Help with an itinerary with an 11 month old - are we crazy?

Rebecca,
I think you have set your expectations appropriately for traveling with a "new walker." (Love that term!) In Rome you can do so much outdoors just walking. Does your little one put up witha backpack carrier or a stroller? That will help. You can easily see the Palatine Hill and Forum, letting her walk a little. Colosseum might be tough if she insists on walking; I'd see it as a bit dangerous for an unconstrained little one. Pantheon is free and accessible. Walk around and see the architecture everywhere, pause in a piazza to let her run around with other kids. Italian's LOVE babies and will not only be tolerant but charmed. You can even "do" St. Peter's square and basilica, IMHO, because if she fusses you can just exit. Ditto many churches with great art and no cost to enter. You don't say the time of year you are traveling. That would help with some ideas. I do think the CT is a questionnable destination unless your little one will truly take to a backpack carrier during hikes. The trails would be very dangerous for a new walker. Read up on the towns to see if there's enough there to occupy you if you cannot hike the trails. Tuscany with a car and carseat will be great for you all. So many great towns and wines! We loved Montalcino, in the heart of Brunello country and very easy to use as a base to see Pienza, Montepulciano, and more. See the Slow Travel site for soem great drive ideas. Some good hiking there, too. We hiked from Montalcino to the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, which whether you hike there or drive, is worth a stop. So is Monte Oliveto Maggiore. Wy not pick Rome and Tuscany? You could split your time between Siena and a village like Montalcino and take some great daytrips and hikes. An Agristurismo might be good too. Think farm exposure for new walker.

Rome would be a good choice. You can visit the Villa Borghese and let your new walker explore. Lots of outdoor cafes and as the previous poster said, Italians love children. In many cafes that we visited, we saw parents with young children, some in strollers. Tuscany would be another great choice. Where do you plan to visit? I know of a great b&b outside of San Gimingnano and know they would welcome you and your little one. PM me if you would like details.
Good luck. Hope your little one is a good sleeper and will sleep on the plane. Also recommend that you pay the additional money for a seat. You can bring her car seat (make sure it is FAA approved.) It's worth the extra money.

Laurel - Thanks so much for your input. We are traveling mid-April, hopefully before places are overcome with tourists. Charlotte is pretty good in a carrier now, less so in a stroller. She loves to be outdoors, so I think the freedom of the farm type environment will be great. I really appreciate the suggestions for Rome too!

PS: You might consider renting an apartment in Rome. I think it would be a better choice with a baby. Vrbo and Homeaway are good sites to use.

Weaherwise,, don't know if I would bother with Cinqe Terra in mid April,, could still be rainy,, then what would you do?

There's a good chain of hotels called 'Italy Family Hotels' http://www.italyfamilyhotels.it/en/
You can find a kid-friendly hotel where you're going. The noise level at the dinner buffets is pretty loud (normal kid stuff) and sometimes they'll have free bikes with kid-trailers to use around town and other fun stuff for families. Many of them have child-minding at the hotel. I also suggest the backpack. We've done a lot of museums with one in the backpack. Just keep passing the cookies behind you and you've got 2 hours no problem. One note of warning, though. Easter is mid-April. Many countries in Europe have vacation at that time. Rome will be extra busy. Book your accommodations as soon as possible and spend the extra money for the line-bypass tickets or tours at places you want to go.

Rebecca, we did a similar itinerary last September with our 11 month old (plus a 4yr old and grandparents) and think your plans are fine, absolutely doable. Our biggest challenges with the toddler were first nights in new places and stairs. There's not much you can do about stairs in Italy but in terms of first nights, it seems like you limiting the number of times your relocating which is great. Our favorite part of the trip was our time in an Agriturismo in Tuscany. It was extremely family friendly, plenty of room to spread out, and quiet nights. Similarly we rented a car with car seat and were able to daytrip to all the customary Tuscan sites. In Rome we stayed in the Pantheon neighborhood which I would consider to be relatively quaint, quiet, and mostly traffic free. The biggest advantage being that there are so many great sites within short walking distance. In Cinque Terre we stayed in old town Monterosso al Mare which we found to be fairly noisy at night. The trails were really picturesque but some would have been really difficult with a child (Vernazza to Monterosso for example). CT was probably the most challenging place with the young children.

Hi again, Rebecca. An apartment, mentioned above, is a really good idea in Rome. We stayed here in December and found it super convenient. I don't know if they have a crib.... Lovely people, the owners live in the same building and are very attentive.

