Traveling in Italy with 10 year old

Waterman,

March is not the best time to visit the Cinque Terre as many of the establishments will be closed.

I have never been but Gardaland looks like a fun place to spend the day at, if I were 10!

You might want to check out the travel blog by one of Rick's Italy guides, Sarah Murdoch. She's just finished a 3 week Italy trip with her son. I think he's 9. She's adding entries covering the trip and their activities. You can find her page here: http://adventureswithsarah.net/

We were in Italy last November/december with our 12 and 14 yo sons. First ask her what she might be interested in so she can take some ownership of the trip and feel like she has some control. Our kids loved our European trip, but they would get a little bored with too many churches, art, museums especially if they didn't get a say. My older son said Cinque Terre was his favorite couple days of the trip in early December. It was quiet for sure, but we had decent weather and they loved the hike from Monterosso to Vernaza to Corniglio, but they are Mountain kids and are used to hiking, so that would depend on your grand daughters physical abilities. They could have done that hike at 10 without issues, but as I said they are used to Mountain hiking. I dont know how cinque terra is in March, but in December things were quiet, but we were able to find a place to stay and eat although it was limited, I probably would have an alternate plan and check the weather a day or 2 before going. In general they liked cool buildings like the Pantheon and Colosseum and forum, fountains, and climbing tall things such as the tower in Pisa and the dome at St Peters and seeing views. I have boys and they loved some of the Roman history things and museums which had weapons etc they liked, but they are boys. We also went to Parco aqueducto which had some green space to run around in.We walked the Appian Way and went in the catacombs, both my boys are fascinated by cemeteries. They also enjoyed markets in general with a few euros to pick out treats or gifts. They liked the square in Sienna. They also enjoyed the walk across the bridge and walking around Civita. My younger son loves alternate forms of transportation so fast trains were cool and boat rides and public transit, we rode public buses and subways all over rome. But I would find out what her interests are specifically, and see if there are museums or sites which match those. Have her look at guide books or watch videos of our destinations and see if things pique her interest. And lots of gelato. Have fun.

Lonely Planet guidebook has sections on traveling with kids; there are some blogs and websites, just google "travel with kids" or "Italy with kids".

Laughing, I was just hopping on to suggest you read Sarah Murdock's blog as well but see bljewell beat me to it. She's got some good packing tips for traveling with kids as well so look back to before the trip started.

You may want to include down time in your plans. When my kids were 10 they didn't have the stamina and ability to focus of an adult and so needed more time to recharge. Depends on the child, of course. We often include a farm stay or some other activity in the countryside as a change of pace from cities and sightseeing.

If it would be convenient for you to go to Rimini, you could visit 'Italia in Miniatura', a theme park with scale models of famous buildings from all over Italy. In the first part of March, it's only open on weekends, while in the latter part of March, it's open every day.