litepacker

Hello, We already booked our flight tickets and hotels for the dates.

We fly into Rome (arrival 7 am) and depart from Venice at 9 am on the 27th.
We are travelling with our daughters 10 &12 years of age.

I am looking to all the experienced and helpful travelers on this forum with a few inputs:

- What might be an ideal mix of days for this trip. As of now we have 3 nights each in Rome, Florence and Venice. Is this the right mix, especially with the kids
- I would love to do a day of wine tasting and stay overnight somewhere in the Tuscan region between Rome and Florence. Is this doable, perhaps we can rent a car in Rome airport and drive through Tuscany and drop it off in Florence ? Or is there a better way - need to take into consideration luggage and kids . Any recommendations for guide/places to stay overnight in Tuscan region ?
- We are planning a trip to Pisa from Florence, Any pointers or gotchas?
- The girls and I are vegetarian ! Any recommendations of places you might have tried ?
- any input on places to see, tickets to book in advance and other pointers? etc.

Apologize for the long question, but wanted to cram as much relevant info as possible.
Thanks in anticipation !!

kybourbon

I don't think you have enough time to add an overnight somewhere else. On arrival day in Rome you will be very jetlagged and you don't want to schedule much for that day. Try to do some outdoor things such as Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain as you won't absorb much if you take a tour while jetlagged. Three nights somewhere means only two sightseeing days.

I also wouldn't spend time going back out to the airport to get a car for one day. It would be simpler to book a driver for a day or a day tour from Florence that included some hill towns/wine/Pisa. Example of some day tours out of Florence:
http://www.caftours.com/excursions-and-day-trips.html

Changing hotels/cities is time consuming. Three locations is the max I would do for that amount of time.

litepacker

Thats very fair KYbourbon. Will you suggest we do the Tuscan day trip from Rome or Florence ?

Lexma90

Depending the interest of your family in Renaissance art, you might want to consider 4 nights in Rome and 2 nights in Florence. There is SO MUCH to see in Rome.

We first took our DD to those three cities when she was 10yo, plus an additional week in Le Marche and Bologna. She loved all three cities, but she liked Venice and Rome the best. We didn't visit Tuscany with her because it's mostly wonderful for beauty and wine, and she wasn't into either. (Le Marche has castles, which we all enjoy.)

Being vegetarian in Italy, you'll have no problem at all. Most places, the primi / pasta course will have at least one vegetarian pasta. Also, it's not uncommon to see dishes based on polenta, for example, as a main course.

Wait until you're in Italy to decide if you want to spend the time making a day trip to Pisa. DH and I visited it once, long ago, and have interest in going back. I'd rather spend my time visiting museums or sitting in cafes with a glass of wine.

If your kids drink coffee drinks, on a warm day, have a caffe shakerato. My daughter loves them! Also, for Italian sodas, aranciata or limonata, or even chinotto.

tuscanlifeedit

If you really want to schedule a day trip somewhere in Tuscany, do it from Florence. A drive on the Chiantigiana is pretty. But wine and scenery from a car won't do that much for your girls, will they? There are better things to do with kids in either Rome or Florence.