Back in June my daughter and I had a very special holiday just the 2 of us to Croatia. We decided that to celebrate finishing her A-Levels, and in order to have some time together before she leaves for University in September, that a special trip was just the thing to mark this moment, and to reward all of her hard work.

When planning the holiday her key requirements were hot and near a beach, or at least near good swimming spots. We also had a budget of no more than £1,000. Since it was just going to be the 2 of us, we started our search looking at hotels and package holidays, but in the locations we could get to from either Cardiff or Bristol airport, nothing was coming within our budget. I then suggested we look instead at Eurocamps, and to my surprise my daughter actually said she’d prefer that as that is what she is used to, since all of our holidays in Europe over the years have been with Eurocamp. It also meant that we got our own caravan with a bedroom each, a kitchen and a lovely outdoor decking area, which was the perfect place for us to lounge in the shade and enjoy a good book.

When combined with flights, Camping Bi Village in Croatia, wasn’t the cheapest Eurocamp on our shortlist, but because it is so close to Pula airport and you don’t really need a car to get around, it ended up being around the same price overall as some of the cheaper ones that you would need a hire car for.

We booked a 2 bedroom comfort with air con, for 4 nights in the middle of June for £375 (including bedding and towels for us both).

We flew from Bristol to Pula with Easyjet, and opted to only travel with the free hand luggage allowance to save money. Which turned out to be quite the packing challenge, but we both managed it in the end, and it definitely helped limit our spending on holiday as we knew we couldn’t fit anything else in our bags!

The views flying into Croatia were incredible.

The Eurocamp itself was beautiful. The grounds had plenty of greenery and even though there are a lot of caravans and holiday homes there, it felt nicely spread out, and was lovely and quiet too. There were also so many lizards scurrying around the paths, which was so delightful to see! There was a supermarket on site that had everything you could need, and another one a short way down the road if you needed anything else. With multiple restaurants, gift shops, 3 swimming pools and a wide range of other activities for children, you could easily spend your whole week on site with no need to venture further.

Due to my daughter’s preference for the sea over a swimming pool however, we didn’t actually try any of the swimming pools ourselves, but from what we saw they looked like they were a lot of fun, and I don’t doubt had we brought the whole family, our younger children would have been in their element there.

It’s a very short walk through the site to the beach. There is a gate that takes you directly onto the beach, and there is also a lovely promenade you can walk along all the way to the nearby town of Fažana. Along the way there are multiple different beach areas, each offering a range of activities, from giant inflatable obstacle courses, to pedalos, paddle boards and kayaks to hire. You can also book onto a range of boat trips from the beach, and there are multiple bars and restaurants along the promenade too.

I think I can honestly say this was the most relaxing holiday of my life (since having children anyway). Since it was a special trip for my daughter I let her decide what we did each day, and given the temperature was around 34 degrees, she opted for spending every day at the beach swimming and reading. With the exception of one afternoon where we hired kayaks, this is exactly what we did. And after the first day of sitting on the stony beach in the full sun, I quickly realised I’m too old for that now, so for the remaining days of the holiday we paid the 25 Euros for the sun loungers with a parasol, and it was worth every penny, not just for my back, but also for the wonderful shade of the parasol!

Each evening, after a day of swimming and reading, we would walk along the promenade to Fažana and choose a restaurant for dinner. Here are the 4 places we ate during our stay:

Batana Beach Bar. We ate here on our first night and both loved it so much we went back on our last night. On the first visit I had pizza and my daughter had bolognese, which she loved so much she had it on the second visit too, and I had the calimari on the second visit as I felt I couldn’t come to Croatia and not have sea food at some point. Even though fish isn’t usually my favourite, this was seriously delicious and I would highly recommend it.
On the second night we ate at Restaurant Korta, and my daughter switched to pizza and I to pasta. The food was fine for both of us, but we also felt like it wasn’t quite as good as the night before.
On further explorations of Fažana’s back streets we found Piazza Grande, which was an incredible pizzeria. I would definitely recommend visiting there. The only reason we didn’t go back was because we felt we should eat something other than pizza on our last night!

Some friends of ours had actually visited Bi Village the year before, and my friend informed me how to find the best ice cream place based on their sampling of a few different ones. We managed to find it that first night and it was so good that we didn’t even bother trying any other places (of which there are many). It was so good we just had to go there every single day. It would have been rude not to. So if you do go to Fažana you definitely need to go to Ice Shop Art.

Each evening after dinner and ice cream, we would make our way down to the beach to watch the sunset. The beach there is west facing, so it makes it the perfect spot to watch the sun disappear into the sea. Definitely a must do when you visit.

There was so much more we could have done, and the nearby towns of Pula and Rovinj both looked like places worth exploring, but with limited time and such warm weather, the beach won out every day! But it’s a good excuse for us to go back someday.

Whether it’s an action packed holiday with water sports, pools and boat trips you are looking for, or a relaxing holiday lounging on the beach, Camping Bi Village has it all! It’s a place I would definitely visit again, and I know if my Younger children (aged 12 and 16) had been there, they would have loved it and been easily entertained with the wide range of activities on offer there.

Top Tips…

The beach is stoney, which isn’t a problem, but does mean you definitely want to take beach shoes. (They do sell them there if you forget)
The sun loungers cost 25 euros and they only take cash. If you just select one that doesn’t say reserved on it, then eventually someone will come round and take your money. It’s then yours for the rest of the day, and you can come and go as you please. (Just keep your receipt incase they forget). You can also book one for the whole week, but we weren’t there for that long so not sure if that comes with a discount or just gets you a reserved sign.
You can definitely do this Eurocamp without a car. You can book an airport transfer and then walk or bus to everywhere you might want to go. But there are spaces by each caravan for cars if you do want to hire one.
We felt bad that we didn’t know any Croatian at all, but everyone we spoke to had very good English and didn’t seem to mind.
The swimming areas in the sea are cordoned off with ropes, which make them ideal for rubber rings and other inflatables, since you wont be drifting out to sea. If we’d had space in our luggage we would definitely have taken some inflatables, or bought some there.
The sea is amazingly clear there, and we saw so many fish whilst we were swimming. If you have a snorkel, definitely pack it.