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Itinerary help for November with Kids

Posted by (New Jersey) on

Hello! Thank you in advance for your help!

I'm planning a 12 night trip to Italy, round trip from Rome, myself and two daughters aged 10 and 8. My musts are Venice and Rome. I personally have been to Venice/Rome and Florence - loved Venice and Florence the most and Rome the least, but I am sensing that Rome with its ruins is better with kids than the museums of Florence.

  • I know it is more ideal to fly in from Rome and leave from Venice, but our flights were so cheap that I was able to add 2 nights of travel to our budget to account for a Venise-Rome train back.

  • I am having trouble with my itinerary because I personally am more inclined to try to add something to the trip that I haven't seen myself before, and myself and my kids have really enjoyed things that are outdoorsy - hikes/mountains/coasts (we enjoyed hiking/exploring in Ireland recently)- so like Cinque Terre or Almalfi Coast (Capri or Ischia?) or Dolomites. I understand that weather may be terrible, so part of me wonders if I can be flexible and not book until a few days before we leave so I can get a better guess of the weather, since it is low season.

  • I will absolutely not be able to rent a car - I know about myself that I'm a terrible driver in unfamiliar circumstances, and one of my daughters gets carsick (hopefully trains will be ok!)

  • I arrive at 4pm on November 4th, so I don't really count that as even a possible exploring day and am a bit leery of going straight to another spot besides Rome.

Option 1:

Florence 4-7

Venice 7-9

Rome 9-12

Naples 12-14

Rome 14-16

Option 2

Florence 4-7

Venice 7-10

Naples/Ischia 10-12 (have places lined up on booking.com, play it by ear, possibly stay in Venice or go to Rome early.

Rome 12-16

Option 3

Rome 4-7

Ischia 7-10 if weather if not naples or rome or early florence

Florence 10-12

Venice 12-15

Rome 15-16

Option 4

Rome 4-7

Venice 7-10

Bolzano 10-13 (wait to book - do Florence instead if weather is bad)

Rome 13-16

I'm open to other suggestions as well!! Some of the termes in Tuscany intrigue me - maybe Tuscan hill climbing will scratch the correct itch. . .

Posted by
1001 posts

Hi Ema, I enjoy traveling with kids the age of yours. I think they will love Venice. I would hesitate to add another busy city, like Florence. Have you considered smaller, nearby Lucca? Pedestrian streets where you don't have to watch out for them so much. Great bike riding on the ramparts circling the city. It's a very quick train trip into Florence and to Pisa, and doable to the Cinque Terre, though with more train changes. Lucca is just friendly and low-key if you need a few days of something less intense. Envious that you can get 12 days off from school in the off season, when I like to travel, but now always bound to grandsons' school schedules. {I just took my own kids out of school when we wanted to go, figuring they'd learn more traveling in Europe anyway!)

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you for your idea! I think you're right, it looks like Lucca could be a good option, and then play weather by ear and do a day trip to Cinque Terre if it looks nice out. Or it looks like there is Parco Alpi Apuane for a bit of mountain hiking? (is it true there is no equivalent day trips from Florence that are more nature based?)

We have a small fall break, and I'm tacking on some extra days to it, pulling my kids from school before my older daughter hits middle school, when it is harder to miss days! I do feel lucky - thanks for the encouragement!

Posted by
3 posts

The more I look into Lucca, the more I kind of would want to just book in Cinque Terre and use Lucca as a day trip if it is raining rather than the reverse. . . . Darn November.

Posted by
14 posts

Hi! What a fun trip with your kids! We took our 5&9 year olds last summer and they had a blast. I completely understand how you feel about wanting to see new things but keeping it fun for them. I managed to sneak in a few new places - Pasteum ruins and San Gimignano but honestly had so much fun seeing everything from their perspectives that it didn’t matter.

Their favorite thing by far was the colosseum- we did a tour of the colosseum and Vatican with Rome Tours with Kids and the colosseum was the best. We would do it again. The Vatican tour was not as kid-focused, though it could’ve just been our guide. https://rometourswithkids.com/colosseumtourwithkids.html We also did the walks of Italy pizza making/food tour. It was a huge hit.

When in Naples, Pompeii was super interesting for our 2 boys. November would be a good time to visit as it won’t be scorching. I’d just bring an umbrella if it looks like rain and try to hire a kid-friendly guide to make it come to life. I was there one rainy day in March over 20 years ago and one of the workers of the ruins gave my friend and myself a “back door” tour just for fun and threw in “the best pizza in Italy” at the end. I wouldn’t be afraid of rain there. :). Weather-permitting, a hike up Mt Vesuvius might be fun, too.

Cinque Terre to Pisa is a nice day trip as well. My kids loved “holding up the tower”.

We also spent just one day in Florence as I thought it would be a little too much art and too many people for them. They really wanted to see David and thoroughly enjoyed it (and taking selfies in front of it). I made advanced reservations for this to avoid lines. I’m glad we didn’t spend more time there, though, so your idea to go to cinque Terre is a great train-based outdoorsy base.

The kids loved the vaporettos and seeing glass blowing demonstrations on Murano. My oldest was a bit churched-out by day 16 but my youngest loved st. Marks. They are very different kids. 😉

I’m not sure what ferries would be like from Naples in November. That could be the only unavoidable hiccup created by weather.

Have a wonderful time! Hopefully some of these experiences will give you inspiration with your kids.

Posted by
12021 posts

I see several of the options you listed have 2 separate sets of days in Rome.

If you are flying home from Rome, I would arrange to do ALL the days in Rome in a single bunch at the end and save one 'moving cycle'

Posted by
4105 posts

Hi Ema and welcome to the forum!

This is an option you haven't listed, and after traveling with my Grandaughter on several trips in Italy, this is what I'd do.

4-5. With your arrival time, you won't arrive in Rome before 6-7pm. Give yourselves a break and stay at an airport hotel. While it might seem more expensive, by the time you figure in transportation into Rome it won't be. Check in, get the kids some dinner and head to bed.

5-7 Venice 3 nights.

5 train to Venice. Take the 11:08 direct, 4H27m no changes, from the airport, allowing you sleep in and have a nice breakfast before heading to Venice. You'll arrive at 15:35 just in time to check into your lodging.

8-9 Florence train 2H05m. 2 nights.

10th Mid to late afternoon train to Sorrento/Ischia 4H21m.
Note, the ferry ride to Ischia is about the same amount of time consumed as the Circumvesuvian train to Sorrento. There are some nice beaches and hot springs on this Island. Stay in one of the smaller towns.

10-12 Sorrento/Ischia 3 nights.

13-16 Rome 2H33m. 4 nights. Keeping your time in Rome together at the end.

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