Italy! Disabled non driver due, genetically disabled family and audhd

[Holidaymodeon]

As above.

Single mum to teens

Non driver due to visual impairment

Genetic Disability impacts whole family so can’t walk far

Would like a real beach holiday but a chance to experience Italy

Not a huge budget but want something nice ideally with separate rooms for teen privacy

Cannot camp due to disability

Ideally flying from West Country

After boardmasters ( 5th - Sunday 9th August)
or ideally last week of term for price but one child has work experience,( 13-17 July).
Don’t have prom dates yet but can also consider before boardies.

Ideally £3k or lower, fantasy?

thereabouts, possible?

7 nights

Ten minute walk max from beach , amenities etc or decent public transport / organised tours to sights

Flat access to beach.

anything beyond short walk or clear transport links becomes a stressor two autistic kids.

I know that what I want exists, I just need help to put it together because I have cognitive dysfunction and trouble coordinating and planning to the point I have nearly lost holidays before due to how my disability affects my thinking!

I’ve tried agents but often end up in hotels with close beaches which turn out to be hilly and precarious walks or hideous restaurants where my kids can’t eat due to the noise and chaos

I have been fortunate in a recent financial situation and this could be the only time we ever get the chance to go somewhere we all really want rather than just where’s cheap and easy.

My kids are growing up and I want it to be meaningful. we know there’s beaches and beach holidays in Italy flying from Bristol and potentially Exeter .

I have cognitive disabilities and if there’s people here with first hand knowledge that would be great, thank you

So far these have come up:

• Bibione : Purpose-built and flat;
• Lido di Jesolo : Same logic
• Caorle : Similar region, often calmer; still flat and beachy
• Rimini : Big, flat-ish beach city with a long seafront and strong rail links for “Italy” days out;

Any relevant ideas or experience gratefully received, hotel easier than air bnb just for pure convenience and stress reduction

Also some of these are potentially good?

Lignano Sabbiadoro : big sandy beach resort with lots of “near beach” accommodation options
• Grado : seaside town with a long promenade; generally easy “seafront walking”

Adriatic “beach city” bases
• Riccione : sandy beach + promenade; lots of accommodation within a short walk of the seafront
• Cervia / Milano Marittima : wide sandy beaches and promenade; described as largely flat along the central coastline.
• Cesenatico : another Adriatic resort base
• Senigallia ?
• San Benedetto del Tronto : has a paved pedestrian seafront promenade; accommodation can be very close to sand
• Porto San Giorgio?

I’ve been to caole was nice but quite, we had a car and were staying down the road at a camp site (caravan) if you can get to the site everything is there, flat , beach adjoining. But it’s big so don’t know how far is too far for you to walk on the flat, 10 minutes is really short.

I would be looking at packages with transfers included but your budget will be very tight for august, late august is cheaper

Thanks so much, this is helpful

Jesolo would be fine but it’s not really what I would call “authentic” Italian.

there are lovely big “campsites” in that area too that would have accessible bungalows and are super set up for making everything easy.
union lido
marina de Venezia
Ca Savio
you fly to Venice and there are transfers. You can also do easy day trips to Venice and Murano and Burano from there.
favorite would be Marina de Venezia. It’s fantastic.

Lido de Jesolo is nice, but similar you won't get far in 10 min walking. Venice you could do mostly by boat, but that may get very expensive.

How important is the beach? You could fly and transfer by taxi or boat into the center of Venice or Rome if seeing Italy was important. For a pure beach holiday, there are much cheaper options.

There's a Facebook page called Accessible Holidays, aimed at holidays with accessibility in mind from locations to accessible accommodation. It might be worth a look. Posters are very helpful

Rimini, Riccione, Cattolica meet some of your criteria, but what stood out for me us that you need quiet! If really true. Italian coastal resorts will be tricky! They are busy and loud.

Tui have a specific team for accessible holidays. Worth a chat with them?

It will be seriously hot, could that be an issue?

Wow ok thank you, yes that is my worry if we go for absolute convenience could we just be in any holiday resort in any country?!

Potentially for one of the kids

Beach is pretty important but I guess non essential if decent pool access onsite .
if I were going alone it would be a very different experience but two autistic teens plus physical limitations i need to keep it as stress free as possible.

I did not know this! Thanks I will try and find more info. I have never used a travel agent before but I have to get this perfect or I will be too overwhelmed.
we’re so limited by work experience, prom, boardmasters, results days, college enrolment etc , some of those dates haven’t been announced

How about giardini naxos in sicily? At foot of taormina which is hilly town but there’s a bus service to the top, and good bus links to other places which are nice to visit eg syracuse

I went to Sicily end of September it was HOT.

Rimini will be authentic Italian but probably not the sort of authenticity you are dreaming of!
Think enormous beach absolutely crammed with sun loungers, boiling hot, loud families who go to the same sun lounger every year so are catching up with their equally loud neighbours.
Everyone will be a deep deep shade of bronze - we were amused at the SPF 4 proudly in a shop window display.

To sum up our experience - it was loud, hotter than the face of the sun, DH and I have never felt more foreign or out of place, and he promised me it was entirely accidental that all his photos featured stunning Italian women in very tiny bikinis.

I would avoid Sicily, yes there’s a bus but it’s hilly once you get there too. Greater Venice area is flatter. I would potentially suggest choosing a hotel /apartment that is used to having much more mature guests (trying to be polite in case my mum is reading!) as they will be used to having people who are ambulatory but unable to walk far and may have day trips set up. I’ve experienced this more in Spain than Italy I admit because usually in Italy we have driven or ridden on the motorbike. I do think a site which has access to a public bus or train would suit you best, the beaches are great. The temperature was about 30 when I went, a bit hot in Venice admittedly, but fine for lazing about in resort

We stayed in Ceriale on Italian riviera which could meet your requirements. Flat prom, big beach, small town but enough places to eat. Weekly market on the seafront. There is a water park nearby. The bus runs along the coast to e.g. Albenga and Loano and there is also a train station. Possible to fly to Nice or Genoa and get the train. https://www.residenceoliveto.it/en/home We stayed here. 5 mins walk from the beach. Tourist train in the summer. I would avoid Italy at end of August though - Ferragosto on 15th, Everywhere will be busy and hot.

Sestri Levante is another possibility. 2 sandy beaches. Trains and buses up and down the coast. Possibility to do boat tips to Portofino and Cinque Terre. Very pretty. Lots of shops and restaurants but not a madly busy place. Booking.com have a few apartments there. Train from Genoa or Pisa.

Brilliant! Thanks for making me laugh!

We’re going to Italy this year - we’ve decided on Florence; but one of the places I considered was Viareggio. It’s a coastal town with big beach & trains to go to Lucca, Pisa & Florence. Might be worth a look? No idea about accessibility though.

Thanks @Holidaymodeon I would suggest the Venice Lido as you can go anywhere you like by vaporetto.

But then I remembered we did go to Venice in August on our honeymoon, it was very hot and DH caringly took photos of me passed out on the floor of a vaporetto.

Whoah

If a beach was less important and you could find somewhere with a decent pool, you could consider the southern end of Lake Garda, which is very flat. It is a short transfer from Verona airport.

I second this suggestion and also the Facebook Accessible Holidays suggestion too by PP. Family friends used Tui team and it was very good.