Best Value for Traveling to Italy with a group of high school aged kids

Coach Jerry, welcome to the Forums.

Others will chip in with advice, I've never done a group roundup in Italy although have visited several times.

I will just let you know that we are provided space and a (super fabulous) Webmaster by Rick, but we are not staff and not Rick himself. We are an unorganized but friendly and helpful bunch of fellow travellers, some more experienced than others but all willing to share our experience and knowledge.

You may get a variety of opinions, based on the lived experience of the posters.

Sounds like a great trip - welcome aboard.

With only a couple of weeks before you leave - you said January 2025, next month - and so much to do, especially with such a large group, I wish you luck.

First question, do all dozen of you have their passports in hand?

Just to be clear the trip is January 2026 my mistake we have some time to plan. We all do have passports and need to find the best value in general. Very open to feedback and willing to travel by train with the group.

Since you are in a budget (aren’t we all!), consider staying in monasteries. I have stayed in three, all clean but austere. All have had en-suite bathrooms. Although my rooms have been single, most have multi-bed rooms.
Use https://www.monasterystays.com/ to do your research but reserve directly with the monastery. I have gotten extended stay discounts and better cancellation policies by doing so.

Eating Europe has good tours but many have restrictions due to emphasis on wine tasting. Read carefully. I’d call them to find out about discounts or custom tours. https://www.eatingeurope.com/italy-food-tours/

Just saw your info correction, so edited the following:
Parental permission in writing?
Are you taking the train between cities? https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

Check this website to get you started on research. Specifically under Watch, Read, Listen, two items will be helpful. The top item under Watch, Read, Listen is Rick's Travel Articles, scroll down to Italy and you will see some specific articles. Also under Watch, Read, Listen, pay attention to Audio Tours at the end of that list. I used Rick's audio tours all over Italy and found them to be extraordinarily good--and free! They need to be downloaded onto people's phones here in the U.S. though because they take too long to download there.

I would suggest stopping in Florence for a night or two also, since it is distinctively different from Venice and Rome. Some students may feel more comfortable in a smaller environment, and the market there is ideal for exploring different foods and letting them be high schoolers. This might substitute for a food tour, which could be pricey.

There are "free walking tours," tips expected, in all three of those cities. Check out whether one might be suitable for your group.

With students this age, involve them in the planning. They can do some of this research, watch youtube, etc., and then if they are involved in the planning, they are more bought in, will act up less, and will be more prepared and interested. Get them an Italy guidebook, Rick Steves is excellent, and have them start to discuss options.

My last piece of advice is to begin to prep them for riding the trains, which I think are by far the best transportation method within Italy. Between those 3 cities, they are quite efficient too. If you plan to do this, buy the tickets far in advance for the best price. Suggest the seat61.com website for seeing what the trains are like. This will lead naturally to the discussion of them packing light so that getting on and off the train is easy. That's enough from me. Others will chime in.

thanks for the date correction. You can edit your original post too, so when people read the question for the first time they won't think you are in a time crunch

...need to plan our agenda...

My suggestion is to have the kids do the research and planning with supervision from the chaperons. Perhaps assign each one to check out certain areas such as transportation, where to stay, sightseeing and such. It will be a real learning experience for all of them.

Then have meetings where the findings are discussed and hopefully a concensus reached. If not, then more research and meetings to reach comprimises all can accept. In some cases that might mean the girls doing one activity while the guys do another. Or one mixed group going to a museum while another goes shopping.

Not saying the inmates should run the asylum, but the more they are involved in the planning the better the trip will be for everyone. Believe me. Not that teenagers are ever a problem, but my hat is off to you for undertaking this task.

While this can certainly be done on your own, I would suggest doing some research, maybe talking to your contacts in education, to find a reliable travel agent that specializes in school trips. I don't have a specific one to recommend, but I know that quite a few exist, as school trips (whether domestic or international) are big business. They can work with your particular interests and budget, and are experienced with things you may not be thinking of yet, such as ensuring everyone is adequately insured (medical for all, liability for chaperons, etc.), that the necessary paperwork for taking minors to a foreign country is identified and completed, access to various group discounts, and so on. Managing group travel, especially for minors, is something where professional expertise can be invaluable. The last thing you would want is something to go wrong on your trip that was preventable.

Welcome! That sounds like a great trip! You group size is great.

I suggest looking into youth hostels as well. Last year we went with a group from a local college choir and when in Ljubljana we stayed in a hostel the was a former prison!

I agree with getting the students involved. I also think you should spend at least a day in Florence when traveling from Venice to Rome. Get your students involved and have at least monthly meetings starting at the beginning of the school year to research the places on your itinerary.

Your post brought back fond memories. I traveled with 7 other high school students in July/August 1966 on a 21 day People to People tour of Europe. There were 4 boys and 4 girls, including a cute freckle faced 14-year-old girl (I was 15). We started hanging out and by the time we got to Italy we were an item. On August 10, 1966 at around 8:30 at our hotel in Florence I finally got up enough courage to kiss her. That same girl was my roommate last year in Ljubljana. We've gone steady since that first kiss.

Coach Jerry!

You are so brave! I think this is wonderful. I'm a traveler and a high school choir director, but I've never taken them abroad. I would hit either Siena or Florence in between Venice and Rome. Either combination of the three cities would give them a really nice idea of what Italy has to offer. Florence being the birthplace of the Renaissance (go to the big food market, see the David, the Duomo Museum), and Siena (Do a passagiata, laze on the piaza) one of the first governments by the people for the people. I saw monasteries mentioned. Also look into youth hostels. Rick recommends good places in his books. My recommendation is to plan down the the 15 minute... and have a backup plan. Make everyone bring good walking shoes and money belts.

Best!

When I was in high school (in Florence Italy), the school often took us on organized tours. Sometimes by motor coach, sometimes by train. Twice we also went to Venice, which, at the time, before the advent of high speed trains, was about 3 hours by train from Florence (nowadays it’s 2h10min).

The city of Venice is great for school groups, since there are no cars to worry about so none of your pupils run the risk of being run over by a car while not paying attention to the traffic. Of course at that age we were mostly idiots, so some of the kids got pushed into the canals by other school mates, to the chagrin of our teachers who probably felt at that moment that they hated their job. We also went to Murano, Burano and Torcello. Coming from afar, a minimum of 3 nights in Venice is necessary. To save money, our school put us in Mestre, in the mainland but a short train ride to Venice Santa Lucia. Mestre is not as magical as the historical center, but if money savings is an issue, that is something you can do. Be mindful that in 2026 Carnival (Mardi Gras) comes early on February 17, and Carnival is big in Venice for about a month prior, particularly on weekends. During that time it will be very difficult to find accommodations, especially on weekends.

Florence, is another city that would be great for a group of high school kids. Lots of school groups visit Florence. Florence is a bit less expensive than Venice, especially in January which is the least crowded time of the year. The historical center is pedestrianized, so no traffic worries. Florence also needs 3 nights.

Rome is 90 min south of Florence by high speed train. Rome is much larger, and needs at least 4 mpnights to visit the bare basic sights. Use of public transportation is likely necessary as some sights are a long way away. Accommodations in January are cheaper than other times of the year.

Monasteries are an option in all of the above cities, but have no experience with those.