Italy/Praque/ Croatia

How much time do you have ?

Knowing the age range would be helpful as well.

You didn’t mention if any of the 7 have been to any of the places you are considering, but I would think that if some people really want to see Italy, then I would say keep it simple, and see Italy. You might want to rent a house for so many people, and park for awhile, doing day trips - maybe in small groups. And since you are concerned about cost, I hope you are considering the cost of long distance travel (Prague to Croatia, Italy to Croatia).
Sightseeing in any country can be as hectic as you want to make it.

I'm very good on planning trips for myself, my wife and my granddaughter. But planning trips for 7 people is another issue. Talk about pressure. Even transportation is very, very difficult with 7 because they are too many to put into a car and full size van rentals are incredibly expensive.

You need to start by looking where you're planning on Google Maps. Prague is east of Berlin and north of Vienna. Croatia is across the Adriatic from Ravenna, Italy, and getting over there can be difficult. You need to simplify your trip.

Have you considered staying in Rome for 4-5 days and then heading for an Italian agriturisimo or bed and breakfast? Then do day trips out of there to the different hill towns around Tuscany and Umbria. It sure would simplify your planning. And you could actually execute such a trip. If possible, rent two cars so the group could go in two directions--at what suits their needs.

My experience travelling with groups suggests that you won't keep everyone happy, so don't try. My friends and I agree on a basic itinerary. But day to day, we split into informal groups to follow our separate interests. Inevitably some will do more research than others; that's fine. The group action consists of shopping for groceries and cooking supper where we talk about the day's activities. If you are at a hotel, let one person each day pick the evening's restaurant.

David’s point about transportation is very important. Besides the cost of a vehicle big enough to hold all of you, there is the difficulty of maneuvering large, or even small vehicles through some of the roads you’ll encounter and that of finding parking. Assuming that at least two of you can drive, two smaller cars will probably be cheaper. Not only that, having two cars will allow people to differ in their daily plans.
Renting a house or staying at an agriturismo, especially one with a pool, seems like a perfect plan. There are many locales in Italy which can serve as bases for excellent no-move experiences. Parts of Tuscany jump to mind. Tuscany is astonishingly full of rental accommodations of all sizes and levels of luxury. You can probably get some recommendations right here on this site.
Try to keep the logistics as simple as possible. With the number in your party, changing locations sounds nightmarish to me. Time consuming and expensive.

1) Would Prague/Croatia be more affordable than Italy.?

Yes, I guess so in general. But probably not by much if by Croatia you mean Split and Dubrovnik. And throw in the flight from one to the next and I suspect yoiu save very little if anything. Now, replace most of your time in Croatia with time in Montenegro (Budva, Ulcinj, Stari Bar, maybe mountains Ostrog Monastery) and you might save a bit more. Replace Prague with Budapest and travel from Montenegro to Budapest on Wizz Air and you will save even more (and have a more beautiful trip).

2) as far as sightseeing, would Prague/Croatia be less hectic? This is
where I’m getting hung up with Italy. So many places to see and I’m
getting overwhelmed. I feel like the other two places may be less
hectic? Correct me if I’m wrong.

Prague can be a circus because the tourist zone is so small and the numbers of tourists are so high. Dubrovnik and Split are no different in that regard than Prague. Again, Montenegro and Budapest will be less hectic.

It can be as hectic or non-hectic and you want it to be. For Italy are you destination or event driven? Are you saying we must see the Colosseum and the Vatican or are you thinking we must see the Amalfi coast? All trips start off all over the place for me, and I want to see everything, then I pull out my calendar and always need to eliminate events in order of importance. Also making sure that the days I am in that place the things I want to do are open, which involves looking at websites, writing down open dates and times then start filling in your days. I also only plan one BIG thing each day, the rest I have a loose idea of what is available. This is vital so we can experience the place we are at, getting to the place is half the fun, doing the event, the looking for a snack, wondering down a street, grabbing a spritz.

Thanks everyone! So it would be my husband and I, and our children 29,27,26,24,16. They really all want to do Italy. Of course everyone wants to go touristy Places. Rome, Florence , Venice. I think my biggest obstacle is the traveling from place to place. Is it doable without a car? Train? How much would a hired driver be I wonder. I’ve been suggested that. We would only be going to one country not going from Italy to Praque., etc. I agree about everyone kind of doing their own thing. I know how it is when we take beach vacations. That’s fine, but again just worried about the getting around part. I’ve heard not to rent a car because of the driving conditions. Ugh. I’ve lost so much sleep over this.

