Family of 5, Rome to Nice, travel suggestions

With the needed caveat that I have not been to France yet, there are some gorgeous areas of the French coast that I have high on my list and would consider as alternatives to CT. Look at Verdon and Calanques. You would likely need car but perhaps there are day tours if that is off the table.
I would first flesh out the travel time on your proposed itinerary -- you are losing a lot of time in transit in a ten-day trip. I would consider sticking to smaller area.
I have been throughout Italy but the lakes just don't call to me--I would think teens would find it boring (I'm saying that so parents with experience can contradict me!). If you want to stick to Italy, I would nix Nice and look at some alternatives to CT because the coast in late May is really spectacular! The Camogli-Santa Margarita Ligure area is popular as a CT alternative, but it may end up just as crowded eventually. I don't think it has yet though. You would not need a car.

Hello babbott5, and welcome to the forum,

In my opinion "about 10 days" is enough time for 3 locations tops. Changing countries - unless the border is right there - is generally a task that takes a lot of time. You could do 4 nights Rome, 3 nights Florence 2 nights (somewhere) and then 1 night in the flight city before heading home. That somewhere could be Como flying out of Milan or CT flying out of Pisa/Florence/Bologna. Even this schedule is minimal for these places and does not include France.

You need to determine exactly how many nights you are staying and then plan with 3 nights somewhere providing 2 full days of time in that city bordered by 2 days of packing up, checking out, travel to another city, checking in and unpacking. I would be careful not underestimate the potential time of getting 5 people coordinated, packed and to the train station unless everyone are seasoned travellers.

I hate to be a downer but trust that voice that says it's too much. Plan out how many nights you have somewhere, what you want to see and then the travel time between places. Pruning places off your wish list is hard but if you over plan what you'll probably remember when you get back is the transit system of Italy and your struggles rather than the country itself.

Good luck,
=Tod

I agree that with 9 or 10 nights I would be inclined to do 3 places instead of 4. Personally I would drop Florence this trip as along with Rome it is two very busy, crowded cities You could easily spend all 10 days in Rome with things to see, so why cut it short. A train from Rome to CT is 4 to 5 hours. Same timing for CT to Nice. I don't mind the train rides as a chance to rest, but just something to consider.

I have heard that Lake Como is very busy now too, so can't compare, but the one nice thing of CT is that if you stay overnight the daytrippers have left, and you have the towns more to yourself. There is also lots of other towns on the Italian Riviera to consider instead of the Cinque Terre.

We have travelled with 3 kids before. Many hotels do also have an apartment, or you can book a double and a triple. The only family room for 5 that I found was in a convent in Rome " Suore di Elisabetta. It was fabulous, but they were pretty narrow beds ( and this was many years ago). You will also find many private apartments on booking.com.

Having travelled with teenagers frequently, I learned to work around the realities I was faced with. Only you know how easy they are to travel with. Are they difficult to wake? Do they require 2 hour showers or prep time? We will be in Florence and Rome in May- 2 of us adults. In my research I found many apartment listings. We don't rent apartments so it isn't something I paid too much attention to. I don't think you will find rideshare an option, as in Uber.

With 10 days, forget France.

This is great! Thank you all so much. I think it is wise to forego France for this trip, as seems to be the general consensus. I'm now thinking about cutting Cinque Terre (/Lake Como) out altogether and going south to the Amalfi Coast instead. I feel like this area, along with a stop in Pompeii, may be a little more interesting for the teens. Let me know if any of you feel otherwise. In this scenario, do you recommend flying into Florence, then going south to AC, then ending the trip in Rome, since we will fly out of there? My husband and I had a lovely time in Positano, but is there a locale better for teens on the AC? I'm so grateful for this forum! I have a travel agent that I tapped into, but she has regretfully not traveled too much in Europe and can't offer true recommendations.

It depends on how extensive you want your Amalfi area time to be, as you could easily fill the entire trip there. If you just want a few days of r&r plus Pompeii, then you could probably fit in both Florence and Rome with open jaw flights. I would lean toward just doing one of them so you could have more air in the itinerary and less time on trains. The crowds at Cinque Terre are also present on the Amalfi coast, just so you are aware—though it is a larger area and the smaller villages may not (yet) be overexposed. Relying on ferries is one way to deal with it.

In this scenario, do you recommend flying into Florence, then going south to AC, then ending the trip in Rome, since we will fly out of there?

That works.

Are the 'teens' boys or girls? If girls, prowling the shops in Positano probably works; boys not so much. As you know it's a pebbly beach.
Sorrento might be a better choice as it has easier access to Pompeii and is a bit easier to get to/from than Positano.
With how short your time is, less time 'commuting' the better.

My $0,02

hey hey babbott5
like many other first time travelers to europe, planning too much with your short time. you are traveling during high season with many others wanting to do/see what you want (big cities/towns: rome, florence, cinqueterre, amalfi coast, nice) along with your group of 5.
start looking ASAP for rooms/apts since you're late with probably slim pickins and needing 2 rooms, look at size of beds/how many (sofa beds are my no no, not comfy/short with legs hanging over edge), 2 bathrooms, safety and fire issues with too many in room, many are 2 or 3 maximum guests. look for family rooms.
important issues:
check-in times 3-4pm unless approval for early time check-out times 10-11am. to me because if things don't work out where to put luggage to hold, most hotels do have bag storage or you can rent lockers pack light, all in charge of own bags (ages of teens)
travel on trains take time, check out hotel, get to train station, buy tickets, and then travel to next city could take half a day.
doing a multi-city flight (not 2 one ways) so no backtracking. fly into florence, spend a few days, train to rome spend few more days, take the train outside of rome to beaches near airport (fiumicino), may have smaller crowds & teens happy
beachatlas.com (best beaches in fiumicino) just an option to check out. fly out of rome (FCO), some hotels have shuttles to airport. pay attention to departure times to fly back with usually 3 hours needed
make a list of must do's, maybe do's & okay to miss. let the teens be involved, any activities/attractions will need reservations ahead of time, check direct websites since you will need date/time stamped, lines will be long, waiting in hot sun, restaurants crowded (go around the corner/down alley/streets to mom & pop places) eat lots of gelato.
if spending time in florence, train or bus to lucca and pisa, if interested in seeing leaning tower.
what things are the teens interested in? so much to think about. hoping all works out, enjoy
aloha