Huitres

Hi Jocelyn: Glad to hear that Rome is being considered again....it's a fantastic city with plenty to do for young and old alike!

LoveItaly

Joycelyn, How wonderful!!! That is what is so wonderful about taking children traveling when they are young. They become world travelers. The whole world is opened up to them.

And I agree with Huitres, your little ones will love Rome.

Have a beautiful trip.

europhile

I realize that you are limiting this discussion to Italy, and Venice is my favorite city in the world, but if the goal is to initiate the kids into European travel and do some "kid" friendly things, you may want to consider starting them off in London. We lived there when I was 4 (my brother was 6) and I remember being fascinated with all of the stories (about the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, etc.) and the castles in and around London. An easy daytrip from London is Leeds Castle, which I loved at that age, with its moat and drawbridge. It's the stuff of fairy tales (or at least the architecture). I also loved having high tea, and the gardens near Kensington Palace where we had picnics. There are wonderful museums for kids in London, and the fact that there is no language barrier can be a good thing if they are nervous about being in a strange place. Anyway, it's just a suggestion. We traveled all over from London during the year we lived there, and I don't remember much about visiting the other places at that age. Another suggestion, if you want to avoid big cities, is the Loire Valley region in France. It is similarly impressive with castles and stories for the kids, but has great small towns. You can even stay in some of the chateau for pretty reasonable prices. Wherever you go, I second the suggestion of waiting until May. It will be more crowded, but you can really take advantage of outdoor activities and enjoying walking the towns. You wouldn't have to worry so much about the kids being cold or getting rained on.

Jocelyn_P

europhile,

Thank you for your thoughts. I have been thinking places other than Italy, actually:

UK, mainly because of the castles

France, because I wanna go

Austria, because of the Lippizaner stallions in Vienna, the kids love mountains, and DH and i have been there so it's somewhat familiar, although it's been awhile

Prague, because both DH and I REALLY want to go

I know that we could have a great time in any of these places. I'm leaning towards somewhere in Italy, though, because of our comfort level there. This would be our 4th trip to Italy, we're familiar with the some Italian survival phrases, we love the people, we're comfortable with the trains and buses, and I know the kids would love the food.

Of course, nothing's set in stone...

elaine

Except that it's an expensive place, I agree that London is a great place to take young children, or anyone else for a first trip to Europe.
Lots of indoor activities should the weather be bad, great transportation system. There are parks and gardens for good weather, lots of history, and some old-fashioned pageantry to be seen here and there. Also, great shopping, restaurants and snacking at all levels and interests, and some extra nifty things that kids will enjoy such as the zoo, Imperial War Museum or Queen Mary's Dollhouse at Windsor. Plus, most of the time there isn't a language barrier, except for words like 'pants' and 'buns' and 'fanny' and...

March in London will have daffodils blooming in the parks...

Dreamer2

I don't think Venice would be my first choice for an entire week with kids, although I'm sure they'd love a day trip in for the uniqueness of it!

If you bring them to Florence, be sure to spend a day at the Boboli Gardens. I saw many school field trips there, along with Mom's and stollers. The "older" kids seemed to be participating in some sort of "scavenger hunt" of sculptures! That day was one of the highlights of my trip.

julie_Colorado

OK - now that you've opened up other options, I'll jump in. Here's some of my kids favorites:

1. Ireland - stayed a month when they were young. Went to Celtic football games, castles (they love climbing in the ones that are really falling down), picnics, sheep, cows, Belfast zoo, bike rides, boat rides, skipping rocks, etc. Though not my favorite, my childrens favorite.
2. Scotland - rented a cottage on a working farm on Loch Ness that gave horseback riding lessons. Went to the barn early each morning to collect eggs, collected rocks and colored glass - and also lots of castles.
3. An apartment for a week in Paris over the ice cream store on Ile St. Louis. Ate tons of ice cream, sailed the little boats in the Tuilleries, ferris wheel, Eiffle tower, tons of fun.
4. Coast of Normandy France- climbing thru the bunkers and bomb sites. Very fun - and very moving... can partner with Paris (or if you are adventurous - we landed in London and drove to Paris... spending about a week meandering - including London, Normandy, Giverny, Paris.
5. Rented a house with a pool in Tourrettes sur Loop in the south of France. Relaxing - great food, culture, scenary (did I mention food). Now this is my favorite.
6. London several times- the natural history museum, zoo, covent gardens, plays (even for children). The winnie the pooh tour may be the most memorable day of my life.
7. Austria - rode the luge rides, hiked, Sound of Music tour, biked into Hungary, saltmine tour - and also went to Switzerland - hang gliding - we loved this part!

and we all love Italy...

Places I've gone with my children where I wouldn't return - Prague.. Germany. Just wasn't as much to grab them. And Prague has become very touristy and very expensive.

Jocelyn_P

Thank you julie for the first hand accounts. Was there something specific about Prague that made it child-unfriendly, or was there just not much for them to do in general?

amelia

Julie_Colorado: My children made unanimous vote at 10 pm that they be adopted into your family. Those are really cool trips!

julie_Colorado

I ran thru the list with my daughter last night - she is now 12. London was her number 1 - otherwise, the priorities are as I said. We tend to go to London for long weekends (arrive Thursday, leave Monday)... Last year we got 200$ roundtrip tixs for President's Day weekend. So I would tend to save London for that type of trip. (london is really, really expensive).

I forgot one trip - she really loved Greece. But it's not a trip for beginners or sissies.

Prague has lovely architecture and cafes, etc. But as Taylor said last night - I don't think a 6 year old would appreciate all those churches! Also, it was packed! And when you wander from the center - you are back in Communist Czech Republic. When I return to Prague, it will be with my husband in October.

And lest you think we are wealthy, my husband walks to work and we don't own a 2nd car. We both agree we'd rather take extra trips to Europe!

Jocelyn_P

Just making sure I've explored all of our options:

I've read several times here on fodors that Portugal is a great place to take kids, but I don't see any trip reports to back it up (he he). A villa in Sintra sounds wonderful, but I'd like to hear from someone who's done it. Does slowtrav have information about Portugal? If it does, I couldn't find it. Ryan, you've taken your kids to Portugal--can you tell me more?

Jocelyn_P

Still brainstorming here: what about Belgium/Netherlands? We could base in Bruges for a few days, then on to a small town in the Netherlands. We would still have the canal experience, and there seem to be lots of fun activities for young kids in that area.