Sisan Family Resort
Sisan Family Resort is a four-star aparthotel on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, in the small lakeside village of Cisano di Bardolino in northern Italy. It opened in 2019 as part of the Bella Italia Group, and its roughly 80 three-room apartments come with a kitchen and daily hotel housekeeping. Families come for the lagoon pool that slopes in gradually for small children, a private lake beach nearby and the Garda theme parks, Gardaland among them, a short drive away.
On this page
Is it worth it?
Who Sisan suits, who it doesn't and the facts to skim before the detail.
Sisan sits in its own niche on Lake Garda: an aparthotel, meaning the space and kitchen of a self-catering apartment with the daily cleaning, reception and included breakfast of a hotel. That combination is the draw for a family with young children. You get a separate bedroom to put a baby or toddler down in, a kitchen for preparing formula and meals and a lagoon pool that slopes in gradually so small children can wade rather than step off an edge. It's mid-market rather than luxury, and good value for the apartment format, an accessible alternative to the big camping villages and the pricier lake spa hotels. The things to weigh are the lack of any childcare for children under four, the walk across a busy main road to reach the lake beach and a main pool shared with the neighbouring campsite that gets crowded in July and August.
Best for
You want an apartment with a kitchen and a separate bedroom plus hotel comforts like daily cleaning and breakfast, a shallow pool for young children and easy access to Lake Garda and Gardaland.
Maybe not for
You want a luxury hotel, all-inclusive board, childcare for a baby or toddler under four or plenty for adventurous teenagers.
Best ages
Babies and children up to about seven, well suited by the roomy two-bedroom apartments, though the Mini Club only starts at four.
What stands out
The two-bedroom apartments with a kitchen and daily housekeeping, and the shallow lagoon pool.
What to check
The busy main road between the resort and the lake beach, and that the main pool is shared with the next-door campsite and gets crowded in peak summer.
Where is it?
In Cisano di Bardolino on the eastern shore of Lake Garda in northern Italy, about 29 minutes from Verona airport.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
Where Sisan sits, how it's laid out and what getting around is really like.
Sisan Family Resort is in Cisano di Bardolino, a small village on the eastern, Veronese shore of Lake Garda, about midway between the wine town of Bardolino to the north and Lazise to the south. It's a distinct four-star property that opened in 2019, on a site next to the much larger Camping Cisano San Vito, with which it shares the beach and the main pool. The resort is roughly 400 m back from the lakefront, a flat four to five minute walk, and the Cisano ferry pier is a similar short walk away.
The set-up is an aparthotel: around 80 apartments in two-storey blocks set in gardens, each one self-catering with its own kitchen but serviced daily like a hotel room, with breakfast included. The resort grounds and the village around them are flat, so getting about the site and walking locally is manageable with a pushchair.
The resort stands on the landward side of the SS249 Gardesana Orientale, the main road that runs the length of the eastern shore. Reaching the lakefront, the ferry and the beach means crossing it, which is the main practical point for families and is covered under the beach below.
Reception is staffed around the clock. Check-in is from 3.30pm and closes at 11pm, with a later arrival possible if you tell the resort in advance; check-out is from 7.30am and by 10am. The resort suggests settling your bill the day before, during cashier hours (7.30am to 9pm), to save a queue on the morning you leave.
Every restaurant and bar
The breakfast buffet, the poolside restaurant and pizzeria, the pool bar and eating out in the village.
Sisan isn't all-inclusive. Breakfast is always included, and dinner is up to you: you can add half board, eat à la carte at the resort restaurant or walk out to the village.
The breakfast buffet is served each morning, from around 7am to 10am. It covers sweet pastries and homemade cakes, breads with butter, jams, honey and hazelnut spread, fruit, yoghurt, cereal, cold cuts, cheese, eggs and hot and cold drinks. Families rate it a solid start to the day, the pastries especially, though several note it repeats after a few days and can be short on fresh fruit some mornings.
