coldboston

Hello all,
Planning 2 week family vacation in July. Want to take in history and beach. I'm thinking 1 week in Rome and 1 week on amalfi coast. It'll be myself,wife and 4 children(15,11,5,3). We'd like to do 2 locations so kids can relax also. Do not want to do multiple locations because travel hard on kids. I'm open to any suggestions as it'll be our first trip to Italy. Like maybe there's a place near coast with lots of history and good beaches so we can just go there for the entire 2 weeks? Any advice would be appreciated. Also we'll definitely be renting....no hotels

jft

We just returned from an 11 night family trip which included 4 nights in Positano. We stayed in a fabulous 3 bedroom apartment with a massive terrace overlooking the town and coast. There is a pool that would be opened in July. The negative is the stairs as there are 130 from the parking lot to the unit although I didn't find them that bad. It was listed on Homeaway or VRBO.

jft

Looks like it is available from July 19-30th if calendar is up to date.

annhig

coldboston,

I think with those 4 kids in tow I would think about a week on the Amalfi and a week somewhere near Rome in a villa where you can do day trips, including into Rome. Traipsing round Rome for a week with a group that includes a potentially grumpy teenager, a 5 and a 3 year old would not be my idea of a holiday.

And I would want a swimming pool available at both places.

StCirq

I can't think of a whole lot that is relaxing about Rome or the Amalfi Coast in July. It is fairly likely to be stinking hot, with major crowds everywhere. I fully understand the attraction of both places and have enjoyed them both, but at that time of year, with four children in tow, I'd be looking to book a villa outside Rome for a week, or a villa in Umbria near some of the spa towns, or a villa down the coast somewhere near Anzio or Spoleta or Gaeta. Splitting the time up between two places is a great idea, but for me, those two places at that time of year with 4 kids would not be Rome and the Amalfi Coast.

bvlenci

The Amalfi Coast has great scenery, but isn't really a beach destination. The beaches are mostly tiny and crowded, and pebbly rather than sandy.

http://www.positano.com/en/e/beaches-amalfi-coast

Many of the towns are on steep slopes, and might be particularly difficult with the two younger children.

Rome itself has a long beach, at Ostia Lido. It wouldn't have the scenery of the Amalfi Coast, of course.

Poplar

I suggest the Hotel Miramare in Sorrento. Stayed there in Sept. 2016 & it was a wonderful base for our time on the Amalfi coast. Has a lovely swimming pool. Staff were most helpful. Lovely continental breakfasts on the terrace.

isabel

I would suggest Sorrento as your base for the Amalfi area for two reasons: 1)larger with more choice of lodging and restaurants and relatively flat so easier for the younger kids to walk than the steep lanes in Positano or even Amalfi, and 2) you can do day trips to Pompeii, Herculaneum and even Paestum for incredible history. Also Naples for the archaeology museum (though not sure I'd do that with that age kids). Pompeii is harder to do if your base is Positano or Amalfi. You can do day trips (by boat - or bus but with kids I'd choose the boat) to Positano, Amalfi,etc. All of these towns have only very small beaches - not the big sandy type you find in some places.

For the Rome part - nothing wrong with the suggestion to rent a villa outside Rome but I would rent an apartment (or hotel, though you'll need several rooms)in Rome. The 'hot and crowded' part of the day is mid day - which is when you'll be there if you base outside the city and day trip in. If you stay IN Rome you can visit the historical sites early morning (or in some cases evening) when it's cooler and less crowded and go back to the apartment for a rest mid day.

annhig

If you stay IN Rome you can visit the historical sites early morning (or in some cases evening) when it's cooler and less crowded and go back to the apartment for a rest mid day.>>

the difficulty as I see it, Isabel, is keeping children of those disparate ages occupied and engaged whilst staying in Rome; whilst the 5 & 3 year olds are napping the 11 year old will want to be riding a bike or tearing around with other children. A villa or agriturismo with a pool could salve some of those problems.

isabel

True, no solution is going to be perfect. And only they know their own family and priorities. But since there are two parents one possibility would be one parent stays in with the napping children and the other takes the older ones to someplace that perhaps the younger ones would not enjoy. Or the older ones might just be content to play video games.