Reccomendations for family trip

Tina: Don't forget that 10 year old's have very short attention spans. I would suggest starting in Munich, which is an interesting historical city. They've got your palaces and old Europe as well as a great science museum. Then take a train thru Southern Bavaria into the Austrian Alps and an easy train trip into Venice. Florence is a quick train trip (150 miles) from Venice. A rental car is preferred to see Tuscany and their hill top towns. Rome is also an easy train trip from Tuscany/Florence. This ininerary would be your path of least resistance.

You could follow the footsteps of Vlad the Impailer across Transylvania. A10 year old might get a kick out of that. I know I did and I've often been told I act like a 10 year old.

Are you super nimble travelers? If not with just 10 days I'd stick to Italy, if that is your focus. With such a threesome, what's best is often different from what's most. So, slow down and smell the gelato. There's tons to see in Italy.

In two weeks is quite a tour de force. My best wishes

My wife tells me I am not being very helpful. I've been to England, France, Italy but I know Central and Eastern Europe better. So if I were bring one of our kids at the age of 10 to Central Europe this is what I would consider; then if it sounds like a possibility you can look for similar things in the West. The Budapest Zoo. Europe has some outstanding zoos. Budapest's Margaret Island which is essentially a giant park complete with pedal cars The River Taxi from Budapest to Szentendre Spelunking under the Buda Hills. Kids always love caves. You didn't say the time of year so if in the winter, snowballs and bob sleds and Christmas Markets Budapest's Hospital in the Rock, actually a secret Cold War fallout shelter Bath house or water park. Big across Europe but especially in Central Europe Stairs to the top of Church towers Castles. In Rome he might love San Angelo for instance, but you could see a different stunning castle each day while crossing most of Europe. A lake resort like the Kempensik High Tatra in Slovakia. In the winter it's a ski resort. Oh, I know cable cars. Great ones in the ski resorts from Romania to Slovakia to Switzerland. Medieval towns like Sighisoara in Romania Walled Cities like Trnava in Slovakia Narrow gauge railroads through the forests and over the mountains like the Septemvri-Dobrinishte line in Bulgaria
A cultural festival (but a fun one) like the Busójárás festival in Mochas, Hungary.

Sometimes as parents, our first thoughts are the result of gut instincts honed over the years. Yours of focusing on Italy was a good one. We spent 10 days in Italy earlier this year (kids were 8, 10, & 12) and it felt slightly rushed as we covered Rome with Pompeii, Florence with some other Tuscan towns, and Venice. And we didn't have any jet lag to worry about, and had been to Rome previously. Italy is by far one of my favorite places to go with kids and I think you could have a great trip there for two weeks.

Involve your son in the planning - What are his interests? What would he like to see? Glaciers? Castles? Does he like looking out a car or train window and watching the scenery? Does he like to walk/hike? What has he studied in history classes? Is he learning a another language? Are catacombs cool and museums a bore? Will one more cute Tuscan hill town make him want to run away? Ask him.
Ditto for your husband, ask him.

You could buy some RS travel videos and see if the youngster goes wow! with anything.

Regarding monastery overnights, monasterystays.com lists a variety of accomidations. If the movie-concept of "monastery" is high on your list, read descriptions carefully; some are religous guesthouses, some are hotel-like facilities associated with specific convents or monasteries, and some offer closer contact with the religious community. Many are in historic buildings, sometimes quite lovely. Almost all rooms will be very simple, typically without TV, radio, or hotel amenities.

Tina, While it may be feasible, your present Itinerary seems more than a bit "ambitious" for a two week time frame. A "blitz" trip will probably not be a pleasant experience for your Son. Does your two weeks include your two flight days? The route you mentioned is not as efficient as it might be, using more transportation time than necessary. As you mentioned that you want to focus on Italy, I'd probably skip the Eze and Apricale stops. One route that might work..... > Flight to Zürich > Arrive Zürich - train to Chur (1 night) > Bernina Express to Tirano and then Trenitalia to Venezia S.L. (time ~5H:35M, 1 change at Milano Centrale) > Venice (2 nights?) > Florence or "Tuscan region" (number of nights depending on how many towns you'll be visiting there - you could base in one or two towns and then take day trips) > Train to Rome (5 nights?) - day trips to Orvieto or other places? > Flight home from FCO There are many ways this could be arranged, so this is only one suggestion. Good luck with your planning!

Tina, it's been many years, but my husband and I took a number of European vacations with our daughter when she was a child. Each time, we chose the country or region, but then involved her in ing specific destinations. She felt that since she was part of the planning, she was more "committed" to the plans. We also figured that anything is more interesting if you've read and talked about it ahead of time. We included her in our efforts to learn the bare essentials of the local language and customs. We also gave her responsibilities on each trip, often involving navigating. In London when she was eight, her job was to figure out which subways we needed each day to reach our destinations. In subsequent trips she helped to read train schedules and to navigate through stations. As she became an older, more experienced traveler, she carried small amounts of cash and we sometimes briefly split up to make small purchases. My point is to involve your son as much as possible. I'd also limit the trip to one country just because jumping from culture to culture is confusing. Ask your son how he feels about spending hours on scenic drives or trains. Discuss food options ahead of time. Mix up the experience to include scenery, culture, history, relaxation, etc. Good luck!

Just to agree with the excellent advice you've already gotten. Remember the adage, "a group only moves as fast as its slowest member." In your case, that's likely to be your son - so be sure to pace the trip for him, or you will all be miserable. As a solo traveling adult, I'd have trouble keeping up with the pace of your itinerary; there's no way I'd do it with a child. In addition, you have some odd choices - why Eze? It's a nice day trip from Nice if you're in that area, but to make a special trip from further afield isn't worth it, and again, I'm not sure a 10 year old would find anything of interest. I love the idea of having your son watch some videos (Ricks Steves and others) and seeing what excites him. I also agree that picking one country will be much more rewarding; it will also allow him to really focus on learning about it (language, customs, history, art - all at an age-appropriate level, of course). And Anita's points are also great - get his input before you go, and once you're there, let him be a "junior navigator" and have him try to use the local language (kids are often better at this than adults). Be sure to discuss food, so he's not upset (for instance, pizza in Italy is QUITE different from that in the US; anyone who's not prepared, of any age, can be in for a shock). There are attractions for children and families all over the place (James's ideas of zoos, gondolas and cable cars, castles, caves, and the like are very good). Once you decide on a geographic focus, let us know and people can recommend specific attractions.

I want to thank everyone for the great advice. We will have some good family discussion around the input and may have some follow up questions later.