fourfortravel

One of the happy tasks of ex-pat living is planning holidays. We have two weeks set aside in June 2015 for Italy after school breaks for the summer. The first week will be spent in Puglia (the house is already reserved), and we're splitting the long drive from Vienna with an overnight in Ravenna. On the return drive the children have asked for an overnight or two in Rome (we have visited previously). That leaves us with 5 nights, give or take, to return to Vienna.

Where could we overnight, or possibly have two overnights? We're happy to see pretty much everything--castles, palaces, interesting statues--you name it, or even enjoy beautiful scenery. We have spent a week in Florence recently, and are spending next week in Venice, so the two obvious choices are out. Slovenia is out, as DD often spends weekends there with a friend from school. Would Trento be a good place for a couple of nights? Or perhaps Bologna and Klagenfurt (Austria)? Or somewhere else? As we will be traveling with DDog, the earlier I can secure lodging, the happier we all are as a traveling family. Thank you!

annhig

mmm - my first port of call was google maps, where i found that there's about 12 hours of driving concerned, so you have the choice of spending all 5 nights in one place, more or less half way, or spacing out your travel with shorter stays in between.

if you fancied the former option, a stay on Lake Garda occurred to me - it's about 5 hours from Rome and afterwards you could drive home through the Dolomites, which is one of the few places you don't seem to have been to before!

if you wanted to, you could break the trip there at Bologna, or Mantua, and on the way home you could spend a night [or two?] in the mountains. but don't short-change Lake Garda - it's lovely and june would be a great time to visit as all the boats will be running but it shouldn't be overwhelmed by tourists.

fourfortravel

annhig, thank you! A Lake Garda/Dolomites combination is a great idea. We're not opposed to multiple stopovers; we travel light (and cross pack for overnights so that only one bag is taken out of the overhead Thule), but longer stays are always more enjoyable.

annhig

glad to help, 44. I do envy you living in Vienna - you have so many travel options in every direction. I know that Cornwall is lovely, but it takes quite a bit of effort to get anywhere, and you're always covering the same ground, more or less, before you can really start your journey.

neckervd

How old are your kids? May be they would apreciate a stay at Peschiera del Garda (Lake Garda), close to the Gardaland fun park.
A stop in the Dolomites (Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Misurina or so) could also be a good idea.

sanderskn

may I ask how you came to be an expat? I am jealous. ��

annhig

following up neckerd's suggestion of a visit to Gardaland [loved by our kids when they were about 14 & 11] there is also a waterpark nearby if it's really hot and they want to cool off.

fourfortravel

neckervd, the "children" will be 13 and 18 at the time of travel. I think Gardaland would greatly appeal to them. Thank you! Klagenfurt has Minimundus, which looks something like LegoLand; that also seemed like it could be fun.

sanderskn, DH was offered a position with one of the U.N. agencies. I traded my "working spouse" title for "trailing spouse," and now my "job" is to plan weekend getaways and longer trips for the school holidays, in between sightseeing in and around Vienna.

annhig

oh yes, Gardaland would be great for your kids and the queues hopefully much shorter than the ones we encountered in August, especially if you can avoid weekends.

sandralist

It is at least a 7+ hour drive from northern Puglia to Lago di Garda, so I would definitely want to break it up. Ravenna would be my pick for an overnight en route. If you are living in Vienna, seeing Ravenna as a different dimension of the Roman empire would really be important, I think. Plus it is just simply beautiful, and easily conquered in a day of sightseeing. Food is nice too.

Since your kids asked to see Rome again, I am thinking they would be very admiring of Verona, which is just 30 minutes from Pescheria del Garda. It would be worthwhile to stay long enough in Pescheira del Garda to take the train into Verona for a visit.

From there, it is another 6 hour drive to Vienna, so again I would want an overnight -- but don't know the route well enough to suggest anything.

If it really is 5 nights "give or take" and you can give the trek an extra night, what might be silly summer fun would be to do an amusement park road trip, mixed in with some serious history, by going to an amusement park near Ravenna + the mosaics, the Gardaland amusement park + a tour of Verona, and then your Legoland site.

(By the way, if you are interested in the art history of Vienna, the Hagenbund show now at the Belvedere is fascinating.)

sandralist

I realize now that you said you need to stop in Rome on the return trip, but I still vote overnighting in Ravenna, which would not be that far out of your way even if your ultimate destination was Lago di Garda.

Sassafrass

Have you been to Vicenza? Could work for a stop on this trip or when you do the week in Venice.

fourfortravel

sandralist, thank you. We are overnighting in Ravenna on the outbound drive, and we spent an overnight in Verona this summer en route to France (we loved it). So far Lake Garda is the family favorite for the return.