Saraho

We have stayed at this monastery in a uncrowded part of Venice right next to the giardini (gardens). It is a great place to stay with children. From 4 to 6 pm everyday children can use their courtyard playground and have lots of local children to play with. There is free wifi, a good breakfast, simple but adequate rooms with ensuit baths, elevator and a roof garden with a view of the Grand Canal.

We stayed there during Carnevale a couple of years ago, last spring and again this October during another festival. It was pleasantly uncrowded each time. Many Europeans stay here.

It is located close to the Grand Canal past the Arsenale off Via Garibaldi and is a ten to fifteen minute walk to San Marco. This is in an area of Venice where you will find mostly locals. It is a very pleasant area, lots of people watching, local bakery, grocery, restaurants and a vaporetto stop two minutes away.


PATRONATO SALESIANO LEONE XIII
Calle San Domenico 1281 - Castello
30122 Venezia - Italia
Telefono - (0039) 041 5230796
Fax - (0039) 041 5227277

Or you can reserve through Monastery Stays.

Saraho

We stayed in the best convent in Rome very close to the Pantheon, large rooms with ensuit baths, tv, phone, elevator and reasonable price.
Santa Lucia Filippini
Largo S. Lucia Filippini,20
00186 Roma - Italia
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(+39) 06 679 16 12
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[email protected]

You can also book this with Monastery Stays and check reviews on Trip Advisor.
It is located close to where Julius Ceasar was assassinated, now a cat sanctuary.

mymatemarmite

Tessey that's great advice, please feel free to continue waffling, and I'll check out your blog too! Luckily we have close friends who've just spent the last 3 years in Rome with children the same age as ours so we'll doing most of our Rome planning based on their suggestions. All the playground locations is VERY useful - I find our two are much more willing to do what we want if they have some time on a climbing frame for a bit! We were deciding with my parents where to stay on the Amalfi coast and they've found a place in Sorrento - your advice has sold me I have to say! Never fear, we're used to trying to travel as light as poss!

rialtogrl do you think being around for the Redentore Festival will be too much for the children? They're pretty worldly travellers and we live in a busy tourist hot spot ourselves but might it be more trouble than it's worth? I LOVE festival especially culminating in fireworks though! I'll try to find the dates for the neighbourhood festival, sounds like something worth planning around

Peter - thanks for suggestion but as we're also doing our annual pilgrimage to the UK< we'll be flying in and out of London

dreamon - thanks for suggestions for a few days out of Venice, which out of those would you go for first? and Why?

Saraho I've recently discovered monastrystays and I love the idea, maybe we if end up doing a few nights rather than a whole week we'll go for it, a full week though I think we'll want flexibility from an apartment - but it's great to get a recommendation of a particular one, they all look amazing on the website

Saraho

We have stayed there for a week, but if you do get an apartment, look in that area. It is such a great location for children.

dreamon

For a few days somewhere else, I think it very much depends on what you want to do.

A couple of years ago we spent some days in Vicenza, in part because the town appealed but also it was a good base for visiting other places such as Verona, Padua and Bassano. I've visited Bassano twice and it is a lovely, prosperous town - far fewer 'sights' to see but a nice place to relax in. It's possible to catch a bus from there to Asolo, also a lovely town. Verona has a lot to do/see and is a larger town.

I'm sure others would be able to recommend somewhere on Lake Garda if that were of interest.

I would research what's to do in these places and check google images (my go to website for visuals). For me it comes down to whether you want somewhere greener or a more built environment. And where else you might want to visit from there.

frencharmoire

Florence and Bologna could be very hot in July. Very, very hot. Florence will be quite crowded, and its main attractions for most people are not geared toward younger children. Museums, churches, which are especially tough going when crowded. Bologna has very few -- in any -- attractions for small kids. If you really want to stop in a city en route to Venice, consider Ferrara, which is just 20 minutes past Bologna on the train, but far less crowded and has a HUGE castle and bike riding. Still, it can be murderously hot and humid in Ferrara.

It's not easy to get to the scenic parts of Lake Garda by train. If you stick to the parts of the lake that are not scenic buta that are easy to get to by train, there is an amusement park for children if that appeals. I've never been there so can't offer anything.

The Lido (where I have been) is dirty, at least by my standards. That is why I wrote it is "about the only place in Venice you are likely to find "smelly" and unpleasant." Please everybody note the words "only" and "likelY', and the quotes I put around "smelly" to get a better sense of the meaning.

rialtogrl

-rialtogrl do you think being around for the Redentore Festival will be too much for the children?-

Not if you work it right. It is soooooo worth it if you love fireworks. Check out this video I took a few years ago - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdcT4pE1E6s
(Sorry its a little grainy. I was in a boat and kind of buzzed.)

The only way I think it would be bad for kids is, if you got stuck in the crush of people trying to get back to the train station or hotels around San Marco/Rialto etc after the fireworks. This is why I suggested to rent an apartment somewhere in the eastern part of town. This way you can go down to the Riva and set up a spot to picnic and view fireworks, and also be able to get home without getting into that major crush. There will still be a lot of people, but it will be a lot easier to get back to an apartment down there, than to anywhere else. What is your budget for an apartment? Maybe I can make a couple of suggestions.

