Samsaf

We're currently planning a trip for 5 to Italy. Husband and I have been to Rome, Florence, Portofino. Oldest daughter was in Italy for 3 weeks last year.

Kids (?) will be ages 22, 19 and 17 next summer. If we go in 2006, our only option is to go in July (first couple of weeks). If we wait until 2007, we could go in late May/early June. Should we go for it in 2006, even though it will be hotter, or would it be better to wait until we can go at a better time?

Here's what we're thinking re itinerary:

4 or 5 nights Rome - apartment; any ideas for an apartment?

7 nights Tuscany - villa/apartment (we're looking at Sant'Antonio, but I need to find out if it has AC)

It seems that it's cheaper for us to stay 7 nights in a villa/apartment in Tuscany than to stay 4 or 5 nights in a hotel. Is this a good idea? We thought we'd do day trips to different towns/villages, do some hiking and maybe biking, lots of exploring. We want to have a place with a pool; the kids like to relax at a pool, and I thought we could come back in the late afternoons, relax at the pool for a couple of hours, and then go out to dinner. Any ideas?

We like to take our time and explore places, but we also like to have things to do.

In Rome, we don't expect to stay at a place with a pool, but we would like AC.

Since there are 5 of us, would it be a better option to hire our own private tour guide in Rome? Is there someone who could take us on several tours for a few days?

Also, we would really to see Pompeii; is it worth it as a day trip from Rome, or do we really need to stay in that area for a night or so? If we stay in the area of Pompeii, it would take time away from Rome, but I think we'd really like it. Maybe the same guide in Rome could help us with Pompeii?

What we had originally wanted to do was to stay about 10 days (5 in Rome, 5 in Tuscany). Has anyone ever rented out an apartment for 7 days and then only stayed 5? It would still be cheaper than renting 2 rooms of a hotel for 5 nights (and it would save us money on breakfast, etc., to eat in the apartment sometimes).

Thanks! I'm sure I'll have lots more questions.

rex

<<Has anyone ever rented out an apartment for 7 days and then only stayed 5? It would still be cheaper than renting 2 rooms of a hotel for 5 nights (and it would save us money on breakfast, etc., to eat in the apartment sometimes).>>

Yes, in fact, in six villa stays, I have only stayed the full seven one time. And yes, each time, it was still a highly satisfactory brgain. No hotel would have come close to matching the value for the price we got.

Best wishes,

Rex

caroline_edinburgh

Timing - depends on how hot you like it. We've just come back from (I think) my 14th trip to Italy : the 2nd half of June is perfect for me, for most types of trip, but DH has begged me to try 2 or 2 weeks earlier next time. So he certainly wouldn't contemplate July. It wasn't even that hot this time - c.28 degrees C both in Venice & on the Amalfi Coast.

I wouldn't go to Pompei in June or July, though.

"I thought we could come back in the late afternoons, relax at the pool for a couple of hours, and then go out to dinner"

I've given up on villas, since ones with pools are invariably not within walking distance of restaurants (for lazy people, anyway).

Samsaf

The perfect accommodations for us in Tuscany would be a villa/apartment in a small town, within walking distance of restaurants, cafes, activities, sights, and with a pool, with AC, and for not an extremely high amount of money. We'd love to find something under $1,500 per week. But I've not found anything that matches that description.

I've been doing research on Italy for about 8 months -- right now I've got a 280-page word document filled with info (mostly from this site)!

That's good to know about staying only 5 nights for a villa stay. That really opens up our planning.

Do people carry umbrellas (for shade) in Pompeii? I know it would be hot there, but I hate to be so close and the not get to see it. And can you bring in your own water/snacks?

ira

Hi sam,

>Do people carry umbrellas (for shade) in Pompeii?

Only the smart ones.

>And can you bring in your own water/snacks?

Highly recommended.

If you are staying in Rome and Tuscany, I suggest an overnight in Sorrento or Naples for a visit to Pompeii.

Samsaf

So how about 4 nights Rome, 2 nights Sorrento, 5 nights Tuscany (in villa - paying for 7 nights)? Is this too much?

sandi_travelnut

regarding whether to get a guided tour of Rome is really a personal preference. Have you taken tours before? Personally, I would have everyone do some fun research and write down the top 5 things they want to see and do in Rome and then combine the lists to form your Rome itinerary. Then map it all out. You could have someone from the family be the guide for a particualr site, reading the information or history behind what you're looking at. I prefer that than a guide that may be expensive. The only time, though, that we enjoyed a guided tour was at Pompeii where it was sometimes hard to tell what you were seeing and the extensive history behind it. Just my opinion.

