Two weeks, Europe, with kids

When are you planning to do your traveling?

It's doable, but you'll be moving fast. I would suggest dropping Pompeii and slowing down a little. Have you considered flying out of Venice on one of Delta's partner airlines connecting in a big European gateway airport an home to ATL?

Carlos - updated my OP to include dates.

David- Good point...that's kind of my concern...we've heard about dropping Pompeii and hitting Tivoli or some great place right outside Rome so we don't lose a day. Also wondered about just flying into Madrid, fast train to Barcelona, three days there then ten in Italy and do it right.

Madrid "is" the big European direct to ATL, and my folks are in Auburn (War Eagle) so that's as close to direct as I can get from Pensacola...so yeah, Venice -> Madrid on Ryanair (or whatever) and then home on Delta direct to ATL is my plan.

Travis

Busy schedule , but why not fly to Naples, train to Rome and on to Venice and fly VCE-MAD.( To do everywhere you list)

Doing just 2 places in Italy would be the better idea. Ostia Antica, just outside of Rome, would be your Pompeii substitute and save a bunch of travel

Stop kidding yourself. You don't have "two weeks". You have 12 days there. The more you repeat the falsehood that you have 2 weeks in Europe, the longer it will take you to come to grips with what's a realistic and enjoyable plan.

With 12 days to work with, I don't think it's smart to try and squeeze in Spain and Italy - and that's true even if you don't have a couple young kids in tow (remember: a group only travels at the speed of it's slowest, moodiest, pickiest, hardest-to-please member). There's enough great stuff in either country to easily keep you busy for a month or two, never mind 12 days.

Do yourself a favor, pick Spain or Italy, not both. You and your whole family will be glad you did.

Yes, as much as I love Granada, I would drop it from this trip and head on to Barcelona by train. However, if Day 1 is when you leave Atlanta, you will arrive on Day 2 and have one less night than you look like you are planning on.

And I might be nervous about flying Venice - Madrid, then Madrid - Atlanta on the same day on separate tickets. You might want to consider flying back to Madrid and spending the last night there before your flight home. Consider 4 nights Barcelona, 4 nights Rome, 2 nights Venice (take the train, don’t fly), and 1 night Madrid.

You are right. There are many potential combinations, but you and the family will have to decide what interests you most. It will be a memorable trip!

Unless you're landing at night, you'll be tired after the flight into Madrid anyway, so I'd suggest having a meal and planning a late afternoon flight to Italy....head to your hotel, then to bed....it's a travel day you'd wander in a fog through anyway, so just keep moving to Italy. Get up early the next day and get into the sunshine to help get over jetlag quicker and spend 8 days in Italy, then evening back to Spain. Now you're in Spain for the next 4 days and can work your way from Barcelona over to Madrid for your return home and not worry you won't make it back for your flight. Base in or around Barcelona, see what you'd like in the region, then head over to Madrid for a couple of days. If you do it as below, plan your Italy time in the way that makes the most sense for your time there. With 7 1/2 days, personally, I'd base out of Florence and train to Rome and Venice on days I want to see those cities, or just do Rome and Florence with a day trip to Venice (but that's me).

Day 1 - to Madrid....lunch....flight to Italy
Day 2 - Italy
Day 3 - Italy
Day 4 - Italy
Day 5 - Italy
Day 6 - Italy
Day 7 - Italy
Day 8 - Italy
Day 9 - Italy....evening flight to Barcelona
Day 10 - Barcelona
Day 11 - Barcelona
Day 12 - Barcelona
Day 13 - Barcelona --> Madrid
Day 14 - Madrid --> pm flight home

Traveling Mama's advice - you are doing way too much (and you know it). Focus on Spain this trip and do not spend three of your 12 days flying. Plenty in Spain to keep you and your kids very occupied. I have similarly aged kids and traveled all over Europe with them. We'd never take a trip again if we traveled as you proposed above.

Thanks everyone for the great replies...this was so helpful. And yes, I'm probably guilty of trying to relive my college days of backpacking around Europe.

Curious about the idea of using Florence as a homebase and training to Rome and Venice. I feel like Florence might be a nicer place to stay (plus Duomo, Palazio Vecchio, etc) than the big city of Rome.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

My kids were absolutely bored to tears in Florence. We couldn't get out into the countryside fast enough.

I also think that a day trip to Rome or Venice with kids in tow from Florence sounds like an absolute nightmare.

If you do decide on the Spain only option, here would be two potential 13-night itineraries that would use Madrid as a focal point.

