First Family Trip Itinerary - Terrific or Terrible?

Usually the recommendation on this site is NOT to fly home to N. America from Venice. Most flights leave very early and Venice, being an island, it is difficult to find convenient and economical transportation to the airport. Maybe start in Venice?

Sounds exciting. I say your your plans are pretty terrific, certainly NOT terrible. Many people on this forum recommend starting in Venice, both because it can be a relaxing place to get over jet lag, and because many flights out of Venice to the US leave very early to connect in other European cities, and transport to the airport can be a little more difficult than in other cities. Valid points. I have traveled to Italy twice in the past year or so, one time starting in Venice, the other time departing from Venice, and to me it would not matter, either way works. I flew out of Venice on a non-stop US Air flight to Philadelphia at 11:00 am, which was very easy, then connecting to California. About your itinerary, I would encourage you to avoid one night stays if you can, especially with younger kids. It is very time-consuming and tiring to pack up and move, and one night leaves you little time to enjoy wherever you are. So, I would skip the one night stays in Bologna or Milano, if I were you. I think you should spend the extra night in Cinque Terre, where there are beautiful small towns, hiking, boat trips, very short train trips, and beaches. The kids should love all that. I would also definitely include Venice, as it is a beautiful and very unique world city. Just make sure you spend some of your time in Venice away from the crowds. Early morning and evenings are wonderful, maybe the Vaporetto out to Burano, a beautiful and quite quiet island town on the lagoon.

Always try to start from the north and return from Rome. Return flights to the U.S. are in the morning and both VENICE VCE and Milan MXP airport take some time to get to. Rome Fiumicino (FCO) airport is 30 min by train or taxi from the City center early in the morning when traffic is light.

Follow this itinerary sequence:
USA> Venice VCE > Venice > Florence > Cinque Terre > Rome > Rome FCO > USA
Or if you include lake Como:
USA > Milan MXP > lake Como > Venice (and then like the above)

And yes, avoid one night stays, if you can.

kmspeaking,

I tend to agree with Roberto and the others, especially as this is your first trip. It would be better to start in Venice and work south, and Rome will be a great "grand finale" to your trip. All the places you're visiting are easily accessible by public transit so there's no need for a rental car.

I'm assuming your trip is about two weeks? Keep in mind that you'll need to allow for flight times so you may only have 12 days for actual touring. You'll generally arrive in Europe the day after you depart North America and the last day will be required for the flight home.

My suggestions are much the same as the others. Would this work....

• D1 - Flight to Europe
• D2 / N1 - Arrive VCE, take Alilaguna into city
• D3 / N2 - Venice, touring
• D4 / N3- Venice, touring
• D5 / N1 - Train to Florence (departure station Venezia S.L., arrival station Firenze SMN, ~2 hours by high speed Freccia train, reservations compulsory)
• D6 / N2 - Florence, touring
• D7 / N3 - Florence, touring, day trip to Lucca or Siena (using the Bus is easiest to Siena)
• D8 / N1 - Train to Cinque Terre / Monterosso (departure station Firenze SMN, arrival station Monterosso, one change at Pisa Centrale, ~2.5 hours depending on which train you use - if the schedules stay the same, a departure at 10:28 will arrive at 12:52)
• D9 / N2 - Monterosso, touring
• D10 / N3 - Monterosso, touring
• D11 / N1 - Train to Rome (departure station Monterosso, arrival station Roma Termini - there are a few direct trains each day from La Spezia to Rome, and that will be the easiest route - the one I'd suggest is a departure from Monterosso at 09:24 with one change at La Spezia Centrale, arriving Rome at 14:25).
• D12 / N2 - Rome, touring
• D13 / N3 - Rome, touring
• D14 - Flight home (use Leonardo Express from Roma Termini to FCO (32 minutes, this is a Regionale so DON'T forget to validate your tickets prior to boarding the train, or hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!).

