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Can you have a Mediterranean style family beach holiday with a caravan?

Posted by Gav Grayston.
First Published Sept 2017; updated May 2023.

Just how far could you go with your caravan? A summer holiday by the beach in southern Europe perhaps?


'Can you have a Mediterranean-style family beach holiday with a caravan?' Well, that's the question we tried to answer.

The Caravan

We've been loaned Casper the caravan, a Compass Casita 586 family caravan, for just over a year now. The Camping and Caravanning Club had given us a challenge of visiting Treasure Houses and Gardens around the UK.

So we're feeling like more seasoned caravanners than when we first started.

However, we haven't had a chance to use the caravan as a base for a longer stay at a campsite.

And that's something we think a caravan should be great for.

With the summer holidays approaching, the next obvious caravan challenge was *** Could we have a beach holiday in the south of Europe, but using the caravan instead of flying and staying in a hotel, apartment, or villa?***

Finding where to go

caravan with windows open

With all the windows open, the caravan stayed quite cool

So where to go? Europe is a big place.

The Camping and Caravanning Club has a travel service that helps you book campsites abroad for caravans and motorhomes, so we started searching their travel website for ideas.

We only had two weeks off work

We only had two weeks off work, and our destinations would be limited by the distances involved. We wanted to take the kids to as many countries as possible and still have at least a week by the hot southern European coast.

The Destination

Looking at the options available, we decided to go back to a campsite we had been to before: Camping Ca'Savio in Italy.

So, with the destination set, it was time to start planning the trip in more detail. Just how were we going to get from our historic hometown in the heart of the UK to the historic and world-famous floating city of Venice.... with a caravan in tow!

the grand canal at Venice

Are you interested in doing a similar trip with your family? Then read our full series on our European Caravanning trip.

Read the series