Help! Travel to Italy with a finicky and nervous husband! (and easy going 11 year old)

See Rome, then take him to Sicily, or perhaps some other island, Sardinia? They would have less crowds. It might be difficult to meet our husband's expectations without a car to travel to smaller places.

I think I can get him to agree to renting a car. ;-)

Spend 2-3 days in Rome and see the main attractions then take the train to Varrena on lake Como. He can get away from crowds and enjoy the beauty of the lake & surrounding mountains. Then head back to Rome for the flight home. The other alternative would be to take the train down to the Amalfi coast and stay at a hotel that’s away from the towns. Lastly, you could stay at a home in Tuscany that specializes in hosting guests.

If, while you are in Rome, the crowds get to be too much for him, a day trip to Ostia Antica might be in order just to break up the hustle and bustle of Rome itself.

If you want to go to Sicilia, you might begin there, then fly to Roma for the remainder of your time. You all could spend. Couple of nights in Roma before your husband flies back. You could squeeze in a trip to Orvieto as well.

Maybe he can research what he'd like to do? I think planning for picky people shoulders too much responsibility on the planner. Have him participate in the planning of the trip and coming up with alternatives. Not knowing all the details, I would hesitate to persuade someone to drive if they don't want to, especially in a foreign country...nervous (or unconfident) drivers can really make a trip even more stressful.

Fly from Rome to Venice( or other airport) and drive up into Dolomites. Beautiful place.

Since he doesn't like extra flights ( I do not either):

Land in Rome and take the train straight to Orvieto. There are trains from either Termini or Tiburtina station, taking just over an hour. Spend two nights in Orvieto to rest up from the journey and enjoy a beautiful ( and quiet) hill town.

Then take the train to Bologna (a 3-hour journey) and spend two nights there. A city, but not one crowded with tourists.

Then travel to Bolzano (2.5 hours) and rent a car to tour the Dolomites for three days. Return the car at Verona and spend a night there. Then train back to Rome for the rest of his visit.

***or skip the overnights in Bologna and take the train from Orvieto straight to Bolzano, about 6 1/2 hours with a change at Bologna.

Jennifer, Sicily is wonderful, but a large island, and I wouldn’t go there for just 6 nights. Either make it the largest part of your trip, or all of it, or leave it for the next time. If your husband really doesn’t like crowds, Rome may not be his cup of tea. Maybe base in Orvieto and make 1 or 2 day trips into Rome, if you want to see particular (although crowded) sites. Another possibility might be Verona, with day or 2-day trips to Venice and beautiful Lake Garda, even into the Dolomites.

I agree with Larry about Sicily. It is very difficult to touch even the top highlights in much less than 2 weeks if you're using public transportation. Using a rental car to move around (most definitely not in Palermo!) might save a couple of days, but more time would be useful since there are sights all over the island. There are two interesting towns between Venice and Verona, the smaller, peaceful Vicenza and the larger (but I'd say non-threatening) Padua.

Assuming your husband is as you describe, I would not rent a car, especially in Italy. This is a link to Rick's transportation tips, including those about driving in Europe.

Google "driving in Italy" and choose several of the many results to research this option. This is just one of those many.

It's too far ahead to check Trenitalia for real schedules, but you could use Rome2rio to see some comparisons of transportation methods.

If it was me, I'd fly multi-city from the US(?) to Milan and return from Rome. I'd take the train from Milan to Varenna for Lake Como, take the train from Varenna to Bolzano for the Dolomites and take a fast train from Bolzano to Rome. You would likely want to fine-tune that by using the ferry to get around on Lake Como and possibly by using short train or bus rides around Bolzano or farther north.

Lake Como is way more beautiful than I ever imagined.
The first time I saw the Dolomites was by train on the way from Innsbruck to Venice. It was breathtaking.

After his time in Rome, your husband could fly home from there and you and your daughter could go on to Sicily.

Having done it, I would not recommend taking the train from Rome to Sicily. You and your daughter could fly to Sicily. Rome2rio can give you some hints about that. Put Rome in the From box and Sicily in the To box and you will get a list of cities you can fly to from Rome.

After your time in Sicily, you could fly back to Rome and fly home from there. I would not recommend doing that the same day because too many things can go wrong making that roughly 1.5 hour flight take much longer.

You could spend your last night near the airport if you're not up for going back to Rome. We enjoyed staying in Fiumicino at the Hotel Tiber.

Great suggestions thank you!

I like Sasha's idea best. And I agree that Sicily needs more than 5-6 nights, so I'd drop it for this trip. Go straight to Orvieto (it's crowded from late morning to late afternoon with day trippers, so avoid the center (plenty of places to wander with scenic views of the countryside) and enjoy the center in the quiet morning and evening hours. Bologna is definitely not a big tourist town, but it has a welcoming atmosphere and a few interesting sights. Better than that, it's a major rail hub, so it's easy to day trip to quieter towns like Modena, Ferrara and Ravenna. Verona is one of my favorite Italian towns, nice place for 2 nights. Then on to Bolzano and the Dolomites - great hiking in the spring with gorgeous wildflowers. Maybe stop in Verona and/or Bologna on your way back to Rome. Put DH on the plane and spend your remaining days with your daughter seeing Rome amid the crowds.

I like the idea of the multi city trip! Flying into Milan to do the outdoorsy-ness and relaxing areas, then making your way down the country by train, sending your husband off from Rome, and then either going back north or south for one more segment of your trip, and then back to Rome to leave (or even flying from your last segment city, depending on flights). Sicily is best served by a much longer trip, and I agree that a car would be helpful.