Italy vacation ideas for family of 6 adults

Have you been to Sicily? Lots of lovely places there.

Honestly, I wouldn't trek to Sicily for just seven days. You'd see only a small part of what makes the island such a great destination. I'd suggestion Puglia, which is more of a one-week destination to me, but it could be time-consuming to reach after a transatlantic flight.

Look at some places in Le Marche (Urbino, Ascoli Piceno, many others. Long stretches of beaches, but probably too cold in April.

How about Torino and the Piemonte? A great food and wine region, you could spend 3-4 nights in Torino then 2 or 3 in Alba for the wine.

With only 7 days, I would consider an agritursmo in Tuscany or Umbria.

You could choose a great location so you can visit several villages. Stay around Cortona. Then visit Asissi, Spello, or Spoleto. Or stay near Montepulciano. And tour around the Crete Senses.

Another idea is Bologna. You could train to Lucca, Modena, and Parma and take cooking classes.

Folks may have some other good ideas for you if you can be more specific about your definition of "all the touristy places in Italy".

Off the beaten path? My favorite is Sardinia. Not frequented by many American tourists and April is just before season begins on this gorgeous and unique island.

We have done Rome, Florence, Sorrento, Capri several times, Venice, Cinque Terra, Sicily, including Trapani and Scopello last year. We love the beautiful scenery, unique villages, living like the locals, great food, and easy to access transportation. We loved Trapani for that reason. I hope this gives you all a better idea of what we enjoy. Thank you for all your suggestions so far!

I really enjoyed time in northern Italy a couple of summers ago. There are lots of options stretching between Venice and Verona. I based in Padua and took a day-trip to Vicenza. The lakes are also nearby. Or you could stay in Bologna and visit a lot of great smaller cities. I haven't been to Ferrara, but other folks speak highly of it. And Ravenna is just lovely, even aside from its magnificent mosaics. Bologna itself has a large historic district and a fabulous food scene.

I'm weather-sensitive and wouldn't head to northern Italy in April, but I'm guessing the weather wouldn't be an issue for you, since you've decided to travel in April in the first place.

Now that I know you've seen part of Sicily, I'm much less adamant about not heading there for a week. You could see a good chunk of the eastern part of the island in the time you have or, alternatively, Palermo and some of the key interior sights around Piazza Armerina and Enna.

I agree that seeing a part of Sicily would be great. If you're looking for a centrally located agriturismo, look at Azienda Agricola Silvia Sillitti near Caltanisetta. Here's my review from a few years ago; if you book early enough, everyone in your group should be able to stay there with as much space as they need or want. Our room had a kitchenette, but I think some rooms have fuller kitchens. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/sicily-caltanisetta-central-sicily-agrigurismo

From this agriturismo, much of the island is a 1-2 hour drive, so you could see a lot of places from this one base as day trips (the proprietor's husband even commuted to his job in Palermo from here!).

At least when I was there in late April and early May 2014, the weather was wonderful.

If you want an alternative, do look at parts of northern Italy that are not Florence, Venice, or Milan. On various trips, I've been to Cremona, Mantova, Padova, Ferrara, Ravenna, Parma, and Modena; none are "touristy" and all are worthwhile. I'm sure there are agriturismi in this area as well (I don't know of any personally).

April can be difficult month to predict the weather anywhere north of Rome. We once were in Rome in April and it rained heavily almost every day. I would definitely go south, even to Sicily if the flight times weren't too much.

It appears as though most of our family wants to do Amalfi Coast, Poisitano and Cinque Terre. Any thoughts on itinerary for this. We would be flying from Eastern USA on Saturday and would need to be back the following weekend by Sunday afternoon. So that gives us 8 nights. We also would need information on transportation from each area.

Perhaps I don't understand your time line. Please correct me if I am mistaken about the time available. If you leave the U.S. on Saturday, that night will probably be spent in flight. If you have to be back by Sunday afternoon you'll probably have to fly back the following Saturday late in the afternoon and spend that night in flight. That really only leave six nights in Italy -- Sunday through Friday nights. If that is correct, I'd pick our one (two at the most) spots along the Amalfi Coast and not even consider the Cinque Terre. I'm afraid you'll lose a tremendous amount of time just traveling between the two.

I agree with TC, and in April I would head south to the Amalfi Coast--unless an experienced April traveler here comes up with a specific reason not to.

Our thought was that we would arrive Sunday midday (with the possibility of getting a late Friday night flight to arrive Saturday afternoon) and leave Italy the following Sunday morning. We have been to Sorrento and Amalfi before and didn’t think there would be enough to do for 7 days. Can anyone suggest an additional location? We are not interested in Naples and are willing to train 3 hours or so.