Bolero Holidays

...quite by accident, I discovered Bolero Holidays. At the start of the autumn term 1996, idly chatting with my boss about our holidays, he told me about his latest holiday: he’d been to Cavallino in Italy, a stone’s throw from Venice. When he mentioned that he’d gone all the way by coach my ears pricked up. When he added that food and drink were served on the coach at reasonable prices I became even more interested. And when he told me the price of ...
...to the company director of Bolero Holidays, John Robinson, who was remarkably friendly and easy-going, especially so considering I was phoning him at home. He gave me the main details and promised to send me a brochure. He also informed me that if we paid a modest deposit now and the balance by eight weeks before departure, he would be quite happy; paying a bit off each month or so it wouldn’t hurt much.

The brochure arrived soon afterwards. ... more

I always hated holidays. Everything about them was so far from being a pleasure, starting with those flippin’ brochures that show endless pictures of hotels that to my eyes look exactly the same and tables that tell you (or rather, completely fail to tell you) precisely what your holiday is going to cost.

To make matters worse, I developed a flying phobia – odd, really, after all the years we lived abroad and flew so often. So package deals involving airports were right out.

And when we finally arrived at our destination, you can (or if you’re lucky, can’t) imagine the juggling trick involved in keeping five kids happy and contented all the time, a trick I wasn’t very good at.

Anyway, after a hard term’s slog in the classroom all I wanted to do was… well, nothing. Try telling that to a wife and family!

Then, quite by accident, I discovered Bolero Holidays. At the start of the autumn term 1996, idly chatting with my boss about our holidays, he told me about his latest holiday: he’d been to Cavallino in Italy, a stone’s throw from Venice. When he mentioned that he’d gone all the way by coach my ears pricked up. When he added that food and drink were served on the coach at reasonable prices I became even more interested. And when he told me the price of the whole package I demanded he give me the tour operator’s phone number.

My wife couldn’t believe it – me, actually thinking of organising a holiday a year in advance! Usually it was a last-minute job under duress (no, DURESS, not Durex! Why don’t you concentrate?).

My boss had given me two numbers, one for the daytime and one for evenings. I phoned mid-evening and was surprised to discover that I was speaking to the company director of Bolero Holidays, John Robinson, who was remarkably friendly and easy-going, especially so considering I was phoning him at home. He gave me the main details and promised to send me a brochure. He also informed me that if we paid a modest deposit now and the balance by eight weeks before departure, he would be quite happy; paying a bit off each month or so it wouldn’t hurt much.

The brochure arrived soon afterwards. It was very attractively laid out and remarkably enjoyable to read, free from the sort of nightmare charts and tables that characterise most holiday brochures, written in jargon-free English and lavishly illustrated. No complicated supplements to work out, just a simple, understandable pricing system. It offered a choice of holidays: a site in Italy and one in Spain… SITE??? That means CAMPING, doesn’t it??? I HATE BL**DY CAMPING!!! Oh, Fagos!! I put the brochure down, deflated and disgusted.

But my wife read further, the way wives do when they don’t want to lose an opportunity. Yes, it did involve tents. But (…”shut up and let me finish before you tell me again how much you hate camping…!”) these tents were big enough to stand upright in, had three bedrooms, proper beds and cooking facilities and electricity.

Grudgingly I caved in: even the kids were against me – or at least the three who were coming with us.

*********** Cut to the following summer *************

So there we were, waiting at Leicester Forest East Service Station for the coach to Italy at about 9.30 a.m. It had started in Middlesbrough and was travelling via the A1 and M1, gathering passengers en route. It arrived, right on time, towing a huge trailer. This was to take bikes – some people were dropping off en route, cycling round their chosen part of Europe for a fortnight (that’s a HOLIDAY???) and rejoining the coach for the homeward run a fortnight later. Others wanted to cycle around the Venetian lagoon (round it, not in it). Apparently there was no extra charge for taking bikes. Why hadn’t I read the brochure more thoroughly? We could have been whizzing off down Italian byways and… then again, perhaps not.

