What reservations should we make now?

I'd definitely arrange my hotels and start looking at flight prices if you haven't done that yet.

As far as what to see and do - tell us about your family. Ages? First time to Italy? Interests? Dislikes?

We already have our flights and places to stay. Kids are teenagers - 2 girls, 1 boy. Wanting to know about places, tours, events, etc. that need reservations. First time to Italy.

Based on reports by others here, not my personal experience, in Rome you need to pre-book any of the following that you are interested in; only you can decide whether any are must-sees for your group.

• Scavi tour at the Vatican
• Special-access tour at the Coloseum (underground, etc.)
• Domus Aurea (open only weekends, I believe)
• Borghese Gallery (tour required)

It is reported that the Vatican Museums are extremely crowded. Visitors are often advised to take an early-access tour so they are able to see part of the Museums before they open to the general public.

Depending on what you want to see, these are the attractions for which it's pretty much mandatory to have pre-purchsed tickets or reservations for to skip long high-season queues:

Rome:
Colosseum/Palatine/Forum; one general-entry entry ticket covers all three. Pre-reservations are also needed for tours. General-entry tickets are not limited to a specific day/time:

http://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm

Vatican Museums; general-entry tickets or tours available through the website. Must choose a specific day/time slot:

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

Galleria Borghese; no queues here because reservations are mandatory for strict crowd control; a good thing! Must choose a specific day/time slot, and tours are available but not required:

http://www.tosc.it/biglietti.htm?affiliate=T2C&sort_by=event_datum&sort_direction=asc&fun=erdetail&doc=erdetaila&erid=912678

Florence:
Uffizi and Accademia; must choose specific time slots:

http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/uffizi/default.aspx

General entry tickets for children under 18 will be free at most of the above (not at the Vatican Museums) but a small reservation fee may still apply at some of them, and process of collecting "free" tickets will vary per attraction.

Editing to add: have your teenagers' passports with you for proof of age.

Kathy gave you the official websites of the best places to see. You can get a tour with the museum itself that are very good and won't cost you too much, especially with a family of 5. Pull out as many books in the library as you can and do the research and let the kids help!

There's no doubt that Kathy is a great helper and has provided some wonderful links for your 'must-sees' and 'must dos'. Take heed of those and also others' advice on how to make your reservations. Me, I've done it from the outside in--air, then lodging, then attractions, then restaurants.

But please, Cathy, allow ample time to just 'be'. RS speaks constantly about the opposite of checking off a checklist of attractions, which is a simple activity like sitting at a cafe and people-watching for an hour or two. Wandering--especially in a place like Rome--leads to some incredible things. Get a street map & explore.

Enjoy your planning !

But please, Cathy, allow ample time to just 'be'.

Wiser words never spoken, and I agree 100%! None of the attractions listed are necessarily must-sees unless they are for YOU, and running madly from one overrun top-10 to another during high season can leave you (and your offspring) exhausted and cranky. While we have enjoyed Rome and Florence's most-visited treasures immensely, we've had even more enjoyable experiences at some of the lesser, and during hours spent just wandering and people-watching.

Less can very definitely be more. :O)

Once you have all those things figured out, you also have the option of booking train tickets in advance, which saves some money on your longer rides on faster trains (but not for short hops within the Cinque Terre or Tuscany). Because of a schedule change in mid-June, you might not be able to book more than 2 or 3 months ahead for fast trains, and not at all for slow trains. The usual advance-purchase timeline starts 4 months out for Trenitalia.

Supporting Jay and Kathy: I've been to Rome twice and haven't yet been inside the Coloseum. I suspect I may never have actually walked past it. I have, however, been to the cat sanctuary at Torre Argentina and the Protestant Cemetery (twice; the presence of cats may have been a factor). Each tourist gets to choose what he wants to do. Those of us with unconventional interests get to spend less time among the tourist throngs.

Hi Cathy, you’ve been given great responses for activities that need reservations. I’ll mention one that you don’t need a reservation but we really enjoyed and would be good for a family. - exploring Ostia Antica in Rome. Enjoy your trip to Italy!