Hi everyone,
We are planning to start in Venice then to Florence (day trip to Pisa, few towns in Tuscany) then to Rome and from there to Greece. Give that we only have 6 days and so much to see how many days and where do you recommend we travel given that we have two young children. We would love to visit and stay in the town however we don't plan to drive while there..
Any suggestions are welcomed :)
Six days are not enough for all of that. You should cut at least one city out.
Assuming 7 nights on the ground this is the very minimum you can do:
2 nights in Venice (basically one full day in Venice)
2 nights in Florence (basically one full day in Florence)
3 nights in Rome (basically 2 full days in Rome)
Each day you travel from one city to the next will take the whole morning, when everything is said and done, therefore the half day after you arrive, you would add to the full day the next day. So in total you have:
Arrive in Venice (in the morning?)
1 or 1.5 days in Venice
1.5 days in Florence
2.5 days in Rome.
Then the next morn you need to head early to the airport to catch the flight to Greece.
You don't have much time for any side trips, that's barely enough to scratch the surface of each city.
If you don't have at least 7 nights on the ground, it's even worse.
With the limited time that you have, you can visit the top sites those three cities, but of course not everything. On Rick's At a Glance listings for each city, focus on the three-star sites and then add on two-star sites that most interest you and/or that are near the others. Try to avoid unnecessary travel; for instance, I would not go out to the islands of Murano and Burano on a first, short visit to Venice.
If I were traveling with two young children I would go for quality, not quantity. You have far too little time to see all three places. Reduce it down to the two that you most want to see - impossible I know! I think that trying to see all three in 6 days would be stressful and, really, a 7 and a 5 year old are not going to be patient with rushing around trying to see everything. You are going to need time to let the kids decompress in the occasional park or piazza and have a little gelato along the way. If it were me I'd go to Florence and Venice. In Venice the kids will like riding the vaparetto, there are many piazzas for them to bop around in, and the look of the place is very much out of a fairy tale. The outdoor art in Florence is why it gets my vote...you can quickly swoop through a museum or two and, when the kids tire of that, there is still plenty to see out of doors.
Good luck!
My grandchildren are hosts in Naples a lot. They are 5 and 7 - Pisa is not daunting like Rome sites. They really liked climbing Vesuvius. My granddaughter, the younger one, has climbed without being picked up for well over a year. It depends on the weather.
We also do the underground grotto things. Slimy, but neither filthy nor too dangerous (remember we're not in the US), the walking tour has few stops. The one I'm remembering takes about an hour, has some times for just English, and were doable with then 3 and 5 year olds, stamina-wise. That's in the Tuscany region, I think. (PM me if you want me to dig up details, which I'd be happy to do.)
Thanks everyone for your prompt advice. We have taken out Italy from our itinerary since I really want to explore so much there however time may not permit that, but definitely it's still on the cards for next year or later.
Sarb :)
Thanks everyone for your prompt advice. We have taken out Italy from our itinerary since I really want to explore so much there however time may not permit that, but definitely it's still on the cards for next year or later.
Sarb :)
Good decision. I was imagining your missing a train while hunting for a missing teddy bear!
