Two week Italy trip with kids. Suggestions needed!

Two years ago we (with our three kids, then 14, 12, 9) got a Coliseum tour through coop culture that included the underground and third tier. There is a lot of info on the forum about how to do this, as getting coop culture tickets can be complicated (I think they are now opening ticket sales for date three months in advance, but it used to be the first Monday of the month prior to your visit, at 8a Rome time, and because they sell out fast you really do need to have the website figured out and call promptly at midnight MST. But like I say, I dont know what the current policy is. All this for tickets that cost 11 euro/ea. two years ago...). The underground was fun bc my kids had seen Gladiator so we could recall where the gladiators and animals were before being raised up in the elevator, which is also in the underground area.
Borghese museum and park were much of a day. We bused there, visited the museum in the morning, and then spent several hours in the park as a concession to the kids (we rented segways for 30 min! and bikes, and got sandwiches at a restaurant in the park). We then walked back through the city, passing the Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, etc. We mostly walked everywhere in Rome, finding public transit to actually take longer, but your mileage may vary
Fatamorgana was our favorite gelato, and we consider ourselves gelato connoisseurs ;p We have traveled in several countries and Im slightly embarrassed to say, eat gelato every day. Plus I make ice cream and gelato. Fatamorgana (only one other place is better and its in Amsterdam, but the guy who owns that place is from Rome) has at least two locations in Rome. We went to the one in Trastever bc we stayed in Trastevere.
We did an expedited tour of the Vatican/St. Peters first thing (generally we made a point of doing all the structured activities first thing so if the kids lost stamina with the day, they could take it easier later) which was a couple hours instead of several. It was definitely more crowded when we left than when we arrived, so we felt lucky to get a less crowded experience.
Pianostrada was our favorite meal. Generally we eat street food most often, but this was our 'fancier' meal and it was incredibly fresh.
Thats all Ive got :)

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I’ve noted all your suggestions in my trip notes. I’m also confused by the ticketing for the Colosseum!

Hi Billie -
A couple of things to start with:

The 5th through the 9th we will be staying in Praiano at another
BNB...We won’t have a car so bus, boat or private driver will be our
only means of transportation.

There is no ferry service to Praiano so your only means of transport will be SITA bus or private driver. Personally, this would be a big enough limitation to choose a different location if planning on day tripping to Capri and Pompeii.

Day tripping from Ischia would be expensive. 2019 ferry schedules will not be up until spring but these 3 pages will give you some idea what ferry tickets cost from Ischia to Capri, to Sorrento or to Naples, the latter two being the closest to Pompeii. From either place you'd need to use another form of transport to the scavi. Also note that ferries to/from Ischia and Capri - only one boat going either direction listed per day - would only give you 5 hours on the island.

https://www.ischiareview.com/capri-to-ischia-or-ischia-to-capri-online-ticket-booking-timetable--information.html

https://www.ischiareview.com/travel-from-sorrento-to-ischia-by-hydrofoil.html

https://www.ischiareview.com/ferries--hydrofoils-between-ischia--naples-timetables--guide.html

Rome:
There are umpty suggestions for the Vatican and Colosseum on the forums if you do a search, and a good guidebook is going to be helpful as well. That said, these are the official websites:

https://www.coopculture.it/en/

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

Personally? I would hesitate to take young children - such as your 5 year-old - to the Vatican Museums during high season. The crush of visitors is intense, and very short folks could spend a large part of their visit seeing little but the backsides of adults in front of them. Seriously, the mob is difficult enough for adults to manage! I would especially think twice about this one if one of your children is not crazy about museums to begin with. I might think about just seeing the basilica and saving the museums for a future trip when they're older?

The Borghese is a different animal and the one I'd absolutely do with your kids if choosing one museum. The crowd control is excellent, the building itself is visually interesting enough to engage a young person's attention, and the limited two-hour visit time won't completely wear them out. Reservations are mandatory:

http://www.galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/en/visita/visit-the-galleria-borghese

Bonus is the museum's location in Villa Borghese (park). Room to run off some small-person steam would probably be welcome, and there are pedal surrey rentals, a playground and other activities available throughout the park.

Perhaps the best gelato in Rome can be found at Old Bridge - across the street from where people line up to get into the Vatican Museum.

I’m also confused by the ticketing for the Colosseum!

LOL! You and a lot of other visitors too! :O)

Do you have a rough idea of how much you'd like to see of the arena, and of your youngest child's stamina? That might be a good place to start for some suggestions for the right tickets.

Editing: Coopculture tours - if you want to see areas which require them - are not available to book for May/June yet so you have time to decide which one you'd prefer. They're not even opening reservations for Underground/Belvedere tours for Jan - March until Dec. 19th and 20th.

Any suggestions instead of Praiano? I assumed there would be a ferry! I’m also second guessing Vatican but hate to go and not see it. If you get there first thing in the AM will it be less crowded?

Probably a dumb question but what about a private boat from Ischia to Praiano? Sea too rough?

Yikes, if the hydrofoils (high-speed jet boats) take an hour from Ischia to Sorrento, I would imagine a charter would take longer to further-away Praiano. I would also assume the cost would be significant, to say the least. And yes, it is possible for the seas to be too rough for a small boat: the much larger hydrofoils can't even dock in Positano on a rough-sea day.

I see mention on TA of a recent customer who had their charter-service tour from Ischia to Positsano/Nerano/Capri cancelled because of rough seas.

