gee016

Hello!
My husband, his parents and our 2 boys (6 and 4 years old) will be staying in a house in Sienna for 2 weeks this summer (end of July/Aug time frame). I'm just looking for fun day excursions that would be kid friendly for younger kids or fun day trips to other areas bedsides Sienna. Thanks!

BritishCaicos

We have a 10 year old boy and are now thinking of revisiting Tuscany, we last we there 12 years ago. Before he was born we spent many summers in Siena.

Tuscany can be difficult with young children. The hill towns and intense heat in high summer can make restrict life. It's why many Tuscan families head for the coast during August. It's a huge advantage if you rent a house with a pool.

However :

The towers of San Gimignano would be good fun followed by ice cream on the square.

The beaches of Grosseto are an hour away by car.

After that I'm struggling and would be really interested what others can offer as we could use the advice.

Alec

We had two weeks in Florence renting a house in August when our children were young, but a bit older than yours (around 10-13). What we did was to spend one day at the beach at Viareggio. Most beaches are private (concessions) with entry fee, but there are a few narrow strips of crowded public beaches as you travel away from the centre. We had no pool so we used local municipal swimming pool several times to cool down. We did daytrips to Siena, San G, Pisa, Assisi, Ravenna and the Chianti region. Leave early so you have a full morning before the temperature gets oppressive (and while churches etc are still open), and take a long siesta with a leisurely lunch or picnic and gelato. We had a blast.

gee016

Thank you both for your reply! The house we rented does have a pool, so we're really excited about that. The boys love water, so the ideas of going to the beach sounds great. Thank you!

gee016

PS- I didn't mean to spell Siena wrong

BritishCaicos

Can your 4 year old ride a bike?

Lucca is a a very different Tuscan city. Much of the centre is very flat and the traffic is very restricted.

It's one of the world's best places to rent bicycles and there are many companies which specialise in bikes for all ages. It would be easy to rent two adult bikes with a carrier buggy and a smaller bike for your 4 year old. The city walls are 100 ft wide and have cycle paths.

The beach at Viareggio (as Alec suggests) is very organised with lots of facilities. There are many very natural beaches further south, our favourite is at Alberese and where "The English Patient" was filmed. Hillsides of pine fall down into the sea and there are many walks in the pine forests.

Incidentally, I'm unsure how mobile your two year old is but a decent stroller is well worth the effort to pack. In the heat and hills, it will be invaluable.

Where is the house rental ?

nochblad

gee016 - it is a common mistake as in English the terra di siena is written generally a sienna

A few suggestions -
- Stibbert Museum in Florence - http://www.museostibbert.it/en
- instead of an English pub crawl go on a gelateria crawl in Florence. There are many suggestions of gelateria in Florence and perhaps the most famous is Vivoli. But if you go to the Stibbert it is close to Badiani - see http://www.visitflorence.com/eating-...-florence.html - they have a huge selection with many wild names (Bongo Bongo) but their exceptional ice cream is Buontalenti. This place is outside the ring road so is mostly unknown to tourists but a favourite of Florentines.
- rather than Grosseto consider the beaches of Forte dei Marmi, Pietrasanta etc. The area is very flat and cycling is very safe. You can hire bikes for the day. Aim to go to Forte dei Marmi when there is the market every Wednesday.
- go to Orvieto and apart from the sites which might interest you take the kids to the Pozzo di San Patrizio. A huge well with a double helix descent/ascent so that the donkeys carrying the water butts do not need to cross. No donkeys anymore but tourists looking up or down who never meet.
- I agree about San Gimigniano - a medieval Manhattan.
- Do as Italian families do. No kids menus. Take them to the markets and eat seasonal and regional.

gee016

Great suggestion about the bike riding- both the 4 and 6 year old love riding bikes, so that would be really fun for them.
The house rental is in Siena (or atleast my mother in law told me we can walk into town, so I'm guessing it's pretty close), but I'm not exactly sure where it's located within Siena.
Thanks for the great suggestions!

sandralist

It is not a particularly easy trip to get to a beach or Lucca from a house rental in Siena. It is a long drive each way, and if either of your kids is susceptible to motion sickness, it can get unpleasant, or you have to stick the major highways clogged with truck traffic. Also, I think your kids are too small to have any interest in San Gimignano, and on a hot day it can be uncomfortable by mid-morning climbing into the hill town, let alone climbing the towers (your youngest is too little for that).

I would endeavour to find things to do that are close by, like visits to farms with animals or small towns with flat piazze to visit in the evenings where your kids can run around and kick a ball with other kids. (There might be some in Siena other than the crowded touristic campo, especially on the outskirts of town). Some places will do pasta-making classes with small kids (look on Google). A lot of the enjoyment of Tuscany is settling into a completely different rhythm of life.

