As a family of 6 we decided to book our biggest adventure yet, exploring Italy by train over 16 days- Rome, Florence, Chianti (Tuscany), Pisa, Venice, Milan, Verona, and Lake Garda.
For the Tuscany leg of our trip (Florence & Pisa), we needed a child friendly base and Norcenni Girasole Village looked amazing!
Located in the Chianti region of Tuscany, with over 1500 pitches, this was much larger than our stay at Camping Village Fabulous. There was also much more to do, however, the site was far more remote.
Norcenni Girasole site is set on a steep hill and split between an upper and lower section, connected by a free land train.
There is a wide range of accommodation available at this site. First of all there are double rooms, apartments, studios, bungalows (static caravan) and XL tents.
Accommodation rented through the site typically sleeps between 2-6 people.
Then there's also the option to space to bring your own tent or camper van.
For our 5 night stay we hired a 3 bed bungalow which cost us £846.
Pisa Airport is located 120km (1 hr 30m drive) away from the site. One option, and probably the best, would be to hire a car from the airport. This site is quite remote, so having a car for your stay would definitely be a major advantage.
It is possible to get here from Pisa Airport without a car, although it is harder. First you're going to need to take the train from Pisa Aeroporto to Pisa Centrale (8 mins).
Then from Pisa Centrale take the train to Firenze Santa Maria Novella- the main station in Florence (1hr).
From Firenze S.M.N take the train to Figline Valdarno (25 mins). The cost of the train tickets is around £17 for an adult.
You're then going to need a taxi up to the site- it is definitely not walkable especially with luggage. Pre-book a private taxi with the site by email. We tried to get a taxi on arrival and it was like a ghost town.
Tip: Don't forgot to take in to account flight times when looking at options to get to the site. Check the closing time of the car hire counters at the airport and the time of the last train.
Florence airport is a bit closer than Pisa at 54km and a 45 min drive. Again, we would recommend hiring a car if flying in.
To get to the site from Florence airport first of all you're going to need to take the tram from the airport to the stop 'Via Alamanni' which is next to Firenze Santa Maria Novella- the main station in Florence.
From there take the train to Figline Valdarno which costs around £5 for an adult.
As before once you reach the town you're then going to need a taxi up to the site and its best to Pre-book a private taxi with the site.
For us, this is the route we took, coming from Camping Village Fabulous in Rome. We took the high speed train from Rome Tiburtina directly to Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Florence)- this took an impressive 1hr 31 mins.
From here we took the train to Figline Valdarno (30 mins). From the station we tried to get a taxi but this was just not happening, despite being told there were taxis available in the town.
A local took pity on us in the end and gave us, along with another family, a lift to the site.
From Calais the drive to the site is around 15hrs (1436km), although this can be split up with stays at others sites en-route in France or Switzerland for instance.
Other port options include Zeebrugge (1356km), Caen - 1407km and the Hook of Holland - 1417km.
This site must have one of the biggest amount of swimming pools available on a camp site- certainly out of the 5 we've visited. We counted 10 pools spread over three different areas plus quite a few slides.
It is impossible to go through them all but they range from lagoon type pools to an Olympic sized swimming pool.
All ages are catered for. Most of the pools are unheated but there's one with a retractable roof which is.
We enjoyed the pools at the upper section of the camp site best. This section seemed more modern and also featured the lazy river slide which was a massive hit from our kids.
There seemed to be enough sun loungers too which was great. We visited both pools at peak time and got loungers no problem.
The site has its own kids club and they seemed to have a wide range of activities advertised daily.
There are 3 clubs for different ages- 5 to 8 years, 9 to 12 years and over 12's.
Languages spoken at the clubs are Dutch, English, German, Italian
Entertainment typically runs from 8th April till 8th September and includes a children's disco, adult disco which is underground, a games room, a tv room and a cinema.
The animation team at the site also run entertainment each daily which includes aqua gym, evening shows, karaoke, quizzes, sports tournaments, talent competitions and theme nights.
We also saw quite a few acoustic singers in the evening round the courtyard area which gave the site a lovely ambience.
The entertainment on site was great, we particularly enjoyed the show and mini disco with talent contest afterwards.
Entertainment in general seemed to go on in to the early hours, it's a very lively site!
At Norcenni Girasole you'll find a HUGE amount of things to do. You'll definitely struggle to be bored.
In terms of sports activities on site you'll find crazy Golf, 5 playgrounds, cycling, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, a running track, pony rides and a tree trekking course.
In the local area you'll find a driving range (22 km), rafting (32 km) from site and adventure course (35 km).
The site runs various excursions including a wine tasting experience to the Chianti vineyards and cellars and day trips to Florence, Rome and Siena. All of which can be booked at the information office in the lower village.
There are lots of dining options on site. These include:
2 well stocked supermarkets (one on both levels)- here you'll also find wine on tap!
In terms of shops there's also a gift shop, ice cream parlour and hairdressers.
At the bottom site you'll find two restaurants - Il Vecchio and Pizzeria Norcenni.
There's also a bar and takeaway doing pizzas, then another serving fries, nuggets, salads etc.
In the courtyard through summer you'll find various stalls selling sweet treats such as crepes and popcorn in the courtyard of an evening.
At the top site you'll find Restaurant Sant Andrea.