Two young ladies introduced themselves as our couriers. They would attend to our every need – well, almost. We were shown to our seats, which, unusually for a tour coach were not crammed close to the seats in front. They not only reclined, they had leg supports that came up at the touch of a lever. Food was available: not exactly haute cuisine but very acceptable and cheap. A toasted bacon or cheese and onion sandwich cost £1, chicken curry about £2.40 (I write without the menu to hand) and coffee was 50p. Certainly not a rip-off.

Oh yes, for the loose-bladdered or worse still… anyway, there was also an on-board toilet.

***************** Cut to Italy *****************

After a lot of travelling including a short (1 hour) ferry crossing, a short stop at a service station in Luxembourg and a night journey through Switzerland we finally arrived at the Union Lido campsite in Cavallino.

Cavallino is an attractive little holiday town on the edge of the Venetian lagoon, about halfway between Lido di Jesolo and Punta Sabioni, where one catches the ferry to Venice: about 10 miles from each with a frequent, reliable bus service in each direction. For about £7 a day you can buy a runabout ticket, which entitles you to use not only the buses but also the ferries that ply between Venice and the Lagoon islands and the vaporetti (water buses) that take you round Venice. To travel the Grand Canal by vaporetto is one of the most unmissable experiences on earth. Enough of Venice (though I can’t get enough): if you want to know more, read my op on that wonderful city. One word of warning: you have to “validate” your ticket by pinging it in a machine on the bus. Failure to do so can result in a fine…

Union Lido campsite is hard to describe adequately in words. If you’ve ever experienced a Center Parcs holiday you might get a glimmer of an understanding of it. Think of the facilities of Center Parcs, add a magnificent, kilometre-long beach, plenty of hot sunshine… No, I’ll try again.

The campsite is vast, neatly laid out with magnificent avenues, flower beds, state-of-the-art toilet and shower blocks with washing machines and tumble-dryers. There are over thirty shops including two supermarkets in which the prices compete favourably with any off-site (a deliberate policy), numerous restaurants (yes, it’s pizza and pasta time, folks!), a chicken-and-chip takeaway (the best I’ve ever tasted), ice-cream parlours, bars… PLUS (deep breath!) swimming-pools, jacuzzis, adventure playground, cinema, Internet centre, bank, golfing, woodlands and a medical centre. This last has a doctor on call at no cost 24 hours a day: you don’t even have to present an E-111. Neither do you have to pay for the swimming-pools, cinema, adventure playground…

As if this isn’t enough there is a full programme of children’s activities, competitions, concerts (high-calibre musicians like Rondo Veneziano and local opera stars), fashion shows, children’s discos… and all at no extra cost.

Security is a big feature of Union Lido: to get in through the gate you have to show the pass issued to you on arrival. Equally important are peace and quiet so radios and CD players are not allowed to be played out loud – if you want music (and I do) you have to use a walkman. From one o’clock in the afternoon until four is siesta time and quiet reigns – cars are not allowed on or off site during that time and noise is confined to children’s play areas and the swimming pool complex. The beach, of course is exempt from this rule. After eleven at night quiet is expected, although people are allowed to sit at their outdoor tables and talk softly. Security staff patrol the site by night to ensure both quiet and order.

If this sounds regimented, it doesn’t feel it. There is no rowdy or loutish behaviour often associated with these sites, you can get a good night’s sleep without somebody’s loud music thumping away in the next tent and best of all the kids are completely safe. Those in need of noise can visit the nightclub across the road from the site which is open until about 4 a.m.

And in the middle of this Paradise on Earth (several times in a row voted Best Campsite in Europe) is the Bolero enclosure, a self-contained area with neatly laid out tents and mobile homes. There is a full team of couriers on site at all times, ready to help with any problem. We put them to the test on several occasions and never found them wanting. They even have a fairly extensive library for those sad souls who might get bored(!!!) as well as up-to-date information on local travel, events on site, where to get a prescription made up (they’ll even get that for you if you need one) or where to hire bikes…

