Family holiday in Tuscany at camping Miramare: visit Livorno

Family vacations at the Miramare campsite in Italy with two children aged 4 and 8.

We were looking for a campsite in Tuscany for a vacation combining culture and relaxation by the sea. During our search, we came across the Miramare campsite in Livorno, which appealed to us for several reasons:

• Camping Miramare is ideally located for a vacation combining relaxation and culture, by the sea and just 20 minutes from Pisa.
• The Miramare campsite benefits from an unspoilt natural environment, nestled in a Mediterranean pine forest, with direct access to a protected beach and a shallow cove. Perfect for families with young children.
• With 163 places, including 100 camping pitches, the Miramare campsite retains a human scale that lends itself to family vacations.
• The campsite is an excellent starting point for sea excursions to discover the islands of the Tuscan archipelago.

The holiday left us with tons of memories, with some magnificent visits: to Pisa to admire the famous Leaning Tower (20 min from the campsite), the Castello del Boccale (5 minutes from the campsite), one of the most photographed sites in Tuscany, the historic center of Lucca and its beautiful Duomo (40 min from the campsite) or the medieval towers of San Gimignano (1h from the campsite). However, a visit to Livorno and its historic canals remains one of the finest days of our Tuscan vacation.

The day began on our campsite with a hearty breakfast. The campsite offers fresh bread every morning. A real treat! Every day, it was our eldest, aged 8, who fetched the bread from the campsite mini-market. This was an opportunity for him to learn a few Italian expressions, such as “Thank you” and “Goodbye”.

Tour of Livorno from Camping Miramare

It was the campsite receptionist who advised us to visit Livorno, and in particular the Fossi area, the city’s historic canals. We began our walk in the Venezia Nuova district. We walked along the canals, from small bridges to historic buildings. The children were enchanted by the boats moored in front of the houses. We took advantage of the walk to give them a little history lesson, explaining that these canals were once used to transport goods.

For lunch, we opted for a canal-side restaurant that had been recommended to us on the Miramare campsite: Al Fosso Reale. An excellent choice. Here we sampled Cacciucco, a Livornese specialty accompanied by crostini, while the kids enjoyed tomato pasta with schnitzel.

We had planned to visit Pisa the same day, but Livorno had taken longer than expected. So we returned to the campsite for the afternoon. After a short nap in the shade on our pitch, the kids rushed off to the pool. At the end of the afternoon, we went to the beach in the shallow cove beside the campsite. My husband and I rented deckchairs from which we watched the children as they searched for shells in the pebbles.

The day ended with a barbecue in the campsite’s dedicated area overlooking the sea. While the children played on the playground next door, we chatted with other families while our grills were cooking. A very convivial moment.

We went to bed tired after a busy day.

In addition to its prime location close to some of Tuscany’s most beautiful sites, Camping Miramare boasts a number of other assets, including a swimming pool, a mini-club where our children have made new friends, viewpoints set out on the site with benches facing the sea, a restaurant-pizzeria with local produce on the menu, and evening entertainment. The evening entertainment always ends early enough not to disturb the children’s sleep.