Traveling in Italy with kids ages 11, 10, 8

Take a look at the lakes in northern Italy for a nice summer vacation with children. Our friends spent a few weeks on 2 lakes last summer where their children had lots of beach fun and played with other children. In addition to the lure of boats, water, beaches and lakeside dining they enjoyed family cooking classes.

They rented airbnbs and split their time between Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore.

I agree with Mona that the lakes, or really anywhere in Northern Italy would be a better choice than the 3 places mentioned in the OP, which will be hot, crowded, and hot. And did I mention that it will be HOT? Of course most of Italy will be crowded in August, but those 3 will really be packed.

We returned from 26 nights in Italy in Jan with a 10 and 14 year old.

We went to all the three cities, as well as Salerno, Verona, Varenna and Venice.

With feedback from my 10 year old. He loved Venice. A cool spot for kids to explore. He also liked the day we took off to Gardaland near Lake Garda.

It also comes down to what you want to see.

I made sure we had some kid activities. For Rome, we did a Turtle Tours 3 hour golf cart tour, and this was fantastic for the kids. You will have two carts, and we put the kids in the front with the drivers.

We also let them choose a few activities, on top of Gardaland. They loved the Colosseum and the Verona Areana. Pompeii and Herculaneum were also highlights for them. It comes down to how much hype you can get into them before they go.

We also did a Gelato hunt in each town. I had researched the best, and we got the kids to hunt the gelato places (and it took me to where I wanted to go).

For the 10 year old. We also did a Magnet hunt. Trying to get a magnet for each place we visited. A great way to keep the kids engaged.

In terms of each city, here are rankings for kids (On what we visited)

1) Venice
2) Florence
3) Verona
4) Rome
5) Varenna
6) Amalfi (We stayed in Salerno). My 10 year old was fascinated by the Buffalo farm in Paestum

Hope this helps..

Booking a hotel can be tricky as there are few rooms that will sleep 5. When we travelled years ago we booked some doubles and triples. Some hotels do have family rooms though, or may have apartments available. The RS Italy book will tell you in accomodations which of their recommendations do. A villa can be nice, but is often going to mean being in the car to travel to any sites.

Where would you be flying in to? Both Rome and Florence will be very hot, and all 3 will have crowds. I would pick one of them if those are your big interests and then make my way somewhere quieter. Florence and Lucca could be a nice combination, easily take the train between and your kids would enjoy riding bikes on the walls of Lucca.

I was just in Italy this past August from the 12th - 25th. Basically the same time frame as your plans. My kids were 7 and 12.

It was HOT. We don't mind the heat and are used to hot summers at home. But most of the days that we were there were pretty extreme at mid-day.

We rented a villa for the first week, but we had the advantage of sharing that with 3 other families (it was huge). It was only 20-25 min outside of Florence and well located for day trips to Pisa, Lucca, San Gimignano, a winery tour in Grieve in Chianti Plus a ton of other hill towns that we could have checked out. The villa had a pool which was an absolute lifesaver for all of us. After a hot day of sightseeing, being able to hop in the pool when we got home was like hitting a reset button for us and the kids. Instant 2nd wind for the afternoon and evenings. So if you go the villa route, it's worth it if you can get a pool at that time of year. (as someone else mentioned, hotels in Italy are very challenging when it comes to finding an available room that can accommodate 4 or 5 people.

The 2nd week we spent 4 days in Monterosso in Cinque Terra. Again it was super hot, so that curtailed a lot of daily sightseeing, but we spent a lot of time at the beach swimming and jumping off the cliffs. The kids loved it, and we loved Monterosso, great restaurants and good people watching. We stayed in a RS recommened hotel which we LOVED, but I don't think they have rooms for 5, unless you book 2 rooms. Or you could go the apartment/airbnb route instead.

Our final couple of days we stayed at a hotel in Florence. Again, here it was hard to book a room for 4 people, even though I did it about 9 months in advance. Florence was also HOT, so we did some very early sightseeing, and then had to return to the hotel after lunch to spend a few hours there to avoid the heat.