It is a tribute to Bolero that every year (this year will be our seventh holiday with them in a row) that you keep encountering families you met last year or the year before: customers vote with their wallets. We have made friends with other families and keep in touch between holidays. The atmosphere is more like being part of a club from the moment you step on the coach on the first day till the time you leave on the last. No other tour operator I’ve ever encountered inspires such loyalty. Part of its success is its attention to detail: any problem is taken seriously and handled sympathetically. Moreover, John Robinson and his family are sometimes to be seen on site: he works hard to ensure that all is the way it ought to be. Even the staff in the Middlesbrough office are pleasant, friendly and helpful: Louise may be “just” a voice at the other end of the line – I’ve never met her – but she goes to no end of trouble to ensure that every detail of the booking, including any little extras, are correct. And she never gets exasperated when I phone up with yet another silly question.

Since that first holiday in ’97 we’ve graduated from tents to mobile homes. They may be more expensive (I’ll give you price details in a minute – just let me finish, will you?) but for the extra you get real comfort: a proper double bedroom, a room with three bunk beds cunningly arranged, a lounge / kitchen and a toilet / shower room. All fully air-conditioned. Plus a patio with table and chairs under an awning. (The tents have outdoor chairs and table too but without the awning, though you do get the shade of the trees).

I realise I’ve waxed lyrical about the Italian site and have given no details about the Spanish one. This is because I’ve not yet visited that one. I can tell you that it is at Empuriabrava, on the Costa Brava, and according to the brochure is on a site called Camping International Amberes. From the description given it too sounds delightful. My wife is going to sample it with a friend later this year so I may add more to this op after that (“Oh,no! When will he finish? He rambles on and on and…”).

I will add that Union Lido is such an exciting site and the atmosphere is so good that our hyper-critical kids made lots of friends and didn’t want to “waste” time visiting Venice (“Just a load of old buildings.”). They’re still in touch with them by email. Even for teenagers it’s a paradise…

**************** The Nitty Gritty **************

Right. What you really want to know is, by how much is it going to deplete your bank balance? Bolero runs holidays from early May to late September. The cheapest weeks are obviously the first and last. For Spain these are £225 and £230 per person respectively and for Italy, £253 and £258 per person. At the height of the summer (late July / early August) it will set you back £340 for Spain and £353 for Italy. These prices are for tented accommodation (each tent sleeps up to six). To hire a caravan will cost an extra £190 maximum (for the accommodation, not per person) and a mobile home (or bungalow in Spain) requires a supplement of £240 maximum above the tent price (again a one-off payment, not per person). So a family of five, wanting to stay in a mobile home in Italy in high summer would pay £353 X 5 + £240 which is a total of £2005. Actually, if any of the family are under 16 there are various discounts so the cost would actually be less than this.

After two years with Bolero you get a Loyalty Card which brings additional benefits. For instance, if you take a second holiday in the same year you can get a whopping 40% discount.

If you prefer to drive there yourself, you can rent a Bolero tent, caravan or bungalow. The top price for a tent is £60 a night for up to six people. The price is per tent, not per person so that’s as little as £10 per person per night!

There’s actually no point in me giving any more of the minute details. Either you’re already hooked or there’s no hope for you. So if you want to find out more, go to Bolero’s website at www.boleroholidays.co.uk and you can download or request a copy of their brochure. Alternatively, phone 01642 767222 (their office number – I shan’t give the evening number in case they get hundreds of Ciao members pestering them all night). If you do contact them, just say that Les of Lincoln sent you and they’ll say, “Who?”

***************** And finally *****************

If this all sounds just too glowing I would add that I’ve never been slow to write letters of complaint to organisations that upset me in any way. I once wrote to a tour operator that my budgie would be elected Prime Minister before I went on another of their holidays. After our first two Bolero holidays I felt I had to write to John Robinson to tell him what a wonderful organisation he ran. They printed my letters in their next two brochures. I still remain satisfied…

UPDATE, 2 June 2003

Since I wrote the above op, Bolero has changed both its address and phone number. However, the website has not yet been updated so, as much a reminder to myself as to anyone else, I've changed the phone number at the appropriate point in the text. Their new address is:

Bolero International Holidays
The Old Airfield
Master Road
Thornaby
Teesside
TS17 0BE

Happy Holidays! 

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