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Any recommendations for family friendly towns or resorts near Venice airport (Italy)? (Not looking to stay in Venice itself, that’s just where we could land flights on the dates needed).
Couple and 1 year old, travelling in August. Ideally looking for somewhere with gardens and a pool for the little one to roam around. And a nice town for us to enjoy too!
Looked into Jesolo beach area, any one been / have any recommendations? Or any other ideas greatly appreciated. Happy to hire a car and drive around an hour.
Jesolo is the easiest from VCE airport. Venice Lido is a bit nicer.
I quite liked Verona. Easy day trips to both Venice and Lake Garda.
Jesolo is the easiest from VCE airport. Venice Lido is a bit nicer.
Thanks, have you been to Jesolo? Any recommendations (area to stay, specific hotels, restaurants, things to avoid?)
I quite liked Verona. Easy day trips to both Venice and Lake Garda.
Loved Verona as a couple, but don’t fancy a city style break with the little one. Ideally there’s a resort style area nearby. Worry Jesolo may be too tacky! Inland with a pool would also be great, beach isn’t necessary.
@SteveJ – Padua is a really nice, very classic Italian town, not very touristy, there are quite a lot of hotels in the area with the town itself offering plenty to see as well as restaurants. Also, perhaps the area around Valdobbiadene which is less than an hour from the airport is very beautiful unspoilt wine countryside with quite a lot of smaller hotels which have pools.
Yes Padua is a good recommendation- we have stayed in this Palazzo right in the centre a couple of times.
https://palazzomantuabenavides.com/en/It has a lovely enclosed garden and secure parking – check to see if they take children.
Somewhere else I’ve had on my wish list is the Grand hotel in Rimini which Fellini liked https://www.grandhotelrimini.com/en-GB/offer/federico-fellini-dolce-vita
We stayed in Jesolo this time last year for a couple of nights before moving to an apartment in Venice central.
It was great for us with the kids – big beach, lots of places to stay/eat/easy to wander out at night. Lots of families around. Swam in the sea, splashed in the pool and relaxed (plus a trip to the water park).
It was a last minute stay, as easyJet cancelled our flights and put us on new ones going out a day or two before the original dates- so I did not research hotels too much – just went with what was available and at a price I thought easyJet would compensate(!)
We had one night near Piazza Nember which felt a bit like it was at the “end” of the main tourist road, and one night at Park Hotel Agora (I think from looking at the map) which felt more central in terms of places to wander to.
Just to add – it is definitely more bucket and spade than eg Cannes/Nice.. but all we wanted was to swim and go to the water park, pre Venice, and it fitted the bill.
Thanks all, decisions decisions! Jesolo seems like what I originally had in mind, though I think we’d enjoy Padua more if we can find a decently equipped hotel. Valdobbiadene may be too rustic for our needs, but I guess that will all be hotel dependent.
Lots of great ideas, off to research what hotels available in each spot! @qc unfortunately that Palazzo only accepts kids >8.
@jdb / @qc and others who may have stayed around Padua, how driveable a city is it? I’m considering staying out by Abano Terme as the hotels there seem like what we’d need (pool, grounds etc).
15 minutes drive into Padua seems entirely doable, though like most Italian cities I guess parking may be tough? Seems like a few car parks around and I have no concerns driving in the right streets, so long as I’m able to park!
@SteveJ – I don’t recall it being at all difficult like say Florence or Pisa but the link below has all the current restrictions and towards bottom left of the page also parking.
https://www.padovanet.it/ambiente-e-territorio/ztl-zona-traffico-limitato
In Padua I think the car parks are outside the city centre and there is a barrier that you need a ticket to get through – at least there was one just outside the city centre near the Palazzo we stayed in. As we had parking there we didn’t use any other parking.
Sometimes the big wooden doors in to the Palazzo Mantua Benevides are open you could wander in to the courtyard to have a look at the largest stone statue in Europe Hercules by Bartolommeo Ammanati https://www.italianartsociety.org/2017/06/sculptor-and-architectural-designer-bartolomeo-ammanati-was-born-18-june-1511-in-settignano-a-village-near-florence/- the Benevides family still live there but there is normally no one around but if they are they are lovely. Tell them I sent you😂😂
You should buy tickets in advance for the Scrovegni chapel – it’s a world heritage site.
@SteveJ – I don’t recall it being at all difficult like say Florence or Pisa but the link below has all the current restrictions and towards bottom left of the page also parking.
Looks good, parking isn’t miles out, as expected the closer the parking the pricier, which is fair. Lots of options which is the main point. Thanks @jdb
Thanks @qc for the suggestions and advice re pre booking.
@SteveJ – I don’t recall it being at all difficult like say Florence or Pisa but the link below has all the current restrictions and towards bottom left of the page also parking.
https://www.padovanet.it/ambiente-e-territorio/ztl-zona-traffico-limitato
Looks good, parking isn’t miles out, as expected the closer the parking the pricier, which is fair. Lots of options which is the main point. Thanks @jdb
Thanks @qc for the suggestions and advice re pre booking.
Mini trip report following all the advice received here.
We ended up spending a week in the Spa town of Abano Terme, 15 minutes or so out of Padova (€110 hotel arranged taxi ride from Venice Marco Polo). Abano itself is a relatively sleepy resort town, built entirely around the thermal waters abundant in the area. All the hotels have pools fed by the cooled thermal waters and the pools are at a very comfortable 30-34° and not sulphurous like some thermal pools we’ve been to before. Perfect for us, a couple with a 1 year old.
We stayed at the Abano Grand Hotel, lovely pools and Gardens, dated but classicly styled rooms that had a certain charm to them. If you’re after ultra modern hotels this is not the town for you. The hotel and the town as a whole is frequented by an older spa focused crowd and the odd Instagram influencer wannabe types (i.e. constant selfies in the pool and grounds), also meaning no pre teens or teens running around the pool (at our hotel at least) and a lot of smiles and cooing for our little one.
Spent a day in Padova which indeed is a charming little town, visited the main tourist sites of the Scrovegni Chapel and the Basilica and spent a lovely few hours in the massive and beautiful Prato Della valle square having a picnic (conveniently placed supermarket at the southern end of the square).
Hired a car for the last few days to venture into the Euganei hills and had a few nice lunches and some wine tasting as well as a very scenic drive.
All in all a wonderful trip, I can definitely see us revisiting this part of Italy again, probably with a car for the whole time to explore the hills region some more. There’s a few spa towns dotted around these hills if we wanted to mix it up.
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