We went to hu Park Albatros and the Italian Eurocamp resort was like a Center Parcs in Tuscany

Eurocamp holidays have become well-loved by British families over the past few decades and are still probably most associated with ferry trips across the Channel followed by drives to one of their many sites in France.

The British-founded company was originally set up in 1973 initially providing tented holidays at a site in Brittany but over the last 51 years has grown vastly in size to offer trips to hundreds of third-party campsites and holiday villages across Europe.

This summer the company has been offering more than 400 destinations around the continent and while the largest number are still in France, when the opportunity came along to go on a Eurocamp family holiday my wife and I were keen to look a little further afield for our trip with our three children who are aged eight, six and two.

We opted for the impressive-looking Park Albatros on the outskirts of San Vincenzo in Tuscany – a site operated by Italian firm hu. The site’s six pools, play areas and proximity to local beaches combined with being in a beautiful part of the world made it an irresistible option.

Given the drive from Yorkshire combined with a ferry trip would have taken around a day and required an overnight stop en route, we decided to fly to the nearest airport which is Pisa and then take a private transfer to cover the 60-mile journey to the park.

Unfortunately just 10 hours before our early morning flight from Birmingham was due to leave, our private transfer was cancelled by the firm we had booked it with due to “unexpected circumstances”.

After landing in very warm Pisa and finding that organising a hire car required getting a shuttle bus to a separate location, we decided instead to cut our losses and jump in a taxi.

When we arrived, we were very much in the minority on site in not having a car with us and it was something we rued as we dragged our suitcases a considerable distance to our holiday lodge after being dropped off at reception. With temperatures in the mid-30s – which they remained at throughout our week – we were very glad of the air conditioning inside our modern and stylish three-bedroom lodge as we unpacked.

Despite a somewhat exhausting start on our first day, we did manage to try out some of the site’s variety of swimming pools which include toddler-friendly shallow ones, ones with slides and some deeper options that are still possible for older children to stand up in.

One very simple thing we immediately loved about each of the pools was that they had a rubber-bottomed surface making them far more comfortable to stand or lie in than many others we had been in. The kids also really enjoyed sliding down the ‘whales’ whose design included spouts shooting out water.

The holiday proper began the following morning when we were all feeling slightly more refreshed after an early night.

I had been worried about how we would all cope with the hot temperatures but the park is surrounded by the Rimigliano pine forest and an extensive tree canopy across the site provides plenty of welcome shade.

While our lodge was around 10 minutes walk away from the main centre of the park, the kids were enchanted by the free mini-train that runs around the site throughout the day and generally preferred to wait for that and enjoy the journey and waving at fellow holidaymakers than go by foot.

The site also has an extensive play area, its own supermarket and a packed programme of free activities for children from four and up. Toddlers under that age can also participate in sessions if parents stayed with them. Ours took part in a painting and drawing activity, mini-golf and a treasure hunt – all overseen by friendly, enthusiastic and very hard-working staff who impressively managed sessions involving children speaking multiple languages.

It was essentially like a Center Parcs which had been transported to the Tuscan coast and our children absolutely loved it.

It was special to see how their swimming developed in confidence over the course of the week and also the friendships they developed with two young Dutch children staying in a lodge opposite us. Despite not being able to speak each other languages, they spent hours in the evenings playing together.

While there was lots to keep our trio entertained, you couldn’t help but notice how good the site was for teenagers too with lots to do and a safe and secure environment which meant they could enjoy plenty of independence from their families.

If our children had been a bit older, we would have undoubtedly taken advantage of some of the trips and experiences being offered from the site which included a boat ride to the nearby island of Elba, trips to Florence, snorkelling and a cooking class.

While the local beaches were within reasonable walking distance of the campsite around 800m away, we opted to take an early-evening shuttle bus to San Vincenzo to take it in more easily.

Even at 7pm, the beach was absolutely packed with locals and it was fantastic to be able to dip our feet into the sea. However, preventing a two-year-old from entirely covering herself in sand is no easy task so our visit was a relatively brief one!

Back on the site while there is a restaurant and a nice street food section that opened in the evenings, we found cooking ourselves in the lodge to be just as satisfying.

One of our nights on site coincided with it hosting a huge wine festival, which included an impressive flag parade and an amusing performance by an Italian mime artist.

That led into the nightly kids’ disco which we attended on a couple of evenings while we were there. But the nights I will look back on most fondly were back at that lodge, playing card games with our older two and seeing them enjoy each other’s company.

As we headed back after a fantastic week, the strain of our journey there was not replicated on the way back as site staff kindly arranged a seamless transfer from the centre of the park rather than reception.

It was a holiday we will all remember fondly for years to come.

A seven night stay in a two-bedroom lodge for up to six guests in September at hu Park Albatros costs from £447.03. For more information, visit https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/italy/tuscany-elba/park-albatros-campsite