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Amalfi / Italian Coast with a 5 year old

Hi all,
I am needing a little advice with finalising our itinerary for a trip to France and Italy in April/May next year, I hope you don't mind me adding the France part here. We are 2 adults and one child. So far we have:

Paris - 6 nights... Amboise (on the way to Bordeaux - we only plan to do 1 x chateaux if we can) - 1 night (picking up lease car Paris-Orly)... Bordeaux/ Saint Emilion - 3 nights... St Remy de Provence - 3 nights... Antibes - 3 nights... Varenna - 3 nights... Venice - 4 nights... Montepulciano - 4 nights... Amalfi (somewhere) - 4 nights... Rome - 4 nights (then fly home next afternoon).

We have been once before in 2010 and did a similar trip over 7 weeks. This time we are going for 5 weeks, and with a 5 year old - crazy I know, but we are very excited for our daughter to see the world and her uncle in Paris!

We are choosing Amalfi Coast over Cinque Terre, we think, but would like some advice please. We thought we would drive to AC, as we will have a lease car, and planned to return it in Rome. We realise now that this may be a terrible idea. We could return it to Rome on the way to Amalfi, but I think this will cut a day from our AC time.

So, why Amalfi? We loved Cinque Terre last time, and stayed right in the square in Vernazza, so it was a perfect spot, and we drove there and parked the car for those days. But, we did find it incredibly touristy, which was a little off-putting. Many friends have mentioned AC, so it just feels like somewhere we would love to see, but can we do it with a small child, and will we feel the same way we did about CT? If we do AC, it would need to be close to the water, not loaaaads of steps, and so we thought Cetara would be a good spot as it is cheaper, or is it too difficult to then see other towns from here? Is it worth it? Are there other beachy areas that also have dramatic scenery, but easier to fit into trip?!

We reeeeally wanted to see Sicily, but realise it is not enough time for this... We hope to fit in one/two 'attractions' in a day, but don't have huge ambitions with a child. She will handle a fair bit of walking, but of course we don't want to exhaust her. We just want to get to the areas we choose, sleep fairly centrally in these places, and soak in the atmosphere really... But hubby and child LOVE the beach, so some coast time would be great. And yes, we know we will have a car (parked at Tronchetto I think) while we are in Venice... It seems to be the best option with a lease car.

I hope I have given all the useful info!

My best scenario at present for this area is: Drop car at Rome, from Montepulciano > one night in Naples > 3 nights AC, then up to Rome as planned... ??? Is Sorrento a better base than Cetara? Any advice/suggestions on altering the schedule (timing or location), to make AC work... Or other suggestions all welcome.

Thank you!!

Posted by
1814 posts

One would need a giant flowchart to answer every possibility you've presented. First, why drop the car? Since you've leased, you have a very affordable and efficient way to travel. The Amalfi coast is really beautiful and much much more accessible than the Cinque Terre, so I vote AC with the car. Sicily is far away and hard to see, so keep it do-able. My motto is 'this is not my last trip here' so you don't have to see everything. Lastly, you have an opportunity I'd die for - traveling with a 5 year old that you love! You'll remember that forever.

Posted by
2147 posts

FYI i have an Italian friend who stays in Minori on the Amalfi Coast because there us a small beach for swimming. Plus, the main part of town is not too hilly.

Posted by
1831 posts

Quite a trip with child or not.
Sounds amazing but also quite ambitious.

I think I may be able to offer some advice.
Have traveled to most of these places with our young daughter at ages 3 and 4 and next year when she will be 5 going back to France to cote d'azur and provence (where we have not been) and are on your list.

You are driving good stretches between many of these stops.
At 5 I predict a swimming pool is almost a necessity, sea water won't be warm enough.
Without a reward like swimming in the pool when we get back home it is very hard to keep her going through a day of site seeing or driving, for a 5 year old the history or significance of something means nothing.
A rental car is a huge help when traveling with a young child. Getting a wifi hotspot and allowing her to use her Ipad to watch videos in the car also hugely valuable.
I hate to admit it but I in advance map out where any Disney Stores, toy stores and even McDonalds are along my route to have something in my back pocket as a reward. It is hard to be a good/proper parent when on a vacation that you book for your own pleasure and not of their interests so spoiling them a little while not ideal is sometimes the only option.

