Venice and kids

We were on our third visit to Italy before we ever set foot in Venice. So no - skipping it is not a sin.

A lot of where you stay would depend on what your teens enjoy. Bike tours or Segway tours are fun.

I think you would be smart to include a beach stop for a few days in the middle of the trip if the time of year is right - it will give everyone a break from museums & villages.

As this is a trip for the whole family I would concentrate on places & things everyone would enjoy. Face it - if the teens are bored you will not have a very good time either.

I did the Venice to CT trip on the train. Our trip was just under 6 hours. We left Venice early like 7 and was in Vernazza in time for lunch. We changed trains twice, once in Florence and one in La Spezia. You'll be on a high speed train to Florence (or Milan if you take that route). We didn't mind the trip at all. We stayed out late the night before and planned to nap on the train to Florence whic we did. After our connection we did some reading, planned out some activities for the rest of the trip of stuff we wanted to try to see and also some puzzles. Load up an ipad with a movie and the kids won't realzie they'll be in the CT soon.

On Trenitalia there is a train leaving Venice at 12:30 that takes 5:15 min to shave a little more time off)

What do your teenagers enjoy?
We just returned from Italy and my 17yr old loved Venice and Rome - and would have found CT and small Tuscan towns boring! I would vote to keep Venice in- it is an amazing city , a unique experience and easy to tour. Our family spent 3 nights there. We all toured the Duomo and sights in the San Marco square together on the first day. Day2 Grandpa went to the beach at Lido which he enjoyed . My 17 year old and I went to the Academia museum and then wandered the streets exploring. We got back together for an evening ride down the Grand Canal and dinner.
What time of year are you going?
We went to Via Reggio as an overnight trip from Florence - lovely beach and beach town which is popular with Italians and other Europeans. This was the only place besides the working class neighborhood in Florence we stayed where we met anyone besides American/Australian or Canadian tourists! (Thanks Roberto on this forum for recommending it)

So that's my 2 cents- find out what our kids are interested in and go from there (besides their Iphones LOL)

I think your proposed itinerary (which I put in bold, above) is good. You might not call it leisurely, but it is quite a standard plan that many people do accomplish.

Let's say that you depart on a train from Venice at 10:50 because teenagers don't get up early. After a connection in Milan, that gets you to Cinque Terre at 5 p.m., well before dinner time. You can explore your "home" town, have a nice dinner, and have the entire next day free to explore neighboring villages. Don't worry; they're small.

Thank you, everyone. Now I just don't know what to do. I am getting some push-back from everyone for only 3 bases in 12 days, but I have 4 areas to travel. My kids like a variety of things - but not too many museums and castles all in a row. Maybe we should do Venice (with a side trip to Verona for 4 days, CT for 3 days for some down-time and beaches and hiking and picture taking and then Rome for 5 days. We can go to Orvieto for one of those Rome days and possibly a LONG day trip to Pompeii. I would hate to skip Tuscany all together, but although personally I would wine taste my way through Italy, now sure how that would go over with the kids! I have to give something up, and not sure what to do....
Thanks to everyone with great advice. Nice to hear from other people who went with teenagers.

Marie - we don't call it skipping Tuscany - we call it a reason to return!

Christi is totally right. You can't see everything, particularly in your time frame. And since you're not traveling alone, you have to juggle competing interests.

So, accept now that on this trip you will see what you see, you will miss anything you don't see, and you will return on another trip to see other things.

One way to approach it is to have a day or half-day that each person wants to do, even if it's not something others want to do. This way, even if they don't like it, the others can be reminded that they will also get their turn at their chosen activity. So, for instance, in exchange for letting you have some wine-tasting time, you let the kids choose something they want.

If you decide on Venice, definitely consider lessons through RowVenice. In my opinion, much better than the touristy gondola ride and more fun and unique. Best thing we did with my 19 yr old dtr and 23 year old niece.
I would fly into Venice3-4 nights, Tuscany with day trips 4-5 nights and Rome 3-4 nights.
Are you going during summer? That would affect my decision as to where to go and how long to stay in certain areas. If summer, an agriturismo with a pool is a must in my opinion in Tuscany. Do day trips from there-- biking, pasta making classes, cheese making, hiking, ballooning, swimming, horseback riding, to have a break from museums and culture. I have traveled to Italy quite a few times with kids of all ages-- toddlers to now 20 somethings.

This you said above looks like a good plan to me:
Maybe we should do Venice (with a side trip to Verona for 4 days, CT for 3 days for some down-time and beaches and hiking and picture taking and then Rome for 5 days.

From Rome you can do a side trip or two (maybe Ostia Antica?) and a hill town... Although I think your first plan looked ok too.

I think your teens may not like the hill towns as much as the cities- I would save that for a kid-less trip in the future!

Just for reference - we just did this with the boys, ages 9 and 11 - We had 4 nights Munich, followed by 7 night Disney cruise (to set thr travel we had done before the Italy week) - then we arrived by air in Rome Saturday at 2pm, left Rome Tuesday and did about 4-5 hours by train to Lucca for 2 nights (with day trip to Pisa), then left there Thursday for a 4-5 hour train ride to Venice. 3 nights there until flying out Sunday morning. The train trips were not bad at all, we left around 10am each of them and arrived 2ish... so I think one 6 hour trip wouldn't be bad at all. This was an easy enough pace for the kids, even on week 3 of travel. We had 3 bases in 8 nights and it was fine. I wouldn't have minded another day in each stop, that would have been perfect!

I would definitely vote more city and less hill towns....

And yes to Row Venice. We did that too and it was great! Venice itself was a treat, I so loved it there!!!! All of it really. We had a blast (compared to our first kid-less trip 14 years ago where we zipped around the hill towns and hated Italy).

We just returned from spending two weeks in Italy. I would definitely skip Venice. While it is unique, it's very crowded and difficult to get around in unless you use costly water taxis. I would definitely not scrimp on CT; increase it instead. We stayed in Vernazza, which is absolutely beautiful. Stayed at the Gianni Franzi that has lovely terraces overlooking the sea. There are lots of hiking opportunities, which teenagers may enjoy, as well as boat rides where you can view the CT villages from the sea.

Thank you all so much! The family voted, and sadly (for me at least) we left out CT. This was the hardest decision we made. I will just have to get there another time. I will definitely look into the rowing classes, and getting a place with a pool in Tuscany. Ballooning sounds fun too! Thank you.