Without knowing exactly where the villa is located, and how far you are from "fast" roads, but even assuming you are east of Arezzo, San Marino is quite a long haul over mountain roads to be considered a reasonable day trip. Is it that the kids want to visit "another country"? That's 5 hours of driving at a minimum for a fairly meagre pay-off. Although Italy has had a very mild winter, you can't undertake that ride without first checking the real weather conditions for that day. I hope the kids are old enough to be talked out of this.

Have you proposed Siena to the kids? It's usually a big wow. Or Perugia, with all its escalators and chocolate. Consider Assisi as well.

Have the kids demanded the Uffizi? It is usually a trying experience even for adults. Consider the Museo San Marco as the more interesting art and history destination.

I'm sure you've already heard that you must be extremely careful driving into Florence that you don't enter zones that are restricted to permit-holders only. If you don't know about ZTL's, you really need to educate yourself. Likewise for Bologna.

If the weather is nice, Lucca would be fun.

While you are in San Gimignano, consider going to Volterra as well.

goldenautumn, thank you. Viamichelin times the trip from Vicchio to San Marino via Bologna at 3hrs, which is why I wasn't keen on adding Ravenna. It's not really the "another country" with the children, as we currently live in Europe and they travel out of the country for school activities all the time; they were intrigued by being able to walk between the castles. If even that isn't worth the drive in good weather, then we might need to reconsider San Marino.

Haven't considered Siena. DH and I stayed in Siena without the children a few years ago, and for some reason the city did not impress us as we anticipated. What are considered the "wow" sights for Siena? Maybe we missed them somehow. Perugia and Assisi warrant consideration, thanks.

We are not driving into Florence-we've done that previously and escaped without any tickets, but aren't pressing our luck this time. We plan to drive to Bologna, though. I've already downloaded the ZTL map for Bologna and will have DH study it thoroughly. I'm the city driver; he's the autobahn pilot.

Ha. We're all experienced warriors with large, overcrowded, popular tourist sights. The Uffizi is the only one of its kind on the agenda, and can be the only agenda item for the day if it bests us. Plus, the tickets are booked.

3 hours one way seems like a long time in the car (6 hours return) and that doesnt even include any time you may get stuck in transit. I havent been to San Marino, but 6 hours so the kids can walk between castles seems more than I woud be willing to do - you are essentially crossing the whole country. There is a castle on the hill above Assisi that the kids can climb and go inside of...

jamikins, I agree. 6+ hours in a car, plus time for castle-walking means that either the dog crosses his legs until our return or he travels with. The dog travels well, but... We may just defer walking between castles for a future trip, perhaps. That means, though, another day to rough out.

Any thoughts on Parma? Maybe a family-oriented food tour somewhere? Would a day trip to the Mediterranean coast captivate us in February?

There is so much to see around where you are staying that I would focus there seeing that is where you are located. What about a day trip to Pisa and Lucca? You dont need to drive for hours to find interesting things to see.

I dont think the weather on the coast will be at its best so I would leave that for another time.

I assume that 'your' Vicchio is the one near Borgo San Lorenzo. If so...

Google.maps estimates the driving time from Vicchio to Serravalle, San Marino (via Forli and Rimini, not Bologna) at 2.5 hours.

We limit day-trip drives to 90 minutes each way, and we travel in October when the weather is more reliable than February. So I wouldn't have selected Vicchio as a base for seeing San Marino, San Gim (nearly 2 hours), Ravenna (probably over 2 hours), Pisa (nearly 2 hours, plus FYI Pisa has a ZTL), or Parma (probably more than 2 hours). (FYI, Assisi is at least 2.5 hours and Perugia only a few minutes closer.) I'm not sure there is a single location that would be driving-convenient to all of these cities.

With all that driving, you won't experience whatever drew you to Vicchio in the first place.

jamikins, we indeed have a day trip to Pisa and Lucca planned. Hopefully the weather will be pleasant enough to allow for bicycle rentals in Lucca.

Jean, thank you for your comments, and the note about Pisa's ZTL. Our holidays are largely structured around the school breaks, so we take what we can get and hope for the best. We've traveled many breaks where the weather has surprised us; last October for their fall break we had positively dreary and miserable weather in spite of the daily forecast calling for sunshine and mild temperatures. But, no complaints from us. 'Tis better than not traveling at all.

Our choice of Vicchio for lodging was based mostly on the desire to see Florence and Bologna; the other day trips are all flexible as the mood strikes us.

Something for kids and kids at heart would be the Carnevale Parades at Viareggio, held every Sunday. Never done it so we are planning on checking it out this year! You can find clips of previous parades on you tube. Apparently this is the #3 in the world.

If it's a nice sunny day, you could walk on the beach or visit the port beforehand. Taken in some seafood or checkout the local snack food at the parade.

http://viareggio.ilcarnevale.com/programma_corsiMascherati.php

Happy Travels!