/ TAG / OCTOBER HALF TERM

We review a family stay at Bella Italia holiday park on Lake Garda in Italy

We review a family stay at Bella Italia holiday park on Lake Garda in Italy

We stay in a mobile home at this campsite in Peschiera del Garda

Name

Campeggio Bella Italia.

Where is it?

On the shores of Lake Garda, at the bottom right of the lake, in Peschiera del Garda. Lake Garda (Lago di Garda), the largest lake in Italy, is in the north of Italy between Venice and Milan.

What is it?

It is a large holiday park with mobile homes, apartments, bungalows and camping pitches.

Is it family friendly?

There are little playgrounds/play parks, swimming pools and slides (not open out of season), a children’s club for 4-12 year-olds, as well as evening entertainment like mini-discos.

The site is good for riding bikes, walking and backs on to the lake which you can swim in during warmer weather.

Sport-wise, you can play tennis, football, basketball, beach volleyball and table tennis. And during the summer, guests can do water activities on the lake.

A girl plays on the beach at Bella Italia at Lake Garda

Accommodation

There are four types of mobile home here – we stayed in a Girasole Suite.

It slept six, with three small bedrooms, a kitchen/diner and bathroom with good-sized shower.

Girasole Suite at Campeggio Bella Italia at Lake Garda

Girasole Suite

The kitchen had a hob (no oven), microwave and fridge/freezer. Towels and bedding are provided in the Girasole Suite properties only.

The kitchen diner at our mobile home at Campeggio Bella Italia

There was a sofa bench on one side of the dining table and a TV (no English channels on ours). Outside the mobile home, there was a decked area with table and chairs plus parking space for a car.

A bedroom at our mobile home at Campeggio Bella Italia

It also had a heater/air conditioning unit and the warmth from it was very welcome when we stayed.

Food and drink

There are four restaurants on site and the prices are very reasonable. We ate twice at Le Terrazze, overlooking the lake.

At a restaurant overlooking Lake Garda at Bella Italia campsite

There is also Corte Riga, which has an almost identical menu to Le Terrazze but offers a takeaway option, Trattoria Bella Italia and a diner and takeaway cafe offering fish and chips and burgers which has an ice cream parlour attached.

Nearby

*The lake – the site is on the southern banks of Lake Garda. There are exits on to the shallow pebbly beach and a small pier where you can walk down steps into the lake for a swim.

Lake Garda beach

*It’s a 15-minute walk along the lake to the town, Peschiera del Garda, where you can shop, eat or catch a ferry.

*Gardaland theme park is a 10-minute drive.

*Verona is less than half an hour a way and we had hired a car so visited this city which was the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. For our top tips on what to do with children in Verona, read our guide: What to do with children in Verona

*There are other lovely towns around the lake you can visit by car or ferry – we tried Sirmione, Lazise and Garda.

One of the towns around Lake Garda from the ferry

*Supermarkets – there is an Aldi and Lidl nearby, handy if you have a car and want to stock up.

Our highlights

*The park was lovely and quiet as we visited at October half-term in the last week before the site closed for the winter.

*The ice cream parlour – we sampled a LOT of ice cream in different towns on this trip and the ice cream from here was our favourite. Great to walk to for a leisurely dessert after a meal too.

*The park’s position next to the beautiful lake.

*The children’s areas which open in the evening – a little fair and another part with a bouncy castle and bouncy slide.

Combined with evening entertainment and mini-discos, there is a lot to do after dark.

There is also a games room/arcade.

*The choice of restaurants and good-priced range of food.

We ate at Le Terrazze where a child’s pizza was only 4 euros and a plate of adult pasta around 8 euros.

restaurant at Bella Italia campsite/holiday park, Lke Garda, Italy

*The swimming pools and water slides here look amazing. We sadly didn’t get to experience them as we visited out of season and they were closed.

*There are sports facilities like tennis courts and beach volleyball courts plus you can hire bikes.

*The distance from Verona airport – about a 25-minute drive.

Other information

*You can do water activities at the park’s Waterski Centre between May and mid-September. For an extra fee you can try parasailing, paraflying, a banana boat and more.

*You pay extra for wi-fi.

*You pay extra for bedding and towels.

