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.

What a great holiday!!!! For the first time in years we go exactly what we wanted; a relaxed family holiday, clean pools and beaches and excellent staff on the site to help if necessary. John (the Bolero owner) and his team, both on site and in the office should be proud of themselves.

On their advice, having taken the excellent local bus service from Marco Polo Airport for 20 euro rather than 90 euro taxi (change at Lido de Jesolo, then get dropped at the camp site door), we arrived hot and tired after an early start from Dublin at about 12 o'clock. As soon as we got to the Bolero reception John sat us down gave us a quick run down, and more importantly drinks for the kids 2 boys (6 and 8). We were expecting to have to wait 'til 4 to get in to our mobile, but he took us straight down and we were having lunch (after a quick run around the supermarket), 30 minutes later. Air con was on, the makings of tea and coffee on the table....That just set the tone.

Union Lido itself is huge, but beautifully clean and well kept, the pools are excellent and extremely child friendly. Only one thing at pools, there are not loads of sunbeds so be prepared to be on the grass or concrete. We didn't get to explore everywhere, we were too relaxed but will next time. The lazy river at Aqua del Mare is a lifesaver on hot days, and the beach is wonderful, especially the section with the children's play castle. Bolero's site is as central as it promises, with a supermarket, fruit and vegetable shop, bakery, newsagent, pizza takeaway and everything you need is literally on your doorstep.

We hired one and barbecued mostly and ate out towards the beginning and end, and the food was great. The boys loved the all the pizza, chicken, pasta and especially the ice cream! They weren't the only ones! Restaurants staff were helpful and friendly and loved the boys.

Everyone we spoke to said it is a fabulous spot, especially as Bolero's site is so central. The children played happily with others from Ireland, Denmark, England, Scotland and had a great time with Teresa and Laura at Bolero's kids camp. They also have stuff for the beach which you can borrow - great for anyone like us who flew and had no buckets and spades etc. We also discovered (far too late) that 2 hours in the wellness centre at Aqua del Mare is the best investment (6.50 euro each) but well worth it.

The only time we left the site was to do an evening trip to Venice. Having heard how busy it is during the day, and extremely hot we nearly decided not to go at all. However, we got tickets from the Union Lido Information office for an evening trip with Marco Polo, which does a short trip round some of the islands then drops you near St Marks Square for 1 1/2 hours then brings you straight back. (just don't expect to be told where you are , it's more of a fun trip and includes a bottle of wine for adults and drinks for the children too). We got the bus from outside the camp site to Porto Sabbioni at 7, got the boat at 8, and back at 11.30 to get the last bus and be back at mobile just on 12. Late night for boys and wouldn't have done it with smaller ones, but they loved it. Venice was beautiful and we could actually see what we wanted, gondolas, back streets and especially St Marks Square although there was a lot of work going on whilst we were there. But avoid the bar directly in front of where the boat drops you - 19.50 euro for 1 big and 1 small beer - it's cheaper in Dublin!!!!

Overall we had a fabulous holiday. Italy is not cheap, but John and his team work well to keep their area perfect, and we were very impressed. They are rightly proud of it and offered any assistance we needed. It tells you something when people are re-booking for next year whilst they are there and others are back for their 3rd and 4th years. We will be joining them again too! I could go on and on about it but thanks again to all involved and hope to see you next year!

We stayed on two sites; the Union Lido (UL) for 12 nights, and Marina di Venezia (MdV) for one final night. We had to do this to co-ordinate flights back home - had to spend a night somewhere! Whilst one day and a night obviously aren't enough to make a fair comparison, my wife and I agree UL was a much classier, clean and hospitable site. There were very conspicuous burly security guys at night at MdV - we didn't see this at all at UL - wonder why this was necessary?

UL is much better laid out in our opinion - there are pools and restuarants dotted around, which spreads out the crowds. The pool at MdV was impressive, bit very crowded. Dread to think how bad this will get as the season peaks.

I concur with some other reviews here - many of the staff are very young, often unsure how to interpret policy, and can often verge on being rude in thier officiousness. Morseo with Marina di Venetia. I found the staff there very cold and unfriendly. At UL, most would crack a smile now and then.

Getting there from Marco Polo Airport was easy (we arrived around mid day) but the traffic going into Lido de Jesolo was terrible. Took about 2.5 hours to do what normally takes 40 mins. We did this on the bus. Probably the cheapest transfer of any holiday I've had. The ins and outs of this are well documented by other reviews in this section. One thing to make clear - YOU CAN'T BUY BUST TICKETS ON THE BUS. Well, you can, but the driver sometimes charges some funny old prices. Best to get them at your camp, tobacconists or other place before you travel.

MdV - We went for pizza at Vannin, a restuarant just outside the front gates. A soulless, unfriendly and rather ordinary place. Probably the dearest and poorest meal we had. Back at UL, we highly recommend the Sole Mare at Ca' Di Valle, which is a 10 min walk out UL gates, turn right and into the small village just down the road. Also at UL, the takeaway pizza does an awesome family pizza for around 14 euros. This was a great pizza, and more than enough for a family of four.

So we'd highly recommend Union Lido; would probably go there again. Marina di 'Venezia - I would pass this off to experience.

Just returned from 9 days at Union Lido, staying with Canvas Holidays.

Flew to Venice with Jet2 and got ATVO bus to Lido Di Jesolo then taxi to campsite.

We stayed in a two bedroom mobile home which was really good value. Everything was in good condition and working order and even had air-con.

We didn't actually leave the site whilst we were there as there was so much to do and supermarkets and restaurants had everything we needed. The prices were a little higher than at home and drinks in the restaurants were expensive. Wine was cheap in the supermarket though!

Pools were good and never too crowded and children's play castle on the beach kept our two entertained.

All in all a really great place.