Italy itinerary - what to do in central/north east Italy?

Think about Bologna and Emilia-Romagna. It's a great place for foodies, lovers of exotic automobiles and lovers of very old churches and their associated architecture. We had a great week in Bologna and its environs this summer.

Welcome to the forum!

You’ll need a van and possibly some car seats if you decide to rent and drive
All drivers will need an IDP

There are plenty of places that can be reached by train instead
Maybe a few days in Lucca or Siena
Verona and/ or Lake Garda

Day trip to Pompeii from Rome will be a really long day
Take a look at Ostia Antica instead
Your time in Rome is short already-only 2 full days

Purchase Rick Steves Italy guidebook 27th edition: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/italy-guidebook.

rebecca,

I'm not entirely clear on your proposed Itinerary. A bit more detail would be helpful. A few thoughts......

• I second the suggestion to buy a copy of the Rick Steves Italy guidebook. The new edition won't be arriving until Summer 2025, but the current edition should provide lots of detail to help in planning your trip.
• You indicated "fast train to Florence Thursday evening". You also mentioned arriving in Venice on Thursday evening? I assume that's the Thursday of the following week?
• What's the total length of your trip?
• There are lots of possible locations where you could spend a few days..... Siena, Lucca, other parts of Tuscany, etc. Have a look through the guidebook and see which places will be of most interest to your group.
• Driving in Italy is probably not a good idea, especially for a first visit. There are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. For example, each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit which is used in conjunction with your home D.L.; many towns in Italy have ZTL (limited traffic) areas in towns, with hefty fines for drivers who venture into them.... some are enforced by automated cameras so you won't always know you've been through one; there's also speeding enforcement such as the Tutor (also automated) on the motorways, tolls, etc.
• There are also some potentially expensive caveats in using trains and other public transportation, for such things as not validating locally purchased Regionale tickets (those fines are collected on the spot). Tickets for the fast trains come with compulsory seat reservations and don't have to be validated, but are specific to train, date and departure time, and can only be used on the one train listed on the ticket..... boarding the wrong train also comes with a hefty fine. The guidebook should provide information on all that.
• There are lots of videos online about using trains in Italy. This is one you may find helpful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjIh4ZMT3iw&t=138s .
• You likely won't get a lot of touring done on Tuesday in Rome due to jet lag. It always takes me a day or so before I'm "up to full touring speed".
• One thought that occurred to me when reading that you plan to arrive in Florence in the evening. You'll have to check out of your Rome hotel probably about 11:00, so you'll have to consider where you're going to leave your luggage until you board the train to Florence. Some hotels will store it but that means having to return from where ever you're touring to the hotel, and then getting to the station. I generally like to have a nice breakfast at the hotel, check out about 11:00 and then make my way to the next destination, arriving mid-to-late afternoon. The rooms are often not available until about mid-afternoon, as the hotel has to service it after the previous guest checks out. I like to arrive during daylight hours, so I can do a quick "walkabout" and get settled before dinner.
• Will you be taking cell phones? Hopefully your home mobile network has a good international roaming plan.

Good luck with your planning!

What ages are the kids? School age is anything from 5 to 18! Have you involved the kids in the planning, what is of interest to them? Older boys with a mechanical bent would probably love a trip to one of the auto related museums. Girls might be more interested in window shopping fashion, for example.

Only 2 full days in Venice? I’d consider adding at least one additional day there. Lots to intrigue kids as all transport is by boat….take a trip to Murano, glass-making-making is fascinating for kids. Or give them a bit of beach time by heading out to the Venice Lido.

Doing Pompeii as a day trip from Rome could be painful, especially if the kids are younger. The suggestion above of Ostia Antica is a good one; a complete ruined Roman city and it has the advantage that it’s a short train ride from Rome. Has everything Pompeii has except for Vesuvius!

Rick’s guide to Italy is full of useful information - everything from how to find taxis to useful Italian phrases. Other guides will supply other information that might be useful for you and family.

I recommend taking in Siena, Pisa, Lucca and then moving toward Venice. Ravenna is great for a day, also Verona.

For a first trip, taking trains and staying a bit longer in fewer places is usually a good plan. It depends on how old your kids are and what they are like to travel with. Taking our two kids to Italy when they were 9 and 16 was easy, taking our grandchildren to Italy a year ago when they were 6 and 9 was tons of fun but not as easy. Think about adding nights to both Rome and Venice, maybe skipping Florence, and adding one place that will be less heavily touristed in June.

For the four kids we have taken to Italy, their #1 favorite place was Venice, with Ostia Antica #2. See my trip report for Venice with kids for some ideas: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/bologna-ferrara-venice-rome-in-december-with-kids