We will be traveling to Italy for the first time for two weeks this summer with our two children, ages 7 and 9. We are flying in and and out of Zurich, but spending 5 nights in Florence and 5 nights in Malcesine (I have a whole set of questions about the Malcesine leg of our trip, but I'll save those for another post). Our plan right now is to get right on the train in Zurich when we land (late morning) and make our way to Italy, spending the night in Milan before traveling to Florence the next day. We aren't set on Milan, but it seems like a good mid point - it looks to be about four hours by train from Zurich, and only 2 hours or so from Florence.
I am wondering first of all if this makes sense, or if there is another place that might be better for a family with kids to stay for the night, either in Italy or in southern Switzerland. I'm also hoping for hotel recommendations where we can either fit all four of us in one room (which seems very rare, from what I've seen in my initial research) or where we can easily get adjoining rooms without spending a huge amount of money. In Florence and Malcesine we will be staying in apartments or houses through Homeaway, so this will be one of only two nights we stay in a hotel during the trip (the other will be the night before we go home, which we'll probably spend in Zurich).
Thanks so much - this will be our first European trip with our children (and only our second to Europe ourselves), so any and all advice/recommendations are greatly appreciated!