Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

To lynn: Although I have never traveled to Europe with a four-year-old, I have some ideas about how I would do it. You still need to pack very light, but it might be better to have a fifth bag for your child rather than add extra weight to the bags for the two adults. And unless the child is VERY capable of "keeping up", I would urge a lightweight stroller for occasions when you are transporting luggage. If your child is old enough to reason with (some four year olds are), you need to explain why the stroller is something "we all need". If not, just try to allow time before the trip for "getting used to" (again?) The child's bag ought to be like the adult's second bag - - eight OUNCES or less when empty - - and then shoot for no more than ten POUNDS fully packed. With practice, I believe that one adult can push the stroller with the child's bag over the handles, and pull one rollaboard. The second adult will need to be able to manage the other rollaboard, plus both of the adult second bags. Might be a good reason for one adult to adopt a backpack as the second bag. Catching the train in Venice is fairly easy. Just get there early enough. The train sits there for about 30 minutes (it originates there) before departure. For Florence to Rome, you COULD consider renting a car, if you would enjoy taking a few days to make the journey (admittedly not that far) from Florence to Rome. Best wishes, Rex