Round both main pool complexes you'll also find a pool bar offering burgers, pizzas, paninis, fries plus alcoholic/non alcoholic drinks and ice creams.
There are so many options, you definitely won't be stuck for choice that's for sure.
If you're looking to visit anywhere in the local area, the first thing I'd recommend if you're not hiring a car, is to check the weather forecast and get the dates you're wishing to go off site set in stone.
The site has its own mini bus shuttle which will take you to Figline Valdarno train station. However, this must be booked and it does get full quickly. Once you arrive, go in to the info point on site and get the journeys booked in. You can book in the return journey too at the same time.
The bus costs around £1.50 for over 12s. Under 12s were free.
They also have their own private taxi option which we used twice costing around £25. Taxi's are practically non existent in the town, so I'd advise using the site options and being well organised.
From Figline Valdarno you can take the train to Florence (30 mins) and Pisa- swop at Florence (1hr 30). Other options include visiting Siena and Lucca.
Florence is packed with things to do for families and we loved the city, it's definitely one we want to return to for a longer stay.
A suggested one day itinerary would be to start your adventure at the enchanting Boboli Gardens, where children can roam the vast open spaces, climb tree-lined paths, and discover hidden sculptures, making it an ideal spot for a family picnic.
Then visit the Galileo Museum which features interactive exhibits on science and astronomy.
Afterwards take in the local culture and take a walk through the vibrant Mercato Centrale, where kids can sample delicious Italian treats like gelato and pizza while learning about local foods.
Obviously you need to include iconic Duomo too; the panoramic views of the city will leave everyone in awe.
For our visit to Pisa, we only allocated a visit of a few hours as we were pre-warned that there actually isn't much there apart from the tower, so we tagged it on to the end of our day to Florence. Lucca or Siena may be a better alternative if you're looking for a full day out.
However, if you definitely want to visit then climbing the Leaning Tower is something you could include. Another suggestion would be to visit the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, which features fascinating exhibits about the history of the monumental structures in Pisa.
You could also take a walk along the Arno River, where you can indulge in local gelato and capture family photos against the picturesque backdrop of the city.
As mentioned earlier, Siena and Lucca are great options to take a day trip to, whether by booking on to a tour with the site or taking the train from Figline Valderno.
Along with everything you’d normally take on holiday, as a family we always make up a little package of things to get us started in case things aren’t provided and shops are closed when we arrive.
Usually we bring a few basics like a couple of tea towels, a scourer and a fill one of the mini toiletry bottles with washing up liquid. I’ll usually pop a few extra toilet rolls and matches in the case too.
I’ll bring a packet of anti bacterial floor wipes to give everything a freshen up- I prefer the floor type as they’re much bigger and stronger.
We save up sachets and bring salt, sugar, tomato ketchup and again using a toiletry 100ml bottle to bring some cooking oil.
For washing we take Dr Beckman’s magic leaves (see our shopping list) so we can hand wash clothing in the sink. These take up very little space and can be used in a washing machine too. Clothes airers are usually provided in the accommodation but we bring two of our own caravan washing lines too.
Lastly I usually put in a few bin bags as they are always needed and some citronella candles for the deck at night to ward away any mosquitos.
This may sound a lot of extra things to bring but it all fits nicely in 1 packing cube or zip lock bag.
In terms of bedding, this isn’t always provided (check individual listings). This can be hired but you can also bring your own. We tend to save up old sets and then we can bin them if we haven’t room to bring them back. The cost of hiring is usually around €100 for 5 beds. On this occasion we were changing accommodation three times so we were definitely bring our own than pay €300.
Lastly we usually bring a few small games such as Uno and Pass the Pigs.
Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza is another family favourite- bizarre sounding but very fun. You can find all these in the above shopping list
There really isn’t much more to pack though than a regular holiday. Caravans are well equipped and the store on site sells literally everything you could probably need.
There's a huge variety of things to do on site. I'd be quite happily visiting this site again, and not venturing off the grounds. You can easily spend 10-14 days here.
The site is near to so many great cities in Italy including Florence, Pisa, Luca and Siena. Not to mention the fact that the surrounding area of rolling hills and vineyards is stunning in itself.
The entertainment is great and well varied. The atmosphere at the night around the whole site, in particular the main courtyard is amazing. For those looking for a lively site, where you like to sit out and enjoy a wine, this is it.
The site is very clean and provides fantastic views, especially from the top site.
The amount of pools! For those with water babies you will not be disappointed
The amount of food options. Compared to other sites, there's a far greater choice in where to eat.
For those looking for a campsite and who won't have access to a car, this is slightly more remote and challenging than other sites. You need to well organised. Contact the site before arriving to arrange transport to pick you up and make sure you have all your days out planned in advance. It's not a site where you can decide days out on a whim.
The site is very large, which is great as there's lots going on. However, bear in mind the walk to activities and pools and the fact that as this is Tuscany, there is inevitable very steep hills. We were allocated a van very high up which took 20 mins to walk to the centre. The site is split in two and requires you use the land train between. We did walk from the top to bottom to get home, but I wouldn't recommend going from the lower level to the top as it would be a killer. The queue for the land train does get busy at peak times (there's one every 20 mins) and it's a bit like every man for themselves.
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