We just got back from an Italian adventure with my wife; three kids 9, 7, 3; and my mother-in-law.
It was the first big international trip for our kids. We didn't want to waste any time. Therefore, we looked into tour guides.
It was 95+ with 50-60% humidity the entire time.
Day 1- Arrive in Rome. We had an airbnb and arranged transfer through them. No plans besides getting some Gelato and begin to adjust. I figured airbnb would be better for the six of us. However, I did not anticipate the poor A/C since most only have the individual AC units and they did not work well. Hotels in the future.
Day 2- Roman Forum and Coliseum tour through Crown Tours. Great job by them. We knew it would be hot and chose a shorter tour, but it was hot enough that my mother-in-law tapped out halfway through and we witnessed others with heat exhaustion.
Day 3- Transfer to Sorrento on a bullet train to Naples then private transfer rest of the way. Another airbnb with similar A/C issue, but it was better than Rome.
Day 4- We hired Giovanna and Francesco Donadio [email protected] as our private tour guide and driver as recommended in Rick Steve's book. This ended up being the absolute highlight of our trip. Giovanna has quite a few tours to offer. She will also lead you in the right direction for pretty much any experience you want in the area including our transfer and food experiences.
We did a day to Capri with a walking tour on the island as well as a private boat ride around Capri. We were grateful to have Giovanna curate the whole day as we would not have done nearly as much without her. We'll definitely find a way to stay in Capri in the future as this was probably the best day of the trip.
Day 5- Positano/Amalfi Coast/Ravello tour with Giovanna and Francesco. Great day where the drive was as gorgeous as the stops along the way. We went to this fantastic lunch in Ravello.
Day 6- We made it a beach day. There are beach clubs in the area. This is really the only way to experience the beaches around Sorrento. They are not cheap, but we went early and spent the whole day at Bagni Salvatore. The restaurant was actually pretty good. I suppose it does control the amount of people with the high entry fees.
We ended the day with a massive feast by Core Pasta hosted by Chef Valentina. If you're looking for a traditional Neapolitan experience, reach out to Valentina.
Day 7- Pompei Express Tour. We opted for Giovanna's sister, Marina. She was excellent and packaged up the two hours into a documentary of Pompei. We highly recommend utilizing her as she made the logistics as well as the history a great efficient tour of the area, which is massive.
Day 8- Transfer back to Rome near the airport. We had a lot of great food during the whole trip, but our final meal at Desco Tegami a Tavola e Griglia was surprisingly good for being in a spot like that.
There is so much to do in the Sorrento area we could have easily done another couple of days. We wanted to see how the kids would handle a trip like that with every modality of transport involved. It went well for the most part!