The pool aspect creates some major challenges booking such a trip. Many of the places you want to go the best places to stay won't have pools. The ones that do will be usually rentals without the European character you want, often outside of the center of town as well or really expensive resort hotels since you now need an upgraded room since you are 3. (most don't let you book a regular double room and add a bed ; you have to book a triple or book a suite and have an option of adding a bed). At some places this can double the normal double room rate.
Basically your options are staying further outside than you would otherwise want to or spending insane amounts of money to do want you want.

Overall your trip has many times checking in and out and for the most part very short stays in some areas that will mean a hectic pace throughout once you leave Paris.
Amalfi is fantastic and no reason to worry about a child there. It is much different than Cinque Terre, more grand, more beautiful. I would lose a night in Venice and add one to Amalfi Coast. 3 nights is fine for Venice and 5 will be better for Amalfi has to offer.
With a child being centrally located will help more than fear of steps so think a place like Positano is better. The main town area has places to explore and most of it is car free which for a child is ideal. If you want a similar feel to staying in the middle of town Vernazza, than Positano is the place for you ; since crowds are much easier to escape and should not be bad at your time of year I think you would like Positano even more than Vernazza. Sorrento is a great base if logistics is paramount but is not really on the Amalfi Coast ; it would not be easy to compare Sorrento to any of the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre since it is a much larger town nor fair to compare it to La Spieza since Sorrento is far prettier and touristy.
With a child I value car free areas (again usually pools are not in the car-free zones) ; look at your bookings and try to make sure you have a pool at least every other stop.
On our trip when our daughter was 3 it was not that big a deal, we were able to bring her around to different stops without much fuss, at 4 it was harder. At 5 I am predicting harder still so planning on less movement, and a pool at most if not all stops.

My daughter's favorite memory from any of our travels? The Eiffel Tower when sparkling at night (which is does for 5 minutes on every hour after sunset until midnight).

Posted by
1831 posts

Just wanted to add, driving in the Amalfi Coast is not a problem (the issue is the traffic and parking). Those concerns are lessened at the time of year you are going. Parking still a concern so check with lodging for that and expect some towns you will have to pay or drive around a bit to find a spot and I think you will be fine with a car. It is not like trying to drive between the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre, where the best option is to park the car the whole time.

Also, the worry of steps on the Amalfi Coast, you will probably find Montepulciano just as hilly.

Driving to Troncetto for parking is easy. Be careful on that long bridge over though, the entire bridge is low speed limit and filled with speed cameras! Any people get tickets driving on that bridge between the main land and Troncetto.

Lastly, definitely no time for Sicily on your trip, I am not sure you have time for what you already plan and could use a sprinkling of an extra day to many of your current stops like Provence, Cote D'azur, Amalfi, Rome, etc.. All 4 of these would look better with another day in my opinion. Venice, Varenna, Bordeaux would be 3 places I would drop a day to move to 3 of the 4 above personally.

Posted by
12 posts

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks @mreynolds for all of the advice. We will go over our plan and see what we can alter. The timing so far was to not have too great a driving distance on those driving days, but yes an extra day in each might be nice... We hadn't contemplated pools, so this is a good thought. I am quite happy to just enjoy the views when on the coast, but my hubby and daughter would love to get in the water on any occasion... Hmmmm... Perhaps our next trip will be at a warmer time of year, we just figured we couldn't afford it then.
Also, good to hear that driving AC isn't quite so hairy. The RS chapter on AC made it sounds like driving was a no-go unless someone else driving for you (ie - bus, tour guide). Hubby is a pretty confident driver, even in Italy, so good to hear that it should be fine. Thanks again!

Posted by
15798 posts

Since you are still considering driving, please read my experiences on this thread. I've done a lot of driving on narrow coastal roads in California and difficult mountain roads. The Amalfi Coast is the most difficult I've been on and I was there in February when there are few vehicles on the road and it was still a challenge to find parking at times. I'm sure it's less "difficult" when it's busy, just because you can't drive nearly as fast. Buses stop and there's no way to pass them. If they meet in opposite directions and can't pass, one has to back up . . . often on a curve, sometimes on an incline. . . with multiple cars behind them. If you keep the car, plan to park it somewhere and use buses and ferries while you are there, so choose a town that has a ferry stop.