Overwhelmed

Hi There-Sounds like you did the right thing-a lovely trip. So, just take a deep breath-you will be in Italia!! That being said, yes, some planning, especially in June, makes sense. Both Rome and Florence offer marvelous days-but, seeing out and around the city, into the country , is a treat! Just for the basics, an unforgettable day trip out of Florence is to see the Tuscan countryside. Your hotel may be able to set you up with a tour for your family, where you will see the hillside towns, stop for a couple of hours in each, have lunch somewhere, and be back in Florence for evening passagiata and gelato! I am certain you will have lots of response to your concerns-we all love Italy. I will get back to you later with a few more suggestions! have fun...

It would be a tragedy if you exhausted all the choices. We have very extensive travel experience in Italy, and we never leave the country - or most cities - without feeling that we wish we could have seen this or that or explored a new discovery. There are no right or wrong choices, just different pleasures. linda has the right idea, take some tours to put the responsibility on someone else.

Have you purchased Rick Steves' Italy book yet? He lists out a number of high priority, and worth-while to visit sights and locations.

Figure on doing one planned thing a day, build-in a couple of unplanned days and you should be fine.

In Rome, the only must see museum, especially for first timers is the Vatican Museum. You can book a private group tour, and make sure it includes the Sistine Chapel. Walks of Italy we found to be worth-while tour operator. The Vatican museum houses not only religious art but, importantly the preservation of Roman and Greek art. Objects which helped define Western Civilization was in fact preserved by the new monotheistic religion which took a dim view of pagans.

The Coliseum and the Roman Forum on the same ticket, we self-guided using Steves' audio podcast tour. About 90-min each of walking around.

Florence, the only two must visit museums are Uffizi and Academia. Uffizi we booked tickets in advance and used Steves' audio podcast tour to take us through the building; about 2.5 hours. Academia, the same; booked tickets in advance and used podcast tour, 1 hour total there. You could add a third, by taking a dome tour of the Duomo, ending up at the top, getting a tremendous view of the city.

For a trip outside of Florence, a day-trip by bus or, train to Siena is the easiest and most recommended. A close second would be a day-trip to Lucca or Volterra. None of these locations require any advance booking, just enjoy walking around the cobblestones
, eating the local food and soaking-in the surroundings.

Are the young adult kids of drinking age?

Every one of the 5 needs to research the destination and propose two activities that appeal to him/her. You don't need to do all the planning yourself.

I agree. If you're overwhelmed, you need to stop, step back and take a break. Just disengage for a while (.i.e. take a breather). You have plenty of time and there's no rush on making decisions (that can't wait at least a few days or weeks). There's no reason why you shouldn't spread the joy of planning to other adults in your group (it sounds like everyone is old enough to help) - no need to suffer and go crazy alone. I would divvy up tasks and and let the others take over for a while.

Every one of the 5 needs to research the destination and propose two
activities that appeal to him/her. You don't need to do all the
planning yourself.

Uh, bad idea me thinks. You do that, you'll be running around like a chicken with your head cut off & be more than overwhelmed! Certainly present ideas, but someone's got to make the decisions and you should be able to find activities that suits everyone's fancy and still follow a logical path.

Calm down. As long as you have your air & lodging already booked, what's the prob? You need to look at logistics--online street maps of Rome & Florence, transit options, daytrip options. Florence and Rome are 90 minutes apart by Freccia train--really quick. I am assuming you'll be riding the train and not driving. If so, I'd start talking to your group about packing lightly, as in no more than 25 lbs per person including the suitcase, preferably 4-wheel spinners. It will make transport at the train stations, at Roma Fiumicino, and even in & out of your hotels tons easier & quicker.

Enjoy your deep-state planning!

Thanks for the quick responses. Ages 19,25,27. Just today I told two oldest that I am going to assign them things to research...both are excited so no eye rolls. They said they are really excited for the food and wine!

Siena is an easy bus trip from Florence. You can either daytrip from Florence or spend 1 night in Siena.
Get a piece of paper. Write each date down. Then, write down hotel, travel time. Look at your "free-time". Write down the two most important sites you want to see for each day. Then, add a couple of "plan b" options for each day. Relax and let your trip flow. Some things are very close together and you may find yourself adding or subtracting sites as you go.

Hi again! Given the age of your children, I might suggest the Scavi tour-hope my spelling is correct-in Rome. It is fascinating, under the Vatican, and you can apply for tickets online. I would start now. While it might seem daunting online, I have only once, our of 4 times, not been able to match my dates with their availability. It is very special and unique. Something I believe everyone might enjoy! Go to www.vatican.va and go to Scavi tour. Very reasonably prices, and only 250 individuals per day get in. Good luck!

Hi again! Given the age of your children, I might suggest the Scavi tour-hope my spelling is correct-in Rome. It is fascinating, under the Vatican, and you can apply for tickets online. I would start now. While it might seem daunting online, I have only once, our of 4 times, not been able to match my dates with their availability. It is very special and unique. Something I believe everyone might enjoy! Go to www.vatican.va and go to Scavi tour. Very reasonably prices, and only 250 individuals per day get in. Good luck!

Quick day trips by train.

Lucca & Pisa or (Viareggio a beach town)

Montecatini Terme with a fun funicular ride to the old town Alta.

Bologna. Food, food, food. It's also The oldest university.

By bus, Volterra combined with San Gimignano. Siena, Greve in Chianti.

And tours and activities into Tuscany.

https://www.getyourguide.com/destinations/tuscany-l558/

Now get everyone involved with choosing. Google is your friend.