For day tripping to Capri or Pompeii, I'll vote for Sorrento as a base. You would have the option of local commuter train to Pompeii (abt. 30 minutes) and more frequent ferry service to Capri.

Thanks Kathy! I think I’ll look into switching from Praiano to Sorrento.

I’m also second guessing Vatican but hate to go and not see it. If you
get there first thing in the AM will it be less crowded?

If you go at the regular 9:00 entry time (and you want to have pre-purchased tickets for that time slot) it's going to fill up in hurry. I'm guessing the "expedited tour" Jessica booked was one which gets their groups in before the general public. They are somewhat expensive but sure have a fan club amongst forum posters who've had to deal with mob during high season!

These tours usually go directly to the Sistine and then to other parts of the museums, so as to get their groups in and out of the chapel before the hordes hit. A large chunk of visitors make a beeline for the thing the minute they get in the door so it REALLY fills up quickly. Walks Of Italy's "Pristine Sistine" tour is a RS-poster favorite and consistently sees stellar reviews. It covers both highlights of the museums and the basilica but they also last nearly 4 hours you'd need to take your youngest child's stamina into consideration.

https://www.walksofitaly.com/vatican-tours/pristine-sistine-chapel-tour?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjcWqoemn3wIVCkRpCh2zMAchEAAYASAAEgICJ_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The Roman Guy's early entrance tour also gets high praise, also includes the basilica, and lasts 3.5 hours or so.

https://theromanguy.com/tours/Rome/Sistine-Chapel-Vatican-Tour

As you'll be there on a Friday, there's the late-opening option (April - October). This one could interfere with your child's bedtime but it's less pricey, it's a little less crowded, and you have the option of seeing the parts of the museums which are open (including the Sistine) at your own pace or with a tour. Bookings will open up sometime in 2019. You aren't able to access the basilica with this option.

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/musei-vaticani-in-notturna.html

The museums are huge and it's a long walk just from the entrance to the Sistine so you'll be spending considerable time on your feet. :O)

Thanks again Kathy! I appreciate the links and will have to look into them. They kids are real troopers for the most part and have survived many trips to Disney World! Lol!

Looks like the Roman Guy tour will be the most cost effective for us since my daughter will be 5. It appears to me that the after hours Vatican tour includes a guide so no real need to book that with a tour company, correct? What levels of the Colosseum have you visited? I’ve seen several say the underground was underwhelming.

Just to give you an idea of the sort of crowds parts of the museums can experience...

http://www.world-walk-about.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Rome-28.jpg?x75411

https://blog.ricksteves.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/crowded-vatican-museum-rome.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/5214398645/

It appears to me that the after hours Vatican tour includes a guide so
no real need to book that with a tour company, correct?

Yes, if you book a guided versus an open tour, you will have a human guide. "Open tour" means doing your sightseeing on your own. This is the guided group (collective) tour, and the areas covered are the same as the Vatican-sponsored day tour for the museums.

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/musei-vaticani-e-cappella-sistina/-i-aperture-notturne--i---visita-guidata-musei-e-cappella-sistin.html

What levels of the Colosseum have you visited? I’ve seen several say
the underground was underwhelming.

Sorry, we were cross-posting. Neither the Belvedere or Underground were open to the public on my first couple of visits to Rome, and while we could have done the Underground on the last one, we skipped the arena entirely. I was personally fine with just the general areas, and you can see down into the underground from there. This is a very economical tour of the general areas that's offered by coopculture:

http://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=E6A1B5B3-BFDA-AC94-6929-0161B2E3A0C0&catalogid=BDB46B8C-0C49-10F2-6036-0167A8502B26&lang=en

You would choose the "FREE TICKET + FREE TOUR + RESERVATION; people under 12 years old" for each of your children, and "FULL TICKET + TOUR + RESERVATION" for each adult.

That link of the crowds that Kathy posted looked exactly like our tour, and we were there in April, [a few years back,] and at 8:30 am, with a RS Tour. It remained that crowded throughout our tour, and it was very easy to get separated from the group. Thankfully the tour guide operated with audio transmitter and earphones.

I would NEVER go to the Vatican again during regular hours; I recommend that folks do spend the money and book a before/after hours tour. However, I still question if any Vatican tour would be very interesting for the children. Do they have any interest or education in art? In addition, the tour guides can be difficult to understand.

The children should enjoy the Colosseum and Forum.
Safe travels!

Pat, thank you for your input! I think my son will be interested. He’s the kind of kid that has to listen to all the audios and read every sign at a museum. My daughter will likely be underwhelmed. I’ll have to find some books geared towards kids her age if they exist...I’ll definitely book the early tour. We are early risers anyway assuming the time change doesn’t mess up our schedule!

They kids are real troopers for the most part and have survived many
trips to Disney World! Lol!

Booking an early tour will definitely help but the museums/tour are a completely different animal than Disney, largely because you spend considerable time outdoors at the park where it's not as confining, and can take breaks as needed. Here, other than a foray to the courtyard, you'll spend all of your time inside, and at the itinerary/pace of the guide. Heat - the museums largely are not air conditioned - can also add to the discomfort as the crowds build.

Neither Pat or myself are trying to be Negative Nellies here but best to have an idea what to expect with young children along? Without knowing what sorts of museums you've done with your son (the 9 year-old?) so far this may be a more 'adult' version than he has experienced yet.

I appreciate the insight!