10 Day Trip to Italy with kids

would also appreciate a little downtime to relax

Reality check: I see no "downtime to relax" on your proposed trip. Too many locations, not enough days.

Second reality check: Exactly how many days do you really have - not counting your arrival or departure days?

Third reality check: "2 nights" anywhere gives you one day there. You're giving Venice, Florence and Sienna one day each. The only place you have more than one day is Rome.

IMHO you need to reduce to two, maybe three locations. First, post your travel dates (date, time and location(s) you arrive and depart).

Are you flying into Venice and out of Rome?

Thanks! We have no airfare booked yet but planned to fly into Venice and out of Rome.

Probably should point out that my husband and I have been to Florence and Venice before..

Check out the 'itinerary' for this tour and compare it to what you are trying to to do.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome

Be aware the tour has a dedicated bus for 'door to door' service, a luxury you will not have.

My experience in Italy is that the vast majority of hotels provide a breakfast buffet. That should be easy to find.

Your proposed schedule looks more like an endurance challenge than a family vacation.

Your instinct to drop Siena as far as overnighting is a good one. Add a night each to Venice and Florence, daytrip to Siena if that appeals. Such a change will vastly improve the pace of your trip. Remember, it will be hot and you’ll need to move a little more slowly.

I’ve been to Europe quite a few times , and have taken my kids on separate one on one visits too , aged 11 and 13 .

Your itinerary scares me . I would never do it .

Two nights in one place equals only one full day at a destination ! To me if a place is only worth one day then why bother , moving costs time and money I’d rather use to enjoy the trip with not tour train stations .

I’d definitely cut one place .

Years ago we spent 3 nights in Florence and did a day trip by bus to Siena. It worked well for us and it would save you a move. We did one day in Florence, then went to Siena, and then one day Florence.

I would do 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, and 4 nights Rome.

Thanks for the suggestion! That’s why I posted here... we could definitely do 3 nights Venice, 3 in Florence and 4 in Rome.

Your new plan for three locations rather than four sounds better, but I still don't see any relaxation happening. Rome and Venice are two of my favorite cities on earth, and I will endure the crowds in Florence (in off-season) for the art, but would find the combination of the three to be intense in the heat of summer with kids.

I might stay the middle three nights in Siena and day trip one day to Florence. At least the nights in Siena are relatively peaceful. (In Florence nights seem to bring out the worst in the over-served semester abroad crowd.) Better yet, how about a Tuscan agriturismo or a village on the Ligurian Sea, not the overcrowded Cinque Terre, but some place a few villages down. For me the most enjoyable trips are often a combination of cities and small places. But kudos for taking your kids!

Thanks Ruth! Love that suggestion

Stay four nights in Florence and do a day trip to Siena.

We have traveled with kids from age 5- teen. My Son, who was 5 when we moved overseas doesn't remember much about the touring that we did, until about age 10.

I suggest having your kids read up on the history of Italy and some of the places that you will visit. It will make a huge difference in their understanding and appreciation of Italy.

For example, the reason for Venice existing goes back to the end of the Western Roman Empire when the Huns, Goths and other barbarians were marauding in Italy. People moved off shore in a few islands then added more land for the city by driving piles of timber into the marsh to create Venice with its canals. The Venetian Republic was one of the bright spots in Europe during the dark ages.

Voting here to drop Siena and add those nights to Florence. Eliminating that accommodation move will buy you a little more sightseeing (or sleep-in) time, and Florence is a really good base for public transport around the region. You'll also be well located for high-speed 90-minute rail onward to Rome. You'll have 3.5 days in Firenze and can do Siena as one of a couple day trips (Lucca appears to be another fave for families with young people).

Then again, you could add just one night to Florence and one to Venice if interested in exploring more of the islands you might not have covered last time?

Better yet, how about a Tuscan agriturismo or a village on the Ligurian Sea, not the overcrowded Cinque Terre, but some place a few villages down. For me the most enjoyable trips are often a combination of cities and small places. But kudos for taking your kids!

I agree with Ruth. I understand it's hard to think of going to Italy without introducing your children to the Big Three. I certainly wouldn't fault you for doing so. That's pretty much how my wife and I saw Italy on our first trip to Italy. BTW, it was 1966, we were on a high school trip and she was 14.

We've had the good fortune of going back to Italy. We've also had the good fortune of spending a lot of time in little villages along with the big cities. I think you see only one aspect of Italy if you just see Venice, Florence and Rome.

My radical suggestion is to spend half the trip in an agriturismo in Tuscany with one day trip to either Florence or Siena. Spend the other half in Rome. Skip Venice altogether, especially in the summer. If you want to relax, you could even find an agriturismo with a pool and spend an afternoon with the kids swimming and you two sampling a local Chianti poolside.

We did something similar this past summer (late July/early August) with our then 12 and 15 year olds! After a 8-night Croatia/Greece cruise, we stayed in Venice for 2 nights, Florence for 2 and Rome for 4.

We stayed in Airbnbs in both Venice and Florence which was great because it gave us a little more room and the kids really needed some of that downtime (with wifi!) in the evenings and mornings. Both of them were pretty close to the train stations - that was a MUST for me since we'd be hauling our luggage around.

We stayed in a lovely Airbnb in Venice that was on a very quiet street, but could be along the Grand Canal in 2 minutes. It was a 25 minute or so walk to St. Marks, but part of the fun was meandering there and taking in the sights and the food and shops on the way. We did a gondola ride - and got in during the early evening just before the rates went up 20 euro!

We had a private guide in Florence for a walking tour through toursbylocals.com - she was excellent - would highly recommend! The kids also really enjoyed going to the Mercato Centrale for dinner one night - there were all sorts of stations and they liked picking out exactly what they wanted in a less formal environment.

In Rome, we did a few tours with Walks of Italy - all of them were great. We did "Pristine Sistine" which my husband and I thought was fantastic. It was pretty early for the kids, and maybe not the MOST interesting for them, but after years of Catholic grade school for each of them, we thought it was important for them!

We did the Walks Pasta Making class one evening and it was definitely a highlight of the trip!! The kids LOVED it and we've made pasta as a family at home since. We also did the Pompeii/Positano day trip - which was a very long day (13 hours) and lots of time in the mini bus, but the bus was comfortable and it was worth it to see those 2 places. Pompeii was my 12 year old son's favorite thing of the whole trip - he loved that it was not just "restored old stuff like it would have been" but the ACTUAL buildings! The final Walks tour we did was the Collosseum/Roman Forum tour which was very interesting.

The whole trip was fantastic - we loved trying as many possible gelato places to determine our favorites (didn't find a great one in Venice, Strego Nocciola in Florence and Gelateria S.M.Maggiore in Rome!) My son has sighed wistfully a few times in the past months and said "I really miss Europe - some day I want to take my family there" so we know that trip was all worth it!

If you want more details on our itinerary/trains/Airbnbs/etc - just send me a DM and I'd be glad to share!

Another vote for an agriturismo somewhere south of Florence (Firenze). Fun trip we did a few years ago, spent 4 nights about 20 KM south of Florence, drove to hill towns, wineries, Florence. Drive to Sienna would not be ridiculous. Our host gave us a list of local restaurants nearby, after 2 nights were treated like family. They brought breakfast to our apartment every morning, swimming pool and awesome scenery. Gotta have wheels though, driving in Tuscany was no bit deal. Planning much the same style trip to Umbria in March of next year - can't wait!

Thanks John would you mind sharing the name of the place you stayed? That sounds wonderful