Help w/ Itinerary : Fam trip : Home, Venice, Florence, ________, Rome, Home

We are traveling with our kids this summer, too, and were concerned about the 'we're bored!' In the middle of our trip we are staying in Cortona. It's close to Lago Trasimeno, which has all sorts of water activities for a fun, relaxing day at the beach. Some of the beach-side areas even have pools! And many places rent boats, canoes, paddle boats, etc. There is also a ferry that runs to the islands in the lake for some additional exploring. I've read there are many great, small towns close the the lake (it's in the Umbria region, which is just as beautiful as Tuscany but less touristy) you might want to check Umbria and the area around Trasimeno out.

Happy travels!

Those would be great days to visit an agriturismo and take day trips via rental car. They're very easy to find online at Booking.com or by Googling "agriturismos". I like the area around Certaldo or San Gimignano to stay in. Siena's not very far, and Volterra is also a great short day trip.
Around Tuscany, farms are relatively small and virtually every farm has apartments and/or rooms for rent as a secondary source of income. I'm talking hundreds and hundreds of agriturismos.
The last blank night you could spend in Orvieto, as there's a Hertz rental car office across the street from the train station. It's a 70 minute ride into Rome Termini from there.

Note: One way to find accommodations is to sign into Google Maps for a specific town or vicinity. Hit the + icon 3- 4 times and it will magnify the area you're signed into. You can fine tune the area by dragging the screen up and down, left and right. Up will pop some icons for local businesses, and some will be hotels and other farm stays. Click on them and you will be directed to a box that shows their direct email address.

OK, a couple of thoughts. One, you seem to be liking cities for extend periods. Ok, ifyou want to keep that going then train (or bus) to Siena and spend 4 nights in that city. You might be able to find a tour or day trip arrangement to San Gimignano or even Volterra.

Second option, rent a car in Florence and drive Tuscany and Umbria on your way to Rome. You can visit a variety of places on the way, and there are too many to list here but I suggest Siena, Orvieto, Assisi, Montefalco, or even Montepulciano. If you drive be dran sure where ever you overnight that they have parking for your vehicle. Doing this allows you to find a place with a pool for the kids.

I think you can add time to Florence. There's a lot to see there plus you could day-trip to Siena and Fiesole if you wanted to. You could also add time to Rome as there's a LOT to see in addition to what you've listed. As moving 6 people is a chore, I'd go for longer versus shorter stays in both cities.

As far as the kids being bored, grab the golden opportunity to make use of the teachable moment. The internet and (probably) your public library has all sorts of age-appropriate information about Italy. Involve them in the planning: have them learn HOW to research a trip, choose attractions, and read up about them so that they know how to do that when they plan their own trips down the road. The boredom factor is reduced if they aren't just dragged around from one thing to another. With more time in some of your locations, they might choose some interesting things to see that they've read about and can share what they've learned with the rest of the family.

Your crew might enjoy a walk or bike ride on Appia Antica in Rome on a sunny day... :O)

I would suggest You add 2 nights in Florence and at least two nights in Rome. You have a big day trips to Pisa and later to Pompeii. You could add a day trip to Siena fro Florence. And there are so many things to see and do in Rome.

Perhaps add a two night stay in Sienna ( if you cannot find an agriturismo) and add the other two days to Rome

After a day trip to Pompeii, I suspect bright eyed and bushy tailed will not describe how you feel the next morning, so having an extra day or 2 in Rome would not be a bad thing

Had you looked at Ostia Antica vs Pompeii to reduce the travel? Your 7 yr old could easily be a very heavy lump to haul around or a really cranky melt down by the end of the Pompeii trip. You know your kids so its really your choice

I agree with adding nights and moving less. It's a lot easier to haul six day packs than to pack/unpack suitcases.

Umbria is a beautiful region, lots of places you can get to by public transportation.

Try for daytrips an hour or so from your base. For instance, your kids might like to walk/bike the city walls or climb the tower with the tree on top in Lucca, a short ride from Firenze. You can also visit Pisa in the same day.

There's a beach at Ostia. Aren't there others that Romans visit for a day?

Hi Momto, I'm curious what you ended up booking for those extra days. We are running a similar itteneary with a 1 year old. We are also looking at the Agritourismos. However, we are split on either staying in Florence after arriving via train from Venice, or heading out to an Agritourismo and revisiting Florence from there.
Thanks!

Kids are always bored no matter what...as long as they have gelato they are lucky to be on the trip in the first place...LOL

Children will always find ways to entertain themselves...meeting other kids kicking around a soccer ball, bring a frisbee for them to occupy time while in a park...or hacky sack if they like those...

Ostia beach day is a good idea...

I don't recommend Pompeii as a day trip from Rome, but if you are definitely going there..and it interests you go to Sorrento from Florence for 3 nights and see Pompeii and other sights from there, the train ride back to Rome from Naples is only 1.5 hours, then tour Rome at the end of your trip...fly home.

If you plan to visit Pompeii, might as well stay in Naples. On my trip, I went from Rome to Pompeii and Almafi Coast, stayed 2 nights in Naples. It is such a unique city.

I highly recommend Sorrento and the amalfi coast. We were just there and had a great time. Stayed in an air bnb for four days and day tripped to Capri, Positano, Amalfi/Ravello, and Paestum (took the train from Paestum to Rome). We did Pompeii on the way from Rome to Sorrento, but you could day trip there from Sorrento too.

I concur with Amalfi coast...but stay in Sorrento instead of Naples. Another thought--while you are out in Florence, you could scoot out to Cinque Terre. The trails between towns might be of interest to the kids. Maybe do a couple of the easier trails and take the train in between the other towns...only 5-10 minutes between towns.

We've been in Italy with 7(!!!) kids and let take care of out trip to Rome4kidstours, they for free created our trip without losing our mind!! When we were done with our Italy vacation, the kids all ranked the Rome 4 Kids Tours the top thing we did.
Enjoy your trip and don't lose your mind:)