In May we visited Venice with our children. It was fantastic. We had to do it differently to how I would have done it with my husband but it worked so well. We stayed in a Eurocamp mobile home at the most fantastic parc. We could have happily stayed in the swimming pool all week, but we took a couple of trips. One to Venice and one to the islands on Murano and Burano.

Our parc was situated in Port Sabbioni and it was only a short drive to park our car for the trip. We did enquire whether a bus would be easier but apparently it goes around the houses to it is best to drive. The car parks cost between 5 and 7 euros for the day, and there are people ushering into their parking as you drive up. There are various ticket combinations available but a day pass that will take you to Venice and all of the surrounding islands costs 20 euros a person. Under 6’s are free.

The first island we went to was Burano. We had got up early and arrived at around 10.30. This sleepy little village hadn’t really woken up yet! We had a wander round. The coloured houses are beautiful.

Famous for it’s lace making, there was lace for sale but not much else to see.

The next island we headed for was Murano – famous for it’s glass. Now when you go here you are able to watch the glass blowers. It is up to you how much you pay! Turn right from the boat and there are places charging between 7 euros a person and 20 euros but just for adults and you can claim it off your purchase. I hate this type of thing. I like to see prices, rather than who can try and con the most out of you. We sent for a sandwich whilst we decided what to do. All of the places finished at 3pm which is worth bearing in mind when planning your visit.

As it was over 30C anyway and we were going to take our boys into somewhere with a hot furnace, we weren’t convinced how long they would last. Anyway to cut a long story short, walk left from the boat and you don’t need to pay to see the glass blowers. A tip is nice, and you can’t take pictures or video. However, it was perfect. We stood there and watched a ball of glass being moulded into a horse or a swan. Within minutes! It was mesmerizing. The boys loved it! Luckily another tourist spoke Italian and interpreted for us. The boys learned that the ornaments needed to be cooled in an oven overnight so that they didn’t shatter from cooling too fast.

Our next stop was Venice, to stop for another gelato and one last look at the gondolas. A beautiful place that with the mesmerizing glass blowers and fantastic gelato the kids will enjoy too!