We are spending 2 weeks in Italy next May with our 2 year old daughter. We are renting a villa in Tuscany with my husband's family for a week and will then spend another week on our own. We are considering the Cinque Terra or Le Marche and the Adriatic Coast. Since we love to roadtrip and we wish to be off the beaten path a bit, we will have a car to explore the hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria. I am looking for ANY advice about the best baby gear and advice for traveling with a 2 year old to make our travels easier. Also, any recommendations for where to spend our second week. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Carslbad, CA, USA
103 posts
Gina, the only thing I would suggest is a stroller with sturdy wheels.. the cobblestone walk ways are difficult to navigate and there are a lot of steps everywhere (very very few ramps especially in the medieval villages where you'll be spending so much time. )Good luck..
Posted by
Clarkston, USA
192 posts
Oh, boy...I remember not wanting to leave my kids behind, but taking a toddler on a 2-week trip to Europe...you are braver than I! :) If you haven't already, teach your little gal to come to you instantly when you ask her to. This will prevent her from falling into rivers, etc. when she decides to take off.
Get a really, really good stroller, as the other reply suggests. Those cobblestone streets will eat up anything flimsy.
Don't know that I'd do Cinque Terra with a young'un...it's so much walking, so hilly, etc., but only you know if you can manage that.
I do wish you good luck, tho, and make sure the camera works!
Posted by
Olympia, WA
73 posts
Gina
I say go for it! Take the stroller and a sense of humor along with it! We took our 2 year old to Italy and then a year later to France. I can tell you that Italians are great with kids compared to the French. Everywhere we went people were understanding and that made our trip so much easier.
As to baby gear, pack essentials but try to pack light as you will be carting a stroller and a baby and you do not want too much luggage along with it. You can buy baby stuff in Italy. Also remember to take a couple of new and exciting toys and may be a familiar teddy bear. That way she is will have something familiar to cuddle and new toys to distract her. We also had an id which we put on our son. We had the name of the hotel we were staying at and also phone numbers. Another thing is, if there are a lot of family members, there can be confusion so designate one person to take care of her and keep an eye on her.
Have a great trip.
Posted by
Range di Polcenigo, V/F, Italy
16 posts
Gina, I have to agree w/the other posters about a good stroller. I will go a step further to suggest one that is compact for train travel, has a cup holder and a tray. This way your little one can have snacks and liquid available and you'll have your hands free to take pictures, shop, etc. Try and remember, this is a trip of a life-time for you, but something that your toddler will only remember from pictures. Don't worry too much about involving "memory making" events for him/her ... there will plenty of "Disney" trips in your future. Ciao!