We are thinking of going to Italy next year with our kids ages 10 and 13. We are limited by their school breaks- would Christmas or Easter be a better time to go? (Easter is the first week in April next year). We'd like to hit Rome, Venice, Florence and spend a couple days in Tuscany. I know holidays are crazy, but which time would be better as far as weather, crowds, etc?
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11658 posts
Carey:
How long can you stay? Rome, Venice, Florence + other parts of Tuscany sounds like two weeks to me. If you only have one week, set your expectations to only 2 of these locations, probalby Rome and Venice unless you really crave the museum-scene in Florence. For help in understanding weather, try this site; http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp. You can input a date range and a city and see the averages over many years. (Rome data goes back to 1997.) April will be warmer, but holiday season is a whole different reason to go. We went last October and our next trip is purposefully in December. I figure the weather will be no worse than Portland in Venice, and most likely better than Portland in Rome and Sorrento. Have never spent Christmas outside the US, so we are looking forward to the festiveness! In either case, don't underestimate the difficulty in getting reservations for lodging during holiday times. Set those up as soon as you have flights. I see posts here all the time where someone is two weeks out from a trip in peak season and has trouble getting lodging they want.
Posted by
OP
Jackson, WI
34 posts
We would be able to stay about 10 days total at the most during either time including travel days. I was thinking 3 days in rome, 2 days in Florence, 2 days in Venice and 1-2 days in the countryside somewhere along route between those towns. We are leaning towards going during Easter b/c of the weather. I know that Easter gets crowded and some of the sights might not be open, but I hear there are also a lot of neat festivities during that time. We have a year to plan so I can book early.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11658 posts
Just my opinion, but I'd stick with no more than 3 locations and no less than 3 nights in any one location. 2 nights = one full day. Your travel days between locations are shortened to half days because of packing/moving/unpacking. To my mind, Florence is art-and-museum intensive. Depends on your kids, of course, as to interests. A good resource might be http://www.ciaobambino.com, especially their blog, for ideas and activities with children.