Eurocamp Holiday Review: Camping Valle Gaia, Tuscany, Italy

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If you’re looking for a fun family holiday to Italy on a budget – this Eurocamp Holiday Review is all about Camping Village Valle Gaia (in Tuscany, Italy). I’ve included our experiences, photos, details about the Eurocamp accommodation, what there is to do locally (including sight-seeing in Florence and Pisa, theme / water parks and visiting the beach), driving time from Calais, the closest airport and everything else that you need to know about this lovely holiday park. We always try to travel on a small budget, so if you’re looking to explore the UK and Europe with the kids (in an affordable way!) then have a browse around my blog for loads of money saving tips and budget family holiday reviews. And if you have any recommendations, please let me know – I’m always planning our next trip! (You can follow our travels on Instagram too!)

Holiday: September 2020 (Updated 2025)

Camping Village Valle Gaia Review

In September 2020, we embarked on a budget road trip around Northern / Central Italy with the kids, using Eurocamp sites as cheap bases to hop between. After beginning at Camping Cisano San Vito in Lake Garda, and then moving on to Camping Fabulous Village in Rome, our final campsite on the trip was Camping Village Valle Gaia in Tuscany. We really enjoyed our week at Camping Village Valle Gaia which was a brilliant campsite, whilst also giving us a great base for a day trip to Florence and for visiting the local beaches. By this point we were at the end of September – and we had some crazy storms of a night time – but the weather was still gorgeous during the day thank goodness! So let me tell you all about our final stop at Camping Village Valle Gaia – with my full review of this part of our Eurocamp adventure in Tuscany, Italy.

What was Camping Village Valle Gaia like?

Camping Village Valle Gaia was the smallest of the campsites that we visited in Italy – it had a quiet, relaxed, family-feel about it, and there were hardly any people around during our stay. Amazingly, despite its size, it had several swimming pools and an enormous free play area which was absolutely brilliant for the kids! Finn and Lola loved playing there in the evenings, when it had cooled down a little, and often had it completely to themselves. It was such a great addition to the campsite – for a holiday with kids is there anything more perfect than a play area like this?!

The campsite offers sports and a kids club, so there’s plenty to do despite it being a quieter site. Camping Village Valle Gaia also boasts a pizzeria, if you want a break from cooking, and the surrounding area is very rural and peaceful. You’ll want a car for exploring – there’s lots to do within a short drive (more on that below) but no public transport. This holiday park is best enjoyed with a hire car, or as part of a family road trip, so that you can make the most of the region too.

What was the swimming pool like?

There were a few swimming pools at Camping Village Valle Gaia which worked really well. There were deeper, more adult friendly pools, and then a children’s pool which was a great swimming depth but also allowed them to stand up and play safely. Behind this pool was a slide going into a smaller pool, and Finn and Lola spent hours on it! This campsite didn’t have lots of big waterslides, like some of the other resorts that we’ve visited, but it certainly kept them entertained anyway!

Because there were different pool options, it meant that we didn’t feel like we were annoying those without kids who wanted to swim in the larger pool. With the campsite so quiet for the end of the season, Finn and Lola had the kids’ pool to themselves most of the time – which they loved! We thought we would need swimming caps, as they are often required in Italy, but they weren’t needed here which was great as they’re a bit uncomfortable!

Local Area: What is there to do near Camping Village Valle Gaia?

Spend a day in Florence

Camping Village Valle Gaia was in easy reach of the beautiful city of Florence which made for a fantastic day out on a day when it was a bit drizzly and overcast. There we climbed the many steps to the top of Piazzale Michelangelo which gave us the most stunning view over the whole city and was definitely a highlight of our trip. We found the traditional buildings and cobbled streets of Florence completely enchanting, and I would highly recommend a visit if you holiday in Tuscany. We loved it there – it was around a 90 minute drive from Camping Village Valle Gaia but it was definitely worth the effort.

