A family holiday in Istria with kids: Dinosaurs, a farm and a train at Mon Perin
A summer morning during holidays at Mon Perin usually looks something like this: the kids are awake before everyone else, their swimsuits are already dry from yesterday and the question „What are we doing today?“ comes before breakfast. At Mon Perin, there is always an answer – in fact, there are several. This camp on the western coast of Istria turns into a true children's paradise in summer, while parents get exactly what they need most – a holiday without having to organise every minute of the day.
Parents dream of peace, children want adventure, and the schedule of a classic family holiday can quickly turn into a complicated list of driving and parking. At Mon Perin, there is none of that – everything, from the water park to the farm with animals, is located within the camp itself. All you have to do is step out of your mobile home or tent, in your slippers, with a towel over your shoulder – something to do is waiting for you at every turn.
Discover our summer story at Mon Perin.
Imagine screams of excitement, sounds of splashing water and running back up the stairs to do it all over again. That is the rhythm of a day at Paleo Park, a dinosaur-shaped water park. The story behind it is not fictional – in fact, it was inspired by a real palaeontological discovery made in this part of Istria. The pool is shaped like a dinosaur, while the waterslide takes the form of its footprint. Children race down it again and again as water droplets fly in every direction. Next to the pools is a children's play area set up in spacious igloo tents. With creative workshops, performances and games, children can spend the whole day here without anyone noticing how quickly the time passes. When the sun goes down, the energy does not disappear – it simply moves to the Mini Disco Club. Little ones dance to songs they know by heart, hands in the air and barefoot on the floor, while parents watch from the side and smile. Paleo Park is open from mid-May to mid-September, every day from 10:00 to 20:00.
The smell of hay and freshly turned earth, the quacking of ducks, the soft fur of a donkey beneath a child's hand when they finally find the courage to touch it – something you would not expect from a typical summer holiday awaits you at the little agricultural oasis of Fresh Market & Farm. Trust us, children immediately fall in love with this farm through all their senses. And who could blame them? Donkeys, sheep, goats, ducks and a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig live here and children can observe them up close and feed them under the supervision of staff. The moment a little hand finally dares to stroke a donkey is worth more than any postcard. But the experience does not end there! Twice a week, the whole family can collect a free bag of freshly harvested vegetables from the fields right next to the farm. A tomato picked just an hour earlier somehow always tastes sweeter when a child has seen where it came from. And then there is the free panoramic train that travels through the entire camp all the way to the centre of Bale, with three stops along the way. Children will usually want to ride it at least twice, and probably a third time, just to wave through the window a little longer with huge smiles on their faces. Evenings, meanwhile, belong to the open-air cinema, set up right above the sea. Films are watched directly from the beach or from comfortable sun loungers at the beach bars, wrapped in a towel as darkness slowly falls, with cartoons for the youngest guests scheduled on selected evenings.
For children, the sea at Mon Perin is not simply the sea – it is the perfect stage for adventures that last from morning until evening. Sandcastles rise and fall, channels fill with seawater and someone is always convinced they have just discovered real treasure buried in the pebbles. A little further away, at the floating aquapark set up on two beaches, older children tackle climbing structures, jumping bridges and slides like little sailors conquering their own ship. Meanwhile, the youngest, wearing masks and snorkels, explore the shallow water close to shore in search of crabs, tiny fish and, if you ask them, surely the occasional mermaid too. The coastline is so varied that a mum with a three-year-old can easily find a calm, shallow cove for their first steps into the sea, while teenagers can head to the other end of the beach in search of excitement on the very same day. There is also a children's playground next to every beach – five in total across the two camp areas, San Polo and Colona – so playtime is never far from your towel on the sand.
As the sun begins to set and appetites grow, several beaches offer shared barbecue areas with no reservation required. Simply light the fire and enjoy dinner to the sound of the sea while the children make their final jumps into the waves, calling out „Dad, just one more time!“ before bedtime.
Whether your children dream of dinosaurs, a farm full of animals or days spent in the water, Mon Perin offers enough activities during the main season to fill every day without you having to organise a thing. Explore family-friendly accommodation, from mobile homes to spacious pitches in the shade of the pine forest and book your stay: accommodation at Mon Perin.
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