*If your children will be going in the lake, take beach shoes as it is pebbly.

Address

Campeggio Bella Italia, Via Bell Italia 2, Peschiera del Garda 37019

For more information visit the Campeggio Bella Italia website.

Disclaimer: We were provided with complimentary accommodation for the purposes of this review. All opinions are out honestly held views.

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October half-term and Halloween fun – read our guide to the best events and attractions around England

October half-term and Halloween fun – read our guide to the best events and attractions around England

We round-up some of the best half-term and Halloween 2019 events happening around the country

Cornwall

Eden Project

There is a lot happening at the Eden Project for half-term and Halloween between October 19 and November 3, including a puppet cabaret show, a spooky woodland, web-weaving workshops and the chance to create potions in the Eden Cottage.

There will also be ice-skating, pumpkin-carving, an Owl Sanctuary and spooky tales read by professional storytellers.

And there will be a Halloween Disco: Little Monsters’ Ball on October 26.

For more information click here.

Flambards

The Cornish theme park Flambards has science shows and pumpkin trails.

Junior scientists can enjoy slime-making workshops.

And Flambards’ Victorian Village hosts a spooky pumpkin quiz trail.

Plus on October 23, the theme park is staying open late to stage a Halloween Firework Spectacular.

Fireworks at Flambards

Fireworks at Flambards

For more information click here.

Blackpool

Blackpool is a popular destination at this time of year thanks to its famous illuminations.

This free nightly display along the entire length of the promenade – which runs until November 3 – attracts more than three million visitors to the area every year.

But there is plenty more going on as well over half-term including the town’s Lightpool Festival which offers more free entertainment between October 11 and 26.

Blackpool Carvinal of Lights

Blackpool Carvinal of Lights

This features performance and light-based art installations, including a replica planet Earth in The Blackpool Tower Ballroom, the world premiere of a large-scale Sun in the Winter Gardens and a display of giant illuminated see-saws in the town centre.

Blackpool Tower Projections is also taking place – where Blackpool Tower is bathed in a sea of light, colour and sound as multi-media shows are projected on to the building (from now until November 3).

And there are other shows including Carnival Magic – a puppet and dance show featuring fire breathing robots and a 20-piece band, on October 25 and Pyronix – this Belgian performance group will do a music and fire show on October 26.

For more information click here.

Kent

Dover Castle promises visitors they can descend into a tunnel of terror, and meet a ghost or two on spooky tours over half-term.

Visitors will also be able to have a go at making a menacing mask or witch’s cat to take home.

Events run from October 19 to 27 between 10am and 4pm, for more information click here.

Hampshire

Marwell Zoo in Winchester is putting on a monster trail around its large 140-acre site. Visitors must track down 12 hidden monsters around the zoo, including a panteater, spitopotamus and a scary scornbill.

There is also broomstick-flying with Marwell’s resident and wise old wizard Lowedolf, spooky story telling and optional extras such as wand decorating or monster making for £1 each. The special events are on from October 26 to  November 3.

Read our review of the zoo here.

Paultons Park will have more than 4,000 pumpkins, ghostly scenes, spooky meet and greets, Freaky Fancy Dress competition and a Little Monsters Ball finale to finish each day.

And there is a new Legend of Paultons Manor theatrical show featuring spectacular illusions and slapstick comedy. Book online here.

Oxfordshire

Blenheim Palace has half-term Halloween events from October 26 to November 3. There are train rides through a terrifying tunnel, performances in the Great Court and spooky stories in the Cinema.

In addition, the palace has a scarecrow trail for small children and is bringing statues to life inside the Palace.

On November 1, there is a new laser and lighting show in the Great Courtyard, set to music from Star Wars ‘Deep Space and Beyond’. Limited tickets are available, see the website.

Birmingham

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is hosting a Monster Madness Party on Wednesday, October 30, with music, dancing, activities, ghoulish games and prizes. The party runs from 1.45pm to 3.30pm.

Spooky Science Night at Thinktank

Spooky Science Night at Thinktank

At Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, there is a Spooky Science Night on October 31 where you can visit the museum after-hours and try eerie experiments, a silent disco and take in the Science of Fright show.

Thinktank also has Halloween activities throughout the half term week. For more information see the website.