MRand

Samsaf - My wife, kids (17 year old daughter and 15 and 11 year old sons), and I just returned from two weeks in Italy. We included stops in the Cinque Terre, Tuscany, and Rome. My (long) trip report at:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34645606 addresses several of the questions you pose here. Let me know if you have other questions and I'll try to answer based on our recent experience.

Samsaf

Thanks, everybody, for the info so far. I really appreciate it.

MRand, your report is copied into my Italy file! I really enjoyed reading it, and it did give me lots of tips and info. I would love to go to the Cinque Terre (we've been there but the kids have not), but I don't think we're going to have enough time. Our girls will be 22 and 19, and our son will be 17, so just a little older than yours! Don't you love traveling when the kids are teens? I think it's great, and I love our family vacations.

ira

Hi S,

>how about 4 nights Rome, 2 nights Sorrento, 5 nights Tuscany ...

Looks good.

How about Fly into Rome, Tuscany, Sorrento, Fly out of Naples?

Samsaf

Well, to fly out of Naples, we'd have to use a codeshare parter of Delta, so I'm not sure if that's possible, but it does sound like a good idea. I'll look into it some more. Thanks!

And Sandi, that's a good idea about researching and being our own travel guides. I'll also look into that some more. It does get really expensive for 5 people to do anything, so I'm sure we'll be looking for ways to do this trip without breaking the budget.

victoria_reynolds

Decided not to do the villa thing this time, though we're also a family with older children and it would save $$... Good luck with the budget issues; traveling with your children is a wonderful thing to do but it does get outrageously expensive. You might like to look at this:http://www.munsells.com/italy/

Sorry, no first hand info. but it looked really nice from the web site.

MRand

Samsaf - How about 4 nights in Rome, 4 nights at the Cinque Terre, and 4 nights in Tuscany? Although we didn't stay there, Tenuta Quadrifoglio ( www.tenutaquadrifoglio.it/uk/home_uk.htm ) looked pretty interesting. I think it has a pool and would be less expensive than renting a villa for a week. I definitely think that it would be better to hire a private guide in Rome and as you have undoubtedly seen on this site, Context Rome should be one of your starting points for looking at private guides.

Melissa5

Samsaf, at the age your "kids" are at, if they are willing to commit to this trip, then do it! By summer 2007, who knows, they might want to do their own thing!

My "kids" are 18, 19, and 23, and I was fortunate enough to get them all to come on a family trip to Costa Rica this summer, and to Italy last summer.

But for Ireland next summer, I have 1 daughter who's willing to commit, 1 daughter who says she won't go, and my son can't go because he's working full-time now and is saving his vacation for a great trip to vietnam with a friend who has lots of cousins there (free accomodations!)

I recommend a private licensed tour guide for the ruins of Ancient Rome...we really liked Francesca Caruso, and you can e-mail her at [email protected] We booked her for a 3-hour walking tour of the Ancient Rome area, for our first morning in Rome. It was 40 euros per hour for the whole family. (NOT per person of course.) Then we ventured off on our own for the afternoon. The whole family enjoyed her and she was very interesting and is fluent in Italian and English.

We did the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's on our own and preferred it that way. Get Rick Steve's book "Mona Winks", which has entertaining self-guided tours for the museums of Europe including Italy. Make copies for the family otherwise everyone will fight over the book. Book is also available in the bookstore travel section.

Rome and Venice are great for the ages of your "kids". They also liked Pompeii but I imagine it will be hot in July. but we wwere there the last half of June, I can't imagine it will be that much hotter in July? I don't really know.

How we dealt with the heat was, wear very light-weight, breathable clothing, capri pants or light-weight skirts to keep the women cool, zip-off pants for the guys. Do all your tours in the morning, make advance museum reservations wherever possible to avoid waiting in long hot lines. Go somehwere cooler in the afternoon, maybe rest in the air-conditioned hotel...then venture out again for an evening walk when it's cooler. Worked well for us!