The restaurant and pizzeria sits by the pool and serves Italian meat and seafood dishes and pizza, à la carte for lunch and dinner. If you add half board, dinner is a daily set menu: a starter and a main course with a side, or a pizza of your choice, plus a house dessert, with drinks charged on top. Reviews are mixed on the set dinner and warmer on the pizza, so a common pattern is to take half board early in the week and eat out later for variety.
A poolside snack bar is open through pool hours for sandwiches, salads, snacks and cold drinks, handy for lunch between swims without going back to the apartment.
High chairs are available on request. There's no separate children's menu, so the pizza on the half-board menu tends to be the practical choice for younger children.
The village of Cisano, a five-minute walk, has several waterside restaurants that guests rate highly, and Bardolino, about 25 minutes on foot along the lake or a short ferry hop, has a much wider choice of restaurants and wine bars.
How the board and dining work
Breakfast comes with every apartment. Half board is an optional paid add-on taken as the set dinner menu, with drinks extra; without it, the restaurant is à la carte. Every apartment also has a full kitchen, so self-catering some or all of your meals is straightforward, and there's a mini-market on the shared campsite for basics.
The apartments
Both apartment types with their official size, then the pools and the lake beach below.
Sisan has a single kind of accommodation, a three-room apartment, in two types that differ by where they sit on the site rather than inside. There are around 80 in total. The table lists both; the guidance after it is which suits a family, and why.
| Apartment | Position | Size | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Apartment | Central, near the facilities, with a garden view | 45 m² | 4 (double + twin room) |
| Standard Apartment | Quieter, away from the main pool hub | 45 m² | 4 (double + twin room) |
Both types are the same inside, at around 45 m²: a living room with a fully equipped kitchen, a double bedroom, a small second bedroom with two single beds, a shower room and a private patio or terrace. That separate second bedroom is the feature families single out, because it gives you a proper living space once the children are asleep. The Garden Apartments are central and close to the pool and restaurant; the Standard Apartments sit in a quieter part of the site away from the pool hub.
Every apartment includes bed linen, bath towels and pool towels changed daily, a daily clean of the apartment, complimentary toiletries, breakfast, satellite TV, Wi-Fi, a safe, a desk, independent air conditioning, outdoor furniture and one free parking space. The daily clean doesn't cover the kitchen, which the resort asks you to leave clean yourself, including when you check out.
The kitchen has a fridge with an ice compartment, a four-ring hob and a microwave, with tableware, cutlery and a dishwashing kit provided. There's no dishwasher.
Cots, high chairs and bed rails are free on request. They aren't in the apartment when you arrive, so ask for them when you book or at check-in.
Four of the Garden Apartments are adapted for guests with disabilities, with wider access. Apartments are on the ground or first floor, with a lift to the upper floor. A ground-floor apartment is the easier option with a pushchair, but these fall in the Standard type and a particular apartment can't be guaranteed, so treat it as a request rather than a certainty.
Pools and water features
The centrepiece is a 2,000 m² lagoon pool with a small water park, with water slides, splash features and a sunbathing area of parasols and loungers. Its bottom slopes in gradually rather than dropping off an edge, so young children can wade in from the shallows, which is the feature parents mention most. This pool and the water park are shared with guests from the neighbouring Camping Cisano.
Within the water park there's a separate baby lagoon, a dedicated very shallow area for the youngest children. Sisan guests also have their own separate swimming pool, calmer and away from the water park, kept for the resort alone; parents use it to swim or sit in peace, and loungers there are easier to find.
Both pools are outdoors and neither is heated. They feel cold in April and early May, and warm enough to use from late June to mid-September, when the summer air warms them. In July and August the shared lagoon pool gets very busy, with the campsite and resort numbers combined, and a lounger by it can be hard to find; the quieter Sisan pool is the fallback on those days.
There's a further shared pool and children's lagoon over at Camping Cisano, open to Sisan guests too. There's no spa, sauna, hammam, wellness centre or indoor pool at Sisan.
The beach and the lake
Sisan guests use the private sandy beach at Camping Cisano San Vito next door. The campsite grounds run for more than 1,000 m along the lake, and the beach takes up a good stretch of that waterfront, with free umbrellas and sun loungers and a well-stocked beach bar.
