Italy holiday help

[Curlysusie]

can anyone help?! Started going round in circles looking for a relatively inexpensive break for family of 4. Want to go somewhere in Italy where we can have sometime at the coast/pool but the rest exploring the area. Puglia looked ideal but we don’t want to drive abroad. Looked at sanremo but some posts say there isn’t much to do, looked at the coast near Venice but some people on here really don’t rate it.
any other ideas? Ideally want to spend less than £3000 inc flights for a week and prob not eurocamp

many thanks

Are you open to an Airbnb?

Does it have to be Italy? When? Flying from where? What age are the kids? Are you happy to use public transport?

Yes to Airbnb
doesnt have to be Italy but the kids really want to visit there, they are 11 and 9 so easy enough
flying from north (man/liverpool/leeds)
first week of summer hols so 18/19july
yes to public transport 😁 thank you

Have you looked at flying to Bologna and getting the train to one of the nearby seaside resorts eg Rimini, Cervia or Ravenna? I looked at this very trip this year - flights to Bologna from London were relatively cheap and good public transport. You could throw in a city break in bologna at the end. The only thing I wanted the car for was the Ferrari museum but think you could get a cab.

I would also suggest Rimini, Cervia or Ravenna on the Adriatic coast.

Or Syracuse/Ortigia in Sicily.

However, you might want to rent a car for a few days so you can explore nearby towns.

Thanks that’s great ill take a look, I have a feeling flights are limited from the north to Bologna

OP, what about Ventimiglia?

It’s a small seaside town on the very northern coast of Italy, accessible by train from Nice - lots of potential for day trips!

I will look at more when I’m not at work 🤣

Great thank you!!

One more question - are you wanting to take bags? Or happy to travel hand luggage only?

I use Skyscanner and select my local airport and then Italy - it will then list the cheapest Italian places to fly to in order. (It's usually Milan, then Bologna IME)

We flew to Rimini with Thomas Cook and arranged a taxi to the hotel via the hotel (I just messaged them outside Thomas Cook). It was a fantastic holiday, gaudy seafront and nice old town, lovely shady green park, beaches were great (expensive ish but you can do a week deal) and there’s a free beach at the end.

I think we will need 2 bags

I was going to suggest Sicily as its generally cheaper than say Venice, but would also be hot in summer.

2 main airports- Palermo and on the other side of the island, Catania- so would depend where you could get flights to.

Cefalu is a beach area just over 1hr from Palermo. People rave about it, but I only read about it once we'd returned from 2 weeks in Sicily and didn't go there! From Palermo, you could also get a train to Agrigento which has ruins which looks similar to the Parthenon. The museum is interesting, but don't bother if you aren't history buffs.

From Catania you can get a bus to south Syracuse. We only went for the day, but there were some lovely restaurants and beach areas. North from Catania is Taormina which also has good reviews, but a bit more expensive. We didn't go there because Etna was rumbling so they said to avoid the area!

We don't have kids and didn't hire a car. Personally, I didn't want to risk of interpreting the parking signs wrong or not being able to get a park. We travelled via coaches or where available, the train. Both options were clean, on time, efficient and very reasonably priced. Both Palermo and Catania had the most amazing fresh food markets too.

If you need a family run BnB in Palermo, I recommend this place which was across the road from where the airport bus drops you off. The owner made freshly made cakes/biscuits and jams every day too. sicily.co.uk/places_to_stay/bb-extra-bed-breakfast/

I don't know how this would work with kids, or in high season, but I flew into Rome last year and took a cab 50euro from the airport to Ostia Lido. It's a gorgeous town on the coast with a great beach, fabulous little town centre full to the brim with restaurants and little shops, a weekly market, and entertainment in the square at night for kids and adults. We were there early September and the place was full of school age kids, as the schools return a lot later than ours do after the Summer hols.

Anyway there's a train station with a local commuter train direct into Rome in 25 minutes. That was brilliant, we saw Rome over three separate days, without the expense of a central Rome hotel. There is also the archaeology site at Ostia Antica (which was why I wanted to stay in Ostia Lido) ten minutes from the Lido. Look, I couldn't fault it, the hotels were reasonable on the sea front, and honestly we couldn't spend our money in the restaurants, everything was so inexpensive. Great trip.

Even if it might not suit you, there might be others out there who might find it interesting, or an option for a future trip.

Other than that, have a look at Ligurian Riviera around Genoa, it might be worth a look. There's a train line that goes all along the coast, if I remember correctly!

Sorrento and the amalfi coast have good public transport. We often drive in Italy but didn't need to there at all.

Lake Garda although not coastal would be worth considering, again the public transport is good, we did some visits by bus/train/boat and some driving.

I think you might struggle to do it for £3k in the school holidays, depending on accommodation costs. The beaches are mostly pay to access, and food's not cheap. It's worth it though!
Our flights last year were pushing £300 each with checked luggage and seats. Transfers were expensive. If you're in the north west Jet2 has some packages flying from Manchester which might work out cheaper than doing it all separately.

Bologna is a good base for north Italy if you don't drive. From there you can get a train to Florence, Vernice, Milan, Parma, Modena and if you want to visit the beach you can get trains to Ravenna, Rimini, and loads of other places.

Rimini is an excellent shout, I would strongly recommend the Rivabella end of it though. There are lots of places to visit from Rimini including San Marino but old Rimini itself is charming, especially Tiberius' Roman bridge and the arch of Augustus, which is the oldest Roman triumphal arch still in existence. The old fishing quarter of Borgo San Giuliano is also very pretty with lots of fish restaurants. Ostia is also a great recommendation from @fantam So few Brits know about it but it is really lovely with easy to access Rome. It's archaeological park is worth visiting alone.

If flights to Bologna are difficult to find then fly to Milan. It's only an hour by train from there to Bologna.

Start with your flights. Where is your nearest airport? We go to Italy every year - at least twice. If you tell us the flights you’ll likely be booking we can help with suggestions of towns to stay in. There will be a lot of us on here who know Italy well. Italy is amazing - the best. I find it reasonable to eat out as children are happy with pasta or pizza and gelato.

@Curlysusiehow about a town called Saronno? In land but brilliant access to Milan and lake como.

You could go to the lovely Lucca via Pisa airport, then train. It isn’t far. Viareggio seaside is near , although I don’t love it myself. Kids would. Florence is double for a day. There are two bed apartments on booking .com for £1200 upwards.

I spent a week in Puglia without driving - I stayed in Bari & caught trains or buses. It takes a bit more planning but is perfectly doable.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, I’ll start looking @imaccoffeeaddictwill look at all those towns
@letshavetea Manchester/leeds/Liverpool airports thank you

Check Ryanair offers. Flights for 4, for under £500 return. Perhaps something such as 3 nights on Venice lido - about £600 Airbnb. Grab some unlimited water is tickets, explore early morning, mask decorating workshop etc and beach in the afternoon. Then take the train to lake Garda. About £700-800 for 4 nights. Either retrace your steps to Venice to fly home or utilise the other many airports in northern Italy

@Curlysusie - as this would be a late booking for flights and accommodation prices are higher! Not impossible. Google flights (best for searching or alternatively sky scanner). Google has two adults and two children return flights to Rome Ciampino. Going out 18/7 and back on 25/7 at decent times for £565. That’s for two adults and two children. No luggage - you’d need to add that on. With Ryanair. Advantage of flying into Rome or Milan is that there are so many flights and then really great train connections to anywhere you fancy. See the Man at seat 61 for everything train route related. I’d start with your flights and then sort accommodation.