Camping Toscana Bella

The setting is beautiful, with well-kept trees, flowers, and greenery, and the pitches are spacious. But our caravanning experience was very disappointing. The toilets and dishwashing areas were poorly maintained: cold water, mold, no soap or drying facilities. The garbage area was often messy, and the pool felt too small for a campsite of this size. The so-called Premium Pitches had no water or sewage system. We were even told to empty a chemical toilet in the grey water area because there was nowhere else for it, which was unacceptable. Sandaya recently acquired the site, which I think should be rated 1* apart from the newly invested cabins. Yet Sandaya’s website markets it as being at a normal European standard. Not at all. It wasn’t worth the price. I won’t return here or to any Sandaya camping sites.

We had a fantastic two-week summer holiday with our two kids. They had the best time making friends at the campsite and playing in the pool and playground. Our little rental house was new and very clean, and the restaurant food was tasty and good quality. We also enjoyed the walk to the beach, which is around 700m away. We managed to visit Pisa, Lucca, Volterra, and Piombino too.

The rest of the campsite is cute and spacious, but the glamou(r)ing accommodation isn’t what you might expect. The bungalows are open plan, with no separation between the two beds for adults and the two for children. The Wi-Fi didn’t work. At €117 per day for a three-day booking, we were entitled to just one toilet paper roll for single use, and the reception staff had a bad attitude when we asked for more. Nearby campsites are noisy at night too, with loud music.

The pool was very nice, with a small playhouse and slide for kids, though you do need a swim cap. Reception staff were friendly and spoke really good English. The women in the shop weren’t as welcoming, though that seemed to depend on the day. This is a basic campsite that was okay, but cleanliness could be better. In some toilet cubicles it sometimes took three days to refill the paper. There wasn’t nearly enough shade for short-stay campers, though long-term campers did have shaded spots. We stayed seven nights. The advertised quiet hours were a big disappointment. There was loud entertainment every night, including Sundays, often continuing past midnight, so the site didn’t stick to its 23-7 quiet hours. It felt hypocritical to forbid campers from pitching tents during those hours when the campsite’s own entertainment was making the noise. With our 4yo daughter, we really didn’t like how loud it was.