If fresh air, mountain walks, Renaissance cities, medieval castles and great food aren’t enough to please the little ones, here are a few more suggestions.

Great fun for all the family is Parco Avventura Cerwood, just under an hour away in Cervarezza. This is an outdoor adventure park in the National Park, with obstacle courses to suit all abilities (think rope bridges, swinging from trees etc – like Go Ape in the UK). The main routes are for children (and adults!) over 1.4m in height but there are also a few routes for smaller children (1m-1.4m) and a play area for tots with a sandpit, pedal cars, bouncy castle and little climbing wall. Ccheck the website for opening times and prices.

Parco Matildico Montalto, a nature park just south of Reggio Emilia (1hr), is great for a family day out. It has woods, meadows and natural ponds where you can go canoeing. There’s also an adventure park with bridges, zipwires etc (like the one at Cerwood but on a smaller scale), a petting farm and a botany trail.

For additional swimming options, there is a lovely outdoor pool in Toano, which is open during the school holidays (early June to early September). It has a main pool, shallow children’s pool, bar and trampoline.

A little further afield, there are two other outdoor swimming pools that have zoom tubes, Jacuzzi pool and a shallow children’s pool with slides: Piscine l’Azzurra in Scandiano, around an hour from Villa Bonicelli, and Piscina Lido Dei Calanchi, in Baiso, 50 min away. Both of these pools are a similar price to the one in Toano but have more to offer if you’re prepared to do the extra driving. Please note, though, that like most outdoor pools they are always packed at the weekends, so best go during the week or get there early to secure your spot.

A little further still, Aquatico is a waterpark in the town of Reggio Emilia, about 1.5 hrs away.

There are nice local playgrounds suitable for young children in Gova (behind the church), Cavola and Montefiorino. See also the ‘restaurants’ section for the best places to eat (with playgrounds) if you have young children.