shilohh

We want to be in places long enough to experience them yet also see a few different places while we are there. We're trying to limit day trips and staying somewhere just one night. We want to see some of the sights but we also want to just simply spend time experiencing different places. We don't want to spend too much time on trains and getting ready for train trips etc. We fly into and out of Florence. We have four kids (one of which will be 4 yrs old). It will be mid-June. Fitting in Manarola is the part that seems like it might be too much but we would love to see it and stay there.

Here are three proposed itineraries:

**Option 1a** (~17 hrs on trains/bus)

Arrive in Florence and jump on the train to Rome

Rome 4 nights

Siena 2 nights

Manarola 2 nights

Venice 3 nights (visit Padua)

Florence 3 nights

**Option 1b** (~17 hrs on trains/bus)

Arrive in Florence and stay for 3 nights

Siena 2 nights

Rome 4 nights

Manarola 2 nights

Venice 3 nights (visit Padua)

**Option 2** (~11 hrs trains/bus)

Arrive in Florence and jump on the train to Rome

Rome 4 nights

Siena 2 nights

Venice 3 nights (visit Padua)

Florence 5 nights (possibly do an overnight trip to Manarola)

kja

Do you already have flight reservations into and out of Florence? If so, option 1b is a no-go IMO – you’ll need to be in Florence the night before your flight. If you don’t already have your tickets, explore your options for open-jaw flights (into one city and out of another).

In recent years, the Cinque Terre have been so mobbed during the day that I, personally, would not try to visit as a day trip during high season (which includes mid-June).

Note that your itineraries don’t clearly acknowledge the time it will take to change locations – not just the time for actually moving from one city to another, but at least a few hours on either side for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented/lost, etc. So 2 nights in any one location is often much closer to 1 day than 2. I would strongly encourage you to make sure you actually have time to see and experience the things that are of interest if you move as quickly as ANY of these itineraries suggest.

Good luck!

Rubicund

It would seem to me that you'll be spending an awful lot of time with the logistics of this trip and not enough actually seeing anything. Also with 4 young children they're going to get very fed up of trains, buses and different hotels.

Sometimes less is more but I do understand the desire to see lots of places. However, until the kids are a bit older, I'd limit my stops to three places, maybe the classic Venice, Rome, Florence trip. There's plenty of travelling in just those three and I'd save the rest for the next trip.

StCirq

I wouldn't want to bounce around like that even on my own, never mind with 4 kids. The first thing I'd chop would be Manarola. I'd keep it to three destinations.

bilboburgler

4 kids.....
June hot and crowded
You are going to the hot spots Rome, Venice, Florence, Siena

They must be tough kids

Is there any kid time planned in or is it tramp tramp from church to church?

My options would be
1) Just the four biggies and look out for lots of bike riding, country walks, boat trips etc just to let the kids burn off energy
2) ignore the big 4 and plan around a kids holiday. so Agriturismo, near Siena (or Val d'Orcia) with pool, animals etc and do day trips into Siena, to Florence, to Pisa, Lucca. Then Venice but maybe the Lido di Venezia with day trips to Chioggia, the islands and Venice itself. That might do me.

bon_voyage

Just for ideas, here’s how one family did it, Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice with 4 teenagers, 1 kid, 19 days perfect!. This sentence from Entry 15, Day 7, Naples has stayed with me, “The food was delicious and generous and I have to say at that moment we really felt like the luckiest family ever - sitting in the warm evening sun, sea lapping in front of us, good food and wine and sun kissed children surrounding us...it all makes those very long work days well worth it.”

Sassafrass

Do you absolutely have to fly into and out of Florence? Frankly, for you, especially with four kids, that is a terrible plan! It is likely not cost effective either.
It is still early in your planning. Change those tickets.
Get multi-city (not two one way) tickets. Fly into Venice and out of Rome.
Even if you have to shorten the trip by a day to save cost of hotel one night and apply that to the flights, do it.
It that is completely cost prohibitive, look at flying into Milan, train to Venice, and home from Rome.

Sometimes day trips are easier than moving everybody. Depends on distance and timing.

