Italy with Kids

Bimbi Gratis train fares on trenitalia will save you lots of money. Up to 4 kids < 15 years old will travel free with you as long as long as 1 adult pays full fare. We use it all the time.

At the end of the day of touring, put the 16 yr old in charge of the other kids and you and the wife go find a bar/cafe and have a glass of wine. Point the kids toward a gelato store and let them have their 'social hour'.

September may not be as bad, but we went in July and it was hot, even for a Georgian. My kids really liked these fans we bought from Amazon, battery-powered hung around their necks. Saved a lot of whining.

I also dressed them in the brightest of neon shirts when we were in Rome. Really helped keep track of them in the crazy Rome crowds.

My kids loved Pisa, the Baptistery, and the Cathedral. They liked the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. Were kind of "meh" about Pantheon and thought St. Peter's was all right, but they were getting tired by the time they got there.

I would just say with kids, plan on abandoning plans if needed if they get too tired (this happened to us in Bern and in Zurich) and let them watch videos about where you're going before you go, as it really helped make connections.

We have two sons in that age range. What we also did was buried a hotel card (or address of where you are staying) along with a 20 euro note in a secured pocket. First rule - IF separated, return to the last point we were together. That worked well because the separate was never very long. Sometimes we would establish a meeting point and time when entering a site that people would want to go through at different pace. Second rule (never tested) was if lost, totally separated, find a taxi, give the driver the card and head back to the hotel and 20 euro note paid the taxi. Eating was always a bit of issue -- unfamiliar with many of the foods -- pizza and pasta except for the day the pasta was green.

I've travelled in Italy (Tuscany) with babies and toddlers -- a breeze! When they were 12 & 9, it was a bit tougher because it was hot, and they didn't want to be in the car (even though that was our only air conditioning). We've rented cars in Europe 4 or 5 times and always find the back seat windows are really high, so children can't see out very well. All this to say: -- find a spot, and do short trips from there. Any time we were out and moving, they were happy. When it got too hot, we took a break somewhere cool. And they ate gelato 4 times a day (don't blame the parents-- it was the relatives). A beach day is great.

My husband had our daughters in Italy last winter for 3 days (they were then 17 & 20) and they were bored -- no wifi: "Che disastro!!!!"

Thanks everyone! Great tips.

I've happily noticed how many things... trains and sites ... are free for 18 and under. It's nice to not have to multiply my per person budget for the trip by seven in all things. If only airfare was so family friendly...

Having the oldest keep the kids is a great idea. He actually proposed that to us, to keep the kids a couple of nights over the trip so we'd get our date night. That is quite nice as we'll be in Naples for my wife's birthday.

The meeting place and emergency address/money is a great idea too. I hadn't thought about letting the older ones split off on their own at all.

I am a little concerned about how mealtime will go down. A couple of our kids are pretty vanilla in their food choices, but we're trying to get them to experiment. Thankfully, any form of pasta with pesto has typically gone over well at home so the green stuff shouldn't be an issue. I also remember a lot of the places being pretty small so I'm not sure if we'll run into issues with the size of our family wanting to take over an Osteria...

One thing we've talked about with them is how the trip is not just what's at point A or at point B but exploring everything in between as we'll be on foot a lot. We've told them there may be days where our plan for a few hours is to go find a particular gelato shop, but see what we can discover en route. Hoping to avoid too much of the "are we there yet" syndrome. Is a stroller worthwhile for the 4 yr old? Typically we just throw her up on shoulders/back and keep on. And I agree that flexibility is pretty critical while out and about.

We'll be hitting Ischia, Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice over three weeks. Florence was the shortest stay and the kids opted to skip a day trip to Pisa/Lucca from there in order to have more time in Florence itself. They ruled out the Vatican, are excited for the Colosseum, and I think would be content with pizza, panini, and gelato as our regimen for the duration.

I appreciate all the info again. Looking forward to other tips as they come in.

....so the green stuff shouldn't be an issue..... It wasn't green stuff on the pasta it was green pasta itself. i don't remember exactly what it was but it was a specialized pasta that was quite good but sons wouldn't touch it.