It is a very short train trip from Siena to Buonconvento, so that would be an easy visit. In past summers, the province of Siena has operated an historic "nature" train, which goes through some of the back areas of Tuscany, and you might do some googling to see what you can learn.

Regarding Sienna/Siena, the British have tended to spell it "Sienna" for a very long time, and it is no more "wrong" than spelling Roma "Rome" or Firenze "Florence". English-language translations of Italian cities are haphazard and inconsistent. Everyone says Verona, Bologna and Lucca, but English speakers say Turin, Milan and Venice, while Italians say Torino, Milano and Venezia. Go figure.

sandralist

PS: referring to the British spelling of "Sienna", I am referring to spellings found in books or letters by Lord Byron or the Shelleys, that era

nochblad

sandralist - I value your contributions but I think you are plain wrong about the spelling of Siena, at least as far as the British are concerned. Tuscany only entered into the consciousness of many in Britain in the 1990s. Tourist catalogues were quite clear about the spelling of Siena even then and of this I am certain. Prior to the 1990s Tuscany was many frequented by British famiies of a certain standing - this is a reality - most of whon would have studied Latin at school who would have appreciated the correct spelling.

BritishCaicos

"British have tended to spell it"

Sienna is an actress.

Siena is in Tuscany.

Sienna is probably frequents Siena.

Our degenerate tourists of years gone by "may" have used a different spelling but Britain now uses a single "n". There is nothing more annoying than English speakers referring to Roma or Torino.

Two weeks by the pool is a long time. Days trips from Siena to both Lucca, Pisa and the coast are not demanding.

No child should be denied the chance to take a crass photograph whilst trying to "prop up" the leaning tower. Particularly with digital technology which allows you to view the results immediately.

BritishCaicos

Geo

How about a boat trip to the Maggiore which is an island on Lake Tresimeno?

There's also the sulphur springs pools of Saturnia which are on the way to the coast.

After all these posts I'm beginning to think that Tuscany isn't just for adults!

sandralist

Geo,

Almost all the hot springs in Tuscany are too hot for small children, and many of the commercial ones have ager requirements.

Having been with many different children under 6 years old in Italy, I would say the less they are made to be in the back seats of cars for long trips to see sights they could care less about, the better. Many small children enjoy small things in the "now" and briefly passing moment than large things from long ago. The concept of "time" is relative, most of all to children.

Anyway, since you will be there for 2 weeks, YOU'LL have plenty of time to see how your kids react to Siena and the pool before deciding whether you want to bother with long car rides to crowded tourist attractions.

Nochblad,

Tuscany has been a favoured destination of people from the UK for a very long time. Certainly the Romantic poets are among the most famous visitors to Tuscany prior to the 1990s -- and, as I pointed out (apparently to no avail to one of the most dense Brits posting here) -- the spelling of "Sienna" was absolutely favoured by them.

There is nothing "annoying" to Italians or most Europeans about English speakers referring to Lago di Como, Milano, Venezia, Firenze or Italia by their true names -- just the opposite. Also, it is often more easily understood.

sandralist

(To correct a typo -- I meant to write simply "Romantics" -- not specifically poets -- because the letters of a great many English-speaking artists, essayists of that time or movement used the spelling Sienna, although many later reprints of their works update the spelling to reflect today's usage for English speakers, just like they change the now-mystifying Leghorn to Livorno. I expect to see this becoming more and more common for the Firenze and maybe Genova as well.)

sandralist

Here's the website for an agriturismo not too far from Siena that lists many nearby activities for kids, some of the suitable for very small children

http://www.cretaiole.it/index.php/en/kids-and-teens

willit

Monteriggioni, about 20Km from Siena, is a small walled town that has a great little medieval museum. It is only about 5 rooms, but you can wear helmets, pick up swords and shields etc. I seem to remember there were a few childrens outfits as well.

nochblad

sandralist - I first visited Tuscany 50 years ago and it has always been Siena and not Sienna. Maybe you are somewhat older than me and are familiar with an earlier spelling.

bvlenci

I don't think Sandra is old enough to have been a correspondent of the Shelleys.

BritishCaicos

Oh dear, the Sandralist pseudo intellectual road show is rolling again!

Not content with telling Brits how we spell Italian towns, she's now dictating the entrance policy of Tuscan Termes. Most offer ticket prices for children.

Btw so far on this thread all you've offered is sit by the pool or go for a walk round Buonconvento.

Maybe you could look up the answer in The Economist and quote it out of context (as usual).

As usual a little knowledge is dangerous in the wrong hands.

There goes another amiable thread down the pan, thanks to our self appointed expert on ...... well anything.

And please stop recorrecting every post you make. It's just silly.