3month italy travel with toddler

do you want to both stay in smaller towns and avoid visiting the big hitters like Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, etc., or would you travel in to the big hitters from your smaller town residences?

Is this a refinement of your prior question in August and now you've settled on Italy? At that time some suggestions of places in Italy were made. Have you ruled them out?

For those not familiar with the thread last year there were to be two children, 1 and 4 at time of travel, and daniel said that they are aware of the 90 day (not 3 months) limit imposed by Schengen.

Your choice, but travel with a toddler is a huge restriction. If you can avoid it, try.

Now to answer your question. I love Italy and my favorite city is Rome, but Tuscany is my favorite area. Also, Umbria, which is SE of Tuscany. Consider Sienna and Lucca in Tuscany. Consider Orvieto, Spoleto and Perugia in Umbria.

Other great areas are between Florence and Venice. Bologna and Ravenna come to mind. Farther north Verona is a consideration.

The Naples area, Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast are great, but touring involves taking ferries, and mass transit.

You might find some inspiration here https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2022/01/italy-best-destination-anywhere/.

With one southern seaside location at Monopoli, you might contrast that with some time in the north and central areas or even in the Dolomites although July and August are very busy in the mountains, but a beach town like Monopoli will be chock-a-block too.

We are staying in Ferrara this fall, having been to many many locations in Italy and seeking a nice small city for a prolonged stay, just living Italian and doing some day trips. Modena was also a consideration for us as was Lucca, but Ferrara is just that much more off-the-beaten.

I think this kind of travel with a toddler would be fine. It’s essentially relocating for a few months with one long flight to get there and another to get home. Once they’re there he/she can do all the things that Italian toddlers do!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/3month-europe-trip-3x1month-stays

From your August 2024 post, you have obviously been researching this for quite awhile. I'm sure you're aware of the Pope's Jubilee celebrations for the 2025 year, which will heavily impact Rome. It's unclear whether these additional pilgrims will overflow into other cities.
I don't think you have any bad decisions, but I do think you'll need to firm up your plans soon before family lodging availability becomes scarce.
Have a wonderful family adventure. Safe travels!

Puglia is likely to be very hot in the summer. It's one thing to deal with that for a few days, but unremitting heat for week after week after week can be draining.

Monopoli weather -- July 2024

That's just an example. You can use the pull-down box at the right, just above the graph to see actual, day-by-day weather for other recent months and years. The Search box will find information on other potential destinations.

My wife and I were in Italy for 2 months last year staying in one place for one of those months. Especially with a child I would examine the livability of a place that gets touristy. Small food stores, local restaurants, parks and playgrounds and a lack of traffic. What I found was after 5 days or so of tourist mode we fell into a daily life routine just living and when that happens what's right around you - the ortofrutto, bakery and coffee place - is what matters most.

Also examine places you might stay for proximity to noise generators either by people or early trash collection and things like that. In touristy areas stay away from the most touristy parts if you can and lean towards neighborhood settings even if they are further from attractions like the beach.

Also smaller or less touristed towns offer fewer accommodations but they are often cheaper than trying to find a month in someplace like Florence. How is your Italian? The smaller the town and more off the tourist routes the level of English can really drop off. Italians are always eager to communicate and make transactions happen but sometimes it's just easier with some common language.

Also since you mentioned 3 months I feel obligated to mention immigration rules. Assuming you're travelling on US passports you have 90 days out of any rolling 180 days and travel days with Schengen count. Just be aware and count carefully because violation sanctions are steep.

Sounds like an exciting adventure but the time passes quickly so enjoy it,
=Tod

I could not think of a better location than Lucca.

Oh wait, Orvieto.

No, no….. Perugia.

Oh heck, Bolzano.

You have a wonderful myriad of choices but I would hit north, central and southern Italy to get that taste of each region. We traveled with our kids from two years onwards and were always amazed at how quickly they just jumped into play with the local kids at the playground. Daytime nanny services can be easily arranged through the local tourist office as well so you can get an adult day-trip in from time to time.

Thank-you all for your responses.

Yes, this is a further refinement from our previous post. The feedback received from the initial post gave us plenty to consider and also made us focus more on Italy. Furthermore, with a toddler, to reduce travel we are considering staying in one country longer (Italy), staying in 2 or 3 different locations. This will reduce travel and hopefully make family travel easier.

The heat of summer is not a huge bother for us as we are from a sub-tropical climate, but looking at the climate chart provided September does look more suitable in the Puglia region.

We would be keen to "day trip" to some of the larger towns, but staying in a smaller town is a preference due to the community feel we would be looking for. We have been overseas on a few occasions with our daughter and she is a good traveller, so while it will restrict some of our touring once there, getting there and back will be no issue.

In regards to language- We cannot speak Italian, however we will be learning what we can before travel and would like to learn more when we are there- we see this as an opportunity when being situated in one location for a good period of time.

I appreciate the advice on town options, I will review and consider the other regions further north. I will need to review some of these regions in more detail (I like to do my research).

Thanks