Have found the RS audio tours to be well done

You can check out eatitalyfoodtours.com both in Rome and Florence, take a pizza/gelato or pasta making class, take a bus to panzano in Chianti- see Dario the “butcher”, saw him on a pbs show, rock & roll in his shop plus sings, take in the fun atmosphere, have lunch across the shop back to Florence, train to Lucca or further to the water. The kids can wander and give mom a break! Have a glass or two wine, found a pedicab near the duomo, got in to rest my paws and my driver sang opera while we did an hour tour his choice to show us, find a cafe to relax people watch. Happy travels
Aloha

In 2014, we took Tuscan Trail's small-group Chianti tour from Florence and highly recommend it. Unlike many day tours, this one includes lunch with plenty of wine.

http://www.tuscantrails.com/chianti.html

While you certainly don't have to "spend the whole time in museums", neither would I fear them. :O) I recommend not skipping some of the churches as well, even if you're not religious. Many of the museums are in wonderful, very old buildings, and there's nowhere in the U.S. where you can see frescoes or mosaics still in place after many, many centuries. It puts art and architecture into a completely different perspective!

You don't have to do the biggies, like the Uffizi or Vatican Museums, if hours in museums aren't really your thing. I'm a huge fan of the Borghese in Rome for the fascinating building, the collection, its excellent crowd control, and 2-hour visitation limit. It's a much more approachable, enjoyable experience that doesn't involve fighting the mobs. Pre-reservations are mandatory, and you would need to do that right away if interested in this one.

In Florence, the Bargello and San Marco are both wonderful and don't take all day to do.

Churches? Where do I start! A bonus about them is that most are free so you can pop in and stay as long or as little as you wish to. I'll give special mention to very old San Miniato in Florence as it's right above Piazzale Michelangelo and there are terrific views of the city from both. There are also a couple of open-air cafes on the edges of the piazzale for resting your heels with an adult (or not-so-adult) beverage. In Rome, old and lovely Santa Sabina is a favorite of mine, and there's a very nice view of Rome from the little orange garden next to the church. Too many more to mention...

As a family, you might look into a long walk on the Appia Antica in Rome? That's been our #1 favorite favorite day so far, no question. You have very little time in that city so probably can't work it in but it's great on a nice day.

https://www.parcoappiaantica.it

Otherwise, self-guided walking tours provided in guidebooks are always fun, and very nice because you can do them at your own pace, stopping for sit-downs/people watching as the spirit (or state of your feet) moves you. We can spend hours just rambling around Italian cities and towns as there seems to be something interesting around every corner!

So don't stress; you're going to have wonderful time!

In view of the interest expressed in food, definitely consider one of the food tours. I did the Testaccio food tour in Rome. Great food and wine, and some Roman history thrown in. San Clemente Church is built over the streets of Ancient Rome and a trip into the basement is a fascinating glimpse of the many layers that make up the city. A trip out to Ostia Antica is worthwhile to walk through the remains of Rome’s ancient port. RS guide has an interesting walk through the Ghetto, look for the theatre with apartments built into it. The Pantheon is a must....go early morning when it first opens, and enjoy coffee on the piatzza afterwards. For Museums, I really liked the Museo Nazionale Romano, near the Termini Station. A great collection of Roman art, particularly frescos and mosaics and it was uncrowded. I was underwhelmed by the Vatican Museum, too crowded, too noisy. Same for the Sistine Chapel. If it is a must do, try doing one of the before/after hours tours.

Glad to hear you're getting the children involved in the planning. We used Cynthia Harriman's "Days to Choose" method (see her book "Take your Kids to Europe" for details) but the general idea is everyone comes to a family meeting with ideas of maybe two or three things each person wants to see. Everyone gets some input and agrees to participate in the choices of others. From these suggestions you build an itinerary (usually everyone gets at least one of their proposed ideas). We use a Captain for the Day approach where the captain plans meals (chooses restaurants) as well as activities.

It takes some "group mindedness" but in my family at least everyone is willing follow the Captain's plan knowing that each will have a turn. On our trip to Japan we saw some of the sights everyone sees but we also went to a bird refuge, a baseball game, a video arcade and a Samurai house. We've discovered that being the Captain is very stressful, which helps us to appreciate when it's someone else's turn!

I completely understand, seems like I experience this overtime I travel. I recommend having 1 day of nothing planned at all. Maybe a few things you'd like to do, but nothing booked. We did this in Italy and have continued the tradition in other cities.

The great thing about Rome is you can walk to many of the sites and embrace some of the smaller sites along the way. We started our morning getting dropped off the Colosseum, then walked to the Roman Forum (next door), Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. A fair amount of walking but stopped along the way for lunch and shopping. We also checked out the Ancient Catacombs, personally I loved them https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/rome-catacombs/.

Have fun and enjoy.

I understand being overwhelmed! You want everyone to have a great time. As others have said, you will be in Italy, the weather should be great, and eating and drinking, especially outside, is one of life's joys.

If you get tired of structured tours and museum visits, take a stroll over to the Pantheon. It's one of the places I most love in Rome. It's free and open until 10 at night (I think), and the surrounding area is lovely. Trastevere is a great neighborhood to wander around in. Finally, I like taking the bus up to the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo in Italian). The park has the best views of the city, and it's peaceful.

Enjoy!

Five people, each of them old enough and fit enough to find his way back to your lodgings. (Have the address printed on an index card or pick up a card at the front desk.)
If they are carrying phones, they can download city maps using hotel Wi-Fi and navigate offline without data charges (alternatively, get a free paper map from the hotel.)
Not suggesting that you all separate for the entire trip, but you don't need to plan every moment as joined-at-the-hip events. Enjoy la dolce far niente.