Of course everyone wants to go touristy Places. Rome, Florence , Venice.

That is easily done by train. A car would mostly be an expensive anvil around your neck and wallet.

Not knowing how much time you have makes it a challenge to suggest an itinerary.

You may want to look at the "Itinerary" tab here-- https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome to get an idea of what might be possible. Just realize the tour has a dedicated bus and a never lost guide to go from place to place so you would be unable to do everything the tour does in the same time frame.

Thank you! We would go for 2 weeks.

Sicily is very affordable. Or look into one of Rick’s My Way Tours.

Two weeks is about right for Rome, Florence and Venice. Express trains will whisk you between those cities extremely quickly; driving would take much longer even before you factor in the.always-fun looking-for-parking activity (not to mention paying for parking).

You'd probably have time for a day-trip or two. The top choice would probably be rural Tusacany. You could either rent a vehicle or two or contact one of the local tour companies offering public tours. With such a large group, it might be about the same price to arrange a private tour. Tours by Roberto has a lot of fans on this forum. You can take a look at its website to see what sort of itinerary is possible in a day.

Other super-easy day trips--if rural Tuscany doesn't appeal or you need more time outside the Big Three--include:

Rome: Orvieto or Ostia Antica by train
Florence: Siena (best by bus)
Venice: Padua by train

What will keep the trip from feeling hectic is not overscheduling your time. Pick a few key sights and figure out (you can ask here) which of them may require you to buy tickets ahead of time. Leave time open for exploration. Don't insist that all the adult children go to all the same sights.

You'll be able to save considerable money on the train tickets by buying them early, if you're comfortable with non-refundable tickets for specific departure dates and times. When you're ready to check schedules and fares, go to trenitalia.com and italotreno.it. They compete on the Venice-Florence-Rome legs. For local side trips you'd be using trenitalua (or a bus).

You will save considerable vacation time if you book multi-city rather than round-trip flights--assuming the cost is not a great deal higher. It often works best to fly into Venice and out of Rome. For many US destinations flying home from Venice means a very early flight and expensive private transportation to the airport; that concern may not apply to East Coasters. Multi-city is not the same as two one-way tickets; you should see multi-city as a ticket option, along with round trip and one way.

People get overwhelmed in travel planning by FOMO (fear of missing out). They think about going to a place, but are obsessed by the places they are not going.

We are planning an Italy trip. We began by thinking of all the places that we could go, but quickly realized that this was foolish. Instead, we decided to stay in N Italy and C Italy. We are not going to Rome, Sicily, or any place south of Siena. We are still going to a number of places.

In our travels, we have found that almost every place we have gone reveals more as you stay there longer.

I don't think you need a car. If you start out in Rome you don't need a car and you certainly wouldn't want one. Rome is easily navigable on foot and meto. Being without a car also means that the group can split up and do separate stuff if not everyone agrees. The Frecciarossa trains in Italy are fantastic and are ideally suited for moving between the major cities so Rome to Florence to Venice is the best way to travel, you won't want a car in any of those cities.

Just got back from a trip to Italy and France with 6 adults. Here is what I learned...

1) Do not rent a car - NO van is large enough. Plan to take the train or bus and only with easily maneuverable luggage. One piece per person plus maybe a backpack. Italy is very easy by train....not sure about Croatia though don't think they have a good train system.

2) Hire private drivers or plan private tours and let them do the driving

I'd concentrate on Italy. You can train between all the major cities which would make it an easy trip. I think Italy is the most visited country by US citizens. There is TONS of information on the RS website alone on Italy. RS also has great travel planners to help you with your plan. They charge a fee but we used them for our first trip to Italy and the consultant we used made a big difference in our plans.

We've twice been to Italy (2003 and 2015, 3 weeks, each trip) and we did a Prague-Vienna-Croatia trip in 2018 (4 days Prague, 4 in Vienna and 11 days in Croatia). Prague, BTW, was one of the most tourist crowded cities I have ever visited.

Do you want major sites, big cities, and world class museums or castles? Or do you want smaller towns and cities, fewer crowds.

Begin with what is the experience that you AND YOUR CHILDREN or other family members want. Younger ones and older folks do not always want the same things. Museums may be fascinating - or BORING. Jazz vs. Hip Hop.

I've come to love smaller cities and towns, back roads and trails, and quiet restaurants - perhaps more than the Sistine Chapel, the Prague Castle and Diocletian's Palace - all of which I loved. Going to those major sites/places is memorable for a lifetime; so is a phenomenal meal in one the beaux villages de France.

