My husband and I will be travelling to Italy this June w/ our 2 kids (ages 13 and 9) and I am concerned that we are trying to cram too much into too little time. Our plans are currently to fly into Milan (bought tickets, no chaning this) and going straight to Varenna on Lake Como for 2 nights, then Venice for 2 nights, then Florence 2 nights, one night in Portovenere and then on to Southern Tuscany for a week. My husband feels we must see Venice and Florence, I really want to see Como and Portovenere. I know we will be tired and at least will ahve the week in Tuscany in one place. Any comments?

Yes, you are certainly cramming!. <BR>By day six you will be ready for a sanatorium in order to recuperate! <BR>Tracy, you are not going to like this, but I lean toward your husband's thinking. For this trip, I would dump Portovenere and Varrena. Take those three nites, split them between Venice and Florence, and your vacation will be so much more enjoyable! <BR>Tuscany is so scenic, historic, and culturally pleasing, that you will not want to spend your time there sleeping! <BR>Good luck!

Other than Milan&gt;Como, you've got an average of 3 hours between your stops, if you're driving; add in time for getting lost, stopping for food, mercurial drivers, and that could add an average 1 1/2 hrs or more per trip - every other day you're hopping in the car for 4 1/2 hrs of frayed tempers. If you take trains, you'll save tempers, maybe time, but your schedule will have to be the train's schedule. I just think you're putting yourself through a lot of stress for little reward (example: 5 hrs drive from Varenna to Venice for 1 1/2 days in Venice). As much as I love Lake Como, take RDF's advice and skip it and Portovenere, relax and enjoy Venice, Florence and Tuscany. You, the husband, the kids, and Italy deserve it.

Tracy, it's a tough call. Geographically, Venice is "incompatible" with the rest of your itinerary. But, how can you leave out Venice! You've come up with 100% great destinations. And, since you've saved the potentially restful part (or at least it'll be the least hectic!) of your trip for the end in Tuscany, I say go for what you've planned!

I think your itinerary is fine also (sorry, Elvira, I thought I never disagreed with you). I would think the kids will enjoy the variety as well. Two nights does give you enough time to really experience a place, but certainly not in great depth. Taking friends for a week in Italy last summer we spent just one night in Florence (arriving before noon and leaving about noon the next day) and they were totally happy with the choice -- not wanting to spend hours in museums, but they saw the Cathedral, St. Croix, David at the Accademia, and had two great meals with plenty of time for strolling and absorbing the local color. You can rest nicely at the beginning and the end. At least it's not like trying to do 7 countries in 2 weeks like a lot of tours!

Hi - I am taking my two kids (same ages) in March to Italy. We are doing a different trip, but my advice as a traveler to Italy and as a fellow mom would be not to change your plans. 2 nights is plenty in Florence. I have no plans to trudge my children through museum after museum, which is what you can do all day in Florence. Yes, we will see sights - the David, Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo market - but stuff that is more "fun" for a kid to do. Let them go back to Italy when their adults and hit the museums when they can appreciate it more. Also, it will be hot as can be in July, and there is nothing worse than hot, cranky, bored kids.. Lake Como is gorgeous, and you can take a nice ride around with them. <BR>Try to pick up the book "Italy with Kids" (I don't know author). The hotels and restaurant recommendations may not be helpful, but the "tone" of the book (i.e. how to gear the trip) more towards the kids. <BR>

If you measure trip success by the number of cities visited, the number of hotels slept in, and the number of miles traveled, then you are doing great. <BR>If you want to take in the culture and the "feel" of the cities you are visiting, then I think you are not successful. But it all depends on what you want to do and how you claim success. I wouldn't do it like that but that is my take.

It sounds great to me. Travel between those cities isn't that hard. We took our three kids (11, 13, 16) to Italy last February and pushed the schedule harder than you're doing. We flew to Milan, trained to Verona for one night (after dealing with a train strike), then 2 nights in Venice, 3 in Rome, 2 in Florence, then a 2-day drive up the Liguria coast to try (successfully) to find the little village my grandfather came from, and even drove up to Lago di Como (Bellagio) the day before we flew out. I'll admit we pushed it a little, especially the amount of driving the last two days, but we had a great time. Your approach is much more relaxed, with the 2 days by the lake to acclimate and a week at one base at the end. <BR> <BR> Getting around in Italy isn't that stressful, in my opinion. Riding on the trains is an enjoyable way of experiencing an important part of the culture, and if you're driving all the way that has its rewards, too. Driving in Italy requires a little sense of adventure, but if you're a person who enjoys driving it can be great fun. Try to avoid city driving if possible; I found that to be an adventure, but not much fun. If you're driving into Florence I'd suggest contacting your hotel in advance to ask for parking suggestions, and plan on leaving the car parked until you're ready to leave town. Travelling between cities, the autostrade are way fast (as in, people will pass you at 110 mph, so avoid the left lane), and the smaller roads are beautiful but slower, so do a mix. By the way, the mountain roads around Como are breathtaking, if your driver has the nerves for them. Have a ball. Italy is a great place to go with kids.

Although I'm a big fan of Portovenere, I would probably drop it from your itinerary and add the day to Florence or Venice. I just don't think it's worth it to make the trip there and back for one night. You are seeing so many other wonderful places, you won't be "missing" a unique experience. I think the rest of the trip is very doable-- and getting to Lake Como is, I think, a good idea. <BR> <BR>I'm assuming you're staying in a one-week rental in Tuscany. Depending upon where you stay, it's also possible to take a day trip to Florence, and then you could include Portovenere before you begin your rental. <BR> <BR>Still, my own feeling is to let go of Portovenere for THIS trip, and truly enjoy the rest of it without spreading yourselves too thin.

Yes, I think you are stretching yourselves too thin and your concerns about this are well-founded. Spending only 1 or 2 nights anyplace and then moving on is exhausting and hardly allows you to see anything because you're spending all your time travelling or recouperating from travelling. Especially with kids, I think this is really ill-advised and will make everyone tired and cranky and you won't feel like doing anything when you finally get where you're going. Even if you spend only 3 nights in each place, that still gives you only 2 full days in each, allowing for travel time. Instead of 4 destinations in the first 7 nights, I recommend choosing only 2 places. I know this is difficult, but just tell yourself that you will go back someday. Since you and your husband have different "wish lists" for the first week of this trip, while normally I would recommend 3-4 days in Venice and 3-4 in Florence, in this case I would recommend that each of you choose ONE place (e.g. you choose either Lake Como or Portovenere, not both; he chooses either Venice or Florence, not both), and divide the first week between those two, spending 3-4 nights in each, before moving on to Tuscany.