Italy holiday with one 14 year old

[NCG161280]

Hello - we usually do all inclusive holidays as a family but this year our son wants to go to Italy (as do we!) however we don’t know where to start. So much easier booking a package to Greece 😂
He’d like an onsite waterpark and football pitches and we’d like a comfy bed and to be close to the sea/lake and a nice town to mooch around, and would prefer a hotel 🙏🏽
Can anyone help?!

Look at pra del torri, it's a holiday complex with a range of accommodation including a hotel, bungalows, caravans or bring your own tent. Pools, sports etc etc. one hour north of Venice on the coast near Caorle. You'll need a realistically, we drove from the U.K. via Germany with stops en route. Best bit, the fruit and veg stand just outside the park had amazing wine the smallholder made himself.

I took DD to lake Garda when she was 13, and we enjoyed a lovely holiday. We took the ferry and visited different towns around the lake. I can't answer about the football or waterpark though as they weren't required.

Agree any of the lively campsites near Venice would be suitable. Often you can get a lodge with comfy beds and air. Con. Union lido is another one in that area..... I know you want a hotel but realistically Italian hotels are less likely to have waterparks/ entertainment than self catering resorts.

Forte Village on Sardinia offers everything you want and more but you've got to have deep pockets!

Tirreno Resort in Sardinia meets most of your requirements. It doesn’t have a full blown waterpark, but a decent pool complex with a large waterslide. It has astroturf pitches and organised entertainment for teens.

@NCG161280 Do you not actually went to see anything of Italy? Just a water park and a mooch? There’s so much more to see! We used to book a villa in a small complex and with a pool. Tuscany has many options. We hired a car at the airport and went out all day or just in the afternoon. Pool in the morning. So many lovely towns and restaurants.

I’m very fortunate to have seen a lot of Italy and hiring a car is sadly not an option for us, so just looking for somewhere we can base ourselves, soak up some Italian culture and keep our son entertained with a water park.

So DS has no interest in Italy other than a water park? So why did he suggest it?

The food!

Union Lido has a hotel and the other things you mention. If it's the FOOD he wants though that is a different thing. Rome or Naples or Bologna or Puglia....but they will be short on football pitches and watersports.

When he says food - does he just mean nice pizza?

Neilson, Mark Warner, Sunsail et al operate in Sardinia and Sicily

Just posted on the wrong thread but a few years ago we did Pompeii - stayed near Salerno and went here which the kids loved https://www.google.com/maps/place/Aquafarm/@40.5974607,14.5444571,10.9z/data=!4m10!1m2!2m1!1swaterpark+near+salerno!3m6!1s0x133be69aa97c2b4d:0x22d8ffd22776173b!8m2!3d40.559691!4d14.9052032!15sChZ3YXRlcnBhcmsgbmVhciBzYWxlcm5vWhgiFndhdGVycGFyayBuZWFyIHNhbGVybm-SAQp3YXRlcl9wYXJr4AEA!16s%2Fg%2F1ptzm0j7r?entry=ttu&gep=EgoyMDI1MDExNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

*edited to say I think they actually preferred the one next door, Isola Verde Acqua Park

I took my DD when she was 16. Lake Garda, Venice, Verona, the Dolomites. It was a coach company holiday and it was amazing!

I’ve been to Desenzano on Lake Garda. Boat trips and good train service to Verona and Venice. Plenty of food everywhere!

Another vote for one of the campsites on Lake Garda. We were walking distance to Peschiera, Gardaland, Movieland etc. The Caneva water park was close, and there were football pitches etc on site. My 14 year old DS loved it last year.

Any particular site?

@NCG161280 we went to Del Garda Village, which is much smaller than nearby Bella Italia. My DS found it easier to make friends here than the bigger sites as they always knew where the others were and could find them easily. We've been to Pra Delle Torri before which is lovely but quite vast.
Del Garda is small, cosy and everything is walkable in no time

There's Etnaland in Sicily, it's a water/theme park near Catania, so close to the beach and Mount Etna.

For Garda I recommend Camping Village Riva Blu.

We were some of the first to stay there when it was opened. It's small enough to be friendly but has plenty of facilities and a lovely pool and absolutely immaculate. The caravans were top notch quality - I had a double with ensuite and DS was in a triple room to himself with an ensuite. You can also rent a safari style tent. There are a couple of supermarkets at the top of the hill on entry to the campsite:

Campeggio Lago di Garda | Camping Village & Glamping Riva Blu search.app/W4tEQoaPTz1AFg8z6