Getting to it takes some care. The beach is about 400 m from the resort, but the route crosses the SS249 Gardesana Orientale, the main lakeside road, which carries heavy traffic through the day and into the evening. It's a main road to cross with care, the single most important thing to weigh with a pushchair or a child who might run ahead. Once you're across, the lakeside and beach are flat and easy.
The Cisano ferry pier is about a three-minute walk, with the Navigazione Laghi lake service calling there and running to Bardolino, Garda, Torri del Benaco, Malcesine and other towns; it runs from about April to October.
Water quality on this stretch is consistently good on monitoring. The Cisano and Bardolino shore didn't hold a Blue Flag, the international clean-water and facilities award for beaches, for the 2025 season, and that status is reviewed each year.
Babies and toddlers
The baby kit, the shallow pool, the Mini Club and the gap for under-fours.
For a baby or toddler, the practical strengths here are the apartment and the pool. Cots, high chairs and bed rails come free on request, the kitchen lets you prepare formula and baby food with a fridge, hob and microwave, and the separate second bedroom means naps and early bedtimes don't shut you in a dark room. The lagoon pool's shallow water and the dedicated baby lagoon suit small children paddling.
The Mini Club is for children aged 4 to 12. Its activities run to salt dough, face painting, treasure hunts, painting, water games, a Mini Olympics, a mini disco and craft workshops, changing week to week. The programme is posted at reception and on the resort app, and it runs across both Sisan and the campsite from Easter through the season.
There's no crèche or club for children under four, and no babysitting service, so parents look after their own babies and toddlers throughout.
Organised evening entertainment, the mini disco among it, starts around 8pm, which is past bedtime for the under-threes; the poolside restaurant is the usual fallback for an evening in with little ones. The guest mix is multinational, and one visitor noted the entertainment was mainly in German, so English-speaking families should know the animation may not be led in English.
On site there's a children's outdoor playground, and a games room over at Camping Cisano is open to Sisan guests.
Sports, bikes and park ticketsThings to do
At the resort there's a tennis court and a multipurpose sports field for football, basketball and team games, plus bicycle hire for a fee, useful for the lakeside cycle path to Bardolino and Lazise. You can book organised day trips at the resort, and the ticket desk sells entry to the big local attractions, Gardaland, Movieland, Caneva World, Parco Natura Viva, Parco Sigurtà and the Arena di Verona among them, so you can buy ahead and skip the ticket queues.
For adults there's a daytime programme of water aerobics, Zumba, aerobics and group dancing. Next door at Camping Cisano, open to Sisan guests, there's an outdoor fitness area, minigolf, a games room, table tennis, trampolining, token-operated washing machines and dryers, plus a mini-market, bazaar and newsagent.
Parks, lake towns and citiesThe area and days out
Sisan is well placed for the southern end of the eastern shore, close to the cluster of theme and amusement parks that draw many families to this part of the lake. The ticket desk at reception sells entry to most of them.
| Park | Distance | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Movieland Park | 4 miles (6 km) | A film-themed park with live shows and sets |
| Caneva World | 4 miles (6 km) | A Caribbean-style water park |
| Gardaland | 5 miles (8 km) | Italy's largest theme park |
| Parco Natura Viva | 6 miles (9 km) | A wildlife and safari park |
| Aquardens | 9 miles (14 km) | A large thermal spa complex |
| Jungle Adventure Park | 11 miles (18 km) | High ropes and zip lines for older children |
| Sigurtà Garden Park | 16 miles (25 km) | A large botanical garden to walk round |
For lakeside days out, Bardolino is about a mile (1.9 km) north and Lazise a mile (2 km) south, both walkable or a ferry ride, with Peschiera del Garda about 5 miles (8 km) south, where the train station connects to Verona, Venice and Milan. Sirmione, with its castle and thermal baths, sits about 9 miles (14 km) round the southern shore. North of Cisano, Garda town is about 5 miles (8 km) and Torri del Benaco about 9 miles (15 km), both quieter lakeside towns, and Malcesine, further on at about 22 miles (35 km), has its cable car up Monte Baldo. Bardolino also holds a market on Wednesdays.
