The family holiday with a secret pool, water park, beach, rides, and even wine on TAP!
Joanna Lovell travelled to Italy for a budget family holiday with Eurocamp and shares her top tips for everything you need to know about camping holidays
When the kids find a secret pool, hidden away from the main swimming complex, and could also enjoy an on-site water park, rides and the beach at their fingertips – PLUS I found wine and Aperol spritz on TAP – it's easy to see why we all LOVED our holiday with Eurocamp.
We've stayed with Eurocamp in both Spain and France in the past, and this time we flew to northern Italy to stay at Pra Delle Torri in Veneto near Caorle – a seaside village overlooking the Ardian sea.
We genuinely couldn't fault our action-packed, yet ultra-relaxing holiday and would 100% return.
Why choose Eurocamp?
So, why do we choose Eurocamp? There are many reasons; it's one price per party, not per person, the kids get their own bedrooms, you're guaranteed a terrace at your accommodation, you can hand-pick what you want from your resort (activities, the beach, city-break, etc), it's great value for money ... the list goes on.
They're billed as 'camping holidays' and at first this put me off as when I think of camping I think of tents, but I don't class mobile homes as 'camping'. (Although you can camp in a tent if you want), but there's plenty of accommodation choices to suit all budgets.
And on a Eurocamp holiday you get a real sense of outdoor freedom and fun, which you just don't get on the big fancy all-inclusive holidays. Honestly, what's not to like?
What to expect at Pra Delle Torri, Italy
There are several reasons this holiday village stood out to me at the time at booking and what a brilliant parc it is.
Firstly, it's right on the beach, so you can leave the parc via secured doors that lead straight to the sand, it's all very secure, with wristband entry to get back into the parc.
Secondly the pool complex is amazing – billed as one of the most spectacular pool complexes in Europe.
Firstly, there's a HUGE laguna pool which is absolutely ideal for toddlers and younger children, an Olympic sized pool, a pirate-themed lagoon, the one we called the 'secret' pool because it was tucked away and no one else seemed to ever visit it, and there's also the water park which has 6 water slides.. All are free to access to Eurocamp guests.
It's the best Eurocamp best holiday village we've ever visited. Our boys loved playing football with others on the 3G pitch, our daughter loved the inflatable village, and we all loved the secret pool, amazing food and lazing on the sandy beach. One thing to note is that you need swimming caps to swim in the pools, it's not negotiable.
Highlights include:
- A great animation programme including evening shows, sports tournaments, talent competitions and theme nights
- Mini rollercoasters, go-karts and a paid-for kids zone
- 6 water slides
- A fantastic 18 hole golf course overlooking the sea
- Kids clubs
- Children's discos and disco for 16+
On site you'll find two bars, pedalo hire, a pharmacy, a bazaar, a newsagent, a hairdressers and a gift shop. And while our mobile home didn't have WiFi, it was available in main areas on the parc.
Related articles
Pra Delle Torri – need to know
Shopping
The supermarket on site is large and probably has most things you will need, but being on site, it is more expensive.
The highlight of this shop for me personally was discovering the wine and Aperol Spritz taps at the back! Simply buy a plastic bottle, fill them up and then bring your bottles back to fill up, only paying for the bottles once. They were only a few euros for a litre of wine!
For our 'big shop', we walked to the Alìper supermarket which took a good 45 minutes. It's brilliant though, absolutely huge and sells everything from food and drink to clothes and inflatables. We timed it right to get the local bus back (an air-conditioned coach) which stops right outside the entrance to the parc.
Nearest town
The nearest town is Carole and it's a must. It's absolutely buzzing! It's known as "little Venice" and has loads of lovely restaurants and shops.
There's a bus which comes to the campsite reception and takes you into the beautiful little town. The bus stop is right in the middle of the town to bring you back.
Day trips
In the Eurocamp reception on site you will find all the information you need about things going on both on and off-site. They also have the bus times.
Lido di Jesolo is about 12km away, a thriving town that was purpose-built for tourism with a host of restaurants, take-aways and galleries.
Take a boat across the lagoon to spend a day in Venice, the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'.
Closer to the parc are water park Aqualandia, and Jesolandia amusement park where you can have fun on various rides and have a go at go-karting.
Sunbeds
You need to book your sunbed for both by the pool and on the beach in advance – not via Eurocamp, but via the Pra Delle Torri holiday village website using this link.
For 2023, charges apply from May 18 to 15 September. So, if you're going in say August, you want to log on when bookings open in May!
Bookings on this site for one space are complete with two sunbeds and a parasol. We found 2 sunbeds between 5 was enough because the kids were mainly in the pool anyway.
There's one main advantage and one main disadvantage with this system.
On the plus side, it's a REALLY good way of doing things because there's no towel reserving or getting up extra early for the 'best spot'. You could have a lazy morning and arrive at your sunbed after lunch and it would still be yours – all day.
You don't need to get any sort of pass, just have your booking on your phone or printed out for when they pop to check throughout the day.
The main disadvantage is that if you've not been before, you won't know your preferred spot! I had a good look online and booked most days at the laguna pool, in different locations around it as I could imagine my kids splashing around in there.