There are many ways to arrange your Itinerary, and this is only one suggestion. This provides three nights in each location, which will provide a more relaxing pace, especially as your pre-teens may need a rest at times (especially in Venice - don't underestimate the effects of jet lag).

The rail journeys mentioned above are all as short as possible with minimal changes, which will make the transportation a bit less stressful.

IMO, it would be better to add one night to the C.T. rather than doing a one-nighter in Bologna. Once you arrive in Monterosso, you may wish you had booked another night or two. For travel in June, I would highly recommend getting a room booked in Monterosso as soon as you have your dates finalized. Do you have any idea which hotel you'd prefer there?

I pretty much agree with all the above advice. I'd stick with 2 nights in the CT and add one to Florence for another day trip. The historic center of Florence is small and the train station is on the edge of it, so it's a 10-15 minute walk from just about anywhere you are staying, making it an ideal place for day-tripping . . . 1/2 ride hour to Bologna, 1 hour to Siena (by bus, which stops across the street from the train station). The boys might enjoy a 1/2-day in Pisa to climb the leaning tower.

Friends of mine took their kids to Venice when the oldest was a preteen. He was so impressed by the Rialto bridge that 20-some years later, he took his girlfriend to Italy for her birthday and proposed to her on the bridge.

I like Roberto's advice too, its good to stay in a city more than 1 night, and if you add in Pisa to your Florence days, you will enjoy not having to change hotels/cities more....

and I love the title of your post, it made me laugh :-D

Thank you for the amazing advice and even the suggested itinerary with transportation information. We successfully reversed our trip agenda and are now beginning in Venice and ending in Rome. We even were able to reserve all our stays (3 apartments and 1 hotel) with our new plan. I cannot thank you enough.

km,

It's great to hear that your arrangements are falling into place. I have a few additional comments on transportation and other topics......

• There are some potentially expensive "caveats" when using public transit in Italy, and it's important to be aware of those. I'll send you a PM with my usual "boilerplate info" on the topic.
• You can find specific and detailed information on the trains using either the trenitalia.com or bahn.de websites.
• When buying tickets, it's important to know the Italian names of the stations you'll be using, as many cities have more than one station.
• On at least one of the rail trips you'll be taking, you can use either the Trenitalia high speed (Freccia) trains or the newer Italo high speed versions. In some cases, these use different stations so that's a consideration. One route where you can choose between Freccia or Italo is Venice to Florence, as they use the same stations.
• When in Rome, it may be worthwhile to get a Roma Pass or similar. If not using that, one of the daily transit passes may be a good idea, such as the B.I.G. or B.I.T. tickets, which are good for all transportation in central Rome for specific periods of time.
• Especially in the cities (but other locations as well) and on transit, be very vigilant for pickpockets and scammers, as they will be around and watching for opportunities.
• With lodgings in the larger cities, it's a good idea to not only consider price but also which area of the city the place is located. That way you don't end up way out in the suburbs, having to take transit into town for sightseeing each day. This is mostly a concern in Rome. I normally like to stay in the Termini station area in Rome, as it's so very convenient for transportation, but others like to stay in other locations such as around Piazza Navona.
• Which part of Monterosso are you planning to stay in?
  
• Are you using guidebooks to plan sightseeing? I find it's often useful to pack one or two books along, as they're a good reference source during trips. Many of the guidebooks are also available as E-books in Kindle, iBooks or other formats, should you be travelling with an iPad or similar device.

We did a similar trip with our boys last summer, ages 9 and 11. Our Italy week had us in Rome 3 nights, Lucca 2 nights (day trip Pisa) and Venice 3 nights.

They liked the colosseum underground tour, and just roaming around Rome in general. They loved biking in Lucca and climbing the Leaning Tower in Pisa. We all enjoyed Venice and especially the rowing class here at rowvenice.org. I highly recommend you do that!!

They also liked the glass furnaces on Murano.

Kim