Hi Rebecca, Definitely not crazy, and I speak from Experience. We were in Italy for 3 weeks last April/May and our daughter was 10-11 months while there. She started walking around 9 months, so she was motoring pretty well. Here's my take. First off, if you haven't bought her a seat (we didn't), then request a bulkhead seat, since the airline (lufthansa, in our case) will provide you with a hanging bassinett for her to sleep. 90 minutes of excitement followed by 7 hours of sleep. Highly recommended. We took a stroller (remember the sunshade!), and pushed her most places. We stopped at virtually all piazzas for her to run around. Get a stroller with a reclining back, so she can sleep in it (sleep = cafe = wine).
continued next post...

Why say that I have 70 characters left, if I don't?... Anyway: Rome is a really intense city (one of my favorites in the world), and there are very few parks for the little one to run around in, except the Borghese (we spent and entire afternoon there). Yes, she can run around in the piazzas, but be prepared to pull out stones, sticks, cigarette butts, etc. from her mouth. They're fast at that age. Takes tons of wipes, because those cobblestones affect their balance, the her palms will get dirty pretty quickly. We spent a week in a Tuscan Agriturismo outside of Montepulciano, and it was definitely our best idea. We rented a car and carseat (italians have a different view on carseats, so you might want to bring your own) and toured as daytrips around Tuscany. We would gather picnic supplies from the villages that we visited and then have a picnic back at the Farmhouse Gazebo where Avery could run around and chase grass hoppers. We sat at the table drinking wine, watching our daughter and the grapes grow in the vineyard.
I can go on forever, but I won't. It was an awesome trip, and you're going to love it. Feel free to ask me any questions that you have. If I remember something really important, I'll post again. Have fun!

Darren, That sounds so nice I almost wish I had a little one again. ;-}

Laurel -
Yep, it was awesome. So awesome in fact, that we're making our way to France with Avery (who's now about 20 months) and another 9 mo (will be at time of trip, anyway). As opposed to Rome, Paris has WONDERFUL parks to keep them busy. I can't wait.

Sounds like a wonderful plan... and I would probably do more of Tuscany vs. Cinque Terre at that time of year. Could be cooler by the sea, as well as CT might be a bit more difficult with bebe. Tuscany, however gives you the option of leisurely driving through the countryside while she naps and looking at beautiful, peaceful scenery. (Glad to see their are some young parents here to encourage you rather than saying leave the baby home) Take lots of pictures so you can show her when she is older... and even tho she will not remember it.... you will!

Taking a baby to Europe would be like a church picnic of my childhood. I remember all the good food, but forgot about all the bugs and how the big kids that picked on me. I'm sorry, but we left our daughter with my parents when we traveled to Europe and took yearly ski trips to Lake Tahoe. We and she needed a vacation from each other. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Now, my daughter is grown and has a 6 month old daughter that's already trying to walk. I don't know that my whole family could take care of this child's needs, including carrying her and all her "child supplies." And, Italy's generally just not a good place for strollers. Our daughter's travel life started @ 4 1/2 years old at Disney World, and she's since been all over the world. She didn't suffer by waiting until she could walk long distances to go. Our only problem was that she never ate what the locals eat--other than overdosing on pizza.

I'll say this: With the exception of Venice (absolute NIGHTMARE with a stroller), almost all of Italy was great with a stroller. I spent 3 weeks there with a stroller, and I can't remember a time when I wish I didn't have a stroller. Actually, the Vatican Museum sucked, but I had a friendly Italian guy wait for me at each staircase and took the front of the stroller. On that note, Italians LOVE children. You will have so many great interactions with Italians with your little one, it will be memories that you'll never have at any other time in life (unless you return to Italy very soon, which I highly recommend...) Now, every child (and parent) is different , but my daughter was walking around on furniture, etc. at 6 months, so we was pretty well practiced by the time we hit Rome. The cobblestones were a new challenge, but she overcame those in a few days. As for all of her "stuff". my wife and I traveled carry-on for 3 weeks with our "stuff" and her "stuff", so that wasn't that big of a deal, if you pack correctly.
I for one (and definitely not my wife) couldn't leave my daughter for 3 weeks (or even two, for that matter), but again, we're all different. We had a blast, and if you have the right mind set, I think you will too.

I did Rome with a pregnant wife and a 3 year old and we had a blast. Italians love little kids, so you will often get special service because they just love seeing little ones. A few specific things: 1. consider a jogging stroller, they roll much better over the coblestones. 2. there is a very good grocery store on Via Giustiniani right near the Pantheon. Has diapers, wipes, everything you would need.
3. consider the Explora children's museum in Rome, www.mdbr.it. Might not be perfect fit for 11 month old. My 3 year old loved it.