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Feedback please - 11 day Italian Itinerary with kids (gulp)

Posted by on

Please let me know what you think of this itinerary with 2 kids in tow and rental car. First time to Europe so its important I get this right! My eyes are spinning from all the guidebooks.

Arriving 6/19
Flying into Milan at 12:00pm from Copenhagen (coming from boston on 6/17)
Rent a car drive to Como (1 hr) North Italy lakes region with como as base (3 nights)
Drive to Verona (1.5 hours for 3 nights) Is Verona worth seeing? Looks like the perfect smaller city.
Drive to Venice (3 nights)
Drop off car in Venice and take train back to Milan
Last night in Milan

Our kids are 6&7. The goal of my trip is to see countryside and the city. I'd like not to spend more than 2 hours driving at a time. Lots of walking not so much doing tours and museums. Only the art you see from the architecture and out of doors. Many thanks in advance!

Posted by
11613 posts

Verona is a good place to stay, it's easy to get around and there's a lot to see.

If you haven't checked Lonely Planet guides yet, they usually have some child-oriented advice. Or Google the name of the city and "for children/kids".

Posted by
134 posts

If you want to see the Italian Countryside which is so varied, I would emphasize my travel on the Venitian Laguna. Verona, Lake Como, Milano and Venice are more like cities or small towns than villages.
The Laguna is composed of several islands each of which has its own way of living and are accessible only by boat. Hope your children are not seasick.
The Po region is very humid, so in the summer it would be good to have a cream against mosquitos.
I do not like Milan. I find it too hectic and apart from the Scala and the Square where its Wonderful cathedral is located and some very nice but expensive shops a bit like the ones you have on 5th Avenue.
I find Torino with its marvelous views on the mountains,.the hills and nice villages around such ad Pecetto, or la Magdelena and its royal castles, nicer quieter.
Another nice part of the North Italian countryside are the Langhe south of Torino and where italian wine barrolo is made. Also a very nice region is Tuscany, loads of nice villages, besides Florence which is a small easy walkable city.

Posted by
16893 posts

The main reasons that you might choose car over train for this route is a) maybe because you have the kids with you and want to be more flexible and b) if you choose to drive a more scenic mountain route, perhaps to the Bolzano area, not along the boring Autostrada from Milan to Verona. Verona is a fine city with Roman arena and other architectural interest but Bolzano has a great archeology museum with mummified Neolithic man: http://www.iceman.it/, an Austrian influence, and closer to the Dolomite mountains. Otherwise, Varenna-Verona-Venezia is easily connected by train.

Posted by
5213 posts

Kimiyomarie,

Are you sure you want to rent a car when all the cities you plan to visit are very easily reached via train?

You can take a high speed (freccia) train that can take you from Milan to Verona in 1Hr,22 mins.

then take a 'Regionale Veloce' train from Verona to Venice ( 1 Hr. 27 minutes)

Have you considered Lake Garda instead of Lake Como?

Lake Garda is very close (15 mins. train ride) from Verona & you can take the ferry to visit charming villages along the lake.

Here is the website for the ferry schedules for Lakes Como, Maggiore & Garda:http://www.navlaghi.it/eng/g_illago.html

Your children will travel free on some of the trains but not the Regionale trains which are usually very inexpensive.

Check this website for info regarding free train travel for children under 15: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4d52bd6bc1abf310VgnVCM1000008916f90aRCRD

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