Itinerary advice needed!

I am sure you will get much more knowledgeable responses than I can give, but I have a few basic thoughts.

First off, traveling with 3 kids of the ages of your children adds an element of challenge, regardless of how well behaved the kids are. Be sure to build in down time spaced between art/museum venues, that give them a chance to be a kid. They will need some run around, laugh, be silly time. You also need to factor in that the 7 and 5 year old will have limited ability to shlep their own luggage thru all of the public transport, and over cobbled streets. That means you and your husband will have to carry that burden, all while managing the kids, getting to the correct train platform, train car, etc. It’s a lot.

As far as streamlining — you have a 4 week travel window, which is wonderful. But you have 6 regions you want to visit. I suggest cutting two of them. If you have to visit Venice and Dolomites, maybe combine them into 3 days each instead of a week, with a transit day in between. I would cut Pompeii, personally. It can be done as a day trip from Rome, but its a long day from what I hear (I visited it years ago, but we went on to Greece from Pompeii, not back to Rome, so I can only go by what I’ve heard). Chances are it will be pretty hot as well, which added to the long day is a recipe for a tired, grouchy family.

Just start writing it out day by day, then you'll gradually see what falls by the way side. This is just a sample itinerary--adjust accordingly. Be sure to look at travel time closely. I would stay much longer in most of these places, especially in summer and with kiddos. This is just to give you a start.

July 14 arrive Milan, train to Venice
Jul 18 to Ortisei
Jul 21 to Florence
July 28 to Naples, Sorrento, or the Amalfi Coast to visit Pompeii
Aug 2 to Rome

I omitted Sardinia--I think something has to give, and the travel logistics. You could get beach time on the AC or in Tuscany. In Sardinia, you would probably be better off with a car.

Here’s my initial thoughts. The activities you decide to do will decide how many days for each:

Malpensa airport by trains to Verona. Stay there two nights. I enjoyed a city bike tour that your kids would probably like since it’s combined history, sites & an easy bike ride.

Verona to Bolzano by train; on to Ortesei by bus.

Ortesei by bus to Bolzano; to Venice by trains.

Venice by train to Florence. Day trips to Pisa/Lucca (ride bikes on top of Lucca’s medieval wall), Siena, etc. OR, stay in Lucca and add a day trip over to Cinque Terre and some of the larger beach towns. (I have stayed at Cinque Terre but not the other nearby cities on the coast so can’t recommend a specific one.). Lucca always seems to have things going on for fun.

Florence by train to Rome. Would Ostia Antica on the edge of Rome suffice for your Pompeii-type activity? Orvieto, etc. by train for day trips.

One comment - if you only wanted Florence for the kids for art, there is so much beautiful art all over Italy! They may prefer the smaller, less crowded art museums in smaller towns that are still spectacular. Or there’s always the option of the ones in Venice & Rome, too. And the churches are full of gorgeous paintings.

Thanks - this is all really helpful! We foolishly thought with a month we'd be able to do everything we wanted but it's just too much. My husband wants to start with cutting the Dolomites which I was really excited for but also agree with him that it's too much for the kind of trip we've been envisioning.

Venice and Rome are the only two must do stops in this itinerary. Tuscany, Pompeii, and Sardinia/the beach each have their own appeal to us. I'm going to write out a timeline and see if I can start to figure out what to do with these next.

Any additional thoughts are welcome and appreciated! Thanks again.

@Jean - I'd never heard of Ostia Antica. It looks marvelous and could definitely be a contender for replacing a trip to Pompeii. Thanks for that tip and all of your others! I haven't heard of a fair number of these activities and are going to look into them more. I've been considering cutting Tuscany out because there is just so much art everywhere but my kids are excited about seeing Pisa and the statue of David so it feels hard to cut, although not impossible.

Having not been to Italy yet, but having researched for four years regarding the country for a trip, I am going to throw this out there. Since you have almost a month, I would fly into Rome and out of Milan. Visit Rome, Florece, Venice, the Dolomites and Milan. I would spend a week in Rome, a week in Florence to do day trips, a around 5 days in Venice, and about a week in between the Dolomites and Milan. Start out in the South and head north, since it is the summer, and it will be hot. Ask what other things interest your kids. My daughter for one has a fashion museum as one of her musts.

