Travel to Italy with 18 year old

Gee, that depends so much on the interests that are shared by you and your granddaughter. Would those be primarily history, art, outdoor scenery and activities, or what? Have you yourselves been to Italy before? Rome is a wonderful but big and busy city, and during the summer is most crowded and can be very hot. You could certainly fill 5 days in Rome with no problem, or spend a day (day and night) in Orvieto for a small town experience, or divide your ime between Rome and Florence. Another option, instead of Rome altogether, would be to combine Florence and some smaller town in Tuscany, could be Siena or even a smaller town like Volterra, or San Gimignano, or even Orvieto or Assisi which are both in neighboring Umbria, not Tuscany. Florence is of course superb with art and architecture, primarily Renaissance and not classical Roman. Florence is busy but much smaller and manageable than Rome, and a smaller town or even rural stay would give a whole other view of Italy and its culture and people. Another option would be to go further north in the summer -- Venice, Verona, the lakes or mountains, depending on your interests.

With 5 days Stay in Rome take a daytrip to Orvieto.

We are grandparents who want to take our 18 year old granddaughter to Italy this summer.
We have 5 days in country. Should we stay in Rome or add another city?

Not enough info to give a meaningful answer. The advice above "With 5 days Stay in Rome take a daytrip to [one other place]" seems sound, but before answering that question, it's best to have more context...

• Have you been to Italy before?
• Have you - or your granddaughter - been to Europe before?
• Is this part of a wider trip to Europe? (I hope so) If so, where else will you be going on the trip?
• You're not proposing to go to Europe/Italy for just 5 days, right? (I'm assuming you are from North America)... Where will you be coming from?

Rome and the Vatican were wonderful and as a teenager I loved it but only u know what interests your grandaughter and self have. Venice for me as a young person was amazing but I loved allthings historic, museums, fountains, language, art etc.
most of italy is fantastic, amazing and beautiful that is why i continue to return over and over and now in my 60’s. I never have tired of the beauty of Italy.

Spend the 5 days in Rome--- Ostia Antica would make a a nice change of pace for an easy to do day trip

Stay in Rome, maybe within walking of Termini station. With four of five full days to play with, you can make a day trip (or two). Some easy choices ...
•Orvieto
•Ostia Antica
•Tivoli
•Naples & Pompeii
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/travel-tips-and-articles/seven-top-day-trips-from-rome/40625c8c-8a11-5710-a052-1479d2762658

What are your grand daughters interests. Do you want to spend time together or do your own things. She may well want to explore on her own.

There are a lot of questions that need to be answered to help us provide good advice.

How active are you? We are grandparents with an 18 year old grandson. We are still active. On our last trip to London and Paris, we averaged walking 10 miles a day. We are also adventurous and like to set our own agenda instead of taking tours. Your temperament and that of your granddaughter will play into what you do.

5 days in country is very little time. You need to stay in one place. When in the summer do you plan to go? Personally, I wouldn't go to Rome in the summer. We did that in high school (1966!) and it was hot and miserable. Cruise ships now disgorge thousands of day trippers. Our guide when we took a Walks of Italy evening stroll in Rome said that summers have become unbearably crowded. If you have never been to Europe or Italy, I would suggest looking for some alternatives to Rome, but not Venice, which is even worse in the summer. If that is all the time you have, I suggest taking a Spring Break trip instead.

I went to Italy with my grandmother during summer when I was 18 (on a Rick Steves Tour actually :)) and I really loved Venice and Florence best. I didn't grow up in a big city though, so they felt more manageable to the two of us. Not that I didn't love Rome, but not being used to public transit, it was a little more intimidating (not sure where your granddaughter is from though). I personally didn't love going to museum tours daily (my grandmother may have gotten mad at me for not listening intently on each of them...) but I really loved taking photos around the cities. I was really into photography in high school, though. Maybe ask her what kinds of things she'd like to see or think about what kind of activities she likes and make sure to add some of those in (not just the classic art/churches).

Get you granddaughter very involved in the planning to ascertain her interest and desires. If she has a big part in planning the trip it is much less likely you'll find yourself with an "unhappy camper" on your hands.

I assume the young adult wants to see Rome; 5 nights is pretty much a minimum first visit IMHO. We did it when our daughter was 14 and Rome was her choice. Give the granddaughter a good guidebook and ask her to plan 3 things while there and then build the trip around that. When we took our kids when they were about your granddaughter's age, the highlight of their trip was the Scavi Tour at the Vatican which explores a necropolis buried under St. Peters pre-Catholic era (although you get a glimpse of what may have been St. Peter's tomb on the tour. Mostly it is like an underground village of Roman homes. Ostia Antica was also a hit. So many things to see and do in Rome and 5 nights is 4 full days.

For 5 days I would pick only one place to stay and perhaps add a day trip outside that city. There's more than enough to do in Rome itself for 5 days, but others have suggested options for if you want a day trip.

If she is very interested in the Renaissance then I'd go with Florence instead of Rome. In this case I would suggest a day trip to Sienna or a smaller hill town in the vicinity.

When I was that age I loved the energy of Rome and I was interested in the ancient Roman history. I wasn't much for the Vatican at the time. I had friends who preferred the beauty of Florence, these were mainly people with a large interest in art history. You can't really go wrong though