Verona, with its Roman arena, is about 19 miles (30 km), around half an hour by car. Venice and Milan are each roughly an hour and a half by train from Peschiera, and Mantua is a similar drive to Verona. For gentler outdoors, the Mincio cycle path heads south from near the resort by bike, and the waterfalls at Molina and near Riva del Garda make family walks further up the lake.
Loves and gripes
How Sisan rates, what families consistently praise and what they flag.
Across the booking sites Sisan rates well: about 8.7 out of 10 on Booking.com from around 791 reviews, 9.2 on Amimir, 8.7 on KAYAK, 4.5 out of 5 on Google and 4 out of 5 on TripAdvisor, where it's the second of the three hotels in Cisano. Booking.com's category scores put staff highest at 9.2, then location at 9.1, facilities at 8.9, cleanliness and WiFi both at 8.8, and comfort and value for money tied at 8.6.
What families love
- Spacious two-bedroom apartments with a separate room to put children down.
- Daily housekeeping included, unusual for a self-catering apartment.
- The lagoon pool's shallow sloping entry, rated ideal for toddlers.
- The quieter Sisan-only pool, with loungers usually going spare.
- Warm, patient staff, especially with young children.
- The setting near the lake, the ferry and the village restaurants.
- Being close to Gardaland and the other parks.
- Good value for the apartment format.
Common gripes
- Breakfast repeating after a few days, with limited fresh fruit.
- The shared lagoon pool getting very crowded in July and August.
- Crossing the busy SS249 to reach the lake beach.
- The half-board set dinner being inconsistent.
- Evening entertainment at around 8pm being too late for the under-threes.
- No dishwasher in the apartments, and the odd report of ants in season.
- An unreliable local bus at peak times.
- Unheated pools feeling cold early in the season.
How it compares
Sisan is the aparthotel option among Lake Garda's family stays, which sets it apart from both the big camping villages and the pricier hotels. Against Camping Bella Italia at Peschiera, the largest and best-equipped site, with more pools, a bigger beach right on the lake and more on tap, Sisan is smaller and quieter and hotel-standard throughout, with daily cleaning, a reception and included breakfast in place of self-catering, though Bella Italia has direct lakefront access where Sisan has the road to cross. Against the five-star Quellenhof Luxury Resort at Lazise, Sisan is the accessible mid-market choice at a much lower price, without Quellenhof's heated sports pool and elaborate slides. The Gardaland hotels are built around the theme park rather than the lake, so they suit a park-first trip more than a lake holiday. The inland hu Altomincio Village, which needs a car, has a dedicated shallow toddler pool, so it's a rival where toddler-pool safety and quiet matter more than being on the lake.
The journey in, and the best monthsGetting there and when to go
The main airport is Verona (VRN), about 16 miles (25 km) and 29 minutes by road; the A22 motorway at Peschiera is around 15 minutes away, and there's a free parking space with every apartment, so a car is very practical here. Bergamo (BGY), about 62 miles (100 km) and around 1 hour 15 minutes by road, and Brescia (VBS), about 40 miles (65 km), are the other airports some UK flights use.
There's no airport transfer in a direct booking. Jet2holidays and TUI packages usually include a coach transfer from Verona, which takes around 45 minutes depending on traffic. A taxi or private transfer from Verona takes about half an hour and costs noticeably more than the local bus; fares aren't fixed, so agree the price with the driver or operator before you travel. Bus 163 stops about 150 m from the resort and runs to Bardolino and Peschiera, but it's infrequent and, guests say, often late and busy at peak times, so the lake ferry from Cisano is the easier way to move along the shore. The walkable lake, ferry and nearby bus stop mean Sisan works even without a car, which some parents pick it for.
The resort runs roughly mid-April to mid-October; exact dates vary year to year, so confirm them with the resort or your operator. For young children, June and September work best, with warm days, far fewer crowds than the school holidays, the pools at full use and the animation running. July and August are the hottest and busiest, and the shared pool is at its most crowded then. May works better later in the month once the pools have warmed, and April is really only worth it for the parks, as the pools are still too cold to use.
