11 Nights in Italy with 2 kids - Looking for Suggestions
 

Our tickets are booked for our Italy vacation in July. Yay! We fly into Rome and out of Bologna 12 days later (cheapest airfare itinerary). We are a family of 4. Kids are 9 and 12 years old. We’ve settled on an itinerary that includes 3 nights in Rome, 4 in Sorrento, 3 in Tuscany and last night in Bologna before our flight back. We figured it would give us a taste of city, seaside and country.

We’re hoping that some of you Italy experts could provide some suggestions for activities that are kid friendly. In general, when we travel with the kids we like to have a set activity in the morning and let the kids decide the afternoon with suggestions from us. Here’s our full itinerary.

Day 1: Arrive Rome 1pm, staying in Hotel Adriano near Piazza Navona, explore Pantheon or other sites nearby if we’re not too tired.
Day 2: Colosseum in the morning. Afternoon?
Day 3: Vatican in the morning. Afternoon?
Day 4: Take fast train to Naples in the morning, then transfer to Pompeii. Explore Pompeii then continue to Sorrento. Is this crazy? Staying at Hotel Antiche Mura
Day 5: Day in Sorrento
Day 6: Ferry to Capri, maybe Blue Grotto
Day 7: Amalfi Coast. Which town would be the most interesting stop?
Day 8: Long travel day… Get to Naples, fast train Naples to Florence. Spend a few hours in Florence (I know this isn’t ideal, but looking for easy activity suggestions), then pick up rental car and drive to Vicchio where we’ll meet my sister coming from Germany. Staying at Villa Campestri.
Day 9: Tuscany – ideas for nice places to explore within 1.5 hrs?
Day 10: Tuscany – ideas for nice places to explore within 1.5 hrs?
Day 11: Drive to Bologna. Is there anything fun to do for a day in Bologna?
Day 12: Fly home

I hope we’re not trying to cram too much. If you’ve read through this LONG post, thank you!

It will be super hot in Pompeii in July.

With kids in tow, don't stop for the afternoon there. Go straight on to Sorrento. Check into your hotel. Get some lunch. Hit the pool. Most shops are closed mid-afternoon to early evening. They open for several hours in the evening. Make that your evening to walk around Sorrento.

Use the day you had planned for Sorrento to get up very early and visit Pompeii in the morning. Take plenty of water, sun screen and hats. There is little shade.

Does your hotel in Sorrento have a pool? If not, change for one that does. Your kids will love you for that!

Take a ferry down the Coast. You can stop in both Positano and Amalfi.

I agree with the advice above. You and your kids will be miserable by the middle of the afternoon in that heat! Try to find out if night tours of Pompeii are still available. We did this years ago with our kids ( now adults) and it was wonderful.

About your hotel: I am pretty sure it doesn't have a pool. There are several other hotels in Sorrento that do, including Hotel Tramontano, but I'm not sure of your price point.

Definitely take a boat to the Amalfi Coast towns. And don't even think of trying this on the packed SITA buses! Stop in Positano for lunch and try to make it to FORNILLO BEACH, which is walkable from town. It's much less congested than the town beach, which is wall to wall people in July.

Thanks for all the advice about Pompeii. Going in the morning sounds like a good idea. The Anitche Mura does have a pool. That was one of our requirements!

WWK, would you recommend taking a boat to and from Positano, or do you think the bus ride will not be as bad coming back?

IMO, Day 8 would be lots of moving around and not much sightseeing. From the time you leave your Sorrento hotel to the time you've checked your luggage at the Florence train station, about 5 hours will have ticked away. The most convenient place to pick up the rental car in Florence is at the airport. (No ZTL or closed-for-lunch issues.) You'll spend another 90 minutes or so retrieving your luggage, getting to the airport and going through the car rental process, and then it's at least an hour to Vicchio. Florence will be hot and crowded.

However you go, it will be a long day of traveling half the length of Italy. If it were my trip, I'd rent the car in Sorrento the afternoon of Day 7 and get a very early start on Day 8. You could probably arrive in Orvieto by lunch time and then spend a couple of hours exploring the town before heading to Vicchio (about 2.5-3 hours).

If seeing Florence is important, you can day-trip by train from Borgo S. Lorenzo (about 15 minutes' drive from Vicchio). Some trains take only 40 minutes with a fare of 4,20 euros.

Interesting. I never considered driving to Sorrento since it seemed too long of a drive. I wouldn't mind seeing Orvieto, though, so driving may be worth a consideration. We would be fine with skipping Florence altogether on this trip.

The fast train from Naples to Florence takes 2hrs, 50min so it seemed like the fastest way to get to the area.

I traveled to Italy with my nieces when they were that age. Their favorite thing was gelato, multiple times a day. It sounds like a great trip!

A couple of notes:

The SITA bus on the AC is truly awful - don;t even attmept it.

If you are going to Pompeii and then driving north consider picking up the car there - but make sure your hotel has parking - most don't. Also your hotel MUST have a pool - local beaches are poor and the sea s boring - a pool is a must for kids.

To get down the coat take the ferry but be sure you know the schedule - they stop late afternoon or early evening and you don;t wnat to be stuck looking for a taxi.

