Italy in March suggestions

If they are interested in Roman history, then Pompeii is the most logical choice, and since you are there, you can add the Amalfi Coast and maybe Capri to the lot.

If your kids have never been to Venice, they would appreciate that for sure. I still remember my first time in Venice as a kid. I was awed. I know it's a 4 hour high speed train journey from Rome (and in the opposite direction compared to Naples/Pompeii) but if you have the time, I would consider it for 2 or 3 nights at least.

PS: Be aware that Europe switches to daylight savings on the last Sunday of March, therefore before then days will be short and it will get dark by 6:00-6:30 pm.

If it is just spring break, then Rome should be plenty, even with a side trip to Pompeii. There you can include Naples and the Greek temples at Paestum. Were you planning on extending beyond a week or so?

We just returned from a 3-week Italy trip that included Puglia (multiple locations), Bologna, Ferrara, and Venice.

I highly recommend Puglia—-an easy train trip from Rome. The weather was great (my husband even swam in the Adriatic at Monopoli).

You could easily spend a week there. Lots of Roman history (Lecce especially), with some of the olive groves dating back to Roman times. Spend a few nights in Lecce, and maybe two in one of the small resort towns on the coast (Monopoli or Polignano Al Mare). You can fly out of Bari or Brindisi if you do not care to return to Rome for a flight.

March is too early for the Dolomites or Italian Lakes. Stay in the south and keep it a nice compact trip. We are already planning a return to Puglia.

Like Lola, I'm a fan of Puglia and I always thought it would be great for kids--the trulli especially. The Appian way ends at Brindisi, and there are some ruins at Egnazia. Castel del Monte...bones in Otranto's cathedral.. A side trip to Matera in Basilicata...caves at Castellana... Taranto's museum... I could go on all day, lol
But we really need to know how much time you have--it would be tough for me to pair Rome and Puglia--I spent ten days in Puglia two years in a row and still missed quite a bit.
This is a great website: https://imaginapulia.com/points-of-interest/

OP here, sorry I should’ve mentioned how much time we would have! Probably around 10-12 days. I would prefer to do something other than just Rome and Pompeii/Naples since I’ve done them both before (Rome twice before) and I would like to explore new places, not just keep returning to the same ones, but I’m finding it difficult because my kids want to experience all the places I’ve already been to! Thanks for the suggestions so far!!

If they are interested in Roman history, then Pompeii is the most logical choice, and since you are there, you can add the Amalfi Coast and maybe Capri to the lot.
If your kids have never been to Venice, they would appreciate that for sure. I still remember my first time in Venice as a kid. I was awed. I know it's a 4 hour high speed train journey from Rome (and in the opposite direction compared to Naples/Pompeii) but if you have the time, I would consider it for 2 or 3 nights at least.
PS: Be aware that Europe switches to daylight savings on the last Sunday of March, therefore before then days will be short and it will get dark by 6:00-6:30 pm.

Thanks for the reply! We just took the kids to Venice last summer for 3 days and they loved it!

Would the Amalfi coast and Capri be enjoyable in March? I went there in May 2001 and the weather was perfect but I’m not sure how great it would be in March since I think of it as more of an outdoorsy location. I feel like our March trips will have to be more about sightseeing in cities than enjoy beautiful natural scenes!

Thanks for the note about daylights savings! We actually just returned last week from a trip to Amsterdam and London and experienced this - it actually worked in our favor since we only had to adjust 4 hours on the return home!

We just returned from a 3-week Italy trip that included Puglia (multiple locations), Bologna, Ferrara, and Venice.
I highly recommend Puglia—-an easy train trip from Rome. The weather was great (my husband even swam in the Adriatic at Monopoli).
You could easily spend a week there. Lots of Roman history (Lecce especially), with some of the olive groves dating back to Roman times. Spend a few nights in Lecce, and maybe two in one of the small resort towns on the coast (Monopoli or Polignano Al Mare). You can fly out of Bari or Brindisi if you do not care to return to Rome for a flight.
March is too early for the Dolomites or Italian Lakes. Stay in the south and keep it a nice compact trip. We are already planning a return to Puglia.

Thanks for the Puglia suggestion, I’ll look into it! Sounds like it could be fun for the kids!

And thanks for the feedback about northern Italy - my concern was March wouldn’t be great so thanks for confirming!

Capri and the AC would definitely be weather dependent, but that's easily solved by staying in Naples--if you get a marvelous sunny day, yay. If not, you still have tons to do.