Month by monthWeather
Cisano di Bardolino has a sub-Mediterranean climate: hot, sunny summers and mild springs and autumns. The lake itself is around 12 to 14°C in April, warms to around 18 to 20°C by June, peaks at about 24 to 26°C in July and August and is still around 17 to 19°C by October, so early-season trips are for the pool rather than the water, and the parks. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms are common from June to August; the outdoor pools close for safety during lightning, but the storms usually pass quickly and mornings are generally clear.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 19° | 7.5° | 67 mm | 8 |
| May | 24° | 13° | 70 mm | 8 |
| June | 28.5° | 17° | 62 mm | 7 |
| July | 30.5° | 19° | 67 mm | 5 |
| August | 30.5° | 18.5° | 75 mm | 6 |
| September | 25.5° | 14.5° | 75 mm | 6 |
| October | 19.5° | 10° | 65 mm | 7 |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sisan Family Resort itself is open roughly mid-April to mid-October.
Practicalities and health
Where to shop, where the nearest care is and what UK visitors need to travel.
The shared campsite has a mini-market with fresh fruit and vegetables, a bazaar and a newsagent, plus an ATM. A pharmacy is within walking distance, worth knowing because Italian supermarkets don't sell paracetamol, and there's a larger, cheaper supermarket about half a mile (1 km) towards Bardolino.
The nearest emergency department is at the Ospedale Pederzoli in Peschiera del Garda, about 5 to 6 miles (8 to 10 km) south, roughly 15 minutes by car; Verona's Borgo Trento hospital, about 19 miles (30 km) away, has full emergency services. In Italy the emergency numbers are 118 for an ambulance and 112 for general emergencies, the equivalent of 999.
UK visitors should carry a GHIC, the free UK Global Health Insurance Card, which covers state medical treatment in Italy at the same cost as an Italian resident, and travel insurance on top. For entry, UK citizens don't need a visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180, and your passport must have been issued within the last 10 years and have at least three months left beyond your departure. The EU's Entry/Exit System now takes your fingerprints and photo on your first entry, with under-11s not fingerprinted, and ETIAS, the coming travel authorisation, isn't required for current travel, so check it only if you're travelling in late 2026 or later.
The questions parents askQuestions
Is there a crèche or childcare for a baby or toddler?
No. The Mini Club starts at four, and there's no crèche or babysitting for younger children, so with a baby or toddler you're on duty the whole time. If organised childcare for an under-four is essential, a resort built around it will suit you better; what Sisan offers younger families instead is the kitchen, the free cot and the shallow pool.
How hard is it to get to the beach with a pushchair?
The beach is only about 400 m away and the ground is flat, but you cross the SS249, a busy main road, so it takes care with a pushchair or a child who wanders. Some families with very young children lean on the pools and the ferry more than the beach for that reason.
Is an airport transfer included?
Not on a direct booking. Jet2holidays and TUI package holidays usually include a coach transfer from Verona; otherwise book a private transfer or take a taxi, and since fares aren't fixed, agree the price before you set off.
When is the resort open?
Roughly mid-April to mid-October. Exact opening and closing dates vary year to year, so confirm them with the resort or your operator before you book flights around the edges of the season.
Are the pools heated?
No, both are outdoor with no heating. That leaves them cold for the first few weeks of the season, so if swimming is the main point of the trip, book from June onwards rather than April or May.
Should we take half board?
It's optional, and worth taking if you'd rather not cook every night. Reviews run warmer on the pizza than the set dinner, so many families book it, use it for the first few nights, then switch to the apartment kitchen or the village restaurants.
What is the Mini Club, and where do I find the times?
It's the club for children aged four to twelve. The daily programme changes each week and isn't set ahead of time, so there's no schedule to look up before you go; check the board at reception or the resort app once you arrive.
See more Sisan Family Resort photos
Open the Sisan Family Resort photo gallery →Useful links
- Sisan Family Resort: the resort's own site for apartments, the pool, the animation programme and the rules.
- GOV.UK Italy travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Lake Garda with little ones: our guide to the lake, its towns and when to go.
Last updated 28 June 2026.
