1950s Americana isn’t something you associate with Venice, but a new Airstream park across the lagoon is an ideal base. Plus more Airstreams in western Europe
Most travellers planning a trip to Venice picture staying in a romantic hotel on the Grand Canal or a cosy B&B in an ancient palazzo. But a caravan, tent or mobile home? Not so much. The reality, though, is that, during the summer, thousands of holidaymakers come in by boat from campsites on a narrow 15km stretch of coast that separates Venice’s lagoon from the Adriatic. And now, with the opening of Italy’s first Airstream park here, just half an hour by ferry from central Venice, the appeal of camping has just shot up a notch or two.
On this peninsula, called Cavallino, 30-odd campsites attract six million visitors every year, making it the second most popular seaside resort in Italy. Camping arrived here in the late 1950s, offering the perfect mix of inexpensive accommodation, cheap and cheerful pizzerie and trattorie, fabulous beaches, trips to the nearby islands of Burano, Torcello and Murano and – the icing on the cake – a ferry that docks right by Piazza San Marco. Little has changed today. That was until Nicoletta Vianello, third-generation owner of Camping Ca’Savio, decided to offer a completely different kind of accommodation by ordering five gleaming metal Airstreams last summer.
Continue reading...