Are eurocamps really that terrible? / Lake Garda in May

[Livingoncaffeine]

Been driving myself mad looking at online reviews of various eurocamps in Lake Garda. They all seem to have pretty terrible reviews and now I’m doubting myself.

We were already thinking of a eurocamp break this year (we have a 3yo and a will be 1yo if relevant) and thought Lake Garda would be ideal. I’d been doing lots of research when the Sun holidays offer came up. I had a little browse and was surprised to find some of the campsites on there.

Our favourite so far is Camp Butterfly and is £159 for 7 nights.

Now I know for that price we can’t expect much, but will it really be that terrible?

I am now re-reading all the different campsite reviews over and over again but not getting very far as they’re all pretty rubbish.

Should we just forget eurocamp and look elsewhere? We really can’t afford anything fancy!

Also, is there much to do in Lake Garda in May with a 1yo and 3yo??

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If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of the best Eurocamp sites Mumsnetters are recommending on this thread:

😎Altomincio Family Park, Lake Garda, Italy

😎Bella Italia, Lake Garda, Italy

😎Del Garda Village and Camping

😎Campeggio Europa Silvella

😎Camping Village Riva Blu

For more inspo, check out our guides to the best Eurocamp sites for families, the best Eurocamp sites in France, the best Eurocamp sites in Italy and the best Eurocamp sites in Spain.

MNHQ

https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/italy/lake-garda/altomincio-family-park-campsite

I’ve been to the above and it was amazing ! Loads to do in the area too

@Bluelightbaby Thank you, I did look at that one but ruled out because we thought it would be better to be on the lake itself, we aren’t planning on hiring a car

Weather in May will be cool, possibly rainy. Better off going south Italy if you want some sun...

Aww ok, we hired a cat. My kids were older so we explored the area and even did day trips to Venice, Vienna and hired a boat for the day on the lake plus mont baldo.

the site has so much to do on it too

I wouldn't go to the lakes as early as May, not camping at least.

We went to Bella Italia in May/June when ours were 2&4, it was great (except the shoddy Eurocamp caravan but it was a decade ago!). We didn’t hire a car, it is a short taxi from the airport and a lovely walk to Peschiera.

Probably depends on when in May you go . Have been a couple of times end of May half term and the weather has been lovely. Google tells me average high for May is 23 degrees but it may be cool at night which may be an issue if you are camping .

We’re looking at mid May and caravan. There are other offers in June too but everywhere has such mixed reviews!

Just following as we're thinking of going to eurocamp on Lake Garda this year with our 2 and 5 year old but seen similar reviews! Those who have been with small children, what do you do regarding the transfer from Verona airport to the lake? It looks like taxi is by far the easiest but what happens about car seats?!

We did the transfer by train from Verona - was pretty simple.

OP - you mention the sun vouchers - is this just for the camp site ? Will you be flying ?

My sister went to La Rocca with her pre-schoolers and loved it so much she went back the following year. She didn't go with Eurocamp but I think they have Eurocamp there. I think May would be fine, you don't want to be too hot anyway with little ones and there might not be air con - I'm hardy though and take my kids camping in Scotland in May so Italy would be easy!

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea yes flying, prices are pretty reasonable for May. Trying to make the most of being able to go somewhere term time before DS starts school in sept!

@Bluelightbaby How much was it to hire a cat?🐈 😂 And was it a good quality one ?

Better sites in my opinion in southern France

Us too - absolutely loved it!

Peschiera is gorgeous & so easy to visit the rest of the Lake, plus very easy to get the bus to Verona / train to Milan / bus or taxi to Gardaland!

Loved it!

Ah stop.
No they are not terrible. Don't be rediculous.
We have done 14 campsite holidays and we have done lake garda 3 times. We did a mobile home.
Lake garda is beautiful. The good is excellent. The ice cream is excellent. Weather in May might not be great but its a fabulous place to holiday.

We stayed at Europa Silvella, which has direct lane access at Salo. I really rate it.

We have had amazing holidays at campsites by Lake Garda. I'd go for it. You might get great weather in May like we always had but even if you don't, am sure you'll still have a good time. Lots to do around there.

The first time we went we pre booked a taxi with car seats but if I remember correctly the driver didn’t have them (or perhaps only had boosters) when we got there. Think we just sucked it up but possibly contacted the hire company to make sure we had them on the return journey.

You can take your own but hard to carry/store (esp if your flights don’t coincide with check in/check out times!).

I remember it feeling very important at the time, but in the big scheme of things is probably not something to get too stressed about - appreciate that is easy for me to say a decade on!

@Hopefulbride18 when I went away last year we took two car seats but that’s because we were doing a lot of taxis etc while away. This time I’ll probably just take one for the baby and book one for the older one or take a booster (he’ll be about to turn 4) as it’s just for the transfers. I stressed over car seats a lot last year when we went away though!

@Sandiegodreaming I think we probably will! We’re not going to sunbathe anyway really though be nice if it was warm enough to use the pool. Do you recommend any in particular?

@BoPeepsSheep I have heard Salo is nice, I’ll take a look thanks!!

We stayed at Campeggio del Garda. Butterfly was next door and looked fine too, just smaller. I'd book direct as it is always a lot cheaper to do that.

We did Bella Italia a couple of years ago and it was great. Definitely recommend but no idea about weather in May.

We’ve booked! We went for Camp Butterfly, we quite like that it looks a lot smaller than Bella Italia. £159 for a week, bargain. We’re quite an outdoorsy family so if it rains we’ll just put waterproofs on and still head out to explore.

Hope you have a lovely time