Family of 5 Trip Part 2, Switzerland (Zermatt 4 nights), and Italy ( Levanto 2 nights, Florence 3 nights, Venice 3 nights)
We are a family of 5, two parents and our kids (ages 16, 14 and 11). We traveled for 3 weeks from late July 2018 through mid August. The second part of our trip started with Zermatt.
We stayed in the Youth Hostel in a private, 6 bed room. Did lots of hiking and enjoyed the Matterhorn views everywhere. We were happy to eat dinner at the hostel a few nights, they even have a fondue option (that you have to order ahead). Caught the goat parade our last morning on the way to the train station. We waited until the day before we left to buy our train tickets out, but the train we wanted was already sold out, so maybe a heads up to get tickets a few days in advance if possible (it’s the only way out!). We were there over August 1, the Swiss National Holiday, but the usual fireworks were cancelled since it was too dry. We bought Swiss Half Fare cards online before we left the USA (x3) so we would have them when buying train tickets from France and we could get the Free Swiss Family Pass for the 2 youngest. The Half Fare Cards saved us about $30 each (includes train to Zermatt, gondola ride to Schwarzee, funicular/gondola to Blauherd, and train from Zermatt), plus the youngest 2 traveled free on the trains with the Family Pass. We also spent a drizzly morning with the kids at the Zermatt Fun Park, an outdoor zipline/climbing adventure park. The kids had a blast, it was a nice down day activity.
On to Italy! We traveled to Levanto, which we used as a base to explore the Cinque Terre. We stayed at a B&B, A Due Passi del Mare, which was excellent! They had a family room with a queen/double and 3 twins, with a VERY nice updated bathroom. 5 minutes from the train station and 5 minutes from the beach.
From Levanto, we journeyed to Florence. We stayed in an apartment we found using the Cross-Pollinate service, the Gold Suite. The apartment was fantastic, 5 minute walk from Santa Maria Novella train station, 15 minutes from the Duomo. The Cross Pollinate website will collect your deposit by credit card to hold your reservation, but the apartment owner/manager meets you to let you in, hand over keys and collect the rest of the rent in Euros. It was no problem to visit both the Accedemia and the Uffizi in one day (booked reserved times ahead). We made a day trip to Pisa, just taking the train on our own. Back in Florence, the kids really enjoyed the Galileo Science Museum. They no longer have audioguides, they have free wifi and an app you download to go through the museum – bring your earbuds or you can buy some there.
Last stop on the trip – Venice. We had booked the high speed train Florence-Venice several weeks ahead of time. For all of our Italian train travel, we were very pleased with the Trenitalia app. Easily looked up schedules and even bought tickets a few times. In Venice, we stayed in another Cross-Pollinate apartment, Casa Valentina, easy walking distance (with luggage) from the train station. The manager arranged for someone to meet us at our train to show us to the apartment. Helpful, no doubt. We got the kids Rolling Venice cards from the info desk at the train station. This enabled them to get the great deal on the 3 day vaporetto pass. We didn’t really use the other Rolling Venice discounts, since most places we visited had some sort of family group price, which was a better deal. We also were able to add the airport bus fare on the vaporetto passes for everyone right when we bought them. We spent one day visiting Murano and Burano, so we got our money’s worth from the passes. We checked a big backpack when visiting St Mark’s, and had no problem with the whole family entering together, skipping the line.