Most Irish people who take a mobile home holiday tend to strike out for France and get no further – but some of the best sites are in the Veneto region close to the medieval splendor of Venice, the thrill of open-air opera in Verona and the white-knuckle rides at Gardaland on Lake Garda.
Philip Nolan, a travel writer with the Irish Mail on Sunday, brings us through his top tips:
OVERVIEW
There’s something for everyone in the Veneto region – from beautiful beaches to great food to spectacular history and the unique magic of Venice.
I recommend staying in the area around Punta Sabbioni, near to Lido di Jesolo. There’s a 15km-long beach and brilliant campsites that are like mini towns, with bars, cafes, restaurants, supermarkets, bouncy castles, waterslides, live entertainment, junior discos, everything you could wish for to keep kids happy.
Nearby is Aqualandia, voted the best waterpark in Italy, home to Europe’s highest slide at 42 metres. €29 a day for adults, €25 for kids and free for toddlers under one metre tall.
Drive to Verona to see the opera (2.5hrs, tolls €8.70), staged in the Roman amphitheatre built in the first century AD. It’s the third largest to survive and has a capacity of 15,000. This year’s season starts on June 20 and the operas in repertory are Un Ballo In Maschera, Carmen, Aida, Turandot and Madama Butterfly. On Thursday July 17, Placido Domingo sings Verdi there and, on Saturday August 9, there will be a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Tickets from €25 can be booked on arena.it
Take the kids to Gardaland, around 40km from Verona, one of Europe’s best theme parks. Visit beautiful Sirmione, Bardolino or Garda itself.
The big draw is Venice itself, and the outlying islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. Use the vaporetti (waterbuses) to get around if you have to but the best thing to do is just walk.
WHAT IT COSTS
As an example, we’re looking at a 10-night holiday in June based on a family of two adults and three children. Eurocamp has mobile homes in Marina di Venezia for €635 for seven nights in a 2-bed, one bath, deck, kitchen with oven, grill, gas hob, microwave, mosquito shades, air conditioning, iPod dock etc. That’s with eurocamp.ie
Other campsites to look at include Ca’Savio (casavio.it) and Union Lido (unionlido.com).
Flights for a family of five to Treviso with Ryanair €804.90. ryanair.com Flights are on Friday, so you will need to book separate accommodation for that night. At the end of the week in the campsite, move to Verona for one night and then Lake Garda for the last night, where a double junior suite at Gardaland Hotel costs €215. gardaland.it There is much cheaper accommodation available locally too, so weigh budget against convenience.
Car hire VW Polo, €274 for 10 days with arguscarhire.com
Ferry from Punta Sabbioni to Venice. 24hr travel card costs €20. Trip to Venice takes around 30 minutes. All transport details on actv.it. Click on the English flag to change language.Check out veneziaunica.it for special offers on transport, museum entry, cultural events at various prices, and wifi for €5 a day.
Places like Café Florian in St Mark’s Square are great for a coffee and people watching but hideously expensive – and a charge for listening to the string quartet will appear on your bill.
If you can’t find somewhere cheap to eat and all else fails, there’s a McDonald’s on Strada Nova!
Gondola rides cost around €80-€100 for 45 minutes. Worth it once if you’ve never done it
