athena63

Month long Europe adventure planning. Trouble deciding for the Italy portion. We are a family of five--3 teens.
We arrive in Barcelona, depart from Paris,
Car or train? Undecided.
Also undecided; One week in central place and do day trips? Take train and stay along coast for few days then rent an apartment in Bologna? Verona?
Or...
3 in Florence, 3 in Venice (or maybe Padua or nearby town)
I'd love to have a few nights in the Italian Alps in a lovely town.
Save Rome for another trip.
Thoughts? We want to do this as cheaply as possible.

massimop

I don't think Bologna is going to hold much interest for teens in July. And while Verona might, the combination of heat and constant crowds for the opera (plus elevated prices) might be tough. Florence & Venice (expensive towns) with heat and crowds?

Look up the possibility of taking an overnight ferry from Barcelona to Genova, then after some time on the Italian Riviera, train up to Torino -- which is actually full of fun things to do with teens. From there, go up to the Italian Alps via Aosta (and from there are a number of ways to get Paris from there), but the fastest might be back through Torino to catch the 5 hour train to Paris

I'm assuming your air tickets are fixed, but in reality there are very few cheap ways to go from Barcelona to Paris that takes a dogleg to Italy. As long as you are saving Rome for another trip, how about saving Italy for another trip? Instead of Italy and the Italian Alps, go from Barcelona up through the Pyrenees, and then down to the Basque Coast around San Sebastian, then up to Paris by train.

JulieVikmanis

Good advice from Massimop. One of our favorite trips is along the Northern coast of Spain. Have always done in it a rental car rather than by train, though.

PalenQ

for lots on trains and planning a rail trip check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

annhig

Adding to what massimop has said, there are lots of things that teens might like in southern France; as well as enjoying the western beaches, there is loads that they would enjoy in the Dordogne and Ardeche in particular, like canoeing down gorges, seeing visiting the caves in the Dordogne, castles.

I agree with her that this is perhaps a more fruitful area for you to look at, at this stage of your children's lives, especially in July, when Rome and other italian cities can be baking hot, and offer very little for teenagers to work off their boundless energy.

tuscanlifeedit

Where are you coming from?

You have an entire month, but leaving Barcelona, heading to Italy, then back(ish) in the direction of Paris seems a little criss-crossy. I'm assuming your air is firm, but is Italy firm?

How great are your kids in the car? Driving from Barcelona to somewhere in Italy? I wouldn't.

Take the train from where to along the coast for a few days? Which coast? Since you mention Venice and Bologna, I'm assuming the Adriatic.

I think I personally would need more information before offering suggestions.

athena63

Thanks for your helpful suggestions. If it were solely up to me, I wouldn't go to Italy this time, but kids really want to go. (I am paying, though.) I have yet to secure the plane trip home. We got a killer deal for the five of us to Barcelona, which is why I'm starting there, but getting from there to Italy is a bit hard to figure. I am definitely considering the ferry to Genoa. If not that, maybe train via the Cinque terre. I am thinking we will return to France at the end because I'm assuming I can get the best return flights out of Paris to US.

Sassafrass

I hope your flights are not booked. You are getting some good advice about your itinerary. Avoid so much zig zagging if you want to save money. While, heat can be an issue, I think choosing a place that offers sights great enough to interest the kids is most important. You can always arrange sightseeing so that you are inside or have a pool or beach for the hottest time of day.

A base can be great or not. A base that allows for easy day trips works for many trips, but there is also a lot to be said for a base that allows you, and especially the kids, to get up, walk right out of the apartment or hotel and start doing things.

Unless you get up very early, a base where you have to get up, breakfast, walk to the train, take a train someplace and then walk to the sight you want to see, puts you there as it is already getting hot in Summer.

A base where it is safe and easy for teens to go out together exploring would be great. It is easier with little kids to have long periods of time in one base, but IME, teens did not mind moving around a bit more if they had more to do.

jamikins

What is it about Italy that interests your kids? If you give us more details about that we can provide some thoughts.

annhig

two single flights are usually a lot more expensive than a round trip ticket or a multi-city trip [into one place, out of another] booked at the same time so I fear that your killer deal to Barcelona may prove to be a false economy. But organising your trip around flying out of Paris because that might be cheaper when actually you want to be in Italy might not be the best plan either.

Getting to Italy isn't that hard - you can fly from Barcelona to Florence or from Girona to Pisa - or get that ferry to Genoa, but what is it that you and your kids want to do when you get there?

To check out flight options, look at Kayak.com [make sure you select one way flights and non-stop only].

But IMO the most important thing is for you to decide what you want to see in Italy and sort out your flights home. Then you can begin to plan properly.

PalenQ

You can also take a ferry from Barcelona to Livorno, Italy or some Italian port - takes all day and night but call it a cruise!

massimop

I don't know why you think a return from Paris is the best air deal. Lots of options from many airports in Italy -- but you'll get more useful help if you are specific about which airport you want to be your last stop on your return flight.

Bear in mind that if you are returning to North America, you are traveling during "the day" all the time. Having a plane change can even be tolerable, even with kids -- but if you are only interested in non-stop flights, then be specific about that & identify your local airport.

Finally, if you reveal what it is about Italy that excites your kids, people can help you deliver for your kids that vision.