Know Italy reasonably well, but always been my wife and I. Next year, though, we'll spend American Thanksgiving in Tuscany (4 nights) and Venice (3 nights) with family, looks like about 10 people total. While I have a good handle on what to see and do, I'm wondering--and this is where help is needed, please--what types of issues come up with a group that big that you don't encounter with a couple? I mean, I've arranged small bus transport for a Chianti winery-Siena day trip from Firenze, but what other types of practical challenges should we try to resolve before departure? Grazie.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1409 posts
Gio: You could also implement a "buddy check" system so that at each destination that you are all attending at the same time, you know your buddy is there. Sometimes it gets hectic at train stations, airports, etc.
Posted by
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
206 posts
We traveled in Italy in 2007 with a family group of eleven. Transportation can be difficult. We both rented cars, and used trains and metro. If using public transportation, make sure everyone in the group knows where to get off, since you may be getting off through different doors. For cars, we had a (small) station wagon and a (small) van. It worked fine, but the van especially was a big vehicle to drive it Italy. Two others issues that could come up are dining and communication. Reservations are certainly more needed for such a big group, and expect that you might not be able to sit all together. We did however, have several great big group meals. I would recommend having at least two, but maybe more cell phones, if you ever intend to split up. We were staying in a villa in Liguria, and went to Florence for one overnight (so we had packed extremely light, no rain gear). While there we split up for a short time. Of course, that is when there was a huge rain storm, and we ended up even more split apart trying to find everybody and keep some of us dry. Something to laugh about later, but at the time we had no communication and it got a little worrisome.