Two days is not much for Venice. If you must do a day trip, the islands might be more fun for the kids than Padua. Depends on how much they know about art and architecture and their interests.

shilohh

We have the plane tickets already. Had to go with to-and-from-Florence as it was about $200-400 less per ticket (compared to the multi-city options). It does seem that chopping Manarola might be the best option. Would, though, be nice to have at least one stop be a smaller town. We wanted Camogli but it is too far away. Venice is the most removed of the locations but also one of the more exciting destinations for us. We could consider the option of Rome--Venice--Florence (with an overnight in Siena during the Florence stage of the trip). I know Siena isn't a small town but it is closer than any of the others.

yorkshire

Would you be willing to hold off on Rome? Florence/immediate transfer to small town--Venice--end in Florence would be my choice if: 1) those are the flights and timeline, 2) Venice is a must for you, and 3) four kids are along for the ride.

neckervd

If you prefer to go to Camogli, do it, may be like this (15 1/2 hrs total journey time)

Firenze SMN - Siena: 1 hr 15 min by direct bus
Siena - Roma Tiburtina: 2 hrs 40 min by direct bus
Roma Tiburtina - Venezia SL: 3 hrs 35 min by direct train
Venezia SL - Camogli: 5 hrs by train, change at Genova
Camogli - Firenze SMN: 3 hrs 05 min by 08.55am train, change at Rapallo and Pisa

Venice - Bologna - Parma or Florence - La Spezia - Manarola would be 6 hrs and Manarola - Florence 2 1/4 - 3 hrs, according to the train

PalenQ

In any case bok long-distance trains as early as possible for limited in umber discounted fares - Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia or www.italotreno.com - two competing rail systems using same stations and same tracks. For lots on Italian trains check www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts and www.seat61.com - latter lots on booking own trains online often at a discount.

Jean

As you're flying round-trip Florence, I'd skip Rome on this trip and concentrate on the other destinations. You can only travel comfortably as much and as fast as the 4 y.o. can handle.

PalenQ

Easy train schedules - www.bahn.de/en - German Railways pan-European schedule site and easy-peast to instantly get any European train schedule and learn all about the train and what is has on it- whether reservations obligatory, first and second class or just second class - routings and intermediate stops - how long between changes - train number - useful if reserving in Italy at stations, etc.

shilohh

Thank you for the recommendations. I should have mentioned that three of the four kids are teenagers so are relatively easy to travel with (they're well-behaved). We only have one young one (4yrs). Rome and Venice are at the top of our list so are a must for us. And we want to see somewhere a little smaller like Orvieto, Siena, or Manarola. Florence is our airport (by far the cheapest flight option) so we are going to check it out as well.

Using some of these suggestions, we've got some modified itineraries that might work a bit better (although the itinerary offered above by neckervd is very tempting, too) :

1. Rome--Orvieto--Venice--Florence (10hrs train time, plus prep time/load/unload etc of course)
Arrive in Florence and train to Rome
(1.5hr)
Rome 4 nights
(1.5hr)
Orvieto 2 nights
(5hr)
Venice 4 nights
(2hr)
Florence 4 nights

2. Rome--Venice--Siena--Florence (8.5 hours of train time)
Arrive in Florence and train to Rome
(1.5hr)
Rome 4 nights
(3.5hr)
Venice 4 nights (visit Padua)
(3.5hr)
Siena 2 nights
(1.5hr)
Florence 4 nights

3. Rome--Venice--Manarola--Florence (14hrs train time)
Arrive in Florence and train to Rome
(1.5hr)
Rome 4 nights
(3.5hr)
Venice 4 nights
(6hr)
Manarola 3 nights
(3hr)
Florence 3 nights

bilboburgler

Of these new ideas Siena is exceptional

If I was flying into/out of Florence, try and stay only once

Leely2

Of your latest, I’d go with option 1 or 2. Siena is more interesting to me, but Orvieto will feel more relaxing—it’s much smaller.

I might shave a night off Florence and add it to Rome, too.

Sassafrass

Other small towns that are interesting and lovely are Lucca (day trip by train from Florence) and Vicenza (day trip by train from Venice.)

In Lucca, you could rent bikes and ride on the walls around the city. It has great views and a beautiful carousel. Some of the old city is built on and follows the plan of the old Roman arena.

Vicenza is filled with magnificent Palladian architecture, including Teatro Olimpico, and is wonderful for walking.

The island of Burano is very colorful and also fun for wandering. Being on the water in a boat is usually fun for everyone. Consider the older kids taking a class to learn to row a gondola in Venice. If you have not seen it before, a glass blowing demonstration might be fun. A tour of the Jewish Ghetto and synagogues in Venice are also interesting.

kja

Better, if still too rushed for my tastes. YMMV.
Here's a short video of the Cinque Terre during summer. You decide.

SusanP

I think #2 would be good. With the teenagers, Siena might be a bit better than Orvieto. You said you wanted to limit day trips. Withe the number of nights you have in each place, you wouldn't need to take any day trips and would still only scratch the surface in each place.

kja

Trying to link in the video again
:https://video.repubblica.it/embed/ed.../213075/212250