I would go to Sorrento from Naples and use it as a base to visit Pompeii, Capri, and towns along the coast. What will you do with your luggage when you go to Pompeii?

I don't know if there is anything interesting to do in Sorrento that would take a whole day. Perhaps, I just don't know. We just used it as comfortable base to explore the area. Evening strolls in Sorrento after day trips was enough for us.

There is luggage storage at the main entrance to Pompeii.

The SITA bus on the AC is truly awful - don't even attempt it.>>

just got back from a week in Sorrento including a [private] bus trip to Amalfi. Don't do it - use the ferry. also, I would avoid at all costs having a car in the area - driving is fast and aggressive. we had 2 mini-buses taking us from Naples airport to Sorrento and at one point there was almost a fight between the two drivers as they argued about which route to take.

I agree about using Sorrento as a base for day trips - you can easily see what there is to see there when you get back in the evenings as the museums and churches [and the shops] stay open until quite late. And definitely go to Pompeii early; we went on a sunny afternoon in February, and that was quite warm - I cannot imagine what it would be like in July! I would also strongly advise getting a guide - ours was excellent and really brought it alive for our group which included some students. [16-17 year olds].

From Naples to Florence, the train takes about 2 hours and 50 minutes. To get to Naples and allow some time to change trains would take about another hour and a half, so maybe four and a half hours maximum. You could pick up something to eat on the train at Napoli Centrale; there are also some overpriced food and beverages you can buy on the train.

The drive from Sorrento to Vicchio would take 5 and a half hours without stops, and I don't think it would be as restful as taking the train, especially not for the driver. You would certainly have to stop along the way to use a toilet, if nothing else, so I have a feeling that the trip would end up taking closer to 6 1/2 hours, if not more. I don't think anyone would be in the mood for visiting Orvieto or anything else.

A better solution might be to take a train to Chiusi, usually with a change of trains at Termini station. This would take a little over three hours. In Chiusi, you can rent a car and drive the rest of the way to Vicchio, which would be a bit under two hours. However, do check the opening hours of the rental agency at Chiusi. I know they're closed on Sundays, but I don't know about lunchtime closings.

For me, there are advantages to driving from Sorrento to Vicchio. You can start early and on your own schedule. You load up the luggage and people once. Taking trains means you have to first get to the Sorrento train station (taxi or hotel shuttle?), take the Circumvesuviana train to Naples, walk through the station to the regular tracks, train to Rome, change to train to Chiusi, rent the car and load up. That's getting on/off things and dealing with luggage four times, so I'm not sure it's particularly restful for anyone. In theory the trains are no faster than driving, but if the Naples-Rome train is delayed, you might have to wait an hour or more for the next train to Chiusi. Obviously, there can be traffic delays, too, but I always feel I have more alternatives if I'm in a car.

There's no getting around the fact that this is going to be a long (but doable) travel day. Some might prefer spreading the journey over two days, but then you'd have a one-night stay somewhere which is also a pain.

I have to agree with the suggestion of driving from Sorrento to Vicchio. Just be sure you have a good GPS. I agree that with all the train changing and picking up of the rental car upon your arrival and being sure they are open, etc.it might not be anymore relaxing than just getting in a car and driving the entire way. We took our first trip to Italy when our kids were the exact same age. I agree - they loved gelato stops!!

When you are in Capri, be sure and take the chairlift up to the top of Anacapri - I think your kids will really enjoy that.

In addition to the pool in Sorrento, I would be sure your hotel in Rome has air-conditioning. We spent a very warm June in Rome in a hotel with not great air conditioning - it was HOT!!!

Here are links to some of my trip reports which also include pictures:
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...eflorence2005/
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...-tuscany-rome/
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/2012/08/bologna-2010/
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...pe/italy-2013/

jgg, your trip reports are wonderful! Thank you for sharing them. The details you included are incredibly informative and will help a lot.

Glad you found them helpful!!

<<<Day 2: Colosseum in the morning. Afternoon?>>>

The Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum are also covered with a Colosseum ticket.

If you don't want to pre-book a tour or tickets you can also get your tickets at this seldom used ticket office ~200m from the Colosseum.

www.capitolium.org/eng/fori/pianta.htm (Map)

Find the 'Via di San Gregorio', see where this is ==(`) only vertical to the left of the 'EG' in "GREGORIO", that is the Palatine Hill entrance which never has a long ticket line to speak of.

It would be a shame to miss the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill even if it is just a short 1hr walk-thru and then a short walk to the Colosseum.

If interested just enter at that ticket office and to the left of the entrance is either a direct naturally stepped path or a zig-zag path up the slope (this path takes you past an aqueduct) and both these areas are in a tree-like rustic park.

At the top walk straight across (right to left on the map) and view the ruins of an Emperor's massive Palace with a nice scenic overlook of the Circus Maximus and then the modest 2 houses of Emperor Augustus and his wife and finally outside under a roof the post holes and drainage channels cut into bedrock that once had mud-thatched huts of Rome's original Founders build there (it has been claimed since ancient times to be the Hut of Romulus).

Now walk up on the map favoring the leftside which is a tree covered dirt pathway park and exit at #1 (Arch of Titus)and walk thru the Roman Forum, exit to the right of #41 and walk back to the Colosseum and by-pass the ticket line.

Just a thought:-)