Recently returned from a stay at this camp site after spending a wonderful week in the care of Bolero Holidays.
I don’t where to start in describing what a great experience I had on this holiday. I’ll try and start with my view of the Union Lido Campsite, (It’s not really a campsite but a holiday destination).
Union Lido is a sprawling camp site set on the Cavallino Peninsula near Venice. The site is fronted by a private Blue Flag beach which is very roomy and gives a good impression of space. Another positive about the beach is that there a numerous lifeguards around the beach and also positioned off land in boats. The sea and beach are extremely clean and are served by mobile refreshment carriages if you fancy cooling down with an Ice Lolly.
The site has a fair representation of tourist from around Europe including Germany, Scandinavia, Italy, Spain and the British Isles. The big emphasis on families appears to be norm here. The more dominant tourist group appear to be from Germany and Scandinavia. This adds to the cosmopolitan feels about the place and also the atmosphere. I saw no evidence of anti-social behaviour, dare I say, which is more common from my own countrymen.
Union Lido provide so many activities for its guest that they are too numerous to mention including Archery, football, tennis. These activities were too energetic for my liking so I took to the relaxing type actives like lying on the beach or poolside and relaxing. It is of note to mention that the place observe the strict siesta time where it almost shuts from the hours of 1pm to 3pm and from 11pm to 7am.
In the centre of the site is Union Piazza which has open air shows in the evening including singing and dancing. On Monday there was a terrific firework display off the beach all played to a background of wonderful well known classical Italian music. You can also catch 'The Candy Train', as my kids called it. This train circles the site and gives the kids a chance to high five the other holiday makers as they pass them. Great fun for a Euro.
There are four swimming complexes. Two being free to use and two attracting additional cost. We only used the free complexes, Aqua Park Mare and Aqua Park Laguna. They both have the equipment that appeal to children and adults alike including slides, easy river, bubbles, waves, etc. We preferred the Mare Complex as it was near the Bolero Homes felt that the Laguna was more geared towards teens. The Laguna also had some sort of synthetic sand around and in the pool which was at times uncomfortable under foot.
The Union Lido staffs were helpful and informative. They all spoke many languages and this was indicated by the flags of language they spoke which appeared on their name badges.
One thing about the place I can’t stress enough about the place is how clean and tidy it is. Believe me when I say it’s absolutely spotless. Whoever runs the hygiene department should be recruited to oversee the cleanup of our dirty British Hospitals. The best thing about them is that you never seem to see the staff cleaning. It’s like they are clean all the time. Also the place is sprayed for Mosquitoes which still found a meal from my legs.
Now we come to Bolero Holidays. The place is managed by John, his wife and their wonderful staff. I found them to be attentive and helpful. John was full useful advice and was good source of information if you had any doubts.
Bolero is located pretty centrally and in quite possible the best location. It was close to the beach, toilets and showers, pools, supermarket and fast food outlets. The homes are also near the Iconic water tower which helps you find your way if you get lost.
The homes were clean and tidy. The air condition was excellent, and in my opinion, a must as the temperatures were high, even during the night. Outside the home we ate on a regular basis which added to the holiday feels. There are also sun lounges to relax on and drink the cheap local plonk.
We found out late in the week that Bolero offers a kids clubs. They take your child for a couple of hours a day giving you time to chill out.
Bolero also have a good supply of beach equipment such as chairs, umbrellas, inflatable so no need to bring your own. This helps to avoid the €10 charge for the Union Lido beach chairs.
If you plan to spend a day in Venice then you buy your bus and boat tickets from the site information office or the hotel on the main road. Remember, you cannot by from the bus driver and tickets bought must be validated by sliding them into a machine which stamps and clips the tickets.
You take the regular bus service to the terminus and ferry port known as Punto Sabioni and catch either local authority boat or go on the private company, ‘Marco Polo’, boat which actually costs less. I would not recommend taking small children as my kids were not really interested and the bus journey home ended up a bit of free for all as hundreds of tourist rushed for the buses. I would however, recommend (again on the advice of John) to go on the trip known as ‘Venice by Night’. This ran the night after and proved to be a much more relaxed occasion. If you eat in Venice try some of the back street restaurants as they were very reasonable.
We ate on a number of occasions off site and found them to be cheaper. However, the site has too numerous to mention restaurants and fast food outlets. The Pizza take away was very reasonable, charging €10 for a huge family size Margarita.
It is worth of note to mention our Journey back to Marco Polo Airport. You can either book a Taxi at around €100 or catch the bus at €4.30 per passenger and €2.30 for two suitcase. We caught the bus which involved change at Lido Di Jesolo, changing just involves crossing the platform at a very modern bus station. The bus to Jesolo is a local type with not much room for the suitcases, if this bus is full you may struggle. However, the bus to the airport is large and roomy with cases that go in a luggage hold.
We found our stay here to be reasonable cheap. There is so much to do for little or no cost. I have stayed on Holiday home sites at home. Although I find them OK they can be an enormous drain of the pocket, mainly due to the Arcades that drain your pocket. At union Lido there is only one which is at the entrance and not near hand.
Sorry for the long winded review but in summery Bolero and Union Lido are great for families, great for the beach, great for food and a great place for a holiday.
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