Q&A: The Independent Parent: Your Questions Answered - Corsica and Italy's Lake Garda

Q.My wife and I thought of ourselves as Mediterranean fans, until successive, noisy, jet-ski infested fortnights in Rhodes and Rimini left us disappointed. However, we've read about the beauty of Corsica. Is it different?

Might we find peace and natural beauty, but with a bit going on for our 11- and 12-year-old daughters? They both sail, while we all enjoy exploring and dining out. Can you suggest somewhere on the island, and some reliable tour companies?

Charles O'Dea,

Guildford

A.If anywhere is to restore your faith in the Med, it is Corsica. The island is astonishingly beautiful and alluring, offering just the sort of quieter, more sophisticated beach holiday you appear to be looking for.

Expect a completely different atmosphere here, from any mass-tourism resort in the Mediterranean. The island's 1,000 kilometres of coastline are free of sprawling high-rise resorts, with stringent planning laws keeping big-time developers at bay.

I have spent an enchanting few days with my family, staying in one of a handful of cottages scattered in a pine wood at Cala-Rossa near Porto- Vecchio in the south-east. The sheltered, gently shelving beach was a few hundred yards away. We played boules with our Corsican neighbours, and barbecued fish on the beach, for supper. Simply Corsica (0181 747 3580) have various cottages and villas for rent in this area. An apartment sleeping four with a shared swimming pool costs pounds 769 per person for two weeks, including flights from Gatwick and car hire.

However, the majority of tourists stay on the west coast, south of the jutting finger of Cap Corse, which splinters into inlets, outcrops and bays harbouring a string of towns and fishing villages - discreet holiday resorts of self-catering villas and small hotels.

Propriano might be a good bet for you. It is a reasonably animated, family- orientated resort town, with a large sandy beach, secluded rocky coves nearby and a charming, traditional old town. There will be opportunities for the girls to sail here.

More relaxed but also very atmospheric is L'Ile-Rousse (not actually an island at all), huddled around a sedate square shaded by palm trees, and a short walk from the beach. So too is Porto, beautifully set on the Gulf of Porto; its weak point is the pebbly beach, but there are plenty of water sports centred on the large marina.

Quieter villages in this area are Angajola, topped by a romantic castle, and Cargese, a fishing village surrounded by cliffs. Clinging to the mountainside overlooking Cargese is picture-book, whitewashed Piana.

My one other suggestion is Calvi, but only go here if you want somewhere a bit livelier. This is an old walled town with labyrinthine cobbled streets, and numerous waterside restaurants and bars around a horseshoe beach.

So, what's the catch? Price. Corsica is not cheap, and that is what keeps it a touch exclusive. In high season, expect to pay at least pounds 2,500 for the four of you in an apartment or villa without a pool, or double that for a luxury villa with its own pool. Two weeks bed-and-breakfast in a three-star hotel would start at about pounds 850 each, with two rooms. The prices include flights and, because you want to explore, car hire.

Small tour operators, specialising in Corsica, include Corsican Places (01424 460046) who offer a range of villas and hotels, mainly on the west coast. Corsican Affair (0171 385 8438) has a wide range of carefully chosen hotels and also operates a more flexible `Small and Friendly Auberges' programme, whereby you cruise from inn to inn, booking the following night's stay at each stop.

Q.After family beach holidays every summer for the best part of a decade, we would like to do something different with our three teenagers. They are all quite sporty, but they also enjoy their nightlife.

We have been thinking about the Italian lakes - either camping, or perhaps staying in an apartment or cheapish villa. We parents like to think we are young at heart too and enjoy a bit of buzz, although we also like a bit of cultural diversion. Are we on the right track? If so, which lake should we go for?

Antonia Koperski,

Balham

A. Go for Lake Garda, no question. From now until the end of August, it will be positively humming with summer atmosphere, completely at odds with the maiden-auntish gentility found around the shores of her more northerly sisters, Como and Maggiore, and the sprinkling of lesser lakes. Secondly, as the most southerly of the lakes, it enjoys the warmest climate.

Garda does, however, have two very different aspects to it, and this is something you should look at carefully when choosing where to go. The fjord-like northern end of the lake slices into a snow-capped mountain backdrop which could pass for Switzerland. Further south, it becomes shallower as it broadens out over the plains of Lombardy; here, its shores lap at gentle hills cloaked with vineyards and olive groves more reminiscent of lazy, Mediterranean landscapes.

If the Alpine option grabs you, make for Torbole, near Riva del Garda at the tip of the lake. It is a great spot for teenagers. Young people from all over Europe hang out here. Scooters whine down streets lined with discos; and the cafes are patronised by teenagers and twentysomethings in trendy clothes. An international windsurfing fraternity comes here for the ora, which whips up every afternoon; the unique conditions attract world-class competitions. The swimming is good, too. Crystal Holidays (0181 390 5554) offer a variety of apartments and hotels in and around Torbole.

On the other hand, if you decide on camping, go south. Around Bardolino and Garda there is a string of grassy sites. Bordering the lake and backed by vine-clad hills, they offer the chance to swim, fish, sail, windsurf and water-ski as well as hike and mountain-bike. Obviously, you have to stay outside the towns, but access to Bardolino and Garda is easy and the nightlife, is still good. One site I can particularly recommend is Camping Cisano (00 39 045 6229098), just south of Bardolino. It has its own small beach shaded by willows, and an excellent swimming pool. Nearby are the white-knuckle thrills of Gardaland theme park, and Caneva Aqua Paradise water park.

More cultured distractions include a day trip into Verona; explore the palaces, graceful squares and bridges, although budding Romeos should resist the temptation to climb the balcony where Juliet reputedly waited. If you are lucky, you might get tickets for opera at the Roman amphitheatre (try Liaisons Abroad, 0171 376 4020).

Another joy of staying on the southeast of the lake is visiting the wine- growing hills, sprinkled with farming villages, rising from Bardolino and rolling into Valpolicella. There are opportunities to taste these light, fruity reds (The Two Gentlewines of Verona, if you like) at various cantine such as Cantina Fratelli Leni outside Bardolino, which has a wine museum and plentiful free tasting.

Vacanze in Italia (08700 772 772) has self-catering apartments with shared pools among the Bardolino vineyards; expect to pay at least pounds 1,800 for a week, for all of you. You could also try ringing Citalia (0181 686 5533).