Hotel du Parc is ideal for families – close to the beach and only a short, free minibus ride away from the centre of Sirmione on the beautiful Lake Garda.
Sirmione is at the southern end of the lake – a long finger of land pointing into the water. At the entrance to the town Scaligeri castle stands guard – a great place for kids to explore and play imaginative games.
Just next to it is the “church with no doors”. Of course it does have portals but the nuns keep them open to the public. The interior is tiny but well worth a visit.
This medieval town has limited access to traffic but you do have to be wary of cars sneaking up behind you. From just about everywhere in the warren of narrow streets with interesting - but sometimes expensive shops - you can see vistas of the lake where, of course scenes from James Bond were filmed. We took a motorboat cruise with Bertoldi Giacomo Servizio Motoscafi which was great fun and gives you fabulous views of some of the amazing residences lining Lake Garda.
Back at Hotel du Parc the accommodation is everything you would expect and is ideal for families with a large pool (with free pool towels) and a range of facilities for children and parents including:
gardens/ bar/loungeThere’s a hot and cold buffet breakfast to cater for all tastes and a four course waiter-service evening meal with choice of menu and salad buffet plus a free bottle of house wine and water per room. If you can’t wait until dinner there’s self-service tea and biscuits from 4.30 to 5.30pm.
The food, as you'd expect in Italy, is fantastic and it helped that the charming Maitre d’ spoke several languages fluently! The children’s menu (with an illustration from the Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti) ranges from macaroni with cherry tomatoes and basil, chicken breast with croquets and crunchy fish sticks with a desert from the buffet or ice cream. Older children should be happy with the main menu.
The starting price for a week half board at Hotel du Parc (with flights from the UK and transfers) is from £535 per adult and per child £371 and includes a free excursion to Verona per person per stay.
To book visit www.crystallakes.co.uk or call 0871 230 8180