13 nights with kids in Italy

Pisa is on the way from Florence to CT, so I'd stop there on the way to CT. You can see the leaning tower in about 5 minutes. Pisa is a real overcrowded circus and not a place I prefer to linger.

I am assuming this is in a warmer month?

I would also comment that, except CT which is beautiful but nothing but tourists, you are in big cities. Italy to me is about the smaller towns. I would suggest staying in a town like Lucca instead of CT or Florence. From Lucca you can easily visit Pisa, CT, and Florence for the day - easily. We love having Lucca as our home base and it is my kids' favorite place in the world. Riding bikes around the walls, the towers, etc. We loved the apartments we have rented there as well.

If you're not yet locked into your flights, you might want to fly into Venice and out of Rome.

It's a really rushed trip. Two nights in a location only gives you a single full day and a half a day. Right now you have 1.5 days in Venice, 2.5 days in Florence, 2.5 days in the CT and 2.5 days in Rome. That's a lot of changing locations.

Personally, I would either go directly to Venice upon landing or the next morning and work your way back to Rome.

Donna

Ideally you should fly into Venice and out of Rome. If that is not possible, go to Venice on the Sunday and have all your Rome days in one bunch.

Pisa is not an all day trip. Just stop on your way to CT

I am thinking your kids will enjoy Venice much more than Florence (nothing against the beautiful Florence) so I would add time in Venice. Unless, you intend to take the kids to the beach near Pisa (Viareggio) on day. Let them swim in the Med.

Also, three nights in 5 Terre might be too many. Not much to do there after one day except watch a gazillion touristi. Although you can swim at Monterosso.

I agree Florence is not really going to appeal to young children....keep Rome nights together at the end. With young children and hot weather, jet lag, I would consider at least 3 nights in each place at a minimum and no more than 4 places in 13 nights. The time that you spend traveling and checking in and out hotels etc. will pile up very quickly.

Rome needs 3 nights at minumum, 4 if seeing The Vatican IMHO with young children there is A LOT of walking and they will need to rest.

I agree with flying into Venice and out of Rome.

If you have a late arrival into Rome, then spend the night close to Termini Station, before heading to Venice the very next morning.
With kids I'd scale CT back to 2 nights.

1SAT: Land in Rome 5pm - Sleep in Rome
2SUN: Train to Venice - Sleep in Venice
3MON: Explore Venice - Sleep in Venice
4TUE: Explore Venice - Sleep in Venice
5WED:Train to Florence - Sleep in Florence
6THU: Explore Florence - Sleep in Florence
7FRI: Day trip to Pisa - Sleep in Florence
8SAT: Day trip to Siena - Sleep in Florence
9SUN: Train to Cinque Terre - Sleep in Cinque Terre
10MON: Explore Cinque Terre - Sleep in Cinque Terre
11TUE: Train to Rome - Sleep in Rome
12WED: Explore Rome - Sleep in Rome
13THU: Explore Rome - Sleep in Rome
14FRI: Fly home

Thank you for all of the feedback! I've updated my plans to include many of the suggestions here and taking hotel availability into account(there was only one hotel in CT with one night available). I thought an apartment with laundry in Florence would be helpful since we travel pretty light and would allow us to essentially back pack to CT making the trip much less stressful. I've also allowed for more time in Venice and Rome. I probably could have traded a Rome day for another in Venice or Florence but overall I'm happy with the adjustments. Thanks again for all of the helpful advice!

Updated itinerary:

1SAT: Land in Rome 5pm - Sleep in Rome

2SUN: Train to Venice - Sleep in Venice

3MON: Explore Venice - Sleep in Venice

4TUE: Explore Venice - Sleep in Venice

5WED:train to FL Drop gear at apt - Sleep in Florence

6THU: early to CT explore CT - Sleep in CT

7FRI: PM back to Florence(via Pisa)- Sleep in Florence

8SAT: Day trip to Siena(maybe) - Sleep in Florence

9SUN: explore Florence - Sleep in Florence

10MON: train to Rome - sleep in Rome

11TUE: explore Rome - Sleep in Rome

12WED: Explore Rome - Sleep in Rome

13THU: Explore Rome - Sleep in Rome

14FRI: Fly home

When are you going and have you purchased your tickets yet? We had to plan an itinerary and decided to fly in and out of different airports so that we didn't backtrack which is another option for you to consider. We are flying into Naples and staying in Sorrento for 4 nights, train to Rome for 3 nights, train to Florence for 4 nights, train to Venice for 3 nights and fly home from Venice. We are skipping a day trip to CT from Florence (regrettably) but will visit Clay Hills and Siena the day before going to Venice. I stumbled across a site theaccidentaltourist.com (near Florence) recently that has me thinking already of my next trip when I will stay in the smaller cities and perhaps even try to stay at their location as offered on their website. When you return I would love to hear how things turned out.

Rather than Siena, take the kids to a more child friendly place like Pinocchio park or the zoo.
Pinocchio park is a quick train ride to Pescia, then a 5 minute bus ride to the park.

The zoo in is in Pistoia, a cute midieval town. It also has a lot of kid friendly parks and a sculpture garden. If you'll be there in late July, the joust tournament is not to be missed.

https://www.discovertuscany.com/pistoia/

If they like chocolate it's another good reason to go.

I traveled in Europe when my kids were young. My Son was 5 and Daughter 11 when we first visited. We made several trips while living in Saudi Arabia.

My Son doesn't remember much prior to age 10, but Daughter took it all in Cathedrals and Museums all.

My advice is to expose them to all the history and culture you can, they will fall in love with travel, even if they are to young to remember much of it.

I do remember my Son at 7 entering the Sistine Chapel and was in awe of the art. He made us sit on the floor and discuss all the frescoes. He didn't want to leave.

Still, with kids, must art museums will bore them. They do like scenic places more. Mine loved the Venice canals, the wonderful Swiss Alps and such. Also, they loved the Eiffel Tower and river tour on the Seine.