Itinerary 1: Castilla + Andalucia

Fly in to Madrid
Madrid (3 nights) - Day trip to Segovia Castle
AVE Train to
Toledo (2 nights)
AVE Train via Madrid Atocha to
Cordoba (2 nights)
ALSA Bus to
Granada (2 nights)
ALSA Bus to
Sevilla (3 nights) - Day trip to Roman ruins of Italica
AVE Train to
Madrid (1 night)
Fly out of Madrid

Itinerary 2: Castilla + Old Crown of Aragon (more medieval focused)

Fly in to Madrid
Madrid (2 nights)
AVE Train to
Toledo (2 nights)
AVE Train via Madrid Atocha to
Valencia (3 nights) - Day trip to Peñíscola Templar Castle
Talgo Train to
Barcelona (4 nights) - Day trip to Montserrat/Hiking
AVE Train to
Zaragoza (2 nights) - Day trip to Olite Royal Castle
AVE Train to Madrid, fly out of Madrid

I know my kids would have been bored with Florence. I just don't see anything for them there. Rome however was chock full of things for them to do, they loved it. The idea of a day trip to Rome from Florence is just so anathema to me, Rome deserves so much more than a day trip.

I was bored to tears in Florence, ha! Didn’t take the kids there because I knew they wouldn’t be interested in those kinds of museums or shopping. My kids (8/11) absolutely loved Rome and said it was their favorite city out of Barcelona, Cannes, and Rome. They also really like Pisa and surprisingly so did we. I thought it was going to be a total tourist trap but it was actually very interesting. I would consider taking the train from Rome to Venice and not flying as there is much less that can go wrong with a train than a budget airline in Europe. Plus kids seem to like trains better and they can move around more than on an airplane.

One final thought about Atlanta as a Delta hub. Yes, there are cheap flights to Madrid, but Barcelona itself is also a huge Delta hub that often has the cheapest flights or the most points flights available. Also look at Zürich for cheap availability to and from. As others have said, in the future definitely consider flying into one airport and out of another instead of making yourself have to backtrack for a round-trip itinerary. In Delta search by Multi-city to get this option.

Wow thanks Carlos and FredandKell for the great advice.

This is so helpful and glad to know that Firenze may not be the best bet for kids.

Awesome help everyone.

I would pick one country or the other. You can come back. Pick the one you like most. I personally prefer Spain (except Madrid) to Italy. It's related to the attitude I get from Italian locals, like they are annoyed by your visit, where Spanish go out of their way to thank you for being there.

Both countries have great history, architecture, beautiful coastline and a ton to see. I like history, preferably before 1500. In Italy it's mostly Roman, pre-Roman, Greek. There is also a ton of renaissance art. Spain has Roman, Moorish and Spanish influences. Spain also has an interesting mix of cultures. Many people, if not most, consider themselves Catalan, Basque, Gaelic, Andalusian... first and Spanish second. Same for language, Spanish is a second language for many people in Spain.

With two weeks, you can have a nice visit to Northern Spain, Southern Spain or some of Italy.

For Italy I'd stick to the Rome, Florence and Venice corridor (plus a little Tuscany). At least two nights in Venice and four or more in Rome.

Southern Spain would concentrate on Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba plus some other places like Ronda or other white towns, Antequerra (passage tombs), Tarifa, Gibraltar, Jerez, Cadiz, Costa de la Luz (avoid the golf and condo resorts in Costa del Sol).

Northern Spain for me would start in Barcelona and include a choice of Montserrat, Zaragosa, Pamplona, Olite Castle, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Burgos, Leon, Vallodolid, (La Mota, Coca and Penefiel castles), Zamora, Salamanca, Avila, Segovia and Toledo. I'd end in Madrid but only to see El Prado and fly home.

My suggestions don't include newer history so add that if it appeals to you.

I didn't think Florence was bad for kids. I can see the Uffizi being boring because it's essentially a slow moving line going through the entire museum. Great works of art but can be boring. The overall town - squares dotted with statues, Medici palaces towers, duomo, bell tower, gelato and pizza kept my kids interested. There's a torture museum in the center I'd consider hokey but my kids (8, 12 and 15 at the time) enjoyed.

Hi,

In your shoes I would stick to Italy and leave Spain for another time. Actually it looks like you want to do Italy but the flights to Spain from Atlanta are super cheap, and so you are including Spain as well. Maybe I am wrong.

I have been to all your suggested destinations multiple times. Have you already bought your tickets Atlanta to Madrid round trip? If yes, then once you hand in Madrid fly into Venice. Fly out of Naples into Madrid, to Atlanta. (I am not suggesting that you stay in Naples, but it is the gateway to the Amalfi Coast, and you want to see Pompeii. I also strongly recommend Capri for a few nights, I did that with my girls, and they loved hiking, swimming, boat rides, delicious food, the chairlift up Monte Solarno etc... see capri.net for more ideas).