In March the weather in Italy is unknown even to the best meteorologists. It's the most variable month of the year, so much so that Italians have a nursery rhyme for it:

"Marzo, Marzo pazzerello, guarda il sole ma prendi l'ombrello" (March, crazy March, look at the sun but take an umbrella)

Sicily would be great, and more likely to have better weather. Sicily is full of Roman (and Greek) ruins as well.
The only issue is that Sicily is big and full of things to see, so you might need to spend at the very least 7 days to see some of it. Also it requires flying to reach it (by ground it would take a full day). However flights from Rome to Palermo or Catania are plentiful.

OP again. Any recommendations for sicily? Or do you feel it’s too hard to combine with Rome?

n March the weather in Italy is unknown even to the best meteorologists. It's the most variable month of the year, so much so that Italians have a nursery rhyme for it:
"Marzo, Marzo pazzerello, guarda il sole ma prendi l'ombrello" (March, crazy March, look at the sun but take an umbrella)
Sicily would be great, and more likely to have better weather. Sicily is full of Roman (and Greek) ruins as well.
The only issue is that Sicily is big and full of things to see, so you might need to spend at the very least 7 days to see some of it. Also it requires flying to reach it (by ground it would take a full day). However flights from Rome to Palermo or Catania are plentiful.

Thanks again for your reply! Yes I feel like in March we just need to focus on sightseeing, not anything that is weather-dependent! We just returned from Amsterdam and London and we had lots of rain and some snow but it was fine because we weren’t doing anything that would be impacted by the weather!

I figured getting to Sicily would probably take a long time! Definitely wouldn’t want to waste an entire day traveling! I’ll have to decide if it’s worth taking a flight or if we should just pick something closer to Rome.

A trip to Sicily alone would be better because of the size of the island and the wide distribution of key sights. I always suggest a minimum of two weeks if a rental car is planned. Without a car, extra time is needed because the trains are relatively few and slow, and bus service is not terribly frequent. Even with the amount of time I'm suggesting, choices would have to be made. I had 17 or 18 days there without a car, and I skipped all the major Greek ruins (for lack of interest) and the Aeolian Islands.

@acraven

Ok good to know, maybe Sicily isn’t a great option at this time then. Definitely don’t want to only go there since the only reason we would even be going to Italy is because my kids want to go to Rome!

10-12 days...I think splitting the time between Rome and then Naples/Salerno/Amalfi would be good. In fact, if it's not too expensive--shouldn't be--fly into one and out of the other. That way you don't have to backtrack. And train from Rome/Naples is 75 min, Rome/Salerno just under 3 hours. I mention Salerno because it's a great logistical base for everything, with Sorrento ranking a close second, for different reasons.

We've been there twice in March and yes, it's unpredictable. In 2017 we started off with a glorious week of weather in Rome (50's/60's), followed by 3 days of monsoon (40's) in Sorrento. Cleared up right at the end of our trip. But, the good part is that there are few tourists that time of year, although Rome is always kinda busy.

Since you're looking for fresh ground yourself, I'd consider Rome + Puglia if not too much time would be chewed up by transportation. Could you get multi-city flights into Rome and back from Bari or Brindisi (or vice versa)? If not, you'd lose a good bit of time backtracking to Rome. There are several Freccia routings each day from Rome to Lecce that take between 5 and 6 hours; you'd have to do that once (or deal with a flight) in any case.

I think I'd tackle that combo only with 12 days or so, because there is so much to see and enjoy in Rome without the transportation overhead of a Rome + Puglia combination. I just recently spend 20 nights in Rome, and I didn't run out of things to do. Places I missed that will be included in a future trip include St. Peter's, Castel Sant'Angelo and day wandering around Trastevere. (I did see a lot of museums and churches this time.)

We broke up the journey between Rome and Lecce with an overnight stop, and I recommend that.

We chose Barletta because the Frecce train stops there, and it was fine, but there isn’t much of interest there. So I would suggest changing to the regional train at Bari and continuing on to either Monopoli or Polignano Al Mare, both seaside towns with charming oldtown areas. Polignano Al Mare is known for the Red Bull cliff diving championships held there each summer. (you can find videos of this on YouTube). But visited both on daytrips, I found we preferred Monopoli. The oldtown area is beautiful, with all the white buildings, many with potted plants or flowers on stairs or balconies. There is a nice walking path along the harbor and on down along the coast to a small sandy beach (this was where my husband went for a swim on February 23).

