Need Some Advice re Italy Multi City Holiday with Family

Sebo23

Well-Known Member
Right folks, need some advice. We usually go on holiday Easter with our 2 boys (15 & 6) and the other halfs parents & sister. With the boys we tend to stick to more family orientated beach resorts ie Tenerife, Fuertuventura, Salou etc.

However, the other half & her mum have decided they wanted to do something a bit different this year, & do like a multi city thing. They both have always liked the idea of Venice & Rome, so i suggested a 3 city break such as Venice / Florence / Rome which they like the idea of & now want to run with.

However, i'm concerned about taking my youngest on this type of break, as it will be a first for him compared to a hotel / swimming pool / kids club type place.

The idea is only to do a couple of nights in each, just to get a bit of a flavour of the place & so that the wee man doesn't get too bored, & travel by train between the 3 cities.

1. Has anyone done likewise & can reassure me it will be ok with a near 7 year old?

2. Florence was an option because it breaks up the Venice to Rome trip on the train, would i be better going to somewhere like Rimini to break it up & giving the we man a break from the 'City break' type holiday?

3. Can anywhere recommend areas in Venice to stay or where not to stay, its a bit overwhelming looking just now. I understand it's expensive so any cost cutting tips will be appreciated as well.

Any other general advice is most welcome. There would probably be several threads on the old board i would have just looked up before starting a new one.
 
Sounds like a good trip to me. Travelled in Italy many years ago and their public transport system is good. Would recommend you use a site like Trivago and get the hotels all booked up in advance. Set your search terms up with the name of the train station in the city that you're visiting and then set the results to distance and it will give you all of the hotels closest to the train station.

You could probably get hotels in the city with pools and if not there will be one available locally. Just keep the wee man going with ivce cream and juice and he'll be fine.

Make use of trip adviser to do final checks on hotels before booking.
 
In Florence, get train to Viareggio for a few days at beach (bit old fashioned but both public/private beach). From Rome, get train to Lido di Ostia, a beach resort 30 minutes from Rome. There is also a Lido near Venice.
 
Have a look at the Amalfi Coast near Naples, beautiful beaches and scenery, you can go to Pompeii and a bit cheaper than Rome, think you can fly direct from Glasgow too
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Think the general plan i have in my head is not to cram too much in & just take things a bit more leisurely with the wee man with us than i might normally would as just a couple.

Sheddensbear, unfortunatly at Easter the wee mans & the mother in laws school holidays overlap this year (she works in a school) as we are in a different district (West Lothian compared to North Lanarkshire), so we will only get about a week off together in which to do the holiday.

I'll have a look at that Jim & see if that's a decent option, cheers.
 
Have a look at the Amalfi Coast near Naples, beautiful beaches and scenery, you can go to Pompeii and a bit cheaper than Rome, think you can fly direct from Glasgow too

Been 4 times to Amalfi coast. Main problem is transfer. You can get a train from Naples to Sorrento then move on from there. I don't like Sorrento, too toursity for me, but Amalfi is amazing. It is about £80+ pp for a transfer from Naples airport through a tour operator.
 
Also at Ostia are ruins that are every bit as good as Pompeii. Ostia used to be the port for ancient Rome. Well worth a visit.
 
In answer to your main question mate, I would break your city trips with a few days on the coast as I think the wee man will be fed up with architecture etc in no time and bear in mind these cities can be stifling hot and crammed with tourists.

One tip I would give you from being in that area a few years back is to give Ferrara a go. It sits about equidistant between Venice and Florence and although it doesn't get the swathes of foreign tourists it's a lovely city with plenty to see and very popular with he Italian tourist as its a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I used to watch the local side SPA in the Italian 3rd Division and incredibly they have just been promoted to Serie A, so you may even get a top flight match in for the wee man.
 
Been to all three cities so sounds like a great trip to me, but my youngest is also 6 so I get where you're coming from in terms of keeping them entertained.

If you're doing Florence, you really need to take in Sienna though - it's only an hour away IIRC and well worth the trip.
 
Google Trenitalia for your trains and it will give you an English option. You will need to put in the Italian names for cities in i.e. Florence is Firenze. You can also pay by paypal on this site.
 
The other half is looking up a trip travelling through Italy for next years holiday, The cities and costal towns she's linked up so far looks like it could be a fantastic trip.
 
Right folks, need some advice. We usually go on holiday Easter with our 2 boys (15 & 6) and the other halfs parents & sister. With the boys we tend to stick to more family orientated beach resorts ie Tenerife, Fuertuventura, Salou etc.

