Barcelona isn’t just a thrill for adults — stay in a holiday park nearby and everyone’s happy
Formula for family fun
THAT looks like icing,’ said my 12-year-old son Freddie, peering at the entrance to Park Guell in Barcelona. He was referring to the intricate swirly architecture that runs the length of the park Antoni Gaudi designed for his benefactor eusebi Guell. The buildings and monuments that give the Catalonian capital its unique character are particularly appealing to children. For parents, this provides another great reason to head to Barcelona for a city break.
After years of campsites, theme parks and children’s entertainment, we felt we’d ‘earned’ the right to something more adult.
Would it work for Freddie and his ten-yearold twin siblings Bobby and Loulou?
To lessen the shock for our children, we stayed in a holiday park but substituted visits to the kids club and pool with trips into Barcelona and nearby Sitges.
Our base for the week was a three-bedroom mobile home run by Al Fresco Holidays in Costa Dorado’s Vilanova Park, near the town of Vilanova i la Geltru, and 50km from Barcelona.
The park was similar to several others we’ve enjoyed in France — clusters of chalets and caravans, dotted along ‘avenues’ in a campsite complete with pool, bar and restaurant.
It was also suitably ‘Spanish’ in character, with a central plaza, lots of trees, and all laid out on a hillside. Al Fresco reps ‘ Hev n Kev’ ran a mini reception stocked with bats, balls and games.
But the real bonus of Vilanova Park was the excellent bus service that stopped just outside the site. Not only did airport buses stop there, but every half hour a bus to Barcelona (via Sitges) picked up passengers.
The city centre was 50 minutes, door-to- door, so we made the trip twice. It was cheap, too — the campsite sold bus tickets in books of 10 for 35 euros, which meant the entire family could make the return journey for a little over £30. A book of ten tickets to Sitges, a 20-minute journey, was 16 euros.
The open-topped bus tour in Barcelona was expensive, by contrast — 30 euros for a day. But this was a painless way of sightseeing with fairly young children. And the buildings are so striking that you can view several from the road without paying the entrance fees.
We alighted at Gaudi’s famous unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, and marvelled at the craftsmanship. The city has vowed to finish the monument in time for the 100-year anniversary of Gaudi’s death, in 2026.
We also spent an hour or so at Park Guell, which Gaudi designed as a housing estate and where he also lived.
OTHer big hits included the Barcelona football stadium, Las ramblas and department store el Corte Ingles. A friend had told us about the store’s ninth-floor cafe with panoramic views of the city, and this proved the ideal dinner spot, with affordable tapas and churros along with the usual child-friendly dishes.
We could have stayed in Barcelona until after 10pm and still caught a bus back, but we were exhausted and keen to see Sitges the following day.
With its pretty beach and winding streets, the seaside town proved just as big a hit with our children. On our penultimate day, we squeezed in another town visit — to Vilanova i la Geltru, 10 minutes on the bus in the opposite direction. Its own mini ini ramblas came to o life at 5pm when the local schoolchildren emerged.
Satiated with culture, we were happy to mooch around the campsite on the final day. The children braved the outdoor pool and slide, then joined us in the indoor spa, which is free Monday-Friday and has a lovely pool, hot tub and sauna.
In the evening, we tried the delightful campsite restaurant — with a warm and welcoming atmosphere, a huge menu including paella, calamari and moules, along with pizza, and an adjoining bar with entertainment. All that remained was a gentle stroll down the hill back to our mobile home, with the satisfaction that, yes, we could manage a city break with family in tow.