Get to the Vatican Museums at noon, when there aren't any lines. (Tourist lunch-time.) Make sure the museum is open til 4:30 though. And make sure you get into the Sistine chapel before the museum closes. We had no problems with crowds at this time. Of course there are always people int he sistine chapel but there wasn't any line to get in, we just walked right in.

buon viaggio!

Stay in sorrento for 2 nights (or Naples) if you want to see Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius.

Samsaf

Okay, I've been talking to the kids (and hubby), and it looks like we can go to 3 separate areas. We are choosing between Rome, Tuscany, Sorrento/Positano, Cinque Terre, Venice.

The suggestion of Rome (4 nights), Sorrento (2 nights - for Pompeii and day trip to Capri), and either Tuscany area or Cinque Terre for 4/5 nights seems best to me, but we'll continue working on the plan and the order.

What I really want to do is to stay 4 nights in each of the 5 places, but we just don't have the time (and probably money) to stay 3 weeks.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions.

cjacob

Last summer I went with my family to Italy, we were 21, 19, and 15, so about the same ages. We flew into Venice, stayed there for 2 nights, went to Florence for 4 nights and Rome for 4 nights. It was the perfect trip. From Florence we took a day trip to Cinque Terre and Pisa, all in one day, it was very ambitious and we were exhausted, but well worth it. In Rome, we had a private guide for 2 days, who took us to all of the major sights. It was much more interesting then reading a guidebook ourselves, so I'd splurge on that.

You could def. spend more time in Tuscany and visit the surrounding towns as well, Siena is great.

For a first trip to Italy, I'd do Venice, Florence, and Rome, if you spend enough time in each city then you will have plenty of time to relax and be busy enough seeing all the sights. As for a pool though, good luck finding any hotel with one, they are very rare to come by in Italy.

tuscanlifeedit

You know, I have been to Pompeii twice and I almost wish I'd never been there at all. It is very sad, very challenging physically if you aren't in good condition, and very, very hot. An early morning visit followed by something pleasant in the afternoon is my recommendation.

I just deleted a long defense of myself. It is fine that I don't like Pompeii. Something horrible happened there.

I repeat my advice: go in the early morning and plan something pleasant for the afternoon.

If you hire a guide, be sure to clarify the length of your tour. Pompeii is huge.

worldtraveler82787

Samsaf, I would suggest spending 3 or 4 days in Sorrento. Sorrento is an incredible town with beautiful views and great restaurants. But more importantly, from Sorrento you can catch a ferry to the island of Capri. The ferry is cheap and it's only about a 25 minute ride. It is, in my opinion, the greatest place in Italy. I would not miss it for anything.

In addition, from Sorrento, you can drive the Amalfi coast (an hour drive, absolutly amazing.) You start in Sorrento and end in the town of Amalfi. There, i would suggest having lunch and enjoying the views and the beach. On the way to Amalfi, stop in Positano. It's the perfect Italian seaside town!

As for Pompeii, it is easily accessible from Sorrento. In less than an hour's drive you can be at Vesuvius and Pompeii and spend the day touring the ruins and hiking to the top of the volcano (a must).

I hope this helps!

tdyls

Samsaf,

Flying a Delta codeshare from Naples to XYZ intervening European airport back to America isn't (theoretically) a problem. A quick check of Delta's website shows that you'd fly Alitalia from Naples to Rome or Milan, and then go from there to the US. Most flights are then direct to the US, although some flights require flying Air France to Paris first, and others require a change in an intervening US airport.

Knowing Delta, of course, this is all subject to change at any time -- I don't sarcastically call them "My Favorite Airline" for nothing -- and subject to screwups. When dealing with "MFA", allow plenty of room for Murphy's Law.

Andrea2652

My husband and I plan on a trip to Italy in February. The reason we are going this time of year is because our daughter is going on a school trip to Rome at this time and we'd like to see her performance. We plan on doing our own thing with the exception of attending the school performance. Neither of us has been to Italy so we'd like to do as much as we can in the allotted time (7-9 days- not definite yet). I'm thinking 3 days max in Rome then maybe go to Sorrento and explore that area, as well as Pompei. I would love any suggestions as to whether anyone feels we should rent a car or travel by train/bus. Also any suggestions for hotels would be much appreciated. We are on a tight budget so we would like something nice but don't need 5 star accommodations. And does anyone have any idea of the weather/temperature in February? This is so overwhelming!

Thanks in advance.