The Italian jump
Is Italy as great for kids as it is for romantic couples? One family put it to the test...
With its fine art, classic architecture and great cuisine, Italy has always been my idea of a perfect holiday, But that was when there were just two of us – now with two young kids (Raffi, eight, and Amber, four) in tow, I wondered whether our summer break would be the dolce vita we experienced as a couple.
We flew to Venice and picked up our hire car for the 77-mile drive north, pitching up at the Marina Julia Camping Village on Italy’s Adriatic coast, close to the Slovenian border.
Having a young family meant we had become very big fans of European holiday parks. Like a mini town in themselves, not only do they have kids’ clubs and waterparks on site but you get to stay in a chalet – so you’re not really roughing it – while keeping the costs down. Cook your own pasta and play cards on your deck with a nice bottle of the local vino tinto of an evening.
Our Al Fresco Holidays chalet was just two minutes’ walk from the beach, but if our children had had their way they would never have left the kids’ pool. There are three on site, including an Olympic-sized one – my daily 20 lengths to compensate for the gelato and pizza overload were quite a slog!
Other aqua attractions were a lazy river, waterslides and a diving area – the very high boards were a hit with all the gung-ho teenagers.
The kids’ club absolutely excelled itself – my son played football and basketball with a bunch of Italian and German kids overseen by a coach, while we had a game of tennis nearby.
And with crazy golf, ping pong tournaments, a playground, plus arts and crafts,
Grado in Italy (left) and pretty Piran in Slovenia (above) there was plenty to keep everyone entertained. My daughter went mad for the nightly mini-disco – we’re all still singing the eclectic selection of German, Italian and Slovenian songs during our kitchen parties back home.
On site, a brilliant restaurant with topnotch pizza and salads made up for the lack of places to eat close by, while the supermarket was handy for the basics.
Much to our children’s dismay, we aren’t the types to stay put by the pool for a whole holiday. Although Venice is an easy day trip, we baulked at the logistics of negotiating the city’s chaos with two small children.
Instead we drove 30 minutes south to the pretty resort town of Grado. Spread along a narrow island linked to the mainland Lara with Amber & Raffi by a causeway, the picturesque medieval centre is lovely for a meander (with a double scoop of pistachio and stracciatella gelato, obviously). We had lunch at Trattoria de Toni (trattoriadetoni.it), a charming old restaurant specialising in seafood.
Outside the main town, the beaches are also worth a visit – though, as in much of Italy, each strip of beach is private so you can expect to be charged a fee as well pay for sun loungers and parasols.
One of the best things about this particular corner of Italy is its proximity to two other equally stunning countries. Croatia is doable for a day trip – Istria and the tourist town of Pula with its Roman amphitheatre is under two hours away – and you can almost reach out and touch Slovenia. So we did just that. If we’d had more time, we might have ventured up to Lake Bled and the capital Ljubljana but we opted for a shorter travel time and headed to the beach town of Piran, which turned out to be marvellous. Once part of the Venetian empire, it has echoes of its more well-known relation but without the crowds and eyewatering prices. Head to the waterfront, home to the wonderful Sergej Masera Maritime Museum in Gabrielli Palace (€3.50, pomorskimuzej.si/en/ museum) and an aquarium (€5, aquariumpiran.si).
At the highly recommended Gostilna Park restaurant, we feasted on an amazing fish platter, piled high with sea bream, prawns, sardines, mussels and squid. With plenty of chips and salad, there was easily enough to feed our whole family for €39, with a couple of tasty local Lasko beers.
We couldn’t resist another dip in the sea before our journey back to Italy and another kiddie disco.
With a beer in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other, we watched their antics from the restaurant. La dolce vita continues!
staying in a Puccini Riviera mobile home sleeping up to six. Book by February 28. Save an extra 10 per cent with promo code 19AF10P. Flights extra but can be booked through Al Fresco.
Marina Julia Camping Village in Italy
alfrescoholidays.com, 0044 161 332 8900
For motorway driving in Slovenia you must display a vignette sticker (€15 from a petrol station).
italia.it