On one of the earlier Puglia trips we planned (2020 and 2022), I had us staying 2 nights in Monopoli at an Albergo Diffuso. I think one of their family apartments would make a nice place to spend a couple of nights. You can see photos of the town and the rooms on their website:

https://albergodiffusomonopoli.it/en/homepage

The oldtown area is the crescent of white buildings right along the water. Like most towns we visited in Puglia, the historic oldtown with narrow winding streets (many pedestrian only) surrounded by a large residential area with modern apartment blocks and little charm. So you want to be sure and stay in the oldtown itself, in any of these towns.

Even if your kids are not all that excited by charming villages, they will like the seaside, and there is a lot of history to explore. Castles abound in Puglia, mostly belonging to Frederick II of Prussia, or Carlos V (both Holy Roman Emperors).

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-II-Holy-Roman-emperor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

In Lecce we spent 3 nights in a very nice 2-bedroom apartment in a great location, right on the boundary between old town and new. In summer they operate it as a bed and breakfast with individual rooms, but in the off-season ( like March) they rent the whole apartment as a unit. Pierluigi is a great host and very responsive to questions. This is their website, but it is also listed on booking.com if you are uncomfortable with the Italian website.

https://www.nuvolebarocche.com/

Lecce has a Roman theater and a Roman amphitheater, as well as a Carlos V castle.

http://www.stayciao.com/blog/a-castle-to-visit-in-lecce-carlo-v-castle/

Thanks for the additional info about Puglia! I was reading some of the responses and thinking “Hmm, small charming towns, kids are going to complain that they want to DO something!” And then I saw the info about palaces and Roman ruins - that’s the kind of stuff they really love! I need to get my hands on a guidebook and look some of this up more in depth!

Lecce is a lovely baroque city. There's quite a lot of variety in Puglia. You have the trulli (Google for photos) up around Alberobello, and some of the coastal towns remind one of Greece. Matera, which is in Basilicata but manageable as a side trip from Puglia with perhaps some transportation creativity, is known for its cave homes where people lived until after WWII.

The Lonely Planet Guide to Southern Italy is good, but there is a ton more online. Another good site is https://www.viaggiareinpuglia.it/hp/en

But I'd check flights before getting too far in planning. Lufthansa flies to Bari and Brindisi with one stopover.

I’m not super concerned about flights as we would most likely connect through London no matter where we go. There aren’t many Nonstop flights to Rome from my area that time of year and the ones that are available are way more money than I’m willing to spend!

We've also booked a return trip to Rome (and Florence) with kids the same ages for the same dates. My eldest and I just returned from 8 days in Italy, and I know I haven't even scratched the surface with all there is to see there. We particularly focused on art and history tours. I think we saw 8 or so museums, and Florence seemed to tie together the spans of centuries so nicely. In fact, Rome was so beautiful just walking everywhere that Florence felt like a letdown of ugly brown buildings. It wasn't until we went inside, saw the art and traced the Renaissance's return to Classical Greece and Rome that all of the light bulbs started going off. Suddenly, artwork we saw in Rome began to reappear as inspiration in Florence. It was a lovely capstone to our 5 days in Rome.

Some things I did for my 12yo:
Give them a journal to record their observations when you come back to the room between sites. Tell them to jot down 2-3 things they remember in bullet form (because it's so easy to forget when jet-lagged).
Give them some thought space to process it all. We picked one major site in the morning, then we threw in a spontaneous basilica or exterior monument when walking back from lunch.
If a gift shop sells something to eat, get that over postcards. We found tasty lemon shortbread and orange-chocolate chip cookies made by nuns of a local (convent?) at the Scala Santa gift shop. They also sold honey and other goodies. We ate one bag on the way back to the room and opened another when we got home. Just the flavors brought back sweet memories of our trip together.
Choose restaurants for dinner that pass by a major sites (Castel St'Angelo, Trevi, Spanish Steps) on the way home. I personally loved that it was dark early. If Rome does one thing well, it's night illumination. We got so many great pics of perfectly lit buildings by night, free from all of the crowds because it's colder and off-season. The police were everywhere, and it felt incredibly safe to walk with alone with my child, even past 11:30pm.
Have your kids learn some Italian and ask a waiter to send out his or her favorite dessert or dish. We did this a few times and got such a warm reception that I feel like we were embraced as family! I don't think my child ever would have tried ox-tail, cheek-meat, tuna tartare, beef carpaccio, or pasta with boar ragu had she not asked her waiter to pick something great and send it out.

@enbateau - thanks so much for the amazing feedback! Greatly appreciated! 😊