However, when we arrived, it turned out the Laguna pool is only knee-deep, so they couldn't swim in it, and being 12, 11 and 9, they actually preferred the Olympic pool.
I'd not booked any beds around this one as I envisaged it as lane swimming, but it was also a fun pool with jumping blocks which my kids absolutely loved!
Check-out
Check-out of your accommodation is 10am on the day of your departure.
Pra Delle Torri allows guests to stay on-parc until 12 noon, however if you wish to check-out of the parc later on your departure day, you will be required to purchase a day pass, which allows you to stay on and use the facilities between 12 noon and 3pm.
Day passes are arranged with and payable directly to the parc.
What's the Eurocamp accommodation like?
Again, there's plenty to choose from, to suit every budget.
The different type of holiday homes include:
- The Classic range – the entry level for families – described as being 'a great value base with all you need'
- The Comfort range – described as being 'practical, bright and welcoming'
- The Azure range – another level up, described as being 'well-appointed with a fresh outlook'
- The Aspect range – the top of the range models – described as having 'large inviting interiors with style to spare'
There are also classic and safari tents.
Each holiday home range also has its own levels, so with the Comfort range for example, there's the Comfort, Comfort Vista and Comfort XL.
Every time we've been, we've stayed in an Azure Plus holiday home (the best in the Azure range). I'll be totally honest, they are basic, there's no getting away from that. They're not like the big luxurious static caravans we have in this country.
However, we spend VERY little time inside our holiday home when we go away.
Also, the beauty of these homes are that they have their own decking with doors that open out from the kitchen, with enough seating for everyone, so even when we were at our mobile home, we were mainly outside.
We stayed in a three-bedroom home, one has a double bed, one has bunks and the other has twin beds. The bedrooms are really quite small, but they're adequate. There's one bathroom and a fully equipped kitchen.
Top tips for a successful Eurocamp holiday
- Search on Facebook for the name of your campsite – if there's a group you can join I can guarantee people who have been before will have left loads of advice
- Check to see if you need to pre-book your sunbeds before you go
- Check your holiday home has air conditioning if the weather is going to be hot
- Book activities in advance if there's the option
- If you're flying, remember to add the bedding and towels option to save on your luggage allowance
- Check if you're able to get WiFi in your holiday home (if that's a deal-breaker)
- Book early to guarantee the accommodation of your choice, you can then pay in instalments
- Use Eurocamp to book your travel – they will get it cheaper than you can, for both flights and ferry travel
- Take a picnic blanket to use by the pool incase you can't get a sunbed
Item's you're bound to forget (but will need) on a Eurocamp holiday
- A fly squatter
- Citronella candles to repel the mosquitos and mosquito bands
- Extension leads (so you don't need as many European sockets)
- Blackout curtain for the little ones' rooms
- Sandwich bag fasteners
- Pegs to hang your swimwear out to dry
- Nightlight for the kids' rooms
- Tea towel
- Kids' drinks bottles
- Swimming caps – needed at some parcs
The best thing about Eurocamp is that you pay one price per party – for the accommodation, you don't pay per person.
And, Eurocamp has accommodation and prices to suit all budgets.
Our holiday with Eurocamp cost just over £2,000 – which for a family of 5 is around £400 each.
We flew with a budget airline flights and paid a total of £740 – working out at £148 each. I booked in the January for our August trip and they got more expensive as the months went on.
From 1 May prices start at £381.25 for 2 adults and 2 children sharing an Azure Cosy at this parc.
How do I choose where to go?
Eurocamp have 148 parcs in 9 countries to choose from, so whether you want activities, on the beach, in a city or peace and quiet, there really is somewhere for all families, but the vast choice does make it a difficult decision.
I start by having a browse on the Eurocamp site, saving my favourites, then book direct for the best service.
There's a handy tool on the Eurocamp homepage, that asks you to choose three of nine options to help whittle it down. Options include: near a beach, splash parcs, waterslides, near an airport, near a city, fun station kids club, near a ferry port, spas and car optional.
Still can't decide? Eurocamp have holiday specialists who can plan your holiday for you, so let them hunt down the perfect match for you!
How do I get there?
Handily, on the Eurocamp website, for each holiday park it lists the nearest airports and ports. You may chose to fly and hire a car, or as we did when we went to France, you may choose to take your car and travel via ferry.
Eurocamp can book your travel, too – whether you're flying or going by ferry – the company can secure huge discounts, so do book third-party travel via Eurocamp.
On our Italy trip we flew from Manchester Airport to Treviso and paid for a private transfer (pre-booked online) there are plenty to choose from.
The cheaper option would have been to get the local bus, which stops right outside the entrance to the parc, but we were landing late so I booked a taxi.
We have a family rule that we don't visit the same place twice, as it's a big world to discover, but I can genuinely say Pra Delle Torri gave us everything we needed in a holiday and more, so much so, I may break our return-visit rule as I think we will struggle to beat it!
* Joanna Lovell was a guest of Eurocamp. All views her own.