However, the other half & her mum have decided they wanted to do something a bit different this year, & do like a multi city thing. They both have always liked the idea of Venice & Rome, so i suggested a 3 city break such as Venice / Florence / Rome which they like the idea of & now want to run with.

However, i'm concerned about taking my youngest on this type of break, as it will be a first for him compared to a hotel / swimming pool / kids club type place.

The idea is only to do a couple of nights in each, just to get a bit of a flavour of the place & so that the wee man doesn't get too bored, & travel by train between the 3 cities.

1. Has anyone done likewise & can reassure me it will be ok with a near 7 year old?

2. Florence was an option because it breaks up the Venice to Rome trip on the train, would i be better going to somewhere like Rimini to break it up & giving the we man a break from the 'City break' type holiday?

3. Can anywhere recommend areas in Venice to stay or where not to stay, its a bit overwhelming looking just now. I understand it's expensive so any cost cutting tips will be appreciated as well.

Any other general advice is most welcome. There would probably be several threads on the old board i would have just looked up before starting a new one.
 
Taking a 7 year old to Venice and Florence may be challenging busy and quite a lot of walking. I suggest staying outside the city and using the excellent train service to do a day trip to each.

Pescheria de Garda is at the bottom of Lake Garda and is on the main train line to Venice about 1 hour each way. Plenty to do in and around Lake Garda.

Viareggio the beach resort outside Pisa will also allow a day trip by train to Florence.

Good luck.
 
Right folks, need some advice. We usually go on holiday Easter with our 2 boys (15 & 6) and the other halfs parents & sister. With the boys we tend to stick to more family orientated beach resorts ie Tenerife, Fuertuventura, Salou etc.

However, the other half & her mum have decided they wanted to do something a bit different this year, & do like a multi city thing. They both have always liked the idea of Venice & Rome, so i suggested a 3 city break such as Venice / Florence / Rome which they like the idea of & now want to run with.

However, i'm concerned about taking my youngest on this type of break, as it will be a first for him compared to a hotel / swimming pool / kids club type place.

The idea is only to do a couple of nights in each, just to get a bit of a flavour of the place & so that the wee man doesn't get too bored, & travel by train between the 3 cities.

1. Has anyone done likewise & can reassure me it will be ok with a near 7 year old?

2. Florence was an option because it breaks up the Venice to Rome trip on the train, would i be better going to somewhere like Rimini to break it up & giving the we man a break from the 'City break' type holiday?

3. Can anywhere recommend areas in Venice to stay or where not to stay, its a bit overwhelming looking just now. I understand it's expensive so any cost cutting tips will be appreciated as well.

Any other general advice is most welcome. There would probably be several threads on the old board i would have just looked up before starting a new one.

I'm in Italy at the moment. Lake Garda which may suit you for a few days with the young un. Lots of families here. We got the train from Venice, 1hr 25 mins no hassle at all. In Venice stayed at the Hotel Torino, near St Marks Square (San Marco area), was about £120 per night. Small hotel but very central. Travelling back from Lake Garda via Verona airport. Option to visit Verona via the local bus service in Lake Garda.
 
It depends on the length of time you have for the holiday as there is no point spending the majority of your holiday on a train. I would avoid Rome at Easter and Florence while interesting is also busy. I would recommend a two location break : Venice (which is also busy) and Lake Garda. If you are looking for hotel recommendations, San Cassiano Ca' Favretto in San Polo, Venice and Hotel Continental in Sirmione, Lake Garda are worth a thought. By all means visit San Marco in Venice but the area can be a tourist trap with tourist prices.

I have always booked directly through the hotel websites rather than via travel agents or internet booking sites. You usually get better deals that way. Trip-advisor is also worth a look to confirm what suits.
 
If you go to Florence, Pisa is only an hour away - and you can "do" Pisa in 1/2 day.
 
I live in Italy at the moment OP and people are right about being busy at Easter. Rome, Assissi, etc will all be very busy. Florence is always busy as well. I live in Umbria and nearest city is Perugia and we have some lovely places for holidays with Tuscany not far away. Lake Trasimeno is only a half hour drive away as well but I agree with the posters that say a spot by the seaside would be ideal for your wee boy as cities can be noisy, crowded and hot.
 
Cheers guys, some of the suggestions have certainly given me food for thought.

I was worried about crowds & such in Rome, it will actually be the weekend after Easter we would be in Rome going by my original timetable, not sure if that would make a big difference to the crowds?

Need to sit down & have a proper look after reading this. I wouldn't care if it was just me & her, but if im taking the boys & the in-laws it will be me doing nearly all of the organising & i dont want it going t!ts up.
 
Another vote for Lake Garda. Most places are geared up for families. Venice and Milan both about an hour and a half away and Verona on your doorstep.
 
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