As for the festival they don't usually announce the dates until a couple of months beforehand. You can keep an eye on this site for dates: http://www.elforce.altervista.org/sangiacomo.htm

Tessey

Hello mymatemarmite, Sorry for the delay hopefully providing some more helpful information, we went a way for a few days and then got pretty busy with work.

A few suggestions:

We typically bring 200 Euro with us and rely on debit cards and credit cards. American Express and Capital One credit cards don't charge any exchange fees so you only pay for the cost of the transaction and not additional fees. With a Capital One Debit Card you also can withdraw Euros with no transaction fees. We feel safe in every city with one acceptation being Naples, this is made even more clear when you use a debit card to take money out of the bank and they limit you to 50 Euro. Typically we will keep one debit card and one credit card and 100 Euro on us. Italy is a big tourist destination and with that you can expect there are going to be pickpockets pretty much everywhere including trains and buses. So just keep what you need on you and if you do get pick pocked, don't let it ruin your trip. Only carry what you wouldn't loose sleep over, this happens in all tourist areas. I also keep a credit card sized money clip/belt on where I keep my credit cards and Euros over 20 dollars. I will note, we have never had any issues but we are always aware of our surroundings even if we are at home in Orlando.
Another suggestion is if you have an unlocked cell phone, you can go to a Tim phone store and get a sim card for around 25 euro. You can then make calls within Italy and more importantly you can use the phone for maps and directions. It is really a huge time saver, streets in Italy are not all squared off like they are in America so it is really easy to get lost.

I will write more in a few days.

Quick note/suggestion. Since my daughter is still young we like to take a couple of days to devote to her having fun (actually we like this place I am going to mention allot also). Alexis my daughter loves to go to the beach so we go to a place called Forte de Marmi. It is a real nice beach and the town has a great feeling. People ride bicycles all over the town. The food there is also great. It is just a suggestion. If you want I can give you more detail on it. I created a video of our beach experience in 2015 which you can see at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV0BjvYUnB8

Kind of corny video. I am still putting together the videos of our Italy trip from 2016 (I have way to much video). I do have the "Getting to Italy" video up but I am working on our Venice stay still.

mymatemarmite

Thankyou Tessey - really helpful info!

rialtogrl I was wondering because I think we'll do 2 nights in Garda then I was thinking 1 night in Verona before heading to Venice for the final 4 nights but that would mean missing the fireworks - would you say the fireworks really shouldn't be missed?!

rialtogrl

They are really good fireworks. Maybe the most amazing I have ever seen and I have seen a lot. But they are just fireworks. If you don't go for Redentore I would arrive the Monday after or later.

TexasAggie

We travel in Italy with our two young sons every year, sometimes twice (like this year, YAY!).

For our family, 4 nights in Venice was about right. Our boys are younger than your children though (mine are 4 and 6). They enjoyed riding the vaporetti and a gondola, loved the Rialto market, and enjoyed bits of different museums and churches. There are *a lot* of bridges in Venice which means a lot of stairs. My husband and I had visited twice previously and it never even registered, but with young kids, it really did. They tired out, especially our youngest. Venice with an umbrella stroller is do-able but it is definitely not fun. Might not be an issue for your older kiddo, but did want to mention it for your younger one.

Our favorite kid-friendly spots:

Rome. So much to see. When kiddos get tired, find the nearest taxi stand and if you haven't wandered too far and are staying centrally, you are back at your apartment within ten minutes. We love staying near Campo di Fiori because the market is of endless fascination for kiddos and adults alike!

Val d'Orcia. Playgrounds in every hilltop town. Wonderful food. Interesting activities like visiting farms, seeing pecorino cheese in production, visiting vineyards and wineries. Experiences like swimming in thermal pools and visiting the northernmost catacombs in Italy (Chiusi) - my kids are always fascinated by old cemeteries for some reason!

mymatemarmite

Thankyou TexasAggie! Any recommendations in Sorrento, Rome, Venice for playground especially appreciated! And public pools if that's a thing?

livvyk

My family is going to Italy this summer. I have done a lot of research. We will have 3 weeks in n./c. Italy and one week in Rome. The kids are 2, 7, & 10. We will have a car.
My plan is 3 nights in Venice in an apt. I prefer VRBO to AirBnB. We will be 4 nights in Sirmione, Lake Garda. Our favorite travel credit card offers the 4th night free at any hotel, so the extra night is of benefit in many ways. I don't want to move the 5 of us around very often. It seems like day trips from the lake or Venice are easy, so if you divide your time then perhaps divide it evenly of between cities.
We also add 4 nights near Vicenza at an agriturismo. My kids will love the farm stay! This could be an option instead of being on the lake, yet you can travel to the lake area for the day.
I would love to hear your Roman friends recommendations for the kids!