We parked just outside of the city and took a tram into the centre – which was only a few euros. There are loads of free things to do in Florence, it’s so easy to have a budget-friendly day trip with the kids. As well as visiting Piazzale Michelangelo (my favourite place in Florence!), you can visit the magnificent Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and cross the infamous Ponte Vecchio Bridge all without spending a penny. We found that Florence was actually a really easy place to visit on a budget – we took a picnic with us and barely spent a penny the whole day! For more info, and a full family itinerary, check out my article: How to spend a day in Florence on a budget with kids.

Have fun on the Tuscan beaches

This sandy beach was a short drive from Camping Village Valle Gaia, so we enjoyed a beach day and it gave us a change of scenery after the amount of time we’d spent in swimming pools during the trip! Tuscany is a good blend of coastal areas and countryside – so you can have the best of both worlds! There are some lovely beaches in the area and we had a brilliant day.

Climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa is about a 50 minute drive from Camping Village Valle Gaia so we had a quick pit stop there as we headed back towards Aosta on our way home. Though we couldn’t climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa as Lola was too young (kids have to be eight years old to climb it) we did have a wander around and get the classic ‘hold it up’ tourist photo! 😆

Visit other local attractions

Not only is Camping Village Valle Gaia in a fantastic spot for exploring the Tuscan countryside, spending days at the beach and visiting fabulous cities like Florence and Pisa, there’s actually loads to do in the local area too. We didn’t have the budget for theme parks on this trip, but if you’ve got some little thrill-seekers you might also want to visit Aqua Village Waterpark – it’s just a 15 minute drive from the campsite. Or head to Cavallino Matto – a nearby theme park – with tamer rides, shows and big rollercoasters! For a more cultural day out Volterra is a beautiful town steeped in history, and around a 45 minute drive away if you fancy an interesting day trip.

Was the accommodation good?

We booked a Comfort holiday home (known as Classic from 2024) through Eurocamp and unfortunately it was the worst holiday home of the trip. Our comfort range accommodation (which was supposed to be a step up from the Classic holiday home that we stayed in at the start of our holiday at Cisano San Vito campsite in Lake Garda) was old and grubby, and the oven didn’t work either. But, don’t panic, the Eurocamp rep on-site was a lovely older gent and he totally came to our rescue. He informed us that our accommodation was supposed to have been replaced that year but hadn’t been due to the pandemic, and agreed that it wasn’t up to standard.

The rep rang his boss, and Eurocamp gifted us €100 for a meal out as an apology for the broken oven (as we couldn’t be moved straight away) and we were then relocated to a brand new holiday home as soon as it became available. Our free meal out was actually a lovely break from cooking and we went crazy on huge plates of pasta and too much pudding! 😂 We randomly picked a traditional Italian family hotel restaurant for our meal, and the people were just gorgeous with the kids, despite not speaking much English.

The Azure holiday home (known as Comfort / Premium from 2024) that we were upgraded to was brand new for that season so it was all very well presented and clean. With this accommodation there were extras such as a toaster and a plug in kettle (rather than a hob kettle) and a posher decking area too. Despite a disappointing start to this stretch of the holiday, we ended up loving our accommodation and honestly can’t fault how well the Eurocamp rep dealt with the situation. He was such a lovely guy and definitely went out of his way to make it up to us. Here are some photos of our upgraded accommodation which had three bedrooms, a central kitchen and dining area, a shower room and a separate toilet:

For more info on the accommodation options, and to find out what to pack / what’s included, read my post: Eurocamp Holidays: Which accommodation should I choose? What’s included?

What facilities are on site at Camping Village Valle Gaia?

