Italy in 6 days

It is doable Rachel.
You might want to fly from Rome to Venice or vice-versa to save time.
Did you think about renting a car? It might be cheaper for 5 persons, same gas for 1 or 5 persons.

Bea has a point about gas, but that means you will be saddled with a car while you are in Florence, so you will need to find a place to park it outside of town for the duration of your stay. 2) Don't assume it will be cheaper to drive, run the calculations and make sure before you choose this option. Driving is more expensive in Italy than it is here.

I think you are really packing it in for six days, but maybe your boys don't have a long enough attention span to visit a lot of duomos, museums, and archeological sites so short visits to these great cities may work best for you. Is that your thinking for Florence and Rome?

As much as it hurts to say it--given my love for Venice--with just seven nights and married to flying in AND out of Rome, I'd do Rome, Florence, and maybe Siena for a night, leaving Venice for another trip. One possibility would be to arrive in Rome and train to Florence first, spend 3 nights in Florence, then maybe one night in Siena (1 hr by bus from Florence), before taking the direct 3 hr bus back to Roma for 3 nights. You could also do 2 nights Florence, 2 Siena, and 3 Rome OR 2 nights Florence, 1 Siena, and 4 Roma. I love Florence, so if it was me, I'd do 3 there, especially given your first night you'll be pretty tired. Just some ideas.

Ryanair right now has rates of 2.25EUR plus tax from Venice to Rom Campiano. There's a nice 8am-9AM flight, and an afternoon flight as well. If you don't have check baggage it's that cheap. If you do, it's about $25.00 more per person. Check it out, and see if you can get a deal on your days!

If you want to see all three Id go for it.If you arrive in Rome in the AM train to Venice.That gives you that day and the next.Then train to Florence.If you want to see David and visit the Uffizi have your hotel owner make reservations.You would have a part day and one full day.Then train to Rome for the rest of your time.A little rushed but doable.

Are you arriving from CA? If so, take into account being really tired (and cranky?) and jetlagged on arrival. Just because Venice is a long train ride away, I say stick to Rome and Florence. There is so much to see and do in those two places, you won't have time to miss Venice. You can easily take a 1/2 trip to Pisa and the Leaning Tower by train from Florence.

Chani brings up a good point about the flight. Having done the LA-Europe trip numerous times, I can tell you that it will take a lot out of you--especially if you aren't used to it.

Next, think of your boys. What are there attention spans? Will they enjoy spending hours in museums looking at art?

One other suggestion I tell friends who are taking kids to Europe--rent movies or travel shows of the places you are visiting and let them watch. Then, when they get to the actual place, they can relate to it because what they saw on TV is now in front of them.

Leaving aside the beauty of the place, IMO Venice has more of a "Wow" factor for children. The idea of living in a city with no cars and having to travel by water will be like nowhere else in their experience.

It's been many years now, but when my daughter was 10 we visited Italy for the first time as a family. She liked Venice (vaporettos, gondolas, the cheesy glass factories) a lot, Rome was okay--she loved the fake gladiators and the gelato, and Florence was boring to her. By then, she was "museumed-out" and the only thing that she really enjoyed was seeing David, which she'd seen from pictures and was surprised how big he was in real life.

Pace yourself with respect to museums--even for adults you can reach overload, and kids generally reach the eye-glaze level much more quickly.

No question in my mind, I'd only pick two destinations...Rome and Venice. They are so very different and will hold their attention better, IMO. And the Eurostar from Rome to Venice is only 4 hours. Both cities are great fun in so many ways....happy travels!

Yes, I agree with James: pick two. But, as you see, that is by no means a consensus.

Given you have kids I echo "Skip Florence." Florence is one of my favorite places in the world and I usually advise people to give it more time: but you have kids. Rome and Venice will be more fun for them.

I'm sure you already know how much--or how little as the case may be-- musuem/duomo hopping your kids will tolerate before they revolt and get really irritable. Kids usually like to climb towers and such, but not too much time at the top looking at the view. This might be a good way to burn off pent-up museum energy.

Rachel,
I lived near Florence, and just got back from Venice and have traveled to Rome also. There is so much to see in each city, and they're so far apart, that you'd spend a lot of time traveling as opposed to seeing. I'd recommend 2, and they wouldn't be the 2 farthest apart, which are Rome and Venice. Look at a map!

Good advice, Elaine, but (I'm not sure) I think Melissa may have already left on her trip (this is an old thread).

Maybe not. Rachel wrote a month ago and said they were going in June.

I say pick where you really want to go....
I nixed Cinque terre and Sienna in order to do 4 nights in venice and 2 nights 3 days in Florence.

Rachel,

I most definitely agree with some of the others that have said to pick just two locations. Trying to see Rome, Venice and Florence in six days after a LONG flight from the west coast, and especially with three children, is a bit extreme. This isn't a question of whether it's possible, but more a question of how much you want to enjoy the trip.

Given the specifics of your group, I also agree that Rome and Venice would be good choices. While I also love Florence, with a six day trip something needs to be dropped. Stopping briefly in Florence to see the statue of David (on the way to Venice) might be a possibility, but I don't know what options there are for luggage storage at Firenze S.M.N.?

Another factor to consider is the fact that both your inbound and outbound flights are from Roma FCO, so you'll have to allow adequate time to get back to Rome in time for your flight. Open jaw flights (Rome / Venice) would have been a much better option!

Good luck and happy travels!

Hello Rachel. Yes, it is possible for you to do Rome, Florence and Venice in 6 whole days. I am not aware of any reason for you to not do that. You would be in each of the three cities one whole day.
I think one whole day in Florence is sufficient time there, and I think one whole day in Venice is sufficient time there. Being in Rome only one whole day : that day should be planned carefully. I recommend : In the morning visit St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In the afternoon visit the Villa Borghese Art Gallery, and go to the Trevi Fountain. The train trip from Venice to Rome will be a long time of sitting on a seat in a train -- the
youngest boy will need games or entertainment : each
person could read a few pages from a book, to the others. Train passengers may walk to other train cars. If visiting those three cities in Italy is what you want to do, do it !

Hello Rachel. In Rome, your boys will like seeing Michelangelo's marble sculpture "The Pietra" in St. Peter's Basilica. I saw that sculpture when my age was 12. It was in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I liked it, very much. That sculpture was the most beautiful man - made thing that I ever saw ! And your boys will like seeing Bernini's white marble sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, in Villa Borghese Galleries in Rome. And I guess the boys will like eating Gelato in Rome.