out of my sight? I may just go to a Eurocamp type of place instead!

Hi Jodee, Nice to see you back on the site, btw. We've missed you. We're always researching hypothetical holidays and have noticed that some villas advertise the fact that their pools are "gated" and so inaccessible to wee bratlets unless they are let in by the holder of the key. Would this help at all? I do understand your worry because it's also been one of my big fears. HTH

Also Jodee- SofiaAmes has posted some links to her Mum's villas in Italy, which look rather gorgeous, here .

Jodee - as a non-swimmer who, shamefully, has never taken her 5 year old swimming, I can fully understand your concerns. I also know someone whose 5 year old was drowned within 10 minutes of them arriving at their holiday destination, (they were unpacking, heads were turned, he went exploring etc, that's all it takes). So, do you really need to have a pool at all? Many small towns, in Europe, particlarly in France, have a plan d'eau, a small lake, picnic are, sailing, maybe a pool attached etc. You can make a day of it at these places, even a non-swiming pasty skinned type like me.

jodee, I too share your concerns - even having an 8 year old partial swimmer I am still worried about that villa pool thing and the 3 year old is water mad.

To be honest, I don't think I'd even consider renting a villa with pool unless I was totally sure the pool was very safely out of bounds. And what happens if you arrive to find the villa pool is not at protected as the brochure made out? What happens if the gate or protective barrier is easily to climb over? my 3 year old is a real spiderman. What sort of holiday would it be watching my sons like a hawk?

I'm not speaking from experience here - probably there are ways round this and mumsnetters who have had villa holidays with toddlers will enlighten us, but I know my youngest son, and would have to be very sure any pool was not within easy reach.

Sorry to be so gloom and doom. I'm sure there a perfect villa somewhere out there.

Thanks for all your replies, everyone. Scummy, how are you and your boys? (how nice to be missed, too!). That's a great idea about a 'gated' and fenced-off pool, that hadn't occurred to me. After searching through brochures/internet, I didn't manage to find a single one in Tuscany, unfortunately (we have decided to go there instead of the Lakes), although they seem to be more common in France/Portugal.

Tinker, that's a terrible story, my worst nightmare. And I've only taken ds swimming once! I know his cousins would want to be fairly near a pool or beach, but the villa/pool idea is starting to sound not so great the more I think about it.

Tigermoth, thank you (really) for being doom and gloom, I hadn't played out all the possible scenarios over in my mind, so I needed to read all that! Like you said, there must be someone out there who has stayed with a toddler in a villa with a pool, and had a perfect holiday, but I am now of the conclusion that I don't want to be the guineapig in this experiment.