As we travelled during covid, there wasn’t any scheduled entertainment so I’m not able to comment on that. But the site was clean and well run, and the staff were friendly. Our Eurocamp Rep at Valle Gaia was a lovely English man – and he couldn’t have been more fabulous when we needed help.
We always self-cater to keep costs down, but there were restaurants on the campsite and a snack bar too. All of the campsites had small supermarkets, equipped with the basics, and we found (whilst some things were dearer than the local supermarkets that we got most of our shopping from) things were reasonably priced so it was perfectly fine if we only wanted a few bits, or fresh baguettes for lunch.
We were able to park directly in front of the holiday home we stayed in, making it easy to load and unload the car of luggage and food shopping.
Most Eurocamp accommodation doesn’t come with a TV – it’s only included with their higher ranges – so it’s handy to take a tablet or laptop with you with some movies for when you want a quiet evening if it’s not included with your holiday home type.
We paid for Wifi on site – which we then turned on and off as needed so it wasn’t wasted when we weren’t using it. It wasn’t dear (as we only used a small amount each day) but it would have been hard to do without, as we didn’t always have signal on our phones to use our mobile data.

Getting to Tuscany from the UK

If you like to road trip like us, and you’re planning on driving, Camping Village Valle Gaia is about a 13.5 hour drive from Calais through France, but we broke up the journey. (Or opt to go through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria to limit toll costs – though this does increase the journey time.) You can read all about our road trip, including how much it all cost, here: Our 3 week Italian Eurocamp Road Trip Itinerary: How to visit Italy with kids on a budget. And, check out my article: Family road trip essentials: 13 things to pack on a road trip with kids to make sure that you have everything you need for a stress free family road trip before you set off. Book your ferry / Eurotunnel travel directly through Eurocamp, or check out the Direct Ferries website to compare prices across routes and providers.

If you’d prefer to fly, the nearest airport is Pisa which is 60km away from Camping Village Valle Gaia. Use the Skyscanner website to find the cheapest flight prices – it’ll compare airlines, airports, dates and times for you without you having to do all of the leg work! If you’re flying, I would definitely recommend hiring a car to make it easier to see the sights and get out and about. As I mentioned above, this location is not one where you’d be able to explore on foot – Expedia is a great place to start if you plan to hire a car. (Or, for airport transfers, check out the Sun Transfers website.) Tuscany is a fantastic spot for a family holiday, with loads of great campsites – have a read of my article: Eurocamp Italy: The 5 best campsites in Tuscany near Florence for lots of brilliant options for places to stay with the kids.

How much does a Eurocamp holiday at Camping Village Valle Gaia cost – was it good value for money?

Hopefully my review of Camping Village Valle Gaia in Tuscany, Italy, has been helpful – our Eurocamp Comfort holiday home (now known as Classic from 2024) was only about £200 for the week and, with our posh upgrade, it was a super cheap base to explore from. Travelling off peak, combined with a 40% discount that my husband got through work (via Perkbox), made it so inexpensive! By day we had glorious sunshine, but by night torrential rain and HUGE thunderstorms which shook the holiday home! Luckily, the days were lovely so it didn’t dampen our spirits, and we really enjoyed our week at Camping Village Valle Gaia.

(If you’re still not sure if Italy is the right destination for your family holiday then take a look at my article: 10 reasons why you should visit Italy with kids.) It was a fabulous campsite and a brilliant base for lots of lovely days out too. The pools and the play area kept the kids busy on the days that we weren’t exploring, and the campsite had a lovely family feel about it – it was definitely great value for money. For more information, and prices for your dates, click here to check out Camping Village Valle Gaia on the Eurocamp website.

As we home-educate the kids, we are fortunate to be able travel term-time which is a great money saver, but if you’re restricted to school holiday dates then look for May half-term getaways – they’re always so much cheaper than the summer holidays! But, having said that, affordable school summer holiday travel is possible – I went hunting on the Eurocamp website and found 50 family holidays under £1k for August 2026 – with prices starting from less than £300! (There were more but I ran out of steam! 😂) And, for even more fabulous holiday options in beautiful Italy, check out my articles: Which Eurocamp resorts in Italy are near airports? and The 20 best Eurocamp resorts in Italy for family holidays.