Maybe you want to do a bit of both? And even if you opt for a big crowded, tourist filled city like Prague, hopefully you can find smaller, more local places to go like a market, the Mucha Museum, or a small jazz club.

How long is your trip? If you are considering 3 countries (with Italy being one of the three), three weeks may not be long enough. And you only have two.

Be open to what you stumble onto - for us, there was Piano City (a weekend music festival) in Milan, the Gelato Festival in Orvieto, and the Manifesto Market in Prague, back when it was new and had only been open for about 4 or 5 weeks.

Surf the net and see what's happening. That's how we learned we would be there for the last day of the Stairway to Klimt special exhibit in the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna. And how we got free tickets to the opening night festival at the Vienna Opera.

I agree that for 2 weeks, it would be best to choose one country. (Is it 2 full weeks in Europe, or 2 weeks including travel time there and back, in which case you may have only 12 or 13 actual days?)

However, if you really want to see 2, consider Italy/Croatia. I think this makes more sense, in terms of proximity, and I think, of the 3, Croatia will give you the best variety and bang for your buck for the variety of ages in your group.

Now, I'm not suggesting you try to cover a lot of Italy, but maybe choose two locations--Venice and Rome, for instance, to give you a taster, and divide 6 days between them.

Depending on the time of year, you can take a ferry from Italy to Croatia, or you can take a bus or fly.

In Croatia, I'd pick a city and an island for 8 days. My choice would be Dubrovnik plus an island, but Dubrovnik wouldn't be the least hectic place, depending on the time of year. Still, I loved Dubrovnik, and it is a beautiful and interesting place to see. My 2nd choice would be Split, with a day trip to Krka, and an island. You can take a ferry to the island (Korkula or Hvar). Otherwise, in Croatia, you can book a ride with Octopus Transfers. https://www.octopustransferscroatia.com

Alternatively, you could visit Prague and Budapest, as others have mentioned, and I think 2 weeks is a good amount of time for that. I'd choose a minimum of 4 nights, 3 days in Prague, and then spend the rest of the time in Budapest. You can take the train from Prague to Budapest or vice-versa. https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/prague-to-budapest-by-train.htm

All that said, given that your family wants to see Italy, I agree with those who have suggested spending the entire trip in Italy. It is easy to get from place to place by train, for the most part. For other places, you can book a ride through My Day Trip. https://mydaytrip.com

I plan for groups fairly often and you don’t do it the same way you do for 2-5 people. You can’t move as quickly nor cover as much ground.

If they all want to go to Italy, keep it simple and just stay in Italy. There is MORE than enough to see and do. With a full 14 days, you could conceivably consider 4 stops but there’s no real need. You could stay longer in 3 cities and then consider day trips.

Also consider apartments instead of hotels. Perhaps fly into Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome, fly home.

I have twice planned family trips for seven to Europe-once to Italy and once to Greece. This is what I would recommend.
1) No more than 4 places in two weeks. It takes longer to move with a group.
2) an apartment rental works better than hotel rooms. You need a place to gather and you don’t want it to be your hotel room (I speak from experience).
3) stick to one country. in Italy, I would stick to public transportation. We took trains and buses last summer in Italy and is easy and cheap. We rented two cars for part of the time in Greece and it was a bit challenging to keep track of each other.
4) decide who is paying for what ahead of time. We had adult working kids pay for own airfare and any food/drinks during day. We paid for airfare for our college student and gave him an “allowance” to cover food/drinks during the day.
5) consider not eating out all the time. In Italy, we had apartments with dishwashers and ended up cooking in about 1/2 the time. It saved money but also was better in many ways. For example, at Lake Como we had an apartment with a gorgeous view with a table fitting all of us.
6) plan for a variety of activities and take into account peoples different interests. We also found for our group to include activities that aren’t as cerebral-hikes and beach time and not all historical sites, for example.
7) allow people to go their own way if they want. We did most things together but some of our group wanted more beach time than others. Four of our group for example went to Lido beach in Venice while three did not.
It is harder to travel with a group of 7 but also more fun. We had so much fun going to Greece that we decided to go as a group to Italy as well!

Just visit Italy this trip; it’s our favorite European country, Prague, CZ would not be less hectic nor would Croatia.
Fly into Rome and stay several days, at least three, pick up car when leaving and stay in a town in Tuscany such as Castellina or Panzano in the Chianti region for four days, your country stay . Return car in Florence, stay a few days , and finish your trip in Venice. Fly out of Venice. Or reverse this itinerary. This was what we did on our first trip to Italy and it worked well.