Enjoy your trip!

I like tmalave's idea, but having just been there, I would drop into Venice early in the trip when energy is high and visit briefly. With no cars, so you have to walk or take water taxis, and with kids that age, the water taxis can take a long time, are packed and you can wait in the bay for a while, pressed with people.

It's still exciting, so I'd see the fun stuff, take a gondola ride, then move through the rest of my trip, sparing a good week or so for Rome, maybe 10 days if you want to use it as a base.

It sounds like you are into art. Especially if the weather is uncooperative, I'd recommend the "Crazy" exhibit at Chiostro del Bramante. My girls are a bit older, but loved it and it has an adapted track and description specifically for children.

If your kids are really craving a beach day, there are nice beaches you can visit as a day trip from Rome. San Felice Circeo and Sperlonga are both within a few hours. I believe both are easily accessible via public transport, but it's been a while since I did it, so definitely double check.

Not sure about the beach part of your trip. I'm thinking you may find beautiful family friendly beaches on Sardinia. The Amalfi coast not as much. Most, are small and pebbly. Not what I would consider beautiful family friendly. Never visited any beaches between Venice and Rome so not sure what there is. In the Cinque Terre Monterosso al Mare has a nice beach.

You don't mention whether you've traveled internationally with your kids before, so please feel free to ignore me these are things you already know :)

We only have one kiddo (just turned 5), but we've done three international trips with him so far, and we're planning to be in Italy for two months this summer. I'd strongly encourage you to "home base" as much as possible. Packing up, changing locations, getting to a new place, and unpacking eats up a lot of time, and every time you change locations is an opportunity for someone to leave behind a favorite toy or stuffy (100% speaking from experience haha). I would home base in Venice, Florence, and Rome, keeping in mind that it will be hot and you probably will be limited to one "major" site a day, so spending a week in those cities still might not allow you to see everything on your list. Then you could add a few days at the beginning in Milan, or head straight from Milan to Lake Como for a few days of jet lag recovery before moving on to Milan.

YouTube has a lot of interesting "travel for kids" type videos, with kid-friendly information on everything from specific cities, to typical foods, to art pieces. We've been watching Leonardo da Vinci and Venice videos in preparation for our upcoming trip. This helps my kiddo get a "preview" of where we're going so he has some time before arrival to absorb some of the info.

One other thing we've done before that is super helpful is to stay at the Hilton hotel that's connected to Rome Fiumicino airport the night before our flight. Some people might consider this a "wasted" night, but it's so much less stressful for us to just be able to get up and walk to our gate, rather than relying on transportation. Our kiddo also likes getting to walk around the airport terminal, so it's still a fun evening for him.

Of course, my most important tip for traveling with kids is to PACK LIGHT. Truly, you truly do not need everything you think you do, even with kids. Plan to bring just the essentials, then realize that you can go out and buy almost anything you need. Especially if you're using public transportation, you will not want to be hauling 5 suitcases on and off trains or buses or vaporetti, and the younger kids will not be able to manage their own belongings.

And above all - have such a fun trip!

Rick has a walking tour available for Ostia Antica. You can download it from the (free) Rick Steves Europe app. Check for other walking tours that align with your itinerary.

I think you have received some great advice so far. I have traveled with my kids and have realized that having 4-5 nights in each spot made for a much more relaxing trip. A week sounds even better, especially if you plan to do daytrips. I agree with Jean's idea that Ostia Antica would be great if you'd like to see something similar to Pompeii. It's very close to the beach so you could do the ruins in the morning and then spend the afternoon at one of the lidos for some relaxing beach time.

I haven't been to the Dolomites, but it is high on my list. If you are planning to stay in larger cites (Venice, Florence, Rome), some time in a smaller mountain town might be a welcome break. Also I agree with the importance of packing light--and consider which bag is best for each child. When we packed last summer, I liked that we had a mix of roller bags and backpack style bags. That way I could wear a bag and roll one or two if needed. My 6 year old could usually wear his Osprey 30L backpack, though if we had to walk for more than 15 minutes, he sometimes needed a short break. Good luck and I hope you will report back with a trip report after your trip is over!

Well done Ashley. In 2008, we quit our jobs, sold our house and backpacked through Europe for 3 months with our kids. We blogged the entire thing. They were 8, 6 and 5 at the time. It was a magical experience and we would do it again in a heartbeat (maybe with grandkids one day). My wife and I are heading back this Fall for a few months to celebrate 25 years of marriage!

Biggest pieces of advice is set your kids up for success. If they're anything like ours, each are independent with unique interests, energy and introvert/extrovert levels. For instance, there were times when just me and my son explored and the girls stayed back. And vice versa. If you try and make every experience a full family affair, it'll frustrate and disappoint. Also, see Europe's siesta's as good advice and when in Rome.... take a nap. Recover that energy because you're not eating until 8-9pm anyway.

There's so much I could say here but ultimately, have a magical time. You'll talk about it the rest of your lives.

I know you would like to avoid a rental car, but while in Tuscany, in order to really experience it, a rental often makes sense. You might also consider staying at an agritourismo as a base, and do daytrips to Florence, Pisa, Siena, and the many smaller hill towns. A bonus of staying in an agritourismo is many have swimming pools, which in the heat of summer, you and your kids might enjoy.

Just a thought: Venice has a beach on the Lido. Maybe you could use that one day (or two).

Another parent who has traveled with my three kids. There are beaches west of Florence, so look into that. Sardinia is complicated (I am going there this summer for the first time) because it is big, there are many (!) beautiful regions and beaches, and you must rent a car (and they are expensive!!). It took me ages to figure out an itinerary for our time there. If you just want some time at a beach, it is a whole other trip to plan for Sardinia (Im happy to share what Ive learned if you decide you do want that).
I do think the advice to go from south to north is generally wise, except the time of year you are there will be hot almost everywhere, so I dont think it will make a huge difference where you start and end.
We move around more than most on this forum and that works for us (we are not base+ side trip people, but move from place to place). In Florence, David does not disappoint. Also, climb the Duomo - my kids loved that. In Rome, we did a tour, first thing in the morning, at the Vatican (we chose the ½ length version, which, at 90 minutes was plenty for the kids). We also planned for time in Borghese park after the Borghese museum, and rented bikes and segways for a bit of play, which the kids loved after all the museums every day. I recommend planning 2-3 things per day in order of priority, and do the most important in the morning. By afternoon, the kids energy flagged, and if we didnt do the third thing that was ok. Do outdoor activities early in the morning too (Colosseum, Forum) because of the heat. It was 97 degrees when we were in Rome, and visiting the Colosseum (make sure you get third tier/Underground tickets) in the morning was great, and by the time we were walking around the Forum after that it was a frying pan. Thats when an indoor air conditioned museum would be appropriate (or gelato in the shade ;). Another day you could spend the morning at Ostia Antica and the afternoon at the beach near it. While I have found that water access makes travel with kids easier, I have also found that swimming opportunities exist in many places and dont have to be a special beach or special trip. (I actually googled water places for each destination. There is at least one nice public pool in Florence near-is the center that I filed away in case of emergency ;p, for example)

You will have a great time and then you will start figuring out how to go back :)

I'm so thrilled with all this great advice! This isn't our first international travel with kids but it is our first in a long time and the first with three kids. I'll definitely be referring back to all of these tips as I continue planning it all out.

We have made a few decisions already - definitely starting in the north (the kids are desperate to see Venice so we feel the smart thing is to let them see it early on), we've cut out the Dolomites plan (I'm so bummed but it just wasn't fitting into our other plans well), definitely doing Sardinia (Cagliari/Villasimius) despite all the excellent advice to not do it (I would have cut it but we're meeting up with a good friend from Germany and it's where they really wanted to go, so a compromise of sorts). So we've narrowed it to Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Sardinia. Still not sure if we'll stay in Florence and do day trips or if we'll rent a car and stay in an agriturismo and need to figure out how much time in each place and all of that but we're making progress and feeling good about it!

Thanks everyone!!