Some friends who we shared the villa with booked a walking tour in Florence with a guide who specialized in a children's tour, there was some game she created to help the kids score points and remain interested. We tried to book it last minute but she didn't have any availability. Both families that we know who used her loved it though. Happy to get the info if you need it.

Long story short, it's hot and a pool or the sea will help the kids tremendously. But we loved it, the kids loved it. They still rave about the food, swimming in Moterosso, the hotel and villa and the food (I mentioned the food twice because it was that good)

Good luck.

I think Rome would be pretty hard work with the heat and not much scope to get a pool there.

Staying outside Florence you could find a place with a pool quite easily.

The Amalfi coast is jam packed and not that interesting.

I’d go with Tuscany, rent a villa and a car and then you can see lots of places on day trips and mix it with pool time. I’ve done this with kids and it worked well. There’s a water park somewhere in the vicinity that we went to and the kids loved.

I think there is a lot we don’t know about the OP that limits what we can suggest. Is this your first time to Italy with the kids? Sounds like it but want to confirm. Do you want them to see some cultural things (i.e. The David, Sistine Chapel, etc)?

It’ll be scorching hot in August and some things will be harder to see due to tourist crowds. Italians also do a lot of their vacationing in August (a lot of them head to the beach in August). I have been there in August and it is possible to have a great time. You just need to be prepared for this stuff.

I take my 4 kids (ages 6 to 14) to Europe every year and we go to the things that the adults want to do; the vacation is not catered exclusively to the kids, though we do some things for them too. We also know that we may not have a chance to linger in front of Guernica, for example, as long as we want to, but we do prioritize these types of things. We decided to expose them to these things right away and are giving them opportunities to see these things and teaching them as they grow. Our choice. May not work for everyone and we might be slightly crazy for doing it this way. :)

I think where you should go depends on your travel philosophy and what you want your kids to experience. Just my two cents.

You've gotten lots of great advice but I'll just add, due to heat and crowds at that time, I'd also focus on the north. Maybe you can fly in and out of Milan, and spend a short time in the city (the Last Supper and Duomo are incredible) and then visit lakes either Lake Como or something less traveled. You could also fit in Venice if you really want; our kids loved it there but I've heard it's smelly in hot weather? Not sure we visited in March.

Just another thought we already have our kids watch YouTube videos about the places we're going to visit, so they're very familiar before we get there. Even RS, my kids knew him well! But any videos of sites you'll see will interest them and help them to understand more when they actually arrive-just like adults but even more so.

Be sure to get the kids involved with the planning. Perhaps even have each one pick a special place or activity. The more they are involved, the happier they will be, and that will add to the enjoyment for everyone.

We travelled this past July with 5 grandkids and their parents. Rome and Florence. Yes…it was hot..104 and yes crowded. We were prepared with mini fans, misters, wet towel products, water bottles, hats and umbrellas. Booked all our tours in the am. Lots of gelato stops! Time inside in some cooler cathedrals and museums. Afternoon rest time in hotel. We had family rooms at Hotel Smeraldo in Rome. Close to many sites to walk. Florence was a day train trip for cruise excursion. Both cities….Wonderful! We did an evening family cooking class in Rome. We all loved it! We didn’t miss a thing. Actually did more. If you are prepared, flexible, realistic and positive attitude you can do it. Kids were hot as we all were…but managed. Great memories made!
Just know your “people”. How tolerant and interested are they? We found that guides were often engaging with the kids. They worked hard to find shade to talk. It’s all doable. Kids were ages of yours Nancy.

We are in Italy now. Have been for a couple weeks with our two kids ages 8 and 10. They’ve been doing great! I would just do what you want to do and bring them along. They will have a great time!

Thank you so much to all of you! Your advice and suggestions are remarkable.'
This will be our 3rd time to Italy, but the first time with our grandchildren and their parents.
All of your suggestions have given us a framework of figuring out what they(kids & parents) want to see and knowing we need to build in pool/beach times.
We will let you know what we plan!
Thanks again,
Nancy