Traveling to Italy with 7 month old twins in Sept 2009

An agriturismo sounds perfect for a vacation for a young family. Have you thought about extending your stay at the agriturismo and daytripping into Florence or Siena? From a logistical perspective that may be easier.

Not sure about Cinque Terre. Be aware that it could difficult to get around with a double stroller in these small towns with many stairs. The area is known for their beautiful hiking trails, but very little is accessible with a big stroller.

Unfortunately, you have picked two locations (Florence & Cinque Terre) where you will have great difficulties with a rental car. The car is great for the agritourismo and surrounding country areas. But the entire historical area of Florence is one large restricted driving zone. They're called ZTLs (Zona Traffica Limitado). They get your license plate with computerized cameras. By the time you receive the ticket, its $150. And, you can get several if you keep driving around. Reportedly, there is parking on the outskirts of the city but you will need to take a bus or taxi into the historical area.

For the CT, except in rare circumstances, tourist cars are not permitted in the five towns. A rental car is useless there. There are parking lots high above the towns where you can park but these lots fill up in the high season. They even close the roads into them. There are more parking lots farther north in Levanto and other towns but again, you take the train into the CT.

There is staffed luggage storage at the Florence train station. I just don't know if you can leave the car seats there for a few days. As for the bambinos, if they are 3 or under, they ride free on Trenitalia (but no seat). However, there are usually seats until you get to the CT where the local trains between the towns can get quite crowded.

FYI - the double dipsea should be starting about now. Those stairs coming back out of Mill Valley Park are grueling. (I miss Marin County).

Sounds like quite an exhausting adventure. Is this a trip for pleasure or to visit family (or something that you have to take the kids with you)???? If it is just a vacation I would seriously advise you to leave the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and go have yourself a romantic, relaxing and refreshing trip.
The twins won't remember any of this and probably would prefer the comfort of their own home and family.
I would imagine that you are pretty tired from the first few months of life with twins i.e. just coming out of the sleep deprevivation stage, being able to take a shower without worrying, getting out of your bathrobe before noon, etc. Please know that I have been there and I speak from experience. A vacation with just you and your hubby would allow you to recharge your batteries (and possibly your marriage's batteries)and when you come home Voila everyone is happy!

Go explore and then when they are old to appreciate and remember a trip like this take them! Just my 2 cents.............

Sorry, my best tip for travelling with infants is stay closer to home. Good luck and try and have fun,, but I forsee exhaustion.

You will have to find out for yourselves though.. LOL

Sorry, not as helpful as you would like, but I will add if you are determined to do Italy with the babies ( and such a short visit) that you just go to one place and stay there,, take some daytrips etc. ) Driving around with two babies wailing in the back seat does not sound very fun at all.. you will be stressing about not driving in the forbidden areas etc and trying to find your way all the time. I think just staying outside Florence might be best bet.

You two are brave! First of all for some tips you can look at my blog that my friend and I started. The address is under my name.
I would second skipping CT. Unless you have both kids in backpacks rather than a stroller it would be logistically very difficult.
What people are not saying about driving in Florence is that if you drive into Florence and park at a garage (private or public) you will not get a ticket. The garage will send your plate numbers to the city and they will not issue you a ticket. I did Florence with my best friend when our babies were 10 and 11 months old. We had a blast. We just were not able to spend too many hours at a time in a museum.
As an alternative to CT maybe drive to Lake Como. It would be easier to manage with strollers, and in my opnion the Apline lakes are just as beautiful if not more so than CT.
If you MUST go to CT, you could go for a day. Park your car at the La Spezia train station (or at the park down the hill from the station), then take the train in for the day. Oh and I would keep the car for the entire 2 weeks. It will just be easier to manage all your stuff.
have a great trip. if you need any other help send me a private message.

You should find this article in the London Times today very pertinent to flyinf with babies.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/your_say/article6583640.ece

My tips for doing this trip is DON'T!! I think you are putting you babies through too much stress...
havae you considered diarrhea from change of water,
mosquito (and other) bites, ear problems from pressure changes on flight, and lots more. Do you r dear babies a favor and stay closer to home. It is a long flight from California to Italy and back which will completely upset their sleep cycles.

You don't mention when you are planning to do this
but if in the hot months, you really should not go.

I knw people will jump on me about this! It is different for people living in Europe to travel with their babies as they don't have to make long air journeys to get there, your children are already acclimated, etc.

Sory but if you really care about your babies' welfare, you would not do this! (not to mention that I fail to see how enjoyable this would be for you).

Good point Maryanne,, Michelle lives in Italy so her baby did not need to fly 12 hours to get there, and go through 6 or more time zones.. big difference. Travel like Michelle did,, she only took her baby around in her own country,, not to another continent.

Paut&Paddy did not elaborate the reasons for their travel plans. 90% of people I've met who are travelling with babies from Northamerica to Europe do so for family reasons. If you check the other thread on travelling with kids it's the same there. And then they combine it with some more touristy stuff. You just have to make sure that the touristy side of the trip is compatible with the needs of the babies. And that means first of all not too much moving around as any move is a logistical challenge.

But I agree, if the plan is to do the trip for some "relaxing" vacation time you might be very disappointed with the reality of long-distance travel with infants.

Not sure where this water issue is coming from. The only time ever we had an issue with local water while on vacation was in Kelowna, BC, very close to home. They had a boil-water advisory in place for the entire time we were there. However, with an 11 months old infant that didn't concern us as of course she wouldn't get any liquid other than breastmilk, the safest stuff around.

Agree breast is best,, but , at 7 months twins could definately be on supplemental formula,, and since travelling that would likely be in powder form. One uses boiled water to make formula normally for such young kids,, and although I absolutely agree water in Europe is perfectly safe,, the different water can still upset some peoples tummies,, most especially such young infants.