We booked our Lake Garda holiday staying at Bella Italia Campsite. Family that went: two adults and three boys aged 11, 8 & 6.

Bella Italia is a very large campsite on the shore of Lake Garda in Italy. We booked through Topflight and they arranged transfers to and from the campsite. The linens & towels, and changes of towels and linens during our 2 week stay were included in our package. We flew in to Verona which was only 45mins away.

Accommodation ranged from the basic (pitches for Tents & Camper Vans) to the more substantial (Mobile Homes, Bungalows & Apartments).

We stayed in a bungalow with 2 bedrooms plus a sleeper sofa in the living area. It had air conditioning which was very important as the temps reached 32oC. The campsite was very well set up with a small supermarket and a few shops. There were lots of bathroom blocks which had laundry and washroom facilities (the bungalow had its own bathroom so I only used the washing machines).

Eating options onsite ranged from 3 restaurants to a snack bar and a pub. We ate in all the restaurants, sometimes we had to wait a bit as they were very busy. I found the food great and the children all ate from the adults menus, (so no chicken nuggets/chips!) which was a big plus.

We only rented a car for the last 4 days  – the rest of the time we either took a bus or a taxi, (reception were willing to call taxis and they usually came quickly).

As the campsite is on the shores of Lake Garda, there are lots of water sports. We rented kayaks, a paddle boat and tried paragliding. There is plenty to do in the campsite including, archery, tennis, table tennis, several playgrounds, bikes to rent, and swimming pools.

There was also a mini club where they could play games & do crafts – but my kids didn’t participate in those. There is a nice walk about of 20 mins along the lake shore to the local town of Peschiera where you can take the ferry to other towns around the lake.

Each evening in the campsite there was a kiddie disco and entertainment show which the kids enjoyed.

Get our best content direct to your inbox! You’ll receive quick and easy recipes, fun ideas to entertain the kids, parenting tips, great competitions, as well as offers from brands we trust.

We took several day trips; one day via train to Verona and then to Venice on a different day.

• Verona – we really enjoyed both Verona and visited Juliet’s House.
• Venice – in Venice, the boys loved the water busses and seeing all the different types boats on the canals.
• Malcesine – we rented a car another day and took a drive up to Malcesine, where we took a cable car up to the top of the mountain. There were fabulous views and felt like something out of The Sound of Music.
• Sirmione – we took the local bus to Sirmione, which is a great little town surrounded by water, with a castle which we visited also. There were lots more towns around the lake we didn’t get a chance to explore.

Gardaland is a nearby theme park. We took the free shuttle bus there and had a great time in the theme park which has lots of different rides and rollercoasters. It is attached to an aquarium which we planned to visit but we never got the chance as we ran out of days.

We also visited Movieland, another theme park which was attached to a water park. The older boys enjoyed the water park and we all went to the Movieland as well, though we felt Gardaland was much better. They still enjoyed the few hours.

The verdict from the kids was thumbs up, their favourite activity was jumping in to the lake and playing around in